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Outline

This paper will describe the differences in political structure and military strength between Sparta and Athens. It will focus on the Delian league as well as the Peloponnesian league in the problems the Sparta had to counter to defeat Athens. It will also address what killed Pericles and weakened Athens as well as the war between Athens and Sparta.

Introduction

The Delian and the Peloponnesian leagues

Athens formed a kind of agreement where people and states agreed to work together called the called the Delian League. The Delian League formation was initiated by the Persian invasions that seemed to threaten the independence and success of Athens. This led to many cities joining the Delian League as a defensive pact for their own protections of the cities from invasions. As the league grew, Athens became the most dominant member in the alliance and other cities were forces to pay monies to Athens for them to be offered protection from their army and all these government expenses, especially armies and wars required a great deal of money so the taxes had to be raised, (Pavlac, 86).

On the other hand, Sparta formed another alliance called the Peloponnesian league and by the sixth century, Sparta was the most powerful city in Peloponnesus. This alliance was created by around 550 Spartans as Sparta is located in south east Greece in the Peloponnesus region. The aim of creating this alliance was to protect Greece against its enemies and these alliances were instrumental in helping Athens defeat Persia during the Persian wars; as time went by, Athens continued to gain power which made Sparta feel threatened and hence the Peloponnesian league tried to find ways to hold back the influence the Athens already had.

The war between Athens and Sparta

There was the Peloponnesian war where Sparta fought against the Athens due to the growth of their rivalry; the Sparta issued an ultimatum to the Athens that they are to let go of all the cities they had control over or else they would be forcibly fought in a war to free the cities. This ultimatum was not taken lightly and Athens did not comply resulting into a war which lasted for 27 years. The war culminated to the loss of the Athens as they had to gather inside the city walls for protection where a plague struck that killed many people as well as soldiers. This weakened Athens in a great manner leading to their defeat and hence the collapse of the league they had built. Another attribute that made Sparta win the war was the help they got from the Persian Empire in building stronger ships for battle and after the Athens were defeated, they were forced to tear down walls that surrounded their city.

Despite their loss due to the epidemic, Athens fought on resiliently considering that they were low on manpower. A serious revolt in 428-427 in one of the islands led by the city-state of Mytilene was forcefully put down as an attack on the island of Melos ensued though they had not actively taken part in the war against Sparta. They refused to submit and had their women and children taken into slavery; Sicily too was up against a massive naval campaign as it had great riches, (Evans, 94).

Conclusion

It can be concluded that the roman urban culture was fostered by planting colonies of retired Latin soldiers and this helped diverse people become Romanised to various degrees. This is evident in the war that occurred between the Sparta and Athens that culminated in the defeat of Athen as the wars happened to conquer wealth as well as gain rich resources from neighbours as well as enemies.

Works cited

Pavlac, Brian A. A Concise Survey of Western Civilization: Supremacies and Diversities

Throughout History. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011. Internet resource

Evans, Nancy. Civic Rites: Democracy and Religion in Ancient Athens. Berkeley: University

of California Press, 2010. Internet resource