No.374567
>>374563Sparta and Athens BOTH tried to instrumentalize Persia against their rivals at different points in time, and so did many other city-states. And a reminder that Athens lost the Peloponnesian war because of a disastrous military expedition against the fellow a) Greek b) democracy of Syracuse all the way across the Mediterranean in Sicily. Hellenistic unity did not exist until it was imposed on the Greek world by the Macedonians, and then it collapsed again almost immediately when Alexander died.
No.374570
The was a pan-Greek identity that was complicated by the polis, as I said. Athens did not enroll Persia in the struggle, Sparta did, against other Greeks, after Greece united to defeat Persia. It grossly undermined Spartan stature and is one of the reasons why everyone resented Spartan despotism after the Peloponnesian war, and why Sparta's hegemony didn't last long.
Athens was trying to make good on Greek unity by forcing a pan-Greek empire into existence and getting rid of the polis. It is only because of the great Athenian effort that the Macedonians were able to walk in and pick up where Athens left off. Athens saw the writing on the wall. Sparta did not because it was too reactionary and rigid.
No.374574
That's AI
No.375123
>>374574there is and always will be that one fucking retarded fucking dipshit