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The invasion then sparked what ultimately developed to be the Greco-Persian wars of the 5th century BCE, where Athens played a leading role among the Greek city-states involved. The initial beginning of this war in 492-490 went well for the Persians, as they destroyed the Greek city of Eretria and captured territory in the Cyclades and Thrace. However, at the Battle of Marathon, about 10,000 Athenians and Plataeans were able to defeat the Persians, perhaps the Greeks' first significant victory against the Persians. This created a setback for the Persians as they could not invade Greece for another 10 years. The second invasion of Greece by the Persian army and fleet was much larger, forcing Athens to create alliances, particularly with Sparta.
Athenian brutality against those cities that revolted and neutral regions, such as Melos, created further animosity with now Sparta beginning to take control of an alliance of cities against Athens. While the Athenians continued to gain power by expanding and creating colonies dependent on them, the Spartans began to consolidate power and even allied with the Persians to counteract Athenian control. Sparta then formed its own league, called the Peloponnesian League, which included Corinth and other prominent cities. Nevertheless, Athens maintained its naval and trade supremacy, enabling it to not only win key battles but also its wealth that fueled its ability to keep its allies and armies able to control large areas in Greece and beyond, including on the Western coast of Anatolia.<ref>For more on the Delian League, see: Fine, John Van Antwerp. 1983. ''The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History''. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Pr.</ref> <dh-ad/> ====Stagnation====[[File:Lawrence_Alma-Tadema_-_Phidias_Showing_the_Frieze_of_the_Parthenon_to_his_Friends.jpg|thumbnail|left|360px|Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to Pericles and friends, by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1868]]A significant blow to Athens was a plague that broke out in 430 BCE that ultimately not only killed many of its soldiers and naval personnel but its key leaders such as Pericles.<ref>For more on this plague, see: Kagan, Donald. 1998. ''Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy. New York: Free Press'', pg. 249. </ref> However, Athens was soon re-energized with new leadership in Cleon, who now took the war to the Spartan-led alliance. He successfully defeated Sparta at the Battle of Sphacteria, but this victory proved to be short-lived once again. Cleon was soon killed in battle, and peace was then signed between the warring sides. Eventually, a new war broke out, and this time the war was fought in Sicily, as Athens tried to expand its influence there. While once again initially finding some success by having some cities join them, Syracuse led the effort against Athens and allied itself with Sparta. The Spartans reacted by sending a force to Sicily, where a series of battles resoundingly defeated Athens.<ref> For more on Cleon and Athens's battles against Sparta, see Pritchard, David, ed. 2010. ''War, Democracy and Culture in Classical Athens''. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press, pg. 83.</ref> Although severely weakened, the Athenians held a large reserve of naval forces it could still use. By 406 BCE, a series of naval and land victories once again led to a reinvigorated Athenian Empire. At another naval engagement in 406, the Athenians won a major victory; however, a severe storm led to losing some of their fleet. For this loss, some of their naval leaders were executed, resulting in further depletion of their strength. Lysander, a new Spartan general, arose. He took advantage of this loss in leadership by forcing battle in the Hellespont, where the Athenians were defeated and destroyed much of their army. Athens was now trapped, as it did not have a significant army, and the city now was directly attacked by Sparta. With the city under siege, it was forced to surrender, leading to the total loss of power for Athens and its great empire's fall.<ref> For more on the last phases of the war against Sparta, see: Powell, Anton. 2016. ''Athens and Sparta: Constructing Greek Political and Social History from 478 BC. Third edition''. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.</ref> ====Conclusion and Impact====While Athens did recover in the decades to come, Athens and the Greek city-states could never recover their full power and continued their internal wars in the Corinthian conflict in the early 4th century BCE. This paved the rise of the Macedonians under Philip II and Alexander the Great, who ultimately united the Greeks under their leadership. While the rise of the Macedonians meant that the Athenians never regained centralized power once again as they had in the 5th century BCE, they were now part of much larger political entities, first under the leadership of the Macedonians and later under Rome. Athens became renowned not just for its democratic system, which lasted for over 100 years, but also for scholars and philosophers. From Pericles's time, philosophers and scholars alike traveled to Athens from throughout the Greek world to study under Athens patronage. The famous Platonic school and the Lyceum were two institutions of learning that became famous within Athens and helped shape Western thinking. Famous philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates were all associated with Athens at some point in their lives. The Parthenon (Figure 2) and Acropolis became inspirations for architecture in the Classical Age and Western Enlightenment in the late 17th and 18th centuries when Greek thought became influential once more. Among relatively few cities, Athens was given a free city, where its schools and institutions continued to thrive in the Roman period. This ensured that Athens continued to be influential despite its lost political and economic power.<ref> For more on Athens' impact, see: Waterfield, Robin. 2004. ''Athens: A History, from Ancient Ideal to Modern City''. New York, NY: Basic Books.</ref> <div class="portal" style="width:85%;">====Related DailyHistory.org Articles====*[[How did the Silk Road develop?]]*[[What were the causes of the Peloponnesian War?]]*[[When was Insurance First Used?]]*[[How did Early Empires facilitate the Rise of Investment Banking?]]*[[What was the impact of the defeat of the Sicilian Expedition on Athens?]]</div> ====References====
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