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History 101: Ancient Greece | National Geographic Society

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From artistry to politics, ancient Greece left a considerable impression on world history. Learn why Greek and Roman gods share so many similarities, how the alphabet got its name, and how the legacy of ancient Greece has evolved over thousands of years.

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Democracy in ancient Greece served as one of the first forms of self-rule government in the ancient world. The system and ideas employed by the ancient Greeks had profound influences on how democracy developed, and its impact on the formation of the U.S. government.

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May 16, 2016

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Religion According to the Ancient Greeks

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May 12, 2017

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Socrates and Plato are two famous Greek philosophers whose ideas still impact society today.

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Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary

In ancient Greece, philosophers contemplated and theorized about many different ideas such as human nature, ethics, and moral dilemmas. Ancient Greek philosophers can be categorized into three groups: the Pre-Socratics, the Socratics, and the Post-Socratics.

Pre-Socratic philosophers mostly investigated natural phenomena. They believed that humans originated from a single substance, which could be water, air, or an unlimited substance called "apeiron." One well-known philosopher from this group was Pythagoras, the mathematician who created the Pythagorean Theorem.

The Socratic philosophers in ancient Greece were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. These are some of the most well-known of all Greek philosophers. Socrates (470/469-399 B.C.E.) is remembered for his teaching methods and for asking thought-provoking questions. Instead of lecturing his students, he asked them difficult questions in order to challenge their underlying assumptions-a method still used in modern-day law schools. Because Socrates wrote little about his life or work, much of what we know comes from his student Plato.

Plato (428/427-348/347 B.C.E.) studied ethics, virtue, justice, and other ideas relating to human behavior. Following in Socrates' footsteps, he became a teacher and inspired the work of the next great Greek philosopher, Aristotle. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.), while also interested in ethics, studied different sciences like physics, biology, and astronomy. He is often credited with developing the study of logic, as well as the foundation for modern-day zoology.

The Post-Socratic philosophers established four schools of philosophy: Cynicism, Skepticism, Epicureanism, and Stoicism. The Post-Socratic philosophers focused their attention on the individual rather than on communal issues such as politics. For example, stoicism sought to understand and cultivate a certain way of life, based on one's virtues, or wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance. Modern philosophers and educators still employ the patterns of thinking and exploration established by ancient Greek philosophers, such as the application of logic to questions of thought and engaging in debate to better convey philosophical ideas.

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Image Socrates and Plato are two famous Greek philosophers whose ideas still impact society today. Anastasios71 / Shutterstock Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary In ancient Greece, philosophers contemplated and theorized about many different ideas such as human nature, ethics, and moral dilemmas. Ancient Greek philosophers can be categorized into three groups: the Pre-Socratics, the Socratics, and the Post-Socratics.

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Archaeologists have uncovered some beautiful mosaic floors in the house of Partenius in Stobi, an archaeological site in Macedonia that dates to the 2nd century, C.E.

Photograph by De Agostini Picture Library

Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary

Ancient Macedonia was a small kingdom located in northern Greece. The Mackednoi (Mahk-ed-noy) tribe first inhabited the area and gave the country its name. According to the ancient historian, Herodotus, they were the first people to call themselves "hellenes." The term Hellenistic later became synonymous with all things Greek. However, the Mackednoi tribe had little to do with southern Greece for centuries.

The history of the Macedonian monarchy began in 808 B.C.E. with Caranus, who was the first known king of Macedonia. In 359 B.C.E., when King Phillip II became the ruler, he united the southern Greek city-states with the north, and brought them all under Macedonian rule. King Phillip II improved his army and began to devise plans to conquer other lands in the Mediterranean region. He died before he was able to put his plans into action. His son Alexander, later known as Alexander the Great, was able to expand Macedonia.

In 336 B.C.E. Alexander the Great became king. Throughout his reign, he was able to expand the empire to Asia and India. Alexander was a skilled general who did not lose a single battle. After his death in 323 B.C.E., the empire was divided by four of his top generals. Over the next century, these territories experienced a series of internal power struggles and civil wars, as different factions conflicted with each other for control of these lands. Ultimately Rome took over the Macedonian lands and the Macedonian kingdom ceased to exist. By 146 B.C.E., Macedonia became a Roman province. By 65 B.C.E., Rome conquered the Asian portion of what was the Macedonian kingdom. In Egypt, Macedonian rulers still existed, in 30 B.C.E., when Cleopatra VII was defeated by Rome, which ended any reign by Macedonian rulers.

