The Consequences of the Peloponnesian War - Research Paper Example

? The of history has been plagued with wars since the beginning of time, and history will most likely continue in this manner until the end oftime. Wars have the ability to exterminate entire populations, erase cities from the map, and give rise to new empires that will eventually fall due to the onset of yet another war. From the years of 431 to 404 B.C., the war known as the Peloponnesian War raged between the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta, mortal enemies in the ancient world. Thucydides, an author and historian during the war, described the war as “the greatest upheaval that had come to the Greeks…one might even say to the greater part of mankind” (Thucydides 88). Although this observation by Thucydides lacked the advantage of hindsight, his statement now carries validity, as the Peloponnesian War had many immediate and lasting effects, which this paper will attempt to determine. In order to properly understand the consequences of the Peloponnesian War, the causes and course of the war must be known. In Donald Kagan’s On the Origins of War and Preservation of Peace, he argues that the causes of all war are sourced from “fear, honor, and interest” (On the Origins 6), and this holds true with the Peloponnesian War. Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful Greek city-states in the 5th century B.C., and they were on opposite sides of the “power bloc” due to the formation of the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League. The Delian League eventually became the Athenian Empire, was originally made to combat the threat of the Persian Empire (The Outbreak 2); the Peloponnesian League was formed by Sparta to combat the rising threat of Athens (Thucydides, Hammond, Rhodes 476). Rather than combining their respective power and influence, the two city states became opposed factions within the Hellenic World. While there are many intricate and underlying causes to the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides and numerous modern historians agree, to the best of their knowledge, that the main cause of the war was “Spartan fear of Athenian power” (Thucydides, Hammond, Rhodes 477). Because of the threat of the growing Athenian Empire, in hindsight it became evident that the war was inevitable – the Athenian power became an object of fear that the Spartans could not ignore. The Peloponnesian War spanned across a period of twenty seven years, encompassing numerous theaters, battles and campaigns that cannot be explained entirely in this paper. This paper will outline a brief summary of the war that will be used to help determine the consequences of the conflict. Athens was aware of the fact that they could not outright defeat the Spartan army, thus, they built a walled corridor between their city and their port of Piraeus, which the Athenians resided within in an attempt to wait out the Spartan army and outlast them in a war of attrition (Daniel 74). Since the Spartans could not breach the walls of their enemy and the Athenians could not outlast the Spartans, the war resulted to a series of Athenian naval raids and Spartan attacks into Athenian land with the goal of destroying vital crops and resources (Daniel 74). After a plague within the Athenian walls that led to the death of the Athenian war leader Pericles, Alcibiades, a new Athenian leader, took the reins of the Athenian forces, and drastically altered the Athenian plan of action for the war. Alcibiades decided to change from a defensive strategy to an offensive one, and thus ordered an invasion of the city of Syracuse on the island of Sicily, which, due to bad leadership, organization, and excellent Spartan defense, turned out to be a failure (Daniel 75). The failed campaign resulted in the destruction of the Athenian fleet and army, and ultimately resulted in the Athenians losing the war that they had started (Gombrich 63). First, this paper will analyze the immediate effects of the war on both Athens and Sparta. As history has seen in numerous instances, being defeated in a war has seemingly endless and perpetual consequences for both the losing and victorious nations. When the Peloponnesian war drew to a close, “utter confusion” followed for Greece (Gombrich 62). The most immediate effect of the war was felt by the Athenian nation, as it was left bankrupt, exhausted, and demoralized by the thirty year long war (Cowley and Parker 198), and thus it had no choice but to submit to the Spartan occupation. The Athenian city walls were torn down, and a large amount of their usable crops had been destroyed, thus eliminating any possibility of an immediate recovery for the Athenian city state (Gombrich 62). Because of the demoralization of the Athenian citizens, the period of incredible intellectual and artistic exhibition in Athens ground to a premature halt (Daniel 75). Although Sparta was indeed the victor of the Peloponnesian War, it was a short-lived victory, as several city-states, particularly Thebes, invaded and defeated Sparta (Daniel 75). This overthrow of the established power created an enticing