Peleponnesian war

By brigetterouse123
  • 479 BCE

    Building of 'Long walls'

    One such decision was the building of the ‘long walls’ connecting Athens to Piraeus (an important harbour city), thus making it almost impossible for a land army to attack the city of Athens from the Peloponnese Peninsula. Athens then began to build these walls between their ally city-states in the Delian League.
  • 478 BCE

    Delian League formed

    1. Athens controlled the Delian League (an organisation of Greek city-states) from 478 BCE (basically, an empire with subject city-states). Hence, Sparta and their allies had left the league and formed the Peloponnesian League (550 BCE) long before the war with the Persians.
  • 460 BCE

    460

    • Athens broke long-standing alliance with Sparta.
    • Athens and Argos (Sparta’s enemy) form an alliance.
    • Athens drew Megara (a Peloponnesian city-state) into the Delian League (angering Sparta further).
  • Period: 460 BCE to 445 BCE

    First Peloponnesian War

    The First Peloponnesian War was fought between Sparta (Peloponnesian League) and Athens (Delian League) and their allies. This war consisted of a series of conflicts and minor wars and was primarily the result of the envy and concern felt by Sparta at the growth of the Athenian Empire and Athenian fear of Spartan power:
  • 457 BCE

    457

    • Athens defeats Aegina (Spartan ally); forces them into Delian League.
    • Sparta wins the Battle of Oenoe.
    The Athenians would then score crushing victories over several Peloponnese city-states and ravaged the Peloponnese peninsula by sea, taking control of several city-states in the process.
  • 454 BCE

    454

    • Athens is defeated attempting to support the Greek colonists in Egypt who are fighting the Persians.
    • Athens moves the Delian League treasury from Delos to Athens, with all finances now being controlled by the Athenians (big deal).
    Athens and Sparta sign a 5-year peace treaty, whilst the Persians are taken care of
  • 448 BCE

    448

    • Persians finally expelled forever after defeats at Cyprus & Cilicia.
    • Peace of Callias is signed; leads to consolidation of Athens’ empire.
    • Athenian power over Delian states is more pronounced:
    • City-states must swear loyalty.
    • Athenian garrisons of soldiers stationed in member states.
    • Compliant or democratic governments installed.
    • Use of Athenian coinage as common currency.
    Use of Athenian law courts to hear all major cases.
  • 447 BCE

    447

    • After the war flared up again, several defeated Peloponnese city-states (Boeotia, Phocis & Locris) revolted and defeating the Athenians to regain their independence.
    Megara & Euboea revolted, with Athens losing Megara, but crushing Euboea to maintain control.
  • 445 BCE

    445

    The First Peloponnesian War ended in an arrangement between Sparta and Athens, which was ratified by the Thirty Years' Peace.
  • 460

    Sparta and Athens were openly hostile

    Sparta and Athens became publically ‘hostile’ towards one another and began manoeuvring so that each of their allies could be called upon if it came to war. War was imminent.