Introduction
Students have read about Sparta and Athens, the two major city-states of ancient Greece. They know that at times the two would unite, as they did to hold off the Persians. Students have also learned that this unity was not constant. The two city-states finally found themselves on opposite sides of a lengthy war that eventually led to a decline in the power of city-states as political entities.

Lesson Description
Students will go to The Peloponnesian War Web site. They will then answer four questions about what they have read.

Instructional Objectives

1. Students will learn more about the causes and results of the Peloponnesian War.
2. Students will learn about other participants involved in the Peloponnesian War.

Student Web Activity Answers

1. Athens and Corinth fought each other indirectly through their colonies and allies, such as Corcyria and Potidaea. Tensions escalated over Plataea in 431 B.C., and the war began.
2. The large number of people within Athens led to repeated outbreaks of the plague.
3. Syracuse was the most powerful Greek colony in Sicily,and if the Athenians could conquer it, they would have more power in Sicily and increased access to grain.
4. Students' answers will vary but should include such points as the different cultures, an ongoing rivalry, and the concern of each that the other would become too powerful.

Go To Student Web Activity