First Peloponnesian War Worksheets
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Summary
- Causes of the War
- Battles
- Truce
Key Facts And Information
Let’s find out more about the First Peloponnesian War!
The First Peloponnesian War (460–445 BCE) was fought between Sparta, which led the Peloponnesian League with help from Thebes, and Athens, which led the Delian League with help from Argos. The Second Sacred War and other smaller wars were part of this war. The war started for many reasons, such as the building of the Athenian long walls, Megara’s defection, and Sparta’s jealousy and fear of the Athenian Empire’s growth.
The Walls protecting the Athens during the Peloponnesian War
CAUSES OF THE WAR
- In the 5th century BCE, Sparta and Athens became the two most powerful cities in Greece. This meant that their spheres of influence would inevitably overlap, which led to conflict. Sparta appeared to be notably concerned about the increasing power of Athens, which was capable of constructing a progressively larger fleet of ships due to tributes from its allies and dependents. Sparta expressed suspicion regarding the Athenians’ initiative to reconstruct the Long Wall fortifications that safeguarded the harbour of Piraeus. Furthermore, Sparta was apprehensive that a lack of action would lead the other significant Greek power, Corinth, to align with Athens.
- Twenty years prior to the onset of the First Peloponnesian War, Athens and Sparta had collaborated in the Greco-Persian Wars. During that war, Sparta exerted dominance over the entity referred to by contemporary scholars as the Hellenic League and maintained overall command during the significant victories of 480 and 479 BCE. In the subsequent years, Spartan leadership fostered resentment among the Greek naval powers that spearheaded the war against Persian territories in Asia and the Aegean. After 478 BCE, the Spartans stopped leading this campaign. After they worked together to keep the Persians out of their lands, Sparta became worried about Athens’ power.
- As Athens commenced the reconstruction of its walls and the enhancement of its naval capabilities, Sparta and its allies grew apprehensive about the increasing power of Athens. The divergent policies of Athens and Sparta hindered the possibility of avoiding war, as Athens sought territorial expansion while Sparta aimed to dismantle the Athenian democratic system.
- The Athenians had reconstructed their walls, contrary to the explicit objections of Sparta. In 479 and 478 BCE, Athens assumed a significantly more active role in the Aegean campaigns. During the winter of 479–478 BCE, they assumed leadership of a new coalition, the Delian League, at a conference of Ionian and Aegean states held in Delos.
- Also, the Athenians reconstructed their walls covertly, influenced by Themistocles, who argued that this strategy was optimal for their defence. Themistocles postponed negotiations with Sparta regarding universal arms control by consistently identifying flaws in Sparta’s proposals, arguing that acceptance would render Athens susceptible to Sparta's superior hoplites and phalanx formation.
- During this period, an early indication of hostility between Athens and Sparta was noted in an account by Diodorus Siculus, who stated that the Spartans in 475–474 BCE contemplated reasserting their dominance in the campaign against Persia through military means. Contemporary researchers, while questioning the chronology and authenticity of this narrative, commonly reference it as indicative of the presence of a war party in Sparta at this early period.
- For a period, amicable relations existed between Athens and Sparta. In the late 470s BCE, Themistocles, an Athenian known for being against Sparta, was exiled and had to go to Persia for protection. Cimon, an Athenian general and politician, pushed for the two states to work together and was Sparta’s proxenos in Athens. However, there were signs of trouble. The Cydipides indicates that in the mid-460s BCE, Sparta resolved to invade Attica amid the Thasian rebellion; however, an earthquake in 464 BCE precipitated a revolt among the helots, halting their plans.
- The revolt of the helots caused the crisis that led to the war. The Spartans could not put down the uprising on their own, so they asked their allies for help. They used their connections to the ancient Hellenic League and asked the Athenians for help, who were known at the time for their skill in siege warfare. Athens sent 4,000 men, led by Cimon, to answer the call.
