CLCV 205 Midterm 2: Important Events

League of Korinth

338/7. New Grecian alliance formed by Philip for the purpose of retaliating against Persia for the Persian War, which was pretty random. Primary purpose, however, is probably just legitimize Philip's domination over Greece. This was good timing, as Persia was in crisis.

Death of Philip II

336. Philip assassinated by one his own men, Pausanias, because of a familial dispute over his new wife, Cleopatra. Cleopatra is the mother of Alexander.

Peace of Philocrates

346. Negotiated by the Athenian Philocrates with Philip. Athens's refusal to aid Olynthos and their loss of Amphipolis forced them to support humiliating terms.

Battle of Chaeronea

338. Completes Macedon's rise to hegemony over Greece. Spartans are absent; they're still coping with the helot liberation affected by Thebes. The Theban Sacred Band is slaughtered down to a man; thousands of Athenians are killed or taken prisoner. After this battle, any resistance to Macedonian domination of Greece would be futile. Interestingly, Philip treats the Thebans far more harshly after the battle than the Athenians, probably because of the Athenians cultural clout and their valiance against Persia.

Philip II destroys Olynthos

348. Olynthos, an Athenian ally, had begged for their help against Philip. But Athens, constrained in part by the Theoric Fund, did not intervene. Philip captures Olynthos and sells its citizens into slavery. This prompts some of the famous oratory of Demosthenes. Demosthenes had originally entered politics as a supporter of Eubulus' policies.

Philip II defeats Phokis

353. Philip crushes Phokis, demonstrating the might of his new army.

Philip II becomes King of Macedon

359. Spent two years as a hostage in Thebes when he was a teenager; gained valuable insight into Greek politics. First move as king is to convince the Athenians and Thracians to stop supporting "pretenders" to the Macedonian throne, allowing himself to consolidate power. Also takes over the Thracian gold and silver mines that had so supported Athens during the Peloponnesian War. Athens relied heavily on Macedon, in part because of the kingdom's wealth of forests. Philip introduced a spate of highly effective military reforms at Macedon, including the development of the sarissa, or long-spear. The spear, which could be up to 18 feet long, deprived other Greek poleis of their principal tactical advantage, which was that a a tightly packed hoplite phalanx--guarded by tall shields--would approach the enemy until they were too near to be hit by spears and then attack them. But Philip's new spears were so long that they could force the hoplite phalanx back on the battlefield.

Battle of Mantinea

362. Thebans vs. a hodgepodge alliance of Greek poleis (including Athens) against their hegemony. Thebans far outnumber their opponents, and even win the battle, but Epaminondas is killed, leaving the Thebans with their highly skilled leader. Pelopidas had already been killed invading Sicily. After this year, there is no clear hegemon in the Greek world, setting the stage for the rise of Philip II of Macedon. Xenophon records that going into this battle the Greeks had the expectation that it's winner would become the hegemon of Greece; in fact, everyone emerges from the battle so damaged that no one can justifiably claim the hegemony.

Free Messenia

370-69. After the Battle of Leuktra, Epaminondas continues with his Theban force into the Peloponnese and liberates Messenia from Sparta control. Messenia was important for the Spartans because it consisted in periokoi (skilled craftsmen such as carpenters and jewelers that formed the backbone of the Spartan economy) and in helots, the slave laborers that were responsible for the production of all raw material in Sparta. Helots now become citizens of Sparta.

Battle of Leuktra

371. Ends Spartan hegemony after the Peloponnesian War. Marks period of Theban hegemony. Thebes led by Epaminondas and Pelopidas, both of whom had been involved in the liberation of Thebes from its Sparta-imposed oligarchy. Artaxerxes is trying to organize another peace (he's about to invade Egypt and knows that war in Greece would drain his resources) but ultimately fails when the Thebans dislike the terms. Cleombrotus, meanwhile, was already marching against Phocis. The Thebans have their Sacred Band, a group of 150 pairs of hoplites said to fight even more valiantly because they are also lovers. They destroy the Spartan force and kill King Cleombrotus. This is significant both because it marks to beginning of Theban hegemony and because it shatters the myth of the eminence of Spartan hoplites. Likewise, Epaminondas continues into the Peloponnese and frees the Messenians from Spartan control.