Macedonia still exists today. It is part of the Macedonian region of northern Greece. Nearly two-thirds of the population there identify themselves as Macedonians, although the population is quite diverse.

(356-323 BCE) Greek ruler, explorer, and conqueror.

loosely united civilization founded on and around the Peloponnese peninsula, lasting from about the 8th century BCE to about 200 BCE.

(about 484 BCE to 425 BCE) Greek historian.

division of a country larger than a town or county.

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Macedonia, a small kingdom in northern Greece, established a growing empire from 359 B.C. to 323 B.C. through the reign of several kings. With Alexander the Great, Macedonia would come to conquer many lands and usher in the Hellenistic age in the region.

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Learn how democracy in the United States is different from that of the ancient Greeks.

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Friday, March 15, 2019

After declaring independence from England in 1776, the founders of the United States possessed a unique opportunity to create a government of their choosing. This was a momentous task, and for guidance they looked to what they deemed the best philosophies and examples of government throughout world history. Along with the Roman model, the democratic model of ancient Greece's system of self-government greatly influenced how the founding fathers set out to construct the new United States government.

Prior to independence, the east coast of what is today the United States was divided into 13 separate colonies. The founders of the United States decided to keep the country divided into states rather than dissolving the colonial boundaries. They did this so that each region could be governed at a local level, with a national government acting as a dominant authority over all. These 13 colonies would become the first states of the newly established country.

A U.S. state resembles the community structure of an ancient Greek polis, or city-state. A polis was composed of an urban center and the land surrounding it, developments similar to that of the major cities and state capitals in the United States and the rural areas surrounding them. In ancient Greece, some of the main city-states were Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes, and Syracuse. These city-states acted independently for the most part. However, sometimes they engaged in war against each other. They also banded together to defend Greece from foreign invaders.

All Greek city-states had sets of rules by which the people lived in observance and laws they were required to obey. In ancient Greece the idea of rule of law came from the philosopher Aristotle's belief in natural law. He claimed the existence of a higher justice in nature-certain essential rights-that superseded the laws written by humans. Aristotle believed that people should align themselves with this natural law and govern by its ethics.

In the United States today, the rule of law is a principle that ensures that all laws are publicly accessible, equally enforced, and independently judged, and that they adhere to international human rights ethics. The rule of law is important because it allows all individuals and institutions (including the government itself) to be held accountable for their actions. By agreeing to follow the rule of law, the United States can prevent abuses of power by leaders who might act as if they are above the law.

Another important ancient Greek concept that influenced the formation of the United States government was the written constitution. Aristotle, or possibly one of his students, compiled and recorded The Constitution of the Athenians and the laws of many other Greek city-states. Having a written constitution creates a common standard as to how people should behave and what rules they must follow. It also establishes clear processes by which people who break the law are judged and those who are harmed as a result can be compensated or given justice.

Like The Constitution of the Athenians, the U.S. Constitution is a vital document. It lays out the government's structure and how the checks and balances of power within it relate to one another. The U.S. Constitution acts as the supreme law of the country and establishes individual citizens' rights, such as the right to free speech or the right to a trial by a jury of one's peers. Today, the U.S. Constitution is still regularly referenced in law as the supreme law of the land and is enforced by the U.S. Supreme Court, the country's highest court.

The original U.S. voting system had some similarities with that of Athens. In Athens, every citizen could speak his mind and vote at a large assembly that met to create laws. Citizens were elected to special councils to serve as organizers, decision-makers, and judges. However, the only people considered citizens in Athens were males over the age of 18. Women, slaves, and conquered peoples could not vote in the assembly or be chosen to serve on councils.

The founders of the United States similarly believed that only certain people should be allowed to vote and elect officials. They chose to structure the United States as a representative democracy. This means that citizens elect officials, such as senators and representatives, who vote on behalf of the citizens they represent in Congress. It also means that instead of each individual citizen voting for president directly, a body called the Electoral College officially casts the votes of each state for president. As in Athens, when the United States was founded only white, landowning men were allowed to vote. Over time, however, all U.S. citizens over the age of 18 who have not been convicted of a felony have gained the right to vote.

