Peloponnesian War - Revision history

Irlandos: /* The Sicilian Expedition */

2011-05-14T06:09:53Z

The Sicilian Expedition

Irlandos: /* The Sicilian Expedition */

2011-05-14T06:09:36Z

The Sicilian Expedition

Irlandos: /* The Sicilian Expedition */

2011-05-14T06:08:33Z

The Sicilian Expedition

Irlandos at 16:34, March 26, 2009

2009-03-26T16:34:34Z

Irlandos: /* The "Archidamian War" */

2009-03-26T16:33:54Z

The "Archidamian War"

Irlandos: /* References */

2008-02-05T14:12:48Z

References

Irlandos: /* Lysander triumphs */

2006-12-20T09:47:49Z

Lysander triumphs

Irlandos: /* References */

2006-02-09T20:48:05Z

References

Irlandos: /* Causes of the war */

2005-11-10T13:01:52Z

Causes of the war

Irlandos at 13:01, November 10, 2005

2005-11-10T13:01:11Z

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 == The [[Sicilian Expedition]] ==
-In the 17th year of the war, word came to Athens that one of their distant allies in [[Sicily]] was under attack from [[Syracuse]]. The people of Syracuse were ethnically [[Dorians|Dorian]], while the Athenians, and their ally in Sicily, were [[Ionian]]s. The Athenians felt obliged to assist their ally.
+In the 17th year of the war, word came to Athens that one of their distant allies in [[Sicily]] was under attack from [[Syracuse]]. The people of Syracuse were ethnically [[Dorians|Dorian]], while the Athenians, and their ally in Sicily, were [[Ionians]]. The Athenians felt obliged to assist their ally.
 The Athenians people did not act solely from altruism: they held visions of conquering all of Sicily. Syracuse, the principal city of Sicily, was not much smaller than Athens, and conquering all of Sicily would have brought Athens an immense amount of resources. In the final stages of the preparations for departure the [[hermai]] (religious statues) were mutilated by unknown persons, and [[Alcibiades]], the Athenian general in charge of the expedition, was charged with religious crimes. Fearing that he would be unjustly condemned, Alcibiades defected to Sparta and Nicias was placed in charge of the mission. After his defection, Alcibiades informed the Spartans that the Athenian planned to use Sicily as a springboard for the conquest of all of Italy, and to use the resources and soldiers from these new conquests to conquer all of the Peloponnese.

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 == The [[Sicilian Expedition]] ==
-In the 17th year of the war, word came to Athens that one of their distant allies in [[Sicily]] was under attack from [[Syracuse]]. The people of Syracuse were ethnically [[Dorians|Dorian]], while the Athenians, and their ally in Sicily, were [[Ionia|Ionian]]. The Athenians felt obliged to assist their ally.
+In the 17th year of the war, word came to Athens that one of their distant allies in [[Sicily]] was under attack from [[Syracuse]]. The people of Syracuse were ethnically [[Dorians|Dorian]], while the Athenians, and their ally in Sicily, were [[Ionian]]s. The Athenians felt obliged to assist their ally.
 The Athenians people did not act solely from altruism: they held visions of conquering all of Sicily. Syracuse, the principal city of Sicily, was not much smaller than Athens, and conquering all of Sicily would have brought Athens an immense amount of resources. In the final stages of the preparations for departure the [[hermai]] (religious statues) were mutilated by unknown persons, and [[Alcibiades]], the Athenian general in charge of the expedition, was charged with religious crimes. Fearing that he would be unjustly condemned, Alcibiades defected to Sparta and Nicias was placed in charge of the mission. After his defection, Alcibiades informed the Spartans that the Athenian planned to use Sicily as a springboard for the conquest of all of Italy, and to use the resources and soldiers from these new conquests to conquer all of the Peloponnese.

