Peloponnesian War

1. Peloponnesian War
Athens-Sparta Conflict

2. Despite the grandeur that was Athens
under Pericles, other city-states did
exist.
Many of them resented the
domination of Athens.
The most powerful rival Athens had
was its Peloponnesian rival to the
south, Sparta
Peloponnesian War

3. Athens
Sparta

6. Sparta - Lifestyles
 Government
 Oligarchy
 Ruled by a small group
 Rigid social structure
 Militaristic and aggressive society
 Sparta was a very militaristic society who sent
their sons off to the army at the age of 7.
 Citizens were soldiers.
 Conquered people became state-owned
slaves (helots) who worked the fields to feed
the society.

7. AthensAthens SpartaSparta
SharedShared
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8. AthensAthens SpartaSparta
• Limited directLimited direct
democracydemocracy
• Outlawed debtOutlawed debt
slaveryslavery
• Granted citizenshipGranted citizenship
to some foreignersto some foreigners
• Merchants &Merchants &
farmersfarmers
• Traded with otherTraded with other
city statescity states
• Boys educated ifBoys educated if
affordableaffordable
• Broad education inBroad education in
many topicsmany topics
• Monarchy with twoMonarchy with two
kings - oligarchykings - oligarchy
• Military societyMilitary society
• Boys trained to beBoys trained to be
soldierssoldiers
• Women could inheritWomen could inherit
propertyproperty
• Conquered peoplesConquered peoples
became state ownedbecame state owned
slavesslaves
• Only native-bornOnly native-born
could be Spartancould be Spartan
citizenscitizens
• Disdained tradeDisdained trade
• Isolated from otherIsolated from other
city states in Greececity states in Greece
• Common languageCommon language
• Common religionCommon religion
• Sense of superioritySense of superiority
over non-Greeksover non-Greeks
SharedShared

9. Peloponnesian War
(431-404 B.C.E.)
Cause: Competition between Sparta
and Athens for control of Greek world
 Athens dominance of the Greek city-
states in the Delian League v. Sparta
in the Peloponnesian League

10. Peloponnesian War
(431-404 B.C.E.)
War lasted 27 years
Pitted Greek against Greek
Athens, a great naval power,
located on the sea
Sparta, located inland, immune to
naval attack

11. Peloponnesian War
Sparta invaded Athens
Pericles pulled all people inside the city
walls, causing overcrowded conditions
Plague broke out killing 1/4 to 1/3 of the
total population of Athens, including
Pericles
Sparta even enlisted the help of the
hated Persians

12. Results of the Peloponnesian War
Sparta, with the help of the Persian
navy, defeated Athens in 404 BCE.
All Athenian ships were burned
Its navy destroyed.
Ended Athenian political domination
of the Greek world.

13. Results of the Peloponnesian War
Cultural advances slowed and the
Greeks were politically weaker.
Athens remained the cultural center
of the Greek world

14. Alexander and
the Hellenistic Age

15. Rise of Macedonia
Land north of the Greek city-states
Considered to be only “half
civilized” and populated by
barbarians to most Greeks

16. M a c e d o n i aM a c e d o n i a

17. Philip II of Macedonia
 Became king of the Macedonians in 359
B .C. E.
 He dreamt of an empire and wanted to
control all of Greece
 His biggest goal was to take over the
Persian Empire as well!
 Alliances
 Through threats, bribery, and
diplomacy, he formed alliances
with many of the Greek city-
states.
 The rest he simply conquered.

18. Phillip II - Alliances & Conquest
 338 BCE - Victory at the Battle of
Chaeronea was against Athens and Thebes
which meant that he brought the rest of
Greece under his control
 Conquered most of Greece
 However, Phillip was assassinated before he
could conquer the Persian Empire, which was
his greatest plan.

20. Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great
 Son of Phillip II
 20 yrs old when his father was
assassinated
 Became the leader of the Macedonians.
 Even though he was so young, he had
trained as a soldier in his father’s military
and shared his father’s dream of Persian
conquest.

21. Alexander the Great
 He was tutored by the famous
Greek philosopher Aristotle

22. Conquest of Persia
 He began to build an army
and navy in order to attack
the Persians
 By 334 BCE, he had enough ships to
challenge Persian dominance over the
Dardanelles.
 Persia was not the powerful empire it was
in earlier times.
 Darius III was weak
 Persia had internal conflict.

23. Conquest of Persia
 Alexander’s first victory over the
Persians came at Granicus
 He then conquered all of Asia Minor,
Palestine, and Egypt.
 In 331 BCE, he took Babylon and
other Persian capitals

24. Alexander’s conquests

25. Onward to India
 Alexander and his army
continued to move east,
over the Hindu Kush
mountains, and into
Northern India.
 There he met armored
elephants and decided
he should stop for a
while.

26. Sudden Death
 Died in Babylon suddenly without leaving an heir.
 His empire was eventually divided into three areas
under three generals:
 Macedonia & Greece
 Egypt
 Persia

27. Legacy of Alexander
 Created 70 new cities,
40 of them bore his
name.
 Examples
 Alexandria in Egypt
 Alexandroupolis in
Greece

28. Legacy of Alexander
 Greek soldiers, traders,
and artisans settled in
cities conquered by
Alexander.
 Extended Greek cultural
influences
 Built Greek temples
 Held Greek festivals
 Erected Greek art and
architecture.

29. Legacy of Alexander
 Established an empire that stretched from Greece to
Egypt and the margins of India

30. Legacy of Alexander
 Gradually, a new culture
emerged out of this blending
of Greek, Egyptian and
Persian (oriental influences)
 This new culture was called
Hellenistic that lasted until the
rise of the Roman Empire
 This Hellenistic culture was
spread through trade.