Causes of The Peloponnesian War

The Megarian Decree was a short-term cause on Athens’ part. At the time Pericles (Athenian strategos), realized that war was inevitable so he created the ‘Megarian Decree’. This excluded the polis of Megara from all Athenian ports and markets. This was intended to bankrupt and starve Megara to highlight Athenian power over economics, as so far Athens had only been known as a thalasocracy. Thucidides does not make it clear as to why Pericles would resort to this measure, but in historian Victor Ehrenberg’s point of view Pericles would have been afraid of revolts in the Athenian empire if she showed herself weak.[14]Due to this Sparta received increasing amounts of complaints about Athens from Corinth, Aegina and now Megara, where the question of declaring war was becoming more predominant. The increased pressure Sparta was put under would have contributed to the declaration of war, and in Plutarch’s view, Pericles’ decision over Megara was “the cause” of the war.[15] Although Thucidides does not directly address the issue of economics as a cause for the war it is important to note that, as seen with the Megarian Decree, economics did play a role on causing the war, and Pericles knew how to use it to show Athenian power, threatening Corinth and Sparta.

The causes of the Great Peloponnesian War are varying, and both Sparta and Athens cannot be directly blamed for it. The war was caused by a long-term tension between the two great powers supplemented with various short-term events and Corinth’s grudge against Athens to spark the decision to go to war.

Bibliography

Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Published 1980 by Penguin Books Ltd

Pamela Bradely, Ancient Greece, published 2001 by Cambridge University Press

Victor Ehrenberg, From Solomon to Socrates, published 1973 by Harper & Row Publishers Inc

John V. A Fine, The Ancient Greeks, Published by the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (date not given)

Raphael Sealy, A History of the Greek City States, Published 1976 by the University of California Press

W.G. Forrest, A History of Sparta, published 1995 by Bristol Classical Press

M.I. Finley, The Ancient Greeks, published 1986 by Peregrine Books

[1] Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Published 1980 by Penguin Books Ltd, page 49

[2] Ibid page 89-90

[3] Raphael Sealy, A History of the Greek City States, Published 1976 by the University of California Press, page 244

[4] Thucydides Op. cit, book 1.115

[5] John V. A Fine, The Ancient Greeks, Published by the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (date not given), page 448

[6] Thucydides, Op. cit, book IV.102

[7] Victor Ehrenberg, From Solomon to Socrates, published 1973 by Harper & Row Publishers Inc, page 262

[8] Pamela Bradely, Ancient Greece, published 2001 by Cambridge University Press, page 223

[9] John V. A Fine Op.cit page 447

[10] Thucydides, Op. cit book 1.55

[11] Victor Ehrenberg, Op.Cit, page 263

[12] John V. A Fine Op.cit page 449

[13] Ibid page 450

[14] Victor Ehrenberg, Op.Cit, page 264

[15] Plutarch, Life of Pericles, 29ff