Introduction

Does war bring out the worst in men? Or does the worst in men bring on war? Either way, war is the worst.

Why do we humans fight in wars? Is it because we have some kind of lust for blood? Do we wish to cause harm and suffering to others? All of these questions have stymied very wise men who would search for mankind's undying love of war, of battle.

The Peloponnesian war was no exception; It was a war like any other. Like it or not, wars are one of the largest, probably the largest, single thing to shape our future. Can you imagine what would have happened if the Athenians had won the Peloponnesian war? Alexander might not have beaten them, the Romans might not have ever achieved the status of superpower, the Americas might have never been found! Any war is important though, because many years from now, people may wonder "What would have happened if Hitler won World War 2"

Wars always seem to have a good side, and a bad side. In World War 2, who would you say was the bad side, the Nazis, right? I don't believe that you would have gotten the same answer from a Nazi general at the time. Therefore, for ease of reading, neither side was good, and neither side was bad.

The Peloponnesian Wars took place in ancient Greece, in 431 RC to 404 BC. It was a close battle and could have easily been one by the Delian League or the Peloponnesian League. The Delian League consisted of, Athens, Stagira, Byzantium, Ephesus, and Abydus. Whereas, the Peloponnesian League consisted of, Sparta, Corinth, Argos, Thebes, and Ambracia. Athens had many allies, while not all of them were in the Delian league. The Peloponnesian War was the longest, costliest, and all around, most brutal war ever experienced in Greece.

Athens seemed better prepared for the war, and would probably have won, but no one can stop a plague, it doesn't matter how strong one's army is. The plague hit Athens in the second year of the war, and killed one third of the whole population.

Athens had no way of stopping the Spartan ground attack, so they abandoned Attica every year, and took all of the food with them, into Athens, where the walls would protect them. It was that second year, with all of the overcrowding, and poor sanitation that the plague started, as well as killing one third of the population, it killed Pericles, the Athenian ruler.

The Persians were not directly involved in the war, and cannot be counted as a Spartan ally, but they did finance the Spartan naval fleet that was needed so badly, thus turning the tide of the war.