Review Of The Great Warrior - 1414 Words

Exploration, Encounter Exchange; Review of Literature for Sparta Spartans and Athenians did not necessarily get along, therefore they fought a lot. Athens and Sparta were both greek city-states. Their power rivaled each other therefore causing some friction. Athen’s rise to power was through democracy and philosophy and the Spartan’s despised every bit of it. Only because they rose to power through war and fear. The Athenians believed that they were the descendants of Athena. The Spartan’s were believed to be descendants of the Dorians. The leadership in both places were majorly different for instance, the Spartan’s had ‘two kings† but they were actually the high ranking generals that were considered loyalty. The Athenians had the†¦show more content†¦So every summer the Spartans march north and spend a month killing all the Athenian crops, while the farmers hid in fear in the city. The Athenian navy then has to bring in even more cash crops than is normally required. The second summer of this ki nd, that of 430, is made more painful for the Athenians because plague strikes the city and kills a third of the denizens. Thucydides catches it, but survives to write his great history of the war (Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War). Pericles, architect of the Athenian war strategy and defeats , is less lucky; he falls victim in the most crucial summer of the plague, 429. Yet Athens survives even this series of disasters, and by 425 Sparta seems the one cut out to lose- suffering a series of defeats close to where they stay in the Peloponnese, at the mercy of soldiers landing from Athenian war boats. It appears as though no one side can ever win this conflict.The war was won by Sparta in the end because of the militant power they had over the Athenians. As shown in the source The Peloponnesian War: A Military Study. In the book it states that the Spartans would create a battle formation known as the Phalanx which was â€Å"Impenetrable as a brick wall† ( Lazenby 41). Ther efore because of this organization and discipline they were able to win in the long run against the theoretically unprepared Athenians.