Decree of Aristoteles (Charter of the Second Athenian Confederacy)

377. Passed in the Athenian Assembly; signed onto by different city states in the Aegean. Different city states again joining together with Athens alongside Spartan aggression. Athens recoups most of its previous allies from the Delian League. "All allies will remain independent and autonomous, enjoying the form of government they wish, paying no tribute" (so, history had some kind of effect on Athens. They're trying their hand at the Delian League again, this time with a better sense of what went wrong last time, some new rights for members, Athens cannot appoint Athenian garrisons elsewhere. At least 60 city states sign-on during these years. Defensive alliance, if Sparta attacked one of the members of the League everyone needed to band together to fight them.

Peace of Antalkidas/King's Peace

387. Ends the Korinthian War. Significance is that the Peace showcases the Persian King Artaxerxes's newfound clout in Grecian affairs--the Peace was negotiated in Persia. The security guarantor was Sparta, who, on the pretense of enforcing autonomy, set about dismantling a variety of existing arrangements. They compelled Mantinea to destroy their its fortifications, dissolved the Boeotian League, and installed a pro-Spartan government at the newly democratic Thebes, executing a leading democrat there on the charge of conspiring with Persia (ironic, because Sparta was allegedly carrying out the security interests of none other than Persia).

Battle of Knidos

394. Persian navy commanded by Konon and Pharnabazus (!!!) wins over Sparta. Konon returns from the battle with lots of Persian money, and uses it to build the Konian Long Walls. Likewise, Athens is able to capitalize on her new resources to forge alliances in the Aegean and in Asia Minor--the beginning of the Second Athenian Confederacy.

Korinthian War

396-387. Spartan aggression was on full display under Lysander. This leads to a realignment of power. Now, Athens is teaming up with Thebes, Corinth, and Argos (formerly its bitterest enemies) against Sparta. Likewise, king Artaxeres II is sending gold to Athens and elsewhere in order to bribe them into taking a stand against Sparta, who had been harrying the Persians in the decade following the Peloponnesian War. The first consequence of the war is the death of Lysander. Next was a Persian/Athenian victory at the battle of Knidos (394).

Thirty Years Peace between Athens and Sparta

445. Peace brokered between Athens and Sparta. Ends the "First (Undeclared) Peloponnesian War." Five terms: neither Athens nor Sparta can interfere with the other's allies, neutral states are free to join either the Delian League or the Peloponnesian League, disagreements are to be settled by arbitration. No allies are permitted to switch sides, and each hegemon (alliance leader) was free to use force to resolve conflicts within its own alliance.

The Thirty Tyrants

404-3. Following Athens's defeat at Aegospotami, Lysander set up decarchies across the Aegean. The goal was to ensure that Athens' former allies would be governed according to Sparta's oligarchic interests. Athens required a larger governing body, so Lysander established thirty tyrants. Most colorful among them was the brutal Critias, Plato's relative and a staunch antidemocratic voice. The tyrants execute hundreds of their personal enemies and democratic voices, appoint a new boule of 500 antidemocrats, and expel hundreds more. Thrasybulus gathers a group of exiles at north of Athens at Phyle in 403. Critias leads a force to meet them and is killed. Sparta is growing nervous about Lysander, and so chooses to send Pausanias to Athens instead. He and Thrasybulus negotiate the first amnesty in history, whereby only the 30 tyrants and their top officers could be prosecuted for crimes before 403--everyone else would need to swallow their grievances. He begins the project of renewing democracy at Athens, but the city is devastated. The adult male population was probably less than half of what it had been in 431.

Battle of Aegospotami

405. Final battle of the Peloponnesian War. Again, the Spartans offer peace and the Athenians decline. Athenian generals Conon and Philocles station their fleet some two miles across the narrow channel at Aegospotami. Alkibiades, seeing that their position was highly vulnerable, descended from his castle at Gallipoli and advised the generals to reposition or face disaster. The generals disregarded his cautions--Lysander ambushes and destroys the fleet. The war was over for Athens: after this defeat and the self-inflicted wound of Arginusae they had neither generals nor money to continue fighting.