power vacuum that drew many other nations into Greece and thus altered the Greek nation. One of the nations that was drawn into the unstable Greek nation was Macedonia, under King Phillip (Gombrich 63). King Phillip did not wish to conquer and subjugate the Greeks, but rather sought to create a combined army that would be able to defeat the Persians. Approximately 100 years after the Greeks had held off the looming threat of the mighty Persians, they were defeated by the tiny Macedonia under King Phillip in 338 B.C. (Gombrich 63), and thus, the golden age of Greece had come to an unfortunate close. Shortly after King Phillip acquired the vast Greek territory, he was assassinated before his goals could be accomplished – and his throne was ceded to his son, Alexander (Gombrich 63). King Phillip’s son had long awaited the throne, once commenting after one of his father’s victories that “father won’t leave anything for me to conquer when I’m king!” (Gombrich 64). Upon ascension to the throne, Alexander did not relinquish the goals of his father, but rather, acted upon them, and landed on Asia Minor in 334 B.C. This began his campaign that some historians still consider unrivalled to this day (Daniel 76). After fulfilling what was called a holy war and toppling the majesty of the magnificent Persian Empire, Alexander continued his crusade until the edge of India (what was then believed to be the end of the world), and then returned to his home city of Babylon, where he died at age thirty three. Thus, we arrive at the primary analysis of the effects of the Peloponnesian War. The conclusion of the war did not bring any decisive results for either of the warring states, but instead became the catalyst for their downfall. The Greek nation was in a period of turmoil after the war, and this led to King Phillip seizing the opportunity to take control of the Greek Empire. His seizure was not nearly as significant as the ascension of his son, Alexander, whose impending crusade would earn him the eternal title of “Alexander the Great”. Hence, we begin to see some of the more lasting results of the war. Alexander not only dramatically changed the political boundaries of the time period; he also “changed a part of the world he marched through” (Wilcken X). In addition to the tangible fruits of Alexander’s labors, he helped to pave the way for the development of the non-Greek world. Because of his conquering, Greek civilization was brought into Western Asia, and the impending Hellenization resulted in the formation of institutions that would eventually give birth to the rise of Christianity as well as the harmonization of the Roman world (Wilcken XI). Consequently, two of the most important outcomes of Alexander the Great’s actions are realized. First, he paved the way for the rise of Christianity, a monotheistic religion that would eventually become the most prevalent religion in the entire world. Modern estimates, according to the United States CIA Factbook approximate that 33.32% of the population of the world practices Christianity, which equates to 2.2 billion followers (CIA Factbook). This impact would not be so important if only the sheer number of Christians was analyzed, however, the Christian religion has had significant impacts throughout time. Countless wars have been waged in the name of Christianity, populations have been exterminated in attempts to eliminate non-Christian religions, and entire states have been erected based on the concepts and ideals of Christianity. Thus, the Peloponnesian War facilitated the rise of Alexander the Great, who paved the way for the most encompassing religion to this day. Continuing, Alexander the Great had lasting significance aside from religion, in that he facilitated the diffusion of Greek civilization to the far reaches of the world. Some historians claim that “no single personality, excepting [Jesus of Nazareth], has done so much to make the world we live in what it is as [Alexander the Great]” (Woodburn, Moran 66). Much like his father, Alexander did not wish to conquer the peoples into subjugation, but rather “combine the wisdom and the splendor of the East with the clear thinking and vitality of the Greeks, to create something new and wonderful” (Gombrich 69). Consequently, Alexander did just that, by spreading the culture, traditions, knowledge, and tenets of the Greek civilization to parts of the world that would have otherwise never seen any aspects of the Greek empire and civilization. The impacts of Greek civilization on the world as we know it are nearly endless; however, this paper will elaborate upon a few of the most important. One of the most important tenets of Greek civilization that was spread to the non-Greek world was the concept of the city, which had descended from the system of city-states that had defined the Greek world. The Greek notion of the city established the potential of the “city” to provide linkages among culture, commerce, and civic pride that ultimately facilitates the wealth and prosperity of a community (Eger 1). The concept of the city is seen in nearly every nation that exists today; the majority of nations have a