Why did the Greeks fight among themselves after their victory in the Persian wars?

Answer 1

The Greek world was comprised of over 2,000 independent city-states, which established shifting alliances with each other. Some cities agreed to ally with Persia, others refused. Those which agreed did so for briber of their leaders, self interest, and opposition to other cities.

Answer 2

Was there a first and second Persian War?

Darius I in 490 BCE had sent an amphibious force against Eretria and Athens for their part in burning their city of Sardis in support of Miletus' insurrection. It was not a general war between Persia and Greece, it was a punitive expedition.

After the partial failure of that expedition, Darius planned to take all of mainland Greece to stop this support of insurrections by the Greek cities in Asia. After his death, his son Xerxes took the project on and invaded Greece.

As a softening up preliminary, his agents circulated through the Greek mainland cities, offering handsome bribes and the promise to factions in the cities that they would rule them under a Persian governor. Many of those cities went over to the Persian side.

On the naval side, the Asian Greek cities were required by their overlord Persia to contribute to the Persian fleet, and provided about a third of it, along with Egypt and Phoenicia, also under Persian rule.

Answer 3

The Persian empire was destabilised by intrusions from European Greek cities helping uprisings by their daughter cities inside the empire. Persia then decided to incorporate mainland Greece inside the empire to create an ethnic frontier. Xome were brought in by bribery, but it became necessary to finish it off in southern Greece by invsion.

The invasion in 480-479 BCE failed.

Answer 4

Disputes between the Greek city-states were the norm. While they usually tried to avoid war by using a third city as arbitrator, this often failed and war settled the dispute - most usually over land or trade.

So after the distraction of the Persian invasion, they went back to their usual conflicts between neighbours.

Answer 5

The unity arose temporary only to repel the Persians. When peace was made, the Greek city-states returned to their usual warfare between each other with increased ferocity.