Whenever there is an argument or war there is always differences between both parties involved. In order to understand the causes of the Peloponnesian War, we must look at their differences. One of the main differences that the Athenians and the …show more content…
Both the Spartans and Athenians had different military trademarks. The Athenians were known for their navy, while the Spartans were known for their hoplites. The Athenians navy contained a type of boat called a trireme, which was one of the fastest ships in this time period and allowed the Athenians to do something very different then they had in the past. Before the creation of the trireme the way of war on ships was that two people at war would jump on each others boats and begin fighting. The trireme changed this by allowing the Athenians to ram into the enemies' ships, which caused them to sink. The Spartans peculiar form of government enabled them to be professional soldiers. To be more precise: it not only enabled them, it even forced them to be superior soldiers as a small group of Spartans had to dominate an enormous amount of subjects and unwilling allies. The Spartan's hoplite phalanx was not different in the way of formation it was different, because the Spartan's were trained to be soldiers from the age of 7, and were taught to be very fierce and strong. The Spartan army was superior in Hellas, and in the rest of the known world. No other army was so well trained, and had such excellent equipment. They believed that a traditional training was the key to success, and for centuries they were right as they had never lost a battle in spite of their small numbers …show more content…
As Thucydides shows, while he did support Pericles, he didn't necessarily support democracy. The only way that democracy in Athens was successful was under Pericles, and when he passed away, the true nature of democracy was revealed. His successors followed self-serving policies, quarreled among each other, lacked foresight and in general destroyed themselves by internal strife. The people as a whole were too easily influenced and were too interested in personal advancement rather than the good of the state. Thucydides seemed to believe that the best form of government was one which placed authority in the hands of a few wise leaders who were able to overcome personal desires to pursue policy that benefited the state rather than the individual. In other words, Thucydides was in favor of a change to the Spartan