In ancient Greek history, we are able to find and learn about many important wars that took place. The Peloponnesian War is arguably one of the most devastating and important wars in Greek history. The war lasted a brutal 27 years, resulting in enormous loss of life and economic turmoil for Sparta, Athens, and their allies. The reason this war was so important was the effect it had on Athens and its political system. Following the Persian Wars, Greece felt the need to form an alliance to defend against future attacks. In 478 BCE, the Greek city-states all united to form the Delian League and Athens became the leader of the league. Sparta, however, decided not to join, leading to extreme tensions between Athens and Sparta. Due to the arrogance of Athens, such as collecting all the wealth and misusing the funds for extravagant buildings, the members of the league became dissatisfied, which led to the collapse of the league and the start of the war. In Thucydides' Melian Dialogue, one of our primary sources, he describes the scenario between the polis Melos and Athens when Melos wanted to withdraw from the league. Thucydides' account states: "Athenians: the fact that you are islanders and weaker than the others makes it all the more important that you fail to rout the masters of the sea. Melians: what is that if not increase the enemies you already have and force others to become enemies who otherwise would never have thought of it? In this scenario, the Athenians display their arrogance and power by calling themselves "masters of the sea", which is accurate because they had the most powerful navy. But as the Melians said, the Athenians gain more and more energy under the law” and this was essentially Athenian democracy. At the start of the war, the Athenians were led by Pericles, who died of a great plague in 429 BCE. His death brought a huge degree of discouragement to Athens and they began to use dangerous strategies instead of the careful leadership of Pericles. We often think that democracies seek peace, but that was certainly not the case in Athens. The outcome of the war proved to be a total disaster for Athens. Although it was a disaster, the damage was less than normal for a losing Greek city-state. After the defeat, Athenian democracy was temporarily dissolved. The cultural aspect of Athens was able to remain intact and by the time of Aristotle's birth, Athens was able to regain its political status. Works Cited Thucydides, Book 5, Chapters 84-116 Plutarch, The Life of Solon, 29-31