what are the significance of the persian and peloponnesian wars to athens?

Answer 1

expanded empire gives more economic options & ruling power to the winner...whomever...

Answer 2

The Persian wars were a triumph for Athens. Although it suffered major damages, Athens finally beat the Persians and saved all Greeks, the first Persian expedition in the battle of Marathon and the second in the naval battle of Salamis. Hence, Athens proved to be a major power and took a super-power role, forcing its allies to be subordinate to her. (something like the US after WW1, I am not insinuating anything against the US, just to help you understand how the victory made a state into a superpower).
However, this domination of Athens made Sparta get a secondary role, and this started a cold-war situation between Sparta and Athens (Again like US and USSR cold war), but this resulted in the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta, and the result was the defeat of Athens mostly due to a big epidemic that killed a lot of the population of Athens, including Pericles. This was the end of the Golden Age of Athens.