History of the Peloponnesian War was written about the events that happened during the war between Sparta - the Peloponnesian League, and Athens - the Delian League and their allies. It covers the twenty first years of the war, which means that the last seven years aren’t covered. The work is divided into eight different pieces, including speeches and critical evaluations.
According to Thucydides, the reason for the war was Athens’ continuously growing power which was intimidating Sparta, though the commonly known reason was that Athens intervened in a feud between one of Sparta’s allies and their colony. Though Athens were the ones who initially started fighting, Sparta were the ones who declared the war. Sparta was a warrior state, and their army was strong and fierce, while Athens had their strength in their fleet. Pericles who was the leader of Athens, encouraged the people to move towards the port, which was where they received their supply and had their strength.
Sparta continued trying to invade Attica, and thus continued to find the places deserted, before they returned home. This continued for approximately 10 years, when there was little furtherance of the war. A deadly disease spread in Athens, that led the leader Pericles to his death, as well as a quarter of the people in the country, yet they continued fighting vigilantly against the Spartans.
A while after Sparta made peace treaties to stop the war, Athens accepted, as the had new leaders. The Peace was not upheld for long, as Athens attacked Sparta a few years later, which was the beginning of the continuation of the war, and the ending of the historical events Thucydides covered.