- When the Athenians were unsuccessful in their siege against the helots, the Spartans grew apprehensive about Athens’ revolutionary ideologies being in proximity to both the helots and the Spartans. The Spartans, concerned that the Athenians might align with the rebelling helots, returned them to Athens, distinguishing them from all other allies.
BATTLES DURING THE FIRST PELOPONNESIAN WAR
- At the start of this war, Athens sent a large military force to another part of the Aegean to help Inarus, a Libyan king who had led a widespread revolt against the Persian king Artaxerxes in Egypt. Athens and its allies sent 200 ships to help Inarus, a significant use of resources. Athens commenced the war with its forces distributed across multiple theatres of conflict. The effect on the Athenians is evidenced by an inscription fr m 460 or 459 BCE that enumerates the deceased of the tribe Erechtheis.
Artaxerxes
- According to Russe l Meiggs, a British historian, this focus on a single tribe is atypical, as it was customary for the deceased from all ten tribes to be recorded collectively on a single stele or multiple adjacent stelai bearing a shared title. This instance may be elucidated by the notably high death toll, with a total of 185 personal names inscribed. An inscription precedes the list, translated as follows: ‘Of the tribe Erechtheis, these individuals perished in the war, in Cyprus, in Egypt, in Phoenicia, in Halieis, in Aegina, at Megara, during the same year.’ This matches up pretty well with Thucydides’s account, with the last three events happening in the order he gives them.
- Thucydides does not mention Phoenicia, so the inscription shows that there was conflict in a place that is not usually linked to this period. In 460 or 459 BCE, Athens fought numerous battles against a group of different Peloponnesian states. The Athenians suffered defeat on land against the armies of Corinth and Epidaurus at Halieis, yet achieved victory at sea at Cecryphaleia, a small island situated between Aegina and the coast of Epidaurus.
- Aegina, concerned by Athenian aggression in the Saronic Gulf, joined the war against Athens, aligning its formidable fleet with that of the Peloponnesian allies.
- The Athenians won the next naval battle by a wide margin, taking seventy ships from Aegina and the Peloponnesian forces. The troops then went to Aegina, where they began a siege of the city under the command of Leocrates.
- Due to significant Athenian forces being occupied in Egypt and Aegina, Corinth launched an invasion of Megara, aiming to compel the Athenians to redeploy their troops from Aegina to address this emerging threat. The Athenians assembled a contingent of men who were either too old or too young for standard military duty and dispatched this group, led by Myronides, to assist Megara. The battle yielded no clear outcome; however, the Athenians maintained control of the pitch by day's end, allowing them to erect a trophy of victory.
- Approximately twelve days later, the Corinthians sought to revisit the site to erect their trophy; however, the Athenians emerged from Megara and defeated them. During the next retreat, a lot of the Corinthian troops accidentally walked into a farm enclosure surrounded by ditches, where they were trapped and then killed.
Battle of Tanagra
- During the First Peloponnesian War, Athens and Sparta fought in the Battle of Tanagra in Boeotia in 457 BCE. The rebuilding of Athens' walls and Sparta's refusal of Athenian military help made the situation worse between the two cities. Myronides led the Athenian troops, which numbered 14,000. Nicomedes led the Spartan army, which had 1,500 soldiers. Even though both sides lost many men, Sparta won this battle.
- Sixty-two days post-battle, the Athenians reorganised under the leadership of Myronides. Thebes was subsequently defeated at the Battle of Oenophyta, resulting in control over Boeotia. The wall constructed by the Spartans was dismantled, and one hundred of the wealthiest individuals from Opuntian Locris were taken as hostages. The Athenians, following their victory, occupied Phocis, the initial source of the conflict, as well as Opuntian Locris.
- Years following the Battle of Tanagra, Cimon was reinstated from exile owing to the unique relations between Sparta and Athens. Cimon facilitated the establishment of a five-year peace treaty between Athens and Sparta through these special relations.
