Pericles War Plan Outcome

In the Peloponnesian War, Sparta was the first to push Athens and invade. Sparta started by burning Athens farmland around the city. This is where Pericles plan was put into play. Pericles insisted that the Athenians waited within the city as Sparta attacked. Pericles idea was that Athens could have resources such as food sent to them by boat to substitute the loss of their farmland. The next problem was brought into play by the boats that had delivered the food and resources. The boat had carried a massive plague over to Athens. As time went on this plague began to kill hundreds at time since the citizens were still told to stay within the city walls. The symptoms from this plague such as inflammation of the eyes and extreme fever got so bad that many citizens would have rather died than suffer anymore. Many Athenians did not understand their suffering and almost killed 1/3rd of their populations including Pericles. Once Pericles died, it was little time before the next person was fighting to become ruler. This plan had gone completely wrong for Athens and ended with people questioning Pericles authority. Although Pericles tried his best to be a strong leader for Athens his plan did not end with victory. The plan slipped through from an unpredictable outcome for him.