Peloponnesian WarAthens-Sparta Conflict

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

Athens

Sparta

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.

AthensAthens SpartaSparta

SharedShared`

AthensAthens SpartaSparta•Limited direct Limited direct

democracydemocracy•Outlawed debt Outlawed debt

slaveryslavery•Granted Granted

citizenship to citizenship to some foreignerssome foreigners•Merchants & Merchants &

farmersfarmers•Traded with other Traded with other

city statescity states•Boys educated if Boys educated if

affordableaffordable•Broad education Broad education

in many topicsin many topics

• Monarchy with Monarchy with two kings - two kings - oligarchyoligarchy• Military societyMilitary society

• Boys trained to be Boys trained to be soldierssoldiers• Women could Women could

inherit propertyinherit property• Conquered Conquered

peoples became peoples became state owned state owned slavesslaves• Only native-born Only native-born

could be Spartan could be Spartan citizenscitizens

• Disdained tradeDisdained trade• Isolated from Isolated from

other city states in other city states in GreeceGreece

• Common Common languagelanguage

• Common religionCommon religion• Sense of Sense of

superiority over superiority over non-Greeksnon-Greeks

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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

Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.E.) War lasted 27 yearsPitted Greek against Greek

Athens, a great naval power, located on the sea

Sparta, located inland, immune to naval attack

Peloponnesian WarSparta invaded AthensPericles pulled all people inside the city

walls, causing overcrowded conditionsPlague 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

Results of the Peloponnesian War

Sparta, with the help of the Persian navy, defeated Athens in 404 BCE.

All Athenian ships were burnedIts navy destroyed.

Ended Athenian political domination of the Greek world.

Results of the Peloponnesian War

Cultural advances slowed and the Greeks were politically weaker.Athens remained the cultural center

of the Greek world

Alexander and the Hellenistic Age

Rise of Macedonia

Land north of the Greek city-statesConsidered to be only “half

civilized” and populated by barbarians to most Greeks

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

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.

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.

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.

Alexander the Great

He was tutored by the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle

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.

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

Alexander’s conquests

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.

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

Legacy of Alexander

Created 70 new cities, 40 of them bore his name.

Examples Alexandria in Egypt Alexandroupolis in

Greece

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.

Legacy of Alexander Established an empire that stretched from Greece to

Egypt and the margins of India

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.