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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 the form of Cleon, who now took the war to the Spartan-led alliance. He was successful in defeating Sparta at the battle of Sphacteria, but once again this victory proved to be short-lived. Cleon was soon killed in battle and a 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 after a series of battles resoundingly defeated Athens.<ref> For more on the battles of Cleon and Athens 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 them loosing some of their fleet. For this loss, some of their naval leaders were executed, resulting in a further depletion of their strength. Lysander, a new Spartan general, arose and he took advantage of this loss in leadership by forcing battle in the Hellespont, where the Athenians were defeated and much of their army destroyed. 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 the fall of its great empire.<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>