Athens was one of the first true democratic governments in the world. The people would vote for their rulers, who would then be representatives of the people’s will. When Draco was elected ruler in 621 BC, he made punishment for all crimes extremely harsh to persuade families to not seek revenge on their transgressors. Draco’s reign caused many Athenians to become enslaved because slavery was the punishment for not paying taxes to the government. The next ruler, Solon, freed all the slaves and declared that every citizen could vote and not just aristocrates. 

Four courts made up the government in Athens: The Assembly, The Council of Five Hundred, The Law Court, and The Magistrates. One thousand people represented the 40,000 Athenians in the courts during the elections.  

In 499 BC, Ionian Greeks in Asia Minor rose up against their Persian oppressors. They sought assistance from Sparta, which refused, but Athens sent 20 ships to support the revolt. Nonetheless, the rebellion was put down quickly by Persia. Enraged that the Athenians had helped a revolt, King Darius of Persia sought revenge on the Greeks and invaded but was defeated at the Battle of Marathon. Now the Spartans, who had initially refused to help Athens, joined the fight. King Xerxes of Persia, Darius’s son, sent 250,000 troops through the Greek mountains to face off against a small force of 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. The Spartans fought well but were eventually defeated by the much larger force. Their heroic fight inspired other Greek city states to join in against Persia. 

After the Battle of Thermopylae, the Persians sacked and burned Athens, but most of the Greek Army and population had escaped already. The Greeks defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis, and they were victorious over Persia in 479 BC. 

After the Persian War, the Greek states formed the Delian League, a defensive pact under the direction of Athens. Each state had to provide ships, money, and supplies. The League even supplied an Egyptian revolt against Persia. Many of the city-states were alarmed at how powerful Athens had become. Messenia withdrew from the League first, and Athens demanded its return. In response, the other city-states formed the anti-Athens Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta, and declared war on Athens. 

Athens mainly stuck to naval combat, which was their strength, so the Spartans could not inflict a decisive blow. In 430, a plague broke out and killed two thirds of the Athenian population. Later, a truce was signed and peace lasted from 421-415. In 414, Athens went on an expedition to Sicily to try to take out Syracuse, who was loyal to the Peloponnesian League. The Athenians could not defeat Syracuse, so they decided to go back to Greece. However, they saw a Lunar Eclipse, which they took as a sign to keep fighting. This gave Syracuse time to encircle and destroy the Athenian forces. Fifty thousand Athenians were killed and Sparta took control of most of Greece. 

Sparta briefly had control over all of Greece before the other city-states rebelled against them in 371 BC. By 350, none of the city-states dominated over each other. Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides both wrote about the Peloponnesian War and much of the information we have of the war comes from them.