The principles behind the ancient Greeks' democratic system of government are still in use today. The United States and many other countries throughout the modern world have adopted democratic governments to give a voice to their people. Democracy provides citizens the opportunity to elect officials to represent them. It also allows citizens to choose to elect a different person to represent them if they are dissatisfied with their current elected officials. Today, democracy and the rule of law provide people around the world with a means of protecting their human rights and holding each other accountable as equals under the law.

legislative branch of the government, responsible for making laws. The U.S. Congress has two bodies, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

group of people selected to determine facts in a specific case.

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Freddie Wilkinson

Clint Parks

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The United States has a complex government system. One important tenet of this system is democracy, in which the ultimate power rests with the people. In the case of the United States, that power is exercised indirectly, through elected representatives. Although the U.S. has been a strong proponent of democracy, it did not invent democracy.

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This hand-colored woodcut gives us an artist's concept of what Athens might've looked like in the time of the Roman emperor Hadrian, when its iconic monuments and temples were still in their prime.

Photograph by North Wind Picture Archive / Alamy Stock Photo

Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary

A city-state, or polis, was the community structure of ancient Greece. Each city-state was organized with an urban center and the surrounding countryside. Characteristics of the city in a polis were outer walls for protection, as well as a public space that included temples and government buildings. The temples and government buildings were often built on the top of a hill, or acropolis. A surviving example of a structure central to an ancient acropolis is the famous Parthenon of Athens. The Parthenon was a temple built to honor the goddess Athena. The majority of a polis's population lived in the city, as it was the center of trade, commerce, culture, and political activity.

There grew to be over 1,000 city-states in ancient Greece, but the main poleis were Athína (Athens), Spárti (Sparta), Kórinthos (Corinth), Thíva (Thebes), Siracusa (Syracuse), Égina (Aegina), Ródos (Rhodes), Árgos, Erétria, and Elis. Each city-state ruled itself. They differed greatly from the each other in governing philosophies and interests. For example, Sparta was ruled by two kings and a council of elders. It emphasized maintaining a strong military, while Athens valued education and art. In Athens every male citizen had the right to vote, so they were ruled by a democracy. Rather than have a strong army, Athens maintained their navy.

Greek city-states likely developed because of the physical geography of the Mediterranean region. The landscape features rocky, mountainous land and many islands. These physical barriers caused population centers to be relatively isolated from each other. The sea was often the easiest way to move from place to place. Another reason city-states formed, rather than a central, all-encompassing monarchy, was that the Greek aristocracy strove to maintain their city-states' independence and to unseat any potential tyrants.

loosely united civilization founded on and around the Peloponnese peninsula, lasting from about the 8th century BCE to about 200 BCE.

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Image This hand-colored woodcut gives us an artist's concept of what Athens might've looked like in the time of the Roman emperor Hadrian, when its iconic monuments and temples were still in their prime. Photograph by North Wind Picture Archive / Alamy Stock Photo Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary A city-state, or polis, was the community structure of ancient Greece.

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Civilization describes a complex way of life that came about as people began to develop networks of urban settlements. The earliest civilizations developed between 4000 and 3000 B.C.E., when the rise of agriculture and trade allowed people to have surplus food and economic stability. Many people no longer had to practice farming, allowing a diverse array of professions and interests to flourish in a relatively confined area. Civilizations first appeared in Mesopotamia (what is now Iraq) and later in Egypt. Civilizations thrived in the Indus Valley by about 2500 B.C.E., in China by about 1500 B.C.E. and in Central America (what is now Mexico) by about 1200 B.C.E. Civilizations ultimately developed on every continent except Antarctica.

Characteristics of Civilization

All civilizations have certain characteristics. These include: large population centers; monumental architecture and unique art styles; shared communication strategies; systems for administering territories; a complex division of labor; and the division of people into social and economic classes.

Large population centers, or urban areas, allow civilizations to develop, although people who live outside these urban centers are still part of that region's civilization. Rural residents of civilizations may include farmers, fishers, and traders, who regularly sell their goods and services to urban residents. The huge urban center of Teotihuacan, in modern-day Mexico, for example, had as many as 200,000 residents between 300 and 600 C.E.
Shared Communication
Shared communication is another element that all civilizations share. Shared communication may include spoken language; alphabets; numeric systems; signs, ideas, and symbols; and illustration and representation. Shared communication allows the infrastructure necessary for technology, trade, cultural exchange, and government to be developed and shared throughout the civilization. The Inca civilization, for example, had no written script that we know of, but its complex system of accounting allowed the government to conduct censuses of its population and production across the vast stretch of the Andes. A khipu is a recording device made of a series of strings knotted in particular patterns and colors.