Battle of Oenophyta
- The Battle of Oenophyta occurred in 457 BCE between Athens and the Boeotian city-states during the First Peloponnesian War. During the interval between the Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War, various alliances and leagues emerged and disbanded, despite the absence of significant prolonged conflict. In 457 BCE, Athens, as the leader of the Delian League, encountered conflict with Corinth and its ally Sparta, the leader of the Peloponnesian League, regarding Megara.
- Sixty-two days before the Battle of Oenophyta, the Athenians suffered defeat at the Battle of Tanagra against Sparta; however, Sparta incurred significant losses, preventing them from capitalising on their victory. The Athenians, with a force of 14,000 men at Tanagra, reorganised following the battle and advanced into Boeotia. Under the leadership of Myronides, the forces at Oenophyta achieved victory over the Boeotians, subsequently dismantling the walls of Tanagra and devastating the regions of Locrida and Phocis.
- Their victory at Oenophyta was promptly succeeded by the surrender of Aegina and the final station of the Long Walls connecting Athens to the port of Piraeus, an initiative contested by Sparta. Athens maintained control over Boeotia until 447 BCE, when it suffered defeat at the Battle of Coronea.
TRUCE
- Athens’ string of victories came to an end in 454 BCE when its army was decisively defeated in Egypt. Megabazus led a large Persian army overland to fight the rebels in Egypt. When it arrived, it quickly defeated the rebel forces. The Greek forces were under siege on the island of Prosopitis in the Nile. In 454 BCE, following an 18-month siege, the Persians successfully captured the island, resulting in the near-total destruction of the defending force. However, the obliterated force was likely smaller than the initial 200 ships dispatched; it still comprised at least 40 ships with their full complements, representing a considerable number of personnel.
- In 454, the treasury of the Delian League, under the leadership of Athens, was relocated from Delos to Athens. This alteration enhanced Athens’ oversight of the league’s finances, with several inscriptions remaining that detail contributions to the league’s wealth and the amounts provided by each city. Osborne and Rhodes’ recent publication includes numerous inscriptions from this period, featuring a tribute list that details the tribute Athens received from its allies and is dedicated to Athena. The relocation of the treasury is frequently identified as a critical factor in the establishment of an Athenian empire.
- The disaster in Egypt significantly undermined Athenian authority over the Aegean, prompting the Athenians to focus on reorganising the Delian League and stabilising the region for several subsequent years. The Athenians answered a request for aid from Orestes, the son of Echecratides, King of Thessaly, to facilitate his restoration following his exile. Together with their Boeotian and Phocian allies, the Athenians marched to Pharsalus. Their objectives were unattainable due to the Thessalian cavalry, resulting in their return to Athens without the restoration of Orestes or the capture of Pharsalus.
- After being ostracised for a year, Cimon returned to Athens in 451 BCE. The people there were willing to help him make peace with Sparta. Cimon set up a five-year truce, and after that, Athens spent a few years focusing on the Aegean region. The years after the truce were very important in Greek political history. The Peace of Callias, assuming its existence, was established in 449 BCE.
- In that same year, Pericles enacted the Congress decree, which called for a Hellenic congress to deliberate on Greece’s future. The central years of the First Peloponnesian War represented the zenith of Athenian power. The city, possessing control over Boeotia and Megara on land while asserting naval dominance, remained entirely secure from potential attacks. These events in 447 and 446 BCE weakened this position. Not all Athenians gave up their dreams of being the only power in the Greek world, but the peace treaty that ended the war set the stage for a two-power Greece. The Second Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta began in 431 BCE and had much more precise results.
Frequently Asked Questions About The First Peloponnesian War
- Who fought in the First Peloponnesian War?
It was mainly fought between Athens and its allies versus Sparta and the Peloponnesian League.
- What caused the First Peloponnesian War?
Rising tensions between Athens and Sparta over power, alliances, and control of Greece led to conflict.
- Why is the First Peloponnesian War important?
It showed the growing rivalry between Athens and Sparta, setting the stage for the larger and more destructive Second Peloponnesian War.