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Peloponnesian War Timeline
(431 BC – 404 BC)Historical Background
Athens increases its own power over allies
460 BC
Athens had greatly increased its own power; a number of its formerly independent allies were reduced, over the course of the century, to the status of tribute-paying subject states of the Delian League, fueling resentment among the Greek states.
Image source: Peloponnesian War
Persians driven out of the Aegean by mid-century
450 BC
By mid-century, the Persians had been driven out of the Aegean and had ceded control of vast territories to Athens, dramatically shifting the balance of power in the Greek world and setting the stage for growing tensions between Athens and Sparta.
Tribute funds powerful fleet and public works in Athens
445 BC
This tribute was used to fund a powerful fleet and, after the middle of the century, massive public works in Athens, causing resentment among both subject states and rival powers such as Sparta and Corinth.
Ancient Sources
Ephorus writes universal history after the war
350 BC
The Greek historian Ephorus composed a universal history in the century after the war, which is now lost but appears to have been a major source for later writers such as Diodorus Siculus.
Diodorus Siculus writes his books in the first century BC
60 BC - 30 BC
Written in the first century BC, these books appear to be based heavily (possibly entirely) upon an earlier universal history by Ephorus, written in the century after the war, which is now lost.
Image source: Diodorus Siculus
Plutarch bases his work on earlier lost accounts
100 AD
Written in the first century AD, Plutarch based his work on earlier accounts which are now lost, providing valuable biographical material about figures such as Pericles, Alcibiades, Lysander, and Nicias.
Image source: Plutarch
Published Works
Grote publishes A History of Greece
1846 - 1856
George Grote's multi-volume A History of Greece offered a landmark liberal assessment of Athenian democracy and the Peloponnesian War, shaping nineteenth-century understanding of the conflict.
Image source: George Grote
Kagan begins publication of his tetralogy on the war
1969 - 1987
Donald Kagan published a four-volume history of the Peloponnesian War with Cornell University Press between 1969 and 1987, beginning with The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War (hardcover ISBN 0-8014-0501-7; paperback 0-8014-9556-3).
Image source: Donald Kagan
De Ste. Croix publishes The Origins of the Peloponnesian War
1972
G. E. M. de Ste. Croix's The Origins of the Peloponnesian War was published in London by Duckworth in 1972, offering a Marxist-influenced analysis of the economic and political causes of the conflict.
Image source: G. E. M. de Ste. Croix
Kagan publishes The Archidamian War
1974
The second volume of Donald Kagan's tetralogy, The Archidamian War, was published by Cornell University Press in 1974 (hardcover ISBN 0-8014-0889-X; paperback 1990, ISBN 0-8014-9714-0), covering the first phase of the war.
Image source: Peloponnesian War
Key Facts
- The war was fought primarily between Athens and its empire (Delian League) and Sparta and its allies (Peloponnesian League) from 431 to 404 BC.
- The conflict is traditionally divided into three phases: the Archidamian War, the Peace of Nicias, and the Ionian or Decelean War.
- A devastating plague struck Athens in 430 BC, killing a large portion of its population, including the statesman Pericles.
- The disastrous Sicilian Expedition (415–413 BC), in which Athens lost a massive fleet and army at Syracuse, was a major turning point in the war.
- The war ended in 404 BC with Athens' defeat at the Battle of Aegospotami, followed by the destruction of its Long Walls and the installation of the pro-Spartan Thirty Tyrants.
Source
This Peloponnesian War timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.
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