The ‘Great War’ Rehearsal? Athens and Sparta in the Middle of the Fifth Century B. C.

Athenian Maritime Union’s establishing and strengthening provoked painful reaction of Sparta and its allies. This resulted in overt armed confrontation, known as First Peloponnesian War (460–446 B. C.). Remarkable features of this war were the wait-and-see position of Sparta and the rarity of military engagements. While there was the relative success at the end of the war, the Spartans preferred to avoid building on the result and to make 30-year peace with the Athenians. Thus, for the Spartans, we think (as distinct from the Athenians perhaps) the First Peloponnesian War was not the rehearsal of future Peloponnesian War.