Research Paper on:
Twenty Seven Year Conflict Known as the Peloponnesian War

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Persia was that common enemy for the Greeks. Once the Persians were defeated, the internal conflict between city-states resumed, with The Peloponnesian War, lasting for 27 years. The  Persians According to Gable (1999), the Persian king, Xerxes I became obsessed with revenge against the Greeks for the defeat of his father, Darius I in 490 BC at Marathon.  Consequently, he convinced Carthage to fight with him against the Greeks. Carthage would invade Sicily, another Greek city-state, and stop her from going to the aid of the  Athens. Xerxes planned to attack Athens both from the land and sea. The Persian army won a few scrimmages at sea: but the Persian land forces were delayed  by the Spartans at Thermopylae. The best laid plans, still only remain, that, plans. Sicily was able to defeat the invading Carthagians, allies of the Persians. Sparta  was able to slow them down. The Persians lost half their fleet at the sea battle of Salamis; once again victory was with the Athenians. Thermopylae The "Gates of  Fire" or the "Hot Gates" was another name for the narrow rocky pass at Thermopylae. In that small open space between great rocks, a hand-picked force of 300 Spartans  and about 700 allies, were to delay the invading Persians for as long as possible. The idea was that an elite force, willing to sacrifice their lives could buy  the Greeks a few more days of crucial preparation time. The pass was held for three days, against a force of five thousand Persians. Those Spartans who gave  up their lives are now perceived as the heroic military ideal of sacrifice. Sparta What we might call counties, or provinces, were once called "city-states" in ancient Greece. Sparta