Written language in particular allows civilizations to record their own history and everyday events-crucial for understanding ancient cultures. The world's oldest known written language is Sumerian, which developed in Mesopotamia around 3100 B.C.E. The most familiar form of early Sumerian writing was called cuneiform, and was made up of different collections of wedge (triangle) shapes. The earliest Sumerian writing was record-keeping. Just like written records of modern civilizations, Sumerian cuneiform kept track of taxes, grocery bills, and laws for things like theft.

Written language was a key part of shared communication during the Islamic Golden Age, which flourished in southern Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia from the seventh to the 13th centuries. So-called "Arabic numerals" and the Arabic language were shared communications that allowed diverse cultures across the Arabic world to contribute the dazzling advances in mathematics, science, technology, and the arts.
Infrastructure and Administration
All civilizations rely on government administration-bureaucracy. Perhaps no civilization better exemplifies this than ancient Rome. The word "civilization" itself comes from the Latin word civis﻿, meaning "citizen." Latin was the language of ancient Rome, whose territory stretched from the Mediterranean basin all the way to parts of Great Britain in the north and the Black Sea to the east. To rule an area that large, the Romans, based in what is now central Italy, needed an effective system of government administration and infrastructure. Romans used a variety of methods to administer their republic and, later, empire.

Language also played a part in Roman infrastructure. Romans spread the Latin language throughout southern Europe. The so-called "Romance languages" (Spanish, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, and Italian) are called that because they all developed from the Roman language: Latin. Having a similar language made communication and leadership easier for Rome in its far-flung territories. Roman leaders relied on a series of legal codes for administration. These codes helped structure laws between different parts of Roman territory, as well as between rich and poor, men and women, slave and free. Roman laws included restrictions on marriage, ownership of land, and access to professions such as priesthoods.

One of Rome's most lasting contributions to Western Civilization was the establishment of legal culture itself. Roman law was largely public, and jurists created such formalities as legal language and procedure that would define European law for centuries. In fact, "Roman law" describes the legal system used throughout Western Europe through the 18th century.

Finally, Romans used local leaders, as well as Romans, to administer the law in their territories. Residents were more familiar with their own leaders, and more likely to follow their announcements. Israeli leaders worked with Roman authorities in the Roman territory of Palestine, for example, while British leaders often worked with Romans on the island of Great Britain. Some people born in Roman territories eventually became Roman emperors: The emperor Constantine, for instance, was born in what is now Serbia; the emperor Hadrian may have been born in what is now Spain. This interaction reduced conflict between Rome and its territories.
Division of Labor
Civilizations are marked by complex divisions of labor. This means that different people perform specialized tasks. In a purely agricultural society, members of the community are largely self-sufficient, and can provide food, shelter, and clothing for themselves. In a complex civilization, farmers may cultivate one type of crop and depend on other people for other foods, clothing, shelter, and information. Civilizations that depend on trade are specially marked by divisions of labor.

The city of Timbuktu, in what is now Mali, was an important trading center for several African civilizations. Residents of Timbuktu specialized in trading such goods as gold, ivory, or enslaved people. Other residents provided food or shelter for trade caravans traveling on camels from the Sahara. The urban center of Timbuktu was also a center of learning. Its division of labor included not only merchants, but doctors, religious leaders, and artists.
Class Structure
Class can also refer to the type of work people perform. There are many divisions of social class. Social class is often associated with economic class, but not strictly defined by it. In the ancient civilization of China, there were four major types of social classes. Scholars and political leaders (known as shi) were the most powerful social class. Farmers and agricultural workers (nong) were the next most-powerful group. Artists (gong), who made everything from horseshoes to silk robes, were the next order of social class. At the bottom of the social classes were the merchants and traders, who bought and sold goods and services. Known as shang﻿, these merchants were often much wealthier than the other classes but had a lower social status.

