What marked the final phase of the Peloponnesian War and its aftermath?

• A. The Spartan-Athenian conflict concluded with Athenian victory and hegemony
• B. Athenian victory restored full independence
• C. Persia regained control of all Greek city-states
• D. The Spartan-Athenian war ended with Spartan hegemony; the Athens lost power; rise of Macedonian power under Philip II and Alexander the Great; Greece’s classical independence waned for a period

Answer: (D)

It focuses on how the war ended and the political reshaping of Greece afterward. In the final phase, Athens was defeated and Sparta established its hegemony over Greece. That shift ended Athens’ imperial power and opened the door for a new rise in the region: Macedon, under Philip II and then Alexander the Great, would come to dominate, unifying Greece and altering the balance of power. This sequence marks the end of the classical city-state era in Greece and the beginning of Macedonian dominance leading into the Hellenistic period. The other possibilities don’t fit because Athens did not win, and Persia did not regain control over all Greek city-states in this aftermath.