The statement is true.
Explanation:
The Peloponnesian War was a series of armed conflicts in ancient Greece between 431 and 404 BC. If was fought between the Delian League, led by Athens, and the Peloponnesian League, under Sparta.
The main reason for the war was that Sparta and its allies no longer wanted to accept Athens' growing power. The Athenian strategy was to lay Attica open and allow the rural population to seek protection within the walls of Athens and the long wall between Athens and Piraeus. They emphasized the dominion at sea and the strong finances, and allowed the fleet to manage the supply of supplies to the unimaginable city while fighting exhausted the enemy.
The war was long even between the warring parties and in 421 a peace treaty was concluded, which however became short-lived. A new phase began in 415 when the Athenians sent a large fleet to Syracuse in Sicily to secure control over the Greeks living in the west. The company ended with a catastrophic defeat in 413 whereby Athens was severely weakened. The Spartans gained a foothold in Dekeleia at Attica, thus stopping the Athenians' pushes. With the help of the Persians, they also strengthened their naval power.
Despite great vigor, Athens was unable to resist the enemy in the long run and the defeat of the naval battle against the Peloponnesian League's fleet in 405 became crucial. Athens was forced the year after to make peace with harsh peace conditions which ended its leading naval power.
A short period after the war, Athens was ruled by an oligarchic government, the thirty tyrants, a reactionary regime controlled and appointed by Sparta. These were overthrown after a year of violent regimes and democracy was reinstated in 403.
