Athens and Sparta at war

The Spartans believed that the Athenians wanted to take charge of all of the city states, and so they began to fight the Athenians. These were the Peloponnesian Wars, and they lasted from 431 - 404 BC.

The battles were fierce, and both states used a method of fighting where the foot soldiers formed a phalanx. This was a block of soldiers who marched at the enemy together. The first rows would put down their spears and attack, and if any of these soldiers were killed or injured, then the man marching behind would step into his place.

The Spartans eventually defeated the Athenians, but after the Peloponnesian Wars the city states all began to squabble between one another. In the north east of Greece was the kingdom of Macedonia, ruled by Philip II. He took control of Greece in 338BC, and then planned to attack the Persians. Philip was assassinated before he could put his plan into action, but his son Alexander, who became known as Alexander the Great,conquered a great empire which stretched from Greece in the west to India in the east.