The armistice of 423 lasted for a year before its terms expired. The Athenians then tried to retake one of their former colonies, Amphipolis, but the attempt ended in disaster, killing important generals on both sides. Exhausted by the cost, savagery and sheer failure of either side to win a significant advantage, the two great powers of Greece began to consider peace.

Negotiations began and dragged on for another two years before the terms were finally agreed in 421 BC. The Peace of Nicias, named after the chief Athenian negotiator, was a treaty of mutual defense between Athens and Sparta in which they each agreed to defend each other for the next fifty years!

Almost immediately problems became apparent. Sparta was in no position to restore order in those city-states it had encouraged to rebel, and several of its more powerful allies were openly critical of the peace terms. It was also facing another war with its old neighbor and rival, Argos. Athens' position looked better, but in truth it was also far from stable. A new generation of young aristocrats was eager for power and within a few short years they would set Athens on a course that would ignite the war once more...