But then the Greeks start fighting amongst themselves, led on one side by Athens and on the other side by Sparta, and that's the Peloponnesian War, which ends with Sparta being victorious, but all of the Greek city-states being weakened dramatically. Now between the end, especially the first part of the Greco-Persian Wars, and the end of the Peloponnesian War, it was actually a time of Athenian prosperity. They were leading this semi-empire. They were investing in the arts. And it's often called the Golden Age of Athens. And that's the world in which Socrates emerged. Like many philosophers, Socrates led a very interesting life and it's worth noting what we know about him does not come directly from his writing.