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 == The [[Sicilian Expedition]] ==
-In the 17th year of the war, word came to Athens that one of their distant allies in [[Sicily]] was under attack from [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]]. The people of Syracuse were ethnically [[Dorians|Dorian]], while the Athenians, and their ally in Sicily, were [[Ionia|Ionian]]. The Athenians felt obliged to assist their ally.
+In the 17th year of the war, word came to Athens that one of their distant allies in [[Sicily]] was under attack from [[Syracuse]]. The people of Syracuse were ethnically [[Dorians|Dorian]], while the Athenians, and their ally in Sicily, were [[Ionia|Ionian]]. The Athenians felt obliged to assist their ally.
 The Athenians people did not act solely from altruism: they held visions of conquering all of Sicily. Syracuse, the principal city of Sicily, was not much smaller than Athens, and conquering all of Sicily would have brought Athens an immense amount of resources. In the final stages of the preparations for departure the [[hermai]] (religious statues) were mutilated by unknown persons, and [[Alcibiades]], the Athenian general in charge of the expedition, was charged with religious crimes. Fearing that he would be unjustly condemned, Alcibiades defected to Sparta and Nicias was placed in charge of the mission. After his defection, Alcibiades informed the Spartans that the Athenian planned to use Sicily as a springboard for the conquest of all of Italy, and to use the resources and soldiers from these new conquests to conquer all of the Peloponnese.

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:34, March 26, 2009
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−	The '''Peloponnesian War''' began in [[431 BC]] between the [[Athenian Empire]] (or The [[Delian League]]) and the [[Peloponnesian League]] which included [[Sparta]] and [[Corinth]]. The war was documented by [[Thucydides]], an Athenian [[general]], in his work ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]''. Most of the extant comedies of [[Aristophanes]] were written during this war, and poke fun at the generals and events. The war lasted 27 years, with a 6-year truce in the middle, and ended with Athens' surrender in [[404 BC]].	+	The '''Peloponnesian War''' began in [[431 BC]] between the [[Athenian Empire]] (or The [[Delian League]]) and the [[Peloponnesian League]] which included [[Sparta]] and [[Corinth]]. The war was documented by [[Thucydides]], an Athenian [[strategos\|general]], in his work ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]''. Most of the extant comedies of [[Aristophanes]] were written during this war, and poke fun at the generals and events. The war lasted 27 years, with a 6-year truce in the middle, and ended with Athens' surrender in [[404 BC]].

	== Causes of the war ==		== Causes of the war ==

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 The Spartan strategy during the first war, known as the Archidamian War after its king [[Archidamus II]], was to invade Attica, the land surrounding Athens. While this deprived Athens of the productive land around their city, Athens itself was able to maintain access to the sea, and did not suffer much. Many of the citizens of Attica abandoned their farms and moved inside the Long Walls, which connected Athens to its port of [[Piraeus]]. The Spartans also occupied Attica for only a few months at a time; in the tradition of earlier [[hoplite]] warfare the soldiers expected to go home to take care of the harvest. Moreover, Spartan slaves, known as [[helots]], needed to be kept under control, and could not be left unsupervised for long periods of time.
-The Athenian strategy was initially guided by the ''[[strategos]],'' or general, [[Pericles]], who advised the Athenians that if they defended themselves, and did not risk offensive battles, they would be victorious. The Athenian fleet, on the other hand, went on the offensive, winning victories off [[Battle of Naupactus (429 BC)|Naupactus]] (now known as "Návpaktos"). In [[430 BC|430]], however, an outbreak of a [[Plague of Athens|plague]] (thought by some to be [[anthrax]] tramped up from the soil by the thousands of refugees from Attica hiding out in Athens during a siege by the invading Peloponnesians, although no authoritative consensus exists among modern medical authorities as to the correct diagnosis) wiped out roughly one quarter of the Athenian population, including Pericles and his sons.
+The Athenian strategy was initially guided by the ''[[strategos]],'' or general, [[Pericles]], who advised the Athenians that if they defended themselves, and did not risk offensive battles, they would be victorious. The Athenian fleet, on the other hand, went on the offensive, winning victories off [[Battle of Naupactus (429 BC)|Naupactus]]. In [[430 BC|430]], however, an outbreak of a [[Plague of Athens|plague]] (thought by some to be anthrax tramped up from the soil by the thousands of refugees from Attica hiding out in Athens during a siege by the invading Peloponnesians, although no authoritative consensus exists among modern medical authorities as to the correct diagnosis) wiped out roughly one quarter of the Athenian population, including Pericles and his sons.
 After the death of Pericles, the Athenians turned somewhat against Pericles's conservative, defensive strategy and to a more aggressive strategy of bringing the war to Sparta and its allies. Rising to particular importance in Athenian democracy at this time was [[Cleon]], a leader of the hawkish elements of the Athenian democracy. Led militarily by a clever new general [[Demosthenes (general)|Demosthenes]] (not to be confused with the later great Athenian orator [[Demosthenes]]), the Athenians managed some successes as they continued their naval raids on the Peloponnese, stretched their military activities into [[Boeotia]] and Aetolia, and began fortifying posts around the Peloponnese. One of these posts was near  [[Pylos]] on a tiny island called [[Sphacteria]], where the course of the first war turned in Athens's favor. The post off Pylos struck Sparta where it was weakest: its dependence on the helots. Sparta was dependent on a class of slaves, known as helots, to tend the fields while its citizens trained to become such fine soldiers. The helots made the Spartan system possible, but now the post off Pylos began attracting helot runaways. To lose these slaves was bad enough, but the fear of a general revolt of helots emboldened by the nearby Athenian presence drove the Spartans to action. Demosthenes, however, outmaneuvered the Spartans and trapped a group of Spartan soldiers on Sphacteria as he waited for them to surrender. Weeks later, though, Demosthenes proved unable to finish off these irrepressible Spartans. After boasting that he could put an end to the affair in the Assembly, to most Athenians' surprise (and perhaps to his as well), the inexperienced Cleon won a great victory at the [[Battle of Pylos]] and the related [[Battle of Sphacteria]] in [[425 BC]]. The Athenians captured between 300 and 400 Spartan hoplites. The hostages gave the Athenians a valuable bargaining chip. The Battle of Sphacteria was more a humiliating surrender than a devastating one, however.

