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The origins of the Peloponnesian War lay in the Greeks victory over the Persians. The Greeks had combined under the leadership of Sparta and Athens to defeat the Persians, then the most powerful empire in Asia. In the aftermath of the Persian Wars, the Greeks were unable to maintain their unity. Cultural and ethnic differences were driving the Greek world apart. People’s first loyalty was often to their Polis or local city. There was a definite sense of ‘Greekness’ and a common cultural heritage.<ref>Kagan, Donald. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801495563/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0801495563&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=a72c6923cec3d4d8a05a33168424d78d The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War]</i> (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1989), p. 56</ref> Yet this was not enough to overcome deep divisions within the Greek world. As soon as the Persians left, the Greeks immediately began to quarrel with each other. Sparta a very conservative society had opted out of the war with Persia once their invasion. Athens continued the war against Persia and it formed the Delian League. This League was an alliance of city-states and islands that vowed to continue the war against the Persians until they no longer represented a threat to their alliance.<ref>Kagan, p. 113</ref>
Over time the Athenians, who were the largest maritime power in the Aegean came to dominate the Delian League. This era was the Golden Age of Athens and was concurrent with Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. Gradually, the Athenians began to turn the Delian League into an Empire. Athens used its superior navy to intimidate its allies and they eventually became mere tributaries of the Athenians. Sparta soon became very suspicious of Athens's growing power. Sparta was the head of the powerful Peloponnesian League, which was comprised of several large city-states, including Corinth and Thebes. The League was very concerned about the Athenians huge fleet of ships because it allowed them to dominate the former allies of the Peloponnesian league. Athens had also been turned into a formidable stronghold when the city constructed the ‘Long Walls’. These walls connected the city with its port, Piraeus and allowed the city to supply itself and made any siege of the city unlikely to succeed.<reref>Kagan, p. 113</ref>
Athens growing ambitions led to tensions with its neighbors and eventually led to a war. This involved Athens and Corinth, with the latter receiving some support from Sparta. This conflict ended with a peace treaty and a ‘Thirty Years Peace’, This in theory guaranteed Athens and Sparta their respective spheres of influence. Corinth and other members of the Peloponnesian League were unhappy about Sparta’s lack of leadership. Some leading Sparta became concerned that inaction would push the other major Greek powers, to side with Athens. During the so-called thirty Year Peace Athens grew ever stronger and in many ways arrogant, as seen in its increasing haughty attitude to its subject city-states.
