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The Greek historian Thucydides argued that Sparta's fear of Athens was the ultimate cause of the war. According to Thucydides, the growth of the ‘power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Lacedaemon (Sparta) made war inevitable."<ref>Thucydides, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i> 1.67–71</ref> Thucydides believed that the Peloponnesian War was inevitable because when a rising power confronted another power, they would inevitably wage a war against each other to further or protect their interests.<ref>Thucydides, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i> 1.67–71 </ref> Some later historians have also argued that war was inevitable between the two greatest Greek powers. It is still widely held that in international relations, the growth of a nation-state or empire will inevitably lead to rivalry and war with an established power.<ref>Kagan, p. 71 </ref>

====Sparta and Athens====