Battle of Arginusae

406. Major Athenian victory near Lesbos. The Athenians destroyed at least 75 Spartan ships and killed the Spartan commander Callicratidas, who had taken over from Lysander. At the time of the victory, another Athenian fleet at Mytilene had been blockaded. While the strategoi at Lesbos debated how and whether to rescue Conon, a storm arrived that made rescue impossible, and prevented the surviving soldiers from bringing the bodies of the dead back to Attica for funeral rites. This so upset the Athenians that they summarily executed the eight generals, deepening an already dire leadership crisis precipitated by the oligarchic coup and the dismissal of Alkibiades.

Battle of Notium

407. Spartan naval victory over Athens. The defeat was relatively minor (probably only about 20 triremes lost), but had major repercussions. Alkibiades had left his friend Antiochus in charge of the fleet in Ionia with strict instructions not to engage Lysander, the Spartan general. Antiochus was--we hear from Plutarch--an idiot, and decided to engage anyways, losing the fleet. Anger at Alkibiades led to his final dismissal from Athens.

Oligarchic coup in Athens

411. While the thetes are away at Samos, the Athenian assembly voted itself out of existence and placed the safety of the state in the hands of a new provisional council known as the Council of Four Hundred. What is really at issue is the disenfranchisement of the thetes. The notion of "hoplite democracy" had been the ideal of Kimon, where only those who can afford to arm themselves for battle have a voice in government. The Kleisthenic reforms of 508, however, had settled this question by giving thetes political power. But the oligarchic coup of 411 turned back the clock. Pay was abolished for state offices, which effectively put them beyond the grasp of anyone who could not afford unremunerated labor. Democracy is restored in 410. The Athenians showed vigor in pursuing the war despite their civil strife. They tapped an emergency fund they'd been stockpiling since the beginning of the war and scored series of victories in the East. Riding high, they refused a peace offer from the Spartans.

Revolt of Chios

412. Revolt fermented by Alkibiades before his 411 recall to Athens. Significance is that it keeps the thetes away from Athens, paving the way for the oligarchic coup of 411, in which the thetes were disenfranchised. Alkibiades brings a Spartan fleet to reinforce the insurrectionists; revolt spreads to other islands, including Miletus.

The Sicilian Expedition and the Destruction of the Herms

415-3. The Sicilian city of Egesta approaches Athens for help resolving a border dispute with their neighbor and rival, Selinus, who was being supported by Syracuse. Alkibiades is pro helping Egesta; Nikias, of course, is against it. Then someone dephallused the Herms, which convinced the Athenians there was a plot to overthrow their government, and everyone blamed Alkibiades, who departs with Lamachus and Nikias for Sicily. The Egestaeans turn out to be poor, Lamachus promptly dies fighting, Alkibiades is recalled to stand trial but defects to Sparta, where he tries to stir the pot and bring Sparta back into conflict with Athens. Sparta is determined not to let Athens have Sicily; they send Gylippus with a reinforcements for the Syracusans. Nikias is suffering from kidney disease, wants to be recalled, but is forced to stay. Athenians send Demosthenes with backup, who urges the Athenians to leave. But the Athenians get spooked by moonlight and decide to stay, at which point they are attacked and massacred, with thousands being taken prisoner. No one remains to return to Athens and share the news of what happened.

Melian Dialogue

416. Athenians decide (under the leadership of Alkibiades and Nikias) to bring the island of Melos under their control. Melos was technically neutral, but had given some monetary support to the Spartans. Scholars disagree as to why the Athenians wanted to subjugate Melos; for Thucydides, at least, the answer clearly seems to be that they wanted to make an example of them. In the infamous and chilling "Melian Dialogue," Thucydides has the Athenians articulate what would come to be called Realpolitik, or "political realism," which is the idea that the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. Thrasymachos also makes this case in Plato's Republic. The Melians try to hold out for Spartan help to arrive. It never does. The Athenians killed nearly all the Melian men and sold the women and children into slavery.

Last Athenian ostracism (Hyperbolos)

418/7. Hyperbolos holds an ostracism, expecting to have either Alkibiades or Nikias expelled. Instead, Alkibiades and Nikias join forces and expel Hyperbolos instead. Not much is known about his political career, except that he was a demagogue. Thucydides reports that the Athenians were, in retrospect, annoyed that they had ostracized Hyperbolos, because they didn't feel that the punishment (until then exclusively used on noble, high profile leaders like Themistokles) was deserving of him.