capital city accompanied by numerous other cities. Each individual city operates on its own ordinances and political systems, but must still abide by the facets of the constitutions that govern the entire nation that the city resides in. Without the spread of Greek civilization by Alexander, the modern world might never have known the benefit of the Athenian city – communities that were “truly smart, sustainable, healthy, culturally strong, and diverse” (Eger 6). The Greek concept of the city was not the only lasting impact of Alexander’s conquest, but an accompaniment to many of the other lasting impressions. After Alexander’s demise, the spirit of Greece continued to infiltrate Persia, India, and China, and eventually the rest of the world. Over time, the Greek culture and civilization became the forerunner as perhaps the greatest intellectual force that the world would ever know (Gombrich 72). One of the foremost examples of this lays in the city of Alexandria in Egypt, named for its conqueror, Alexander. This is the library – the vast collection of knowledge that began as a Greek collection with nearly seven hundred thousand scrolls, and would become the model for what would become the modern library (Gombrich 72). Furthermore, this notion of the library would eventually help to inspire the creation of the world-changing internet, the interconnected web of knowledge and resources that would revolutionize education and civilization. Perhaps the most important concept that was carried by the spread of Greek civilization was the concept of citizenship and democracy. Although some civilizations may have tampered with the idea of democracy before the Greeks, the Greeks were the fathers of modern-day democracy – or demokratia (“people power”) (Robinson 1). This concept embraced the idea that governance could be accomplished by the citizens of the community, no matter how large and complex the community was (Robinson 1). The basis of Greek democracy was that instead of the king or tyrant did not hold the power to determine the laws, systems and actions of the nation, but rather, the ordinary citizens collectively voted and determined all public affairs for the common good of the nation (Robinson 1). The Founding Fathers of the United States of America followed the system of Greek democracy when they drafted the United States Constitution, deciding that the congress should “be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the states” (Art. 1 Sec. 2). This, in combination with numerous other clauses of the United States Constitution, created the democracy of the United States, and facilitated the prosperity and success of the United States as a democratic nation. The United States was not the only nation to adopt the system of democracy; numerous other European nations as well as nations all over the world have adopted the democratic system that has its roots in Greek civilization. Thus, in conclusion, the Peloponnesian War had lasting significance in the creation of the modern world as we know it. Without the confusion and upheaval that resulted in the wake of the war, King Phillip of Macedonia would never have had the opportunity to take control of the Greek nation, and thus, his son, Alexander the Great would never have ascended to the throne. Alexander the Great accomplished a conquest of the world that has yet to be matched, and with his conquest, he facilitated the spread of Greek culture to nearly every corner of the world. The tenets of Greek civilization helped to guide and establish many of the most powerful nations known today, and further allowed them to flourish with the help of Greek knowledge and cultural traditions. Without the crisis of the Peloponnesian War, the modern world would not exist in the manner that we know today. Works Cited Bagnall, Nigel. The Peloponnesian War: Athens, Sparta and the Struggle for Greece. New York: Thomas Dunne, 2006. Daniel, Alan Dale. The Super Summary of World History: with a Strong Emphasis on Western European and American History. [S.l.]: Xlibris, 2008. Eger, John. "Athens in the information age: how will `smart communities' change the way we live." International Journal of Humanities and Peace 18.1 (2002) Gombrich, E. H. A Little History of the World. New Haven: Yale UP, 2005 Kagan, Donald. On the Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace. New York: Doubleday, 1995 Kagan, Donald. The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. Ithaca [N.Y.: Cornell UP, 1969 Robinson, Eric W. Ancient Greek Democracy Readings and Sources. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2003. Print. "The Constitution of the United States," Article 1, Section 2, Clause 1 Thucydides, Martin Hammond, and P. J. Rhodes. The Peloponnesian War. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Thucydides. Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War, Volume 1. [S.l.]: William Heinemann, 1956 Wilcken, Ulrich. Alexander the Great. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1967 Woodburn, James Albert, and Thomas Francis Moran. Introduction to American History. New York: Longmans, Green and, 1923. Print. Read More