Connecting Athens to her port cities of Piraeus and Phalerum, the “Long Walls” of the Classical Period protected Athenian farmland and ports from Peloponnesian hoplite forces during the Peloponnesian War, 460 – 404 BCE.
Following Xerxes’ invasion of Greece during the Persian War, Themistocles proposed building “Long Walls” in 465 BCE to connect Athens with Piraeus and keep access to their navy and port. Construction began in 461 BCE under the leadership of Cimon. The “Long Walls” are considered a cause of the Peloponnesian War as Sparta and her allies began to fear that Athens, with her walls and growing navy, was becoming too powerful. The second wall, between Athens and Phalerum, was built after the First Peloponnesian War and came to be of paramount importance during the Second Peloponnesian War because Pericles, the leader of Athens at the time, based his strategy around them. The “Long Walls” formed a triangle of protected land between Athens and her ports for farming and transportation. When Sparta would ravage Attica and attempt to draw them out, the Athenians would remain behind their walls and attack the Peloponnese by sea, destroying coastal cities before returning home. The walls were eventually toppled in 87 BCE by Roman general Sulla who strategized to force Athens to surrender to Rome by cutting off Athenian access to its port at Piraeus. (from: https://origins.osu.edu/connecting-history/top-ten-origins-walls?language_content_entity=en)