- 01Early Greece and the absence of settled power
- 02Piracy, seafaring, and the rise of towns
- 03Agamemnon, Mycenae, and the Trojan expedition
- 04Post-Trojan migrations and colonization
- 05Growth of wealth, tyranny, and naval power
- 06Hellenic weakness and the rise of Sparta and Athens
- 07Thucydides on historical method and speeches
- 01Thucydides' method and purpose
- 02The Peloponnesian War and its real cause
History of the Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides · c. 400 BCE · 26 chapters · 24/7 tutor
Power politics, war, rhetoric, and historical method.
26Chapters
200Lessons
584Topics
Certificate of completion included
This course was produced by Cavua from a public-domain text.
Skills this course leaves you with.
- Explain the main causes and outbreak of the Peloponnesian War
- Analyze Pericles’ strategy and funeral oration in the context of Athenian power
- Trace the major campaigns including Pylos, Mitylene, and the Sicilian Expedition
- Evaluate speeches and political arguments made by figures such as Cleon, Diodotus, and Alcibiades
- Describe the shifting alliances, revolts, and Persian intervention in the later war
- Interpret Thucydides’ historical method and his treatment of war and rhetoric
Curriculum
The full table of contents.
Every chapter, every lesson, every topic — laid out before you enroll. Click any chapter to expand it.
- Chapters
- 26
- Lessons
- 200
- Topics
- 584
- 01Epidamnus and the Corinthian intervention
- 02Corcyraean response and siege of Epidamnus
- 01Corcyraean victory at sea and aftermath
- 02Corinthian rearmament and Corcyraean appeal to Athens
- 03Corcyraean plea for alliance and strategic value
- 01Corcyra's isolation and misconduct
- 02Corinth's grievances and arbitration rebuttal
- 03Treaty rights, past favors, and warning against alliance
- 01Athens grants Corcyra a defensive alliance
- 02Corinthian expedition and naval deployment
- 03Corcyraean and Athenian battle positions at Sybota
- 01Corinthian and Corcyraean battle formations
- 02The sea-fight at Sybota
- 03Athenian reinforcements and the treaty dispute
- 01Corcyraean and Corinthian claims to victory
- 02Corinth's seizure of Anactorium and prisoners
- 03Athenian precautions against Potidaea and Perdiccas
- 01Potidaea’s revolt and allied preparations
- 02Athenian and Corinthian relief expeditions
- 03Battle at the isthmus and siege works
- 04Aristeus’s escape and continued resistance
- 01Completion of the Potidaea investment
- 02Ravaging Chalcidice and Bottica
- 01Peloponnesian complaints and the summons at Lacedaemon
- 02Corinthian appeal for war against Athens
- 01Corinthian warning against Athenian power
- 02Athenian appeal to the Spartans
- 01Archidamus's case for delay and preparation
- 01Archidamus’ plea for patience and preparation
- 02Sthenelaidas’ call for immediate war
- 03Spartan vote and declaration of war
- 01Athens rebuilds after the Persian withdrawal
- 02Themistocles delays Sparta while the walls rise
- 01Themistocles delays the Spartan envoys
- 02Athens fortifies its city and Piraeus
- 01Athens completes its walls and turns to the fleet
- 02Pausanias’ campaign and recall from command
- 03Athens succeeds to supremacy and establishes the tribute of Delos
- 01Early conquests and allied defections
- 02Eurymedon, Thasos, and Amphipolis
- 01Ithome siege and Athenian dismissal
- 02Megarian alliance and Corinthian hostility
- 03Inaros and the Egyptian revolt
- 01Athenian naval victories and the Megarid campaign
- 02Building the Long Walls and the Boeotian march
- 01Battle of Tanagra and Athenian gains in Boeotia
- 02Defeat of the Athenian expedition in Egypt
- 03Thessalian campaign and raid on Sicyon
- 01Expedition to Cyprus and the sacred war at Delphi
- 02Boeotian campaign and defeat at Coronea
- 03Revolt of Euboea and the Thirty Years' Truce
- 01Samians’ revolt and Athenian response
- 02Siege of Samos and surrender terms
- 01Athenian growth and Spartan decision for war
- 02Corinthian argument for war
- 03Vote for war and diplomatic pretexts
- 01Cylon's seizure of the Acropolis and the Diasia festival
- 02The Cylonian curse and the expulsion of the accursed
- 03Spartan demands against Pericles and the curse of Taenarus
- 04The curse of the Brazen House and Pausanias
- 01Pausanias's secret correspondence with Xerxes
- 02Recall, trial, and exposure of the plot
- 01Pausanias’ death and burial
