http://www.idbsu.edu/courses/hy101/peloponn/04.htm
The Peloponnesian War - Page 4 of 17

[Contents] [Prev Page] [NextPage]

The Drift Towards War

Athens and Sparta had a brief war in the 440s, which ended in a treaty that was supposed to assure peace between them for the next 30 years. By the terms of the treaty, Athens gave up her entire land empire, in return for which Sparta recognized Athenian supremacy at sea.

 Sparta still feared Athens, however, and she was not alone. In particular, Corinth disliked the arrangements because Corinth was the second-largest naval power in Greece. Corinth took the lead in painting Athens as a threat to Greek liberty, a picture readily believed in Sparta and elsewhere. For her part, Athens insisted that she was the natural leader of the Greeks, her worthiness having been proved in both war and peace.

  

[Contents] [Prev Page] [NextPage]
History of Western Civilization
Dr.Ellis L. Knox
Boise State University
Last Revised 22 June 1995