The Peloponnesian War

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The original civilizations that developed so long ago are the civilizations that have shaped our world today; one of the most recognizable of the early civilizations is the Greeks. When one thinks of the ancient Greeks, it is possible that the first thoughts that would come to his or her mind would be the tall pillars often found in Greek architecture, the Spartans defeating the Athenians in the great Peloponnesian War, or perhaps the Olympics just come to mind – but there are many components that helped mold such an intricate civilization. Just like any civilization, Greece had to go through very difficult times; they had to establish trade and develop the proper way to run their country. There were also ingredients such as their art and…show more content…
The war that had the greatest impact on Greece since its beginning is the Peloponnesian War; lasting almost thirty years, the Peloponnesian War took a great toll on both the Athenian and the Spartan parties. Lucky for historians of the present-day, there was a historian who provided a very beneficial recollection of the war. Thucydides took a role as a general on the Athenian side and recorded many of the events of war for historians now to study (Kellogg 176). Of course, because Thucydides fought with his fellow Athens, there was an expected bias in his writings. Through a slight bias, he was still able to give an accurate telling of the war and earned himself the label of one of the best historians of all time. Unfortunately, having the best historian on their side did not assist the Athenians in a win. A chief reason for the Athenians downfall was the development of the bubonic plague in Athens (Kellogg 188). Because the warriors of Athens decided to fight from home and defend their turf, it was inevitable that the residents ended up confined in an undersized space. With everyone so close, the plague spread very quickly even killing Pericles, the Athenians head political ruler. Duiker, too, goes into great explanation of the troubles and fall of the Athenians to Sparta. The two tales share the opinion that Athens’ demise was caused greatly by the spread of the plague…show more content…
The different pillar types allowed Greek researchers to observe how their architecture advanced over time: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian (Kellogg 74). As time went on, the basic structure of the temples that the pillars were used for stayed the same, but the pillars advanced to become more decorated and intricate. The Corinthian style eventually took over the Greek’s building and is greatly compared to Greek sculpture as well as architecture (Kellogg 86). As pointed out by both Kellogg and Duiker, the perfect example of Greek architecture is the Parthenon located on the Acropolis in Athens (Duiker 85-86). It is easy to see that the pillared architecture originated in Greece after seeing that all the best examples of it are located right in its original country, although there are some rather famous buildings that resemble ancient Greek architecture in our own country. Take the White House in D.C. for example; it has four large, white pillars out front that make the building easily mistaken for a building built over two thousand years ago. The pillars of the temples are one more aspect that adds to the originality of Greek

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