- 02Themistocles pursued from Peloponnese to Molossia
- 01Escape from the Athenian squadron
- 02Letter to Artaxerxes and Persian refuge
- 03Themistocles at the Persian court
- 04Death and burial at Magnesia
- 01Lacedaemonian ultimatum and Athenian assembly
- 02Pericles on refusing concessions
- 03Athens’ naval and strategic advantages
- 04Pericles’ proposed reply to Sparta
- 01Pericles urges resistance and preservation of Athenian power
- 02Athens rejects Spartan dictation and seeks legal settlement
- 03The unresolved quarrel before the war
- 01Theban seizure of Plataea
- 02Plataean counterattack and surrender
- 03Execution of the prisoners and Athenian response
- 04War preparations and public excitement
- 01Lacedaemonian and Athenian alliances
- 02Archidamus exhorts the allied army
- 01Archidamus rejects Athenian submission
- 02Pericles' wartime counsel and Athenian resources
- 01Athens' military and financial resources before invasion
- 02Synoecism under Theseus and the unification of Attica
- 01Athenian resettlement in the city
- 02Peloponnesian advance to Oenoe
- 01Archidamus's invasion of Attica
- 02Athenian alarm and calls for battle
- 01Defence of Athens and the first cavalry skirmish
- 02Peloponnesian withdrawal and Athenian war reserves
- 03Cruise around Peloponnese and the relief of Methone
- 04Operations off Elis, Locris, and Aegina
- 05Nymphodorus and the alliance with Sitalces
- 01Athens' summer campaigns and Megarid invasion
- 02Corinthian expedition to restore Evarchus
- 03Public funeral customs for the fallen
- 01Funeral custom and Pericles’ opening remarks
- 02Athens’ ancestors and constitutional greatness
- 03Athenian democracy, freedom, and civic life
- 04Athens as a model city and praise of the fallen
- 01Athens as a model of courage and honour
- 02Consolation for the parents of the dead
- 01Exhortation to the sons and brothers of the dead
- 02Praise of widowhood and female excellence
- 03Completion of the funeral oration and public rewards
- 01The Plague of Athens
- 02Pericles' naval expedition and Potidaea
- 01Pericles defends his war policy and urges civic resolve
- 02Athens’ imperial greatness and Pericles’ leadership
- 01Sicilian expedition and Athenian decline
- 02Zacynthus raid and Thracian diplomacy
- 03Execution of the Lacedaemonian envoys
- 01Ambraciot campaign against Amphilochian Argos
- 02Athenian winter operations and Potidaea's surrender
- 01Plataean appeal to Archidamus
- 02Siege works against Plataea
- 03Fire attack and circumvallation
- 01Siege of Plataea blockade arrangements
- 02Battle at Spartolus in Bottiaea
- 03Ambraciot and Chaonian plan against Acarnania
- 01Battle of Stratus and the Acarnanian retreat
- 02Naval battle in the Crissaean Gulf
- 03Peloponnesian preparations for a second sea fight
- 01Phormio’s battlefield exhortation
- 02Peloponnesian attack in the gulf
- 01Aftermath of the naval victory at Naupactus
- 02Peloponnesian raid on Salamis
- 01Sitalces’ invasion of Macedonia
- 02The Odrysian kingdom and its resources
- 03Macedonia’s origins and defenses
- 01Sitalces' Thracian invasion of Macedonia
- 02Athenian winter raid in Acarnania
- 03The Achelous, Echinades, and Alcmaeon at Oeniadae
- 01Peloponnesian invasion of Attica
- 02Lesbos revolts and Athenian response
- 03Siege of Mitylene and blockade
- 01Mitylenian case for revolt and alliance
- 02Lacedaemonian response and Athenian counter-mobilization
- 01Athens tightens the siege of Mitylene
- 02Plataean plan to escape the blockade
- 03Night assault and breakout over the wall
- 01Plataean escape to Athens
- 02Salaethus reaches Mitylene
- 03Peloponnesian invasion of Attica and Mitylene's surrender
- 01Terms of Mitylene's surrender
- 02Peloponnesian relief force and Teutiaplus's proposal
- 03Alcidas's retreat and executions at Myonnesus
- 04Paches's pursuit and the settlement of Notium
- 05Prisoners from Mitylene and Athenian death sentence
- 01The Mitylenian revolt and Athens’ reversal
- 02Cleon’s defense of imperial severity
- 03Why Mitylene deserves punishment
- 01Cleon’s case for executing Mitylene
- 02Diodotus on debate, motives, and good counsel
- 03Why the death penalty fails as deterrence
- 04Moderate punishment and political advantage
- 01Diodotus’ plea for measured punishment
- 02Vote, relief, and settlement of Lesbos
- 01Nicias's blockade of Minoa
- 02Surrender of Plataea
