The Prosperous Greek Golden Age Throughout the history of Greek civilization, the Greek people endured many hardships, as well as peace and the triumphs. However, one Greek period stands out most for its both peaceful and aggressive nature, the Golden Age. During the Golden Age, Greece and its surrounding colonies prospered with wealth and power, were influenced by several key players, and also participated in wars and battles. The Greek Golden Age was one of the high points of Greek society and left its mark on it for years to come. Around 500 BC, Greek civilization experienced a time of peace. Due to the quiet times, the civilization society had more time to focus on writing, mathematics, astronomy, and artistic fields, as well as commerce and metallurgy. Of all the city-states of Greece, two stood out above all others, Sparta and Athens. Even though they were the most advanced and strongest civilizations, they were bitter enemies. While Athens focused primarily on popular democracy and citizen rights, Sparta was fierce and enslaved its early inhabitants, making them unable to leave. From 492 BC. Due to the constant battles between the Persians, led by Xerxes, and Greece, both civilizations began to weaken more and more. At the end of the wars, the Greeks succeeded in defeating the Persians. However, their weakened state caused the Greek city-states (mainly Athens versus Sparta) to fight among themselves in order to have more influence over the rest of the city-states. This type of war was called the Peloponnesian War and continued from 431 BC. to 404 BC (History of Greece: The Golden Age of Greece) and