End of 5-year treaty, Euboean revolt, Megaran defection

446. Megara had joined the Delian League seeking protection for Corinth. Corinth was frustrated with Athens, principally because they had resettled a community of Spartan helots at Naupactus, near the mouth of the Gulf of Corinth.

Peace of Nikias

421. Pause in the Peloponnesian War after Spartan loss at Pylos. Athenian general Kleon and Spartan general Brasidas killed at Amphipolis. Both sides exhausted from the first stage of the war. Athens needed respite because the Spartans had destroyed their agricultural production and hamstrung interpoleis trading. The Spartans needed a break because the Athens had captured hundreds of their best soldiers on Sphacteria. They were also probably eager to take their attention off of the Athenians for the moment, as their peace treaty with the Argives was about to expire. The Peace of Nikias was highly ambitious. It was supposed to last for fifty years, and included that Athens got to keep their empire. It represents a significant victory for Athens. The cost had been high, but so far they'd kept their empire, and, without even putting their backs into it, had significantly weakened the Peloponnesian League. Trouble begins immediately, when Sparta's allies refuse to sign the treaty or make any concessions to the Athenians.

Capture of Pylos

425. Detained by bad weather, Athenians decide to build a fort at Pylos, the legendary home of Nestor. The Spartans, fearing that Sphacteria might fall into Athenian hands, had positioned 420 hoplites on the island. Athens traps the Spartans on Sphacteria. Desperate for the return of their soldiers (the Spartan population was depleted), the Spartans beg Athens to make a treaty. Athens refuses. Kleon bullies the infamously timid Nikias into giving him a commission to capture the soldiers, and the Spartans surrender. The result is a major Athenian victory. The Athenians can finally farm in peace for the first time since the outbreak of the war.

Mytilene Debate (Kleon/Diodotus)

428/7. In 428, Mytilene leads four of five cities on the island of Lesbos to revolt from Athens. They seek aid from the Spartans, who agree to provide it, but then they completely drop the ball in actually getting ships there, and Mytilene is forced to surrender in 427. A discussion about what to do ensues in the Athenian Assembly. Initially, the Athenians vote for the Mytilenean men to be executed and all the women and children sold into slavery, and a ship is dispatched with the news. The next day, however, the Athenians have second thoughts. Another debate ensues. It is Kleon (the first known representative demagogue) vs. Diodotus, who is relatively obscure. Diodotus argues against the plan, noting that killing people who have already surrendered seems unwise, because it discourages surrender in the future. Diodotus wins out. Another ship is dispatched; it arrives immediately after the first ship delivers the news.

Plague and the death of Perikles

429. Athens only needed a stalemate to win the war. It was essentially a defensive proposition. Perikles knew this. His strategy was to keep Athenians inside the long walls as the Spartans raided Attica. Likewise, the Athenians knew that they were far stronger at sea; the Spartans stronger on land. Unfortunately, however, the Athenians are struck by a plague, which kills Perikles and a third of the Athenian population.

Second Peloponnesian War

431-404. Although it is Sparta who technically declares war, many see Athens as the aggressor. Thucydides remarks that most people are either resentful of Athenian rule or deeply fearful that they will fall under that rule. Athens indisputably had the upper hand at the outbreak of the war. Their navy was far stronger and they had amassed a huge wealth of resources from tribute.

Potidaia

432. City on the Chalcidic peninsula. Occupies strange position because colony of Corinth but member of Delian League. Potidaia, unlike Corcyra, was highly dependent on Corinth. But after the Battle of Sybota Athens ordered them to no longer accept magistrates or support from Corinth, and to remove their sea walls. They probably took this highly aggressive step because Potidaia was an access point to Macedon, on whom they relied for timber for their triremes. The Potidaeans, for their part, extract a commitment from Sparta to invade Attica if they are attacked. Athens besieges the city for two years.

Megarian Decree

432. Law passed by the Athenian Assembly excluding Megarian merchants from the markets of the Athenian Empire and the agora. Clever because it adheres to the terms of the 30-Year Peace, which prohibited physical warfare between allies, but not economic warfare. Because Athens controls nearly all ports and markets in the Aegean, the Decree destroys the wellbeing of Megara. They are forced to turn to Sparta for help. Treatment of the Decree in Thucydides is uncharacteristically vague.