Development of Civilization

Civilizations expand through trade, conflict, and exploration. Usually, all three elements must be present for a civilization to grow and remain stable for a long period of time. The physical and human geography of Southeast Asia allowed these attributes to develop in the Khmer civilization. The Khmer flourished in parts of what are now Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar between 800 and 1400.

The Khmer maintained vibrant trading relationships throughout East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and even Europe and Africa through the Silk Road, a collection of both overland and maritime trade routes. The Silk Road linked the spice and silk markets of Asia with the merchants of Europe. Southeast Asia's extensive network of waterways facilitated trade, with the Khmer capital of Angkor being built on the shores of Southeast Asia's largest freshwater lake, Tonle Sap. The outflowing Tonle Sap River is a tributary of the mighty Mekong River, which connects Southeast Asia with the Tibetan Plateau in the north and the South China Sea in the south. In addition to material goods, the Khmer civilization facilitated a powerful trade in ideas. In particular, the Khmer were instrumental in spreading the influence of Buddhist and Hindu cultures from the Indian subcontinent to Southeast and East Asia.

The primary conflicts of the Khmer civilization were waged with neighboring communities-the Cham, the Vietnamese, and the Thai. The Cham were a collection of kingdoms in what is today central and southern Vietnam, while the ancient Vietnamese influence extended through what is today northern Vietnam. Thai kingdoms such as Sukothai and Ayutthaya flourished in what are now Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia. The Khmer civilization was founded on the consistent resistance of political pressure from the Cham and Vietnamese, but it ultimately could not withstand pressure from Thai civilizations. Thousands of Thai peoples migrated from the north (what is now the Yunnan region of China), establishing small kingdoms in the southwest of the Khmer Empire. Eventually, these kingdoms became strong enough to annex Khmer territory, leading to Ayutthaya's conquest of the Khmer capital of Angkor in 1431.
Exploration and Innovation
The Khmer civilization relied heavily on rice farming, and developed a complex irrigation system to take advantage of the rivers and wetlands that dotted their territory. An efficient series of irrigation canals and reservoirs, called allowed fewer farmers to produce more rice. This, in turn, allowed more people to pursue nonagricultural lifestyles and migrate to great urban areas, such as Angkor. Angkor, the capital of the ancient Khmer civilization, is home to one of the largest most distinctive religious monuments in the world, Angkor Wat.

Fall of Civilizations

Many civilizations have flourished and then failed or fell apart. There are many reasons for this, but many historians point to three patterns in the fall of civilizations: internal change, external pressure, and environmental collapse. The fall of civilizations is never the result of a single event or pattern. Sometimes, civilizations seem to "disappear" entirely.
Internal Change External Pressure
The clearest example of external pressure on a civilization is foreign invasion or sustained warfare. Protecting a civilization's borders can be extremely expensive and demand a strong military at the expense of developing or maintaining other aspects of a civilization. External pressure can lead to the relatively abrupt end of a civilization (and, often, the adoption of another). The fall of the Aztec Empire with the arrival of European conquistadores is such an example.

External pressures can also lead to the gradual diminishing of a civilization. The "fall" of what we often think of as Ancient Egypt is a good example of how external pressures can redefine a civilization over hundreds of years. Egypt had faced longstanding, intermittent conflict on its borders, with competing civilizations such as the Nubians (to the south), the Assyrians (in the Middle East), and the Libyans (to the west). Later, Egypt encountered the civilizations of Ancient Greece and Rome, and eventually became part of the Roman Empire. Ancient Egypt also faced external pressures not directly associated with armed conflict. The powerful forces of Christianity and Islam influenced the eradication of both hieroglyphics, the writing system of Ancient Egypt, and its polytheistic religion.
Environmental Collapse
Some anthropologists think that both natural disasters and misuse of the environment contributed to the decline of many civilizations. Natural hazards such as drought, floods, and tsunamis, become natural disasters as they impact civilizations. Drought contributed to the fall of civilizations such as the Maya and the Indus Valley or Harappan civilization.

The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization in what is now Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. The Indus Valley Civilization depended on seasonal monsoon rains to supply water for drinking, hygiene, and irrigation. Climate change made monsoons much more unpredictable and seasonal flooding less reliable. Harappans suffered from water-borne diseases and were unable to effectively irrigate their crops. The collapse of Minoan civilization, a major influence on Ancient Greece, is often associated with a catastrophic eruption of the Thera volcano on the island of what is now Santorini. The eruption caused a massive tsunami that reduced the population, trading capabilities, and influence of the Minoans.