- 03Plataean defense before the Spartans
- 01Plataean appeal to Sparta
- 02Theban rebuttal of Plataean claims
- 03Theban defense before the Lacedaemonian judges
- 04Execution of the Plataean prisoners and destruction of the city
- 05Peloponnesian fleet regroups at Cyllene
- 01Return of the prisoners and political intrigue
- 02Murder of Peithias and the assembly decree
- 03Civil war between commons and oligarchs
- 01Nicostratus's settlement and the hostage crisis
- 02Peloponnesian arrival and the sea battle off Corcyra
- 03Aftermath in Corcyra and the massacre of the suppliants
- 01Escalation of civil strife and moral inversion
- 01Corcyra’s civil strife and factional violence
- 02Athenian expedition to Sicily and its aims
- 01Plague, earthquakes, and the end of the fifth year
- 02Aeolian Islands expedition from Rhegium
- 03Peloponnesian invasion aborted by earthquakes and coastal inundations
- 04Sicilian operations after Charoeades' death
- 01Athenians at Mylae, Melos, and Tanagra
- 02Foundation of Heraclea in Trachis
- 01Leucas and the Acarnanian siege plan
- 02Demosthenes persuaded to attack the Aetolians
- 03March from Leucas to Oeneon in Locris
- 01Demosthenes' advance into Aetolia
- 02Aetolian counterattack and Athenian rout
- 03Withdrawal to Naupactus and Athens
- 01Athenian raid on Locris and capture of Halex fort
- 02Eurylochus's march through Locris to Naupactus
- 03Demosthenes and the defense of Naupactus
- 04Ambraciot plan against Amphilochia and Acarnania
- 05Winter campaign in Sicily against Inessa
- 01Purification of Delos and burial restrictions
- 02Ancient Delian festival and Homeric testimony
- 03Revival of the Delian games with horse-races
- 01Ambraciot advance to Olpae
- 02Eurylochus joins the Ambraciots
- 03Athenians arrive and battle lines form
- 01Peloponnesian defeat at Olpae
- 02Truce, burial of the dead, and secret retreat
- 03Ambraciot relief force intercepted
- 01Night march to Idomene and surprise attack
- 02Herald from Olpae and the scale of the disaster
- 01Ambracian settlement and Corinthian garrison
- 02Athenian operations in Sicily and Etna eruption
- 01Messina and Rhegium in Sicily
- 02Demosthenes fortifies Pylos
- 03Spartan response and siege preparations
- 01Demosthenes fortifies Pylos against a two-front attack
- 02Brasidas leads the failed assault from sea and land
- 03Athenian fleet arrives and defeats the Peloponnesian ships
- 04Armistice terms for the stranded garrison
- 01Terms of the armistice and exchange of ships
- 02Lacedaemonian appeal for peace and alliance
- 03Cleon's counterproposal for surrender and restitution
- 01End of the Athenian-Lacedaemonian armistice
- 02Syracusan operations in the Strait of Messina
- 01Syracusan fighting off Messina
- 02Athenians at Pylos under blockade
- 01Athens fears the blockade will fail
- 02Cleon and Nicias debate the expedition
- 03Cleon accepts command and names his force
- 01Demosthenes’ concerns about the wooded island
- 02Cleon’s arrival and surrender proposal
- 03Night landing and enemy dispositions
- 01Athenian landing and encirclement
- 02Close fighting and retreat to the fort
- 03Messenian flanking maneuver and surrender
- 01Surrender of the Lacedaemonian garrison
- 02Aftermath of the Pylos blockade
- 01Athenian landing at Solygia
- 02Battle with the Corinthians
- 03Corinthian retreat to the hill
- 01Corinthian battle and Athenian coastal raids
- 02Corcyraean civil strife and massacre
- 03Winter diplomacy and Chian disarmament
- 04Lesbian exile raids and the expedition against Cythera
- 01Athens ravages Cythera and Thyrea
- 02Sicilian congress at Gela
- 03Hermocrates urges Sicilian peace
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01How many chapters are in the History of the Peloponnesian War course?
The History of the Peloponnesian War course has 26 chapters, each with its own lessons and topics.
02How many lessons are in the History of the Peloponnesian War course?
There are 200 lessons across the course, and you can ask your 24/7 tutor about any of them.
03Can I see what the History of the Peloponnesian War course covers before I start?
Yes. The full curriculum is listed on this page, beginning with "CHAPTER I".
04Do I get a certificate for the History of the Peloponnesian War course?
Yes. Finishing the course earns a personal Cavua certificate of completion.
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