Long Walls
However, this siege, which lasted until 430/429 BC, seriously depleted the Athenian treasury, with as much as 1,000 talents per year required for the military activity. This was not popular with the Athenians, and in combination with the plague that swept through Athens in the early 420s BC, made the continued leadership of Pericles untenable. The Periclean strategy of hiding behind the Long Walls and relying on the low cash reserves of the Peloponnesians was starting to become unfavourable to the greater Athenian consciousness.