Human activity can also strain the environment to the point of a civilization's collapse. One of several factors contributing to the collapse of the Viking outpost in Greenland, for instance, was the failure of European settlers to adapt to Greenland's climate and soil. Farming methods that were successful in the rich, loamy soils of Northern Europe were ill-suited to Greenland's colder, thinner soil and shorter growing seasons. The land could not support the crops necessary to sustain Viking livestock, including goats, cattle, and sheep. In addition, the land itself was harvested for peat, the outpost's primary construction material. The Vikings in Greenland also faced internal pressures, such as a weak trading system with Europe, and external pressures, such as a hostile relationship with their Inuit neighbors.
'Lost Civilizations'
History and myth are rich with "lost civilizations," entire ways of life that seemed to flourish and then disappear from the historical record. The disappearance of the Ancestral Puebloan civilization is one such mystery. Ancestral Puebloan civilization thrived in what is now the Four Corners region of the United States: the states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Ancestral Puebloan civilization developed around 1200 B.C.E. and thrived for more than a thousand years. Ancestral Puebloan civilization was marked by monumental architecture in the form of apartment-like cliff dwellings and large urban areas known as pueblos. Culturally diverse Ancestral Puebloans were connected by a complex road system, a standard style of religious worship, and a unique art style evidenced by pottery and petroglyphs.

Ancestral Puebloans seem to have abandoned their urban areas around 1300 C.E. The disappearance of this civilization remains a mystery, although most scientists say Ancestral Puebloans engaged in warfare with their Navajo neighbors, internal groups competed for land and resources, and sustained droughts reduced Ancestral Puebloan ability to irrigate crops in the arid Southwest. The Pueblo people never disappeared, of course: Diverse groups developed their own, competing civilizations after the Ancestral Puebloans migrated or fell apart. These groups include the Zuni and Hopi civilizations.

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Civilization describes a complex way of life that came about as people began to develop networks of urban settlements. The earliest civilizations developed between 4000 and 3000 B.C.E., when the rise of agriculture and trade allowed people to have surplus food and economic stability.

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Photograph by akg-images/Newscom

The Peloponnesian War was a war fought in ancient Greece between Athens and Sparta-the two most powerful city-states in ancient Greece at the time (431 to 405 B.C.E.). This war shifted power from Athens to Sparta, making Sparta the most powerful city-state in the region. The war featured two periods of combat separated by a six-year truce.

Athens and Sparta had previously quarreled in the decades prior to the war. One of Sparta's allies, Corinth, had directly engaged the Athenian army. As a Spartan ally, Corinth resumed hostilities toward Athens when Athens threatened Corinth's interests in the region surrounding Corcyra. This eventually drew Sparta into the conflict. The Spartan army began by raiding lands within an Athenian allied territory, particularly a region near Athens called Attica. The Athenians had built walls stretching from their seaport to the city of Athens. The walls helped protect Athens from direct assault, and its leader, Pericles, urged Athens not to engage in direct land battles with the Spartans. Instead, the Athenians used their navy to deliver troops into the Spartan territory to conduct raids on settlements.

After years of open warfare, Sparta offered peace and Athens accepted. The agreement was made official with the signing of the Peace of Nicias. The treaty stated that Athens and Sparta would defend each other for the next 50 years. However, the treaty only lasted six.

Hostilities resumed between Athens and Sparta with an assault launched by the Athenians at Sicily. Sparta decided to retaliate. Learning from its past experiences with the Athenian navy, they established a fleet of warships. It would be another decade of warfare before the Spartan general Lysander defeated the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami. This defeat led to Athenian surrender. As a result, the Peloponnesian War was concluded. Simultaneous to the end of this conflict came the end of the golden age of ancient Greece.

National Geographic Society

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Image Photograph by akg-images/Newscom The Peloponnesian War was a war fought in ancient Greece between Athens and Sparta-the two most powerful city-states in ancient Greece at the time (431 to 405 B.C.E.). This war shifted power from Athens to Sparta, making Sparta the most powerful city-state in the region.

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May 12, 2017

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Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. Last Updated May 12, 2017