WI: Reversed Pelopennesian War

I think this is a potentially fun one. Basically, what if Athens defeats Sparta in the Pelopennesian war, and how would they do it? I think that preventing might due the trick, particularly because Pericles would survive. What would the Mediterranean look like down the line though? Would the Macedonians still be able to conquer Greece? How would Rome be affected? Would why see a different Mediterranean empire rise, perhaps Athens itself, or would we have a more fractious situation where Rome, Carthage, and Athens bounce off each other? If Macedon cannot conquer Greece, what does this mean for Asia Minor? I think we could have a lot of fun with this.

Thoughts?
 
9 times out of 10, I feel like Macedon is going to be a failed state-by the time of Phillip, they were on the verge of being just that, and it took an extraordinary king to bring them back. So I don't think they are going to be taking over Greece.

As for Athens winning the Peloponnesian War...it depends what POD you want. The Athenian Empire (not really an empire but by Greek standards it certainly was) would be pretty impressive. I'm not sure how long it could realistically hold together though absent any powerful enemy like Thebes and Sparta it could stick around for some time.
 
What would an Athenian victory look like? Somehow sacking Sparta? Just getting the Spartans to stop ransacking Attica every year? Taking Syracuse and walloping the Pelopponesian League's navy?

Anyways, any victory would mean the Delian League continues to be the most powerful force in Greece, probably incorporating more city-states as vassals. But I still don't think it would last long or actually unify Greece - rather, I think it would be severely weakened after the war.

OTL, the war arguably took out both Athens and Sparta as political powers, leaving Thebes as the true political victor - an Athenian victory, if as drawn-out as the Spartan one, would likely result in the same.
 
Well an Athenian victory would likely mean the neutralizing of Thebes also-it was too close a major land power to not be an obstacle to ultimate victory. Though you make a good point-what does an Athenian victory look like? I mean, Athens largely recovered rapidly after the end of the Peloponnesian War, so I'm not sure it will actually change anything-except that Sparta is going to not be powerful enough to project their power, since they were barely able to hold onto it for long after winning OTL-and then descended into the realm of second rate player in Greek politics.
 
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