The War Between Athens and Sparta

For two years neither side struck. Nobody wanted to go to war with Sparta, but nobody wanted to going to war with Athens either. But a regional scuffle finally fanned the flames of all-out war. Some citizens of Edipas' home city, Thebes, attacked a small town nearby called Patedia. In 430, in response to the violence in the north, Sparta finally dispatched its armies to make war on Athens. And there were far more than 300 Spartans this time.