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Article: Peloponnesian War
- Article from:
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
CopyrightThe Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information)
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Peloponnesian War , 431-404 BC, decisive struggle in ancient Greece between
Athens
and
Sparta
. It ruined Athens, at least for a time. The rivalry between Athens' maritime domain and Sparta's land empire was of long standing. Athens under
Pericles
(from 445 BC) had become a bastion of Greek democracy, with a foreign policy of regularly intervening to help local democrats. The Spartans, who favored oligarchies like their own, resented and feared the imperialism and cultural ascendancy of Athens.
The war began after sharp contests between Athens and Corinth over Corcyra (now
Kérkira
; 433) and
Potidaea
(432). The first important action was the initial invasion of
Attica
...