WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -A Persian army led by Xerxes I defeated Greek forces led by the Spartan king Leonidas in the Battle of Thermopylae.

Detailed explanation-2: -Sparta won the Peloponnesian War because Athens wasted men and resources on a disastrous expedition in Sicily. Using money from Persia, Sparta built a large navy and defeated the Athenians at Aegospotami in 405 BCE.

Detailed explanation-3: -Sparta and its allies accused Athens of aggression and threatened war. On the advice of Pericles, its most influential leader, Athens refused to back down. Diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute failed. Finally, in the spring of 431, a Spartan ally, Thebes, attacked an Athenian ally, Plataea, and open war began.