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 * Simon Hornblower, ''The Greek World, 479-323 BC'' (2002³) contains three chapters with highly condensed information: "The run-up to the war" (103-110), "The Peloponnesian War" (150-183), and "The effects of the Peloponnesian War" (184-209).
 * H. Heftner, ''Der oligarchische Umsturz des Jahres 411 v.Chr. und die Herrschaft der Vierhundert in Athen'' (2001 Frankfurt am Main)
-* [[Donald Kagan]]:
+* Donald Kagan:
 ** ''The Peloponnesian War'' (Viking Press, 2003) ISBN 0670032115, a one-volume version of his earlier tetralogy
 ** ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'' (Cornell University Press, 1969) ISBN 0-801-40501-7

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 Opportunity cooperated with him. After a naval battle at [[battle of Arginusae|Arginusae]], in which the Athenians lost 12 ships, the Athenians were unable to rescue the crews due to bad weather. Blaming instead the generals, the Athenians executed all of their top naval commanders, and destroyed the morale of their navy.
-Lysander, seizing the opportunity, sailed at once to the [[Hellespont]], the source of Athens's [[cereal|grain]]. Threatened with starvation, the Athenian fleet had no choice but to follow. By means of a ruse, Lysander tricked the Athenians into a total defeat at the [[battle of Aegospotami]], destroying 168 ships; only 12 Athenian ships escaped, and several of these sailed to [[Cyprus]], including the ''strategos'' [[Conon]], who was not anxious to face the judgment of the [[Ecclesia (ancient Athens)|Assembly]].
+Lysander, seizing the opportunity, sailed at once to the [[Hellespont]], the source of Athens's grain. Threatened with starvation, the Athenian fleet had no choice but to follow. By means of a ruse, Lysander tricked the Athenians into a total defeat at the [[battle of Aegospotami]], destroying 168 ships; only 12 Athenian ships escaped, and several of these sailed to [[Cyprus]], including the ''strategos'' [[Conon]], who was not anxious to face the judgment of the [[Ecclesia (ancient Athens)|Assembly]].
 Facing starvation and disease from the prolonged siege, Athens surrendered in [[404 BC]], and her allies soon surrendered as well. The democrats at [[Samos]], loyal to the bitter last, held on slightly longer, and were allowed to flee with their lives. The surrender stripped Athens of her walls, her fleet, and all of her overseas possessions.

