Corinth: The true creator of the Peloponnesian War

One of the greatest ancient civilizations, brought to its knees by a great civil war. Ancient Greece was a hub of art and culture. It was also hotbed of bloodshed, fueled by rivalries centuries old. It was through one of these rivalries that one of the most influential wars in antiquity was created. The Peloponnesian War is regarded as the war the fatefully pitted powerhouses Sparta and Athens against one another. It is all too often only through the lens of Sparta and Athens that this war is viewed. However, doing so is a surely a major pitfall. The actions of smaller city-states heavily contributed to the war. In fact, it was not the actions of neither Athens or Sparta that led to the war, but rather Corinth, another city-state.

Numerous historians have tried to pin down the true creator of the Peloponnesian War. Donald Kagan believed that Sparta started the war. His viewpoint, as well as other historians, states that the Spartans were after land and new subjects to rule. Sparta had practice of keeping the populations of those they had conquered in a state of serfdom [1]. This would support his view point, however this view has a folly.

Thucydides, an Athenian general during the war who later wrote The History of the Peloponnesian War, also blames Sparta for starting the war. But he does so for a different reason than Kagan. In fact, Thucydides discredits a lot of Kagan’s view on the Spartan’s policy of aggressive encroachment and invasion on lands belonging to neighboring city-states. Thucydides points out that the Spartans only attacked first out protection. They feared the encroaching Athenians and the growing power they had accumulated in the years leading up to the war. This directly contradicts Kagan’s view that the Spartans started the war out of the need to grow their empire.

That brings us to the side that blames Athens for starting the war. In historian R.F Tannenbaum’s view, the Athenians purposefully started the war because they were dissatisfied with the outcome of the previous war. “We can assume that since the war was coming anyways, they where willing to run the risk of another clash with Corinth in order to tighten up security for that war that was coming anyways… Athens was a dissatisfied power, that she was not happy with the results of the first Peloponnesian War …. Athens would not give up her ambitions without a decisive defeat, which she had not received…”[2]

This also, however, has a problem. Sparta had the most feared military in the Greek world. Despite all the potential rewards that Athens sought after, they would still not want to agitate Sparta. If neither Athens or Sparta is to blame, then who is? The answer, Corinth. The city-state was at the heart of the cause of the war. In 395 BC, Corinth tried to conquer the Coercian colony of Epidamnus. This started a conflict between the two city-states, and both sides sought the aid of Athens. Ultimately, Athens sided with Coercia. This led to Corinth seeking aid from Sparta, which they received. The conflict ultimately ended with no clear winner.

Corinth was seeking revenge for the disastrous treaty. While the effects of the treaty ultimately had little effect on Athens and Sparta, the effects were certainly felt by Corinth. Corinth had lost a lot and gained nothing. Corinth was the biggest loser in a war with no winners. Therefore makes since that they were anticipating a coming war that would truly end the first war and get their revenge on Athens. Corinth did so by provoking ally Sparta into breaking the treaty and attacking Athens.

Historian G. Dickens lays out several arguments as to why Corinth was truly behind the war. First, “Why should Sparta be driven to war from fear of Attic expansion in 431 BC when Athens was really much weaker than she had been a quarter of a century before”. Second, “The rivalry between Athens and Corinth was greater than that of Athens and Sparta”. Third, “Corinth had the most to gain from a declaration of war, and Sparta practically nothing”. Fourth, “Sparta showed great reluctance to fight at all, and in the early years of the war little energy or initiative”. Fifth, “Heavy pressure was brought to bear upon Sparta by the inland Peloponnesian States in fear for their food supply”. Lastly, “Corinth forced Sparta to fight with threats of succession.”[3]

The biggest nail in the coffin for those who do not support the Corinth theory is that the rivalry between Corinth and Athens exceeded that between Sparta and Athens. While it is easy to misconstrue history in terms of powerhouses like Athens and Sparta, we must take into consideration all of the players in history. This includes the smaller city-states and civilizations, such as Corinth.

[1]Kagan, Donald. The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. Cornell Paperbacks, 1969.

[2] Tannenbaum, R. F. “Who Started the Peloponnesian War?” Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics 2, no. 4 (1975): 533–46. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20163397.

[3] Dickins, G. “The True Cause of the Peloponnesian War.” Page 240 The Classical Quarterly 5, no. 4 (1911): 238–48. http://www.jstor.org/stable/636425