During the Peloponnesian war, Athens and their rival, Sparta, competed against one another in an effort to establish their dominance of Greece, forming alliances and colonies with imperialistic motives. Large alliances that were formed before the Peloponnesian war were an important factor in what escalated it. Sparta formed the Peloponnesian League while Athens created what is now referred to as the Athenian Empire. The Spartans won the long Peloponnesian war against Athens in 405, after the battle of Aegospotami as a result of a variety of factors including population depletion, Athenian arrogance, and betrayal. All of Athens’ population were forced to retreat inside the city’s Long Walls as the Spartans pillaged Athens for forty-days. The