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 * [[Thucydides]], ''[[The History of The Peloponnesian War]]''
-* [[Robert B. Strassler]] ed., ''The Landmark Thucydides: a Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War'' ([[The Free Press]], 1996) ISBN 0-684-82815-4
+* Robert B. Strassler ed., ''The Landmark Thucydides: a Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War'' (The Free Press, 1996) ISBN 0-684-82815-4
 * [[Diodorus Siculus]]
 * [[Plutarch]]
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 * H. Heftner, ''Der oligarchische Umsturz des Jahres 411 v.Chr. und die Herrschaft der Vierhundert in Athen'' (2001 Frankfurt am Main)
 * [[Donald Kagan]]:
-** ''The Peloponnesian War'' ([[Viking Press]], 2003) ISBN 0670032115, a one-volume version of his earlier tetralogy
+** ''The Peloponnesian War'' (Viking Press, 2003) ISBN 0670032115, a one-volume version of his earlier tetralogy
-** ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'' ([[Cornell University Press]], 1969) ISBN 0-801-40501-7
+** ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'' (Cornell University Press, 1969) ISBN 0-801-40501-7
 ** ''The Archidamian War'' ISBN 0-801-40889-X
 ** ''The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition'' ISBN 0-801-41367-2

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 == Causes of the war ==
-According to [[Thucydides]], the cause of the war was the "fear of the growth of the power of [[Athens]]" throughout the middle of the [[5th century BC]]. After a coalition of [[Greece|Greek]] states thwarted an attempted invasion of the [[Greek peninsula]] by the [[Persian empire]], several of those states formed the [[Delian league]] in [[478 BC]] in order to create and fund a standing navy which could be used against the Persians in areas under their control. Athens, the largest member of the league and the major Greek naval power, took the leadership of the league and controlled its treasury. Over the following decades, Athens was able to convert the Delian league into an Athenian empire. This increase in Athenian military power allowed it to challenge the Lacedaemonians (commonly known as the [[Sparta|Spartans]]), who, as leaders of the [[Peloponnesian League]], had long been the sole major military power in Greece.
+According to [[Thucydides]], the cause of the war was the "fear of the growth of the power of [[Athens]]" throughout the middle of the [[5th century BC]]. After a coalition of [[Greece|Greek]] states thwarted an attempted invasion of the Greek peninsula by the Persian empire, several of those states formed the [[Delian league]] in [[478 BC]] in order to create and fund a standing navy which could be used against the Persians in areas under their control. Athens, the largest member of the league and the major Greek naval power, took the leadership of the league and controlled its treasury. Over the following decades, Athens was able to convert the Delian league into an Athenian empire. This increase in Athenian military power allowed it to challenge the Lacedaemonians (commonly known as the [[Sparta|Spartans]]), who, as leaders of the [[Peloponnesian League]], had long been the sole major military power in Greece.
 The immediate cause of the war comprised several specific actions of Athens that affected Sparta's allies, notably [[Corinth]]. The Athenian navy intervened in a dispute between Corinth and [[Corcyra]], preventing Corinth from invading Corcyra at the [[Battle of Sybota]], and placed [[Battle of Potidaea|Potidaea]], a Corinthian colony, under siege. The Athenian Empire also levied economic sanctions against [[Megara]], an ally of Sparta. These sanctions, known as the [[Megarian decree]], were largely ignored by Thucydides, but modern economic historians have noted that forbidding Megara to trade with the prosperous Athenian empire would have been disastrous for the Megarans. The decree was likely a greater catalyst for the war than Thucydides and other ancient authors admitted, more so than simple fear of Athenian power.

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:01, November 10, 2005
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	The '''Peloponnesian War''' began in [[431 BC]] between the [[Athenian Empire]] (or The [[Delian League]]) and the [[Peloponnesian League]] which included [[Sparta]] and [[~~Corinth, Greece\|~~Corinth]]. The war was documented by [[Thucydides]], an Athenian [[general]], in his work ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]''. Most of the extant ~~[[comedy\|~~comedies]] of [[Aristophanes]] were written during this war, and poke fun at the generals and events. The war lasted 27 years, with a 6-year truce in the middle, and ended with Athens' surrender in [[404 BC]].	+	The '''Peloponnesian War''' began in [[431 BC]] between the [[Athenian Empire]] (or The [[Delian League]]) and the [[Peloponnesian League]] which included [[Sparta]] and [[Corinth]]. The war was documented by [[Thucydides]], an Athenian [[general]], in his work ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]''. Most of the extant comedies of [[Aristophanes]] were written during this war, and poke fun at the generals and events. The war lasted 27 years, with a 6-year truce in the middle, and ended with Athens' surrender in [[404 BC]].

	== Causes of the war ==		== Causes of the war ==