The number of votes held before the Peloponnesians went to war against Athens in 431 B.C. was not two (Thuc. 1.87; 125.1), but three: first the Spartans recognized that Athens was in the wrong; then the Peloponnesians voted for war sub condicione (i.e. in case of Athens’ refusal of the League’s requests); finally the Peloponnesians decided to go to war (cf. Diod. 12.41.1). Sparta’s refusal of arbitration does not undermine the sincerity of its initiatives for peace in 432–1, but demonstrates that such initiatives could not compete with the Spartan fear of the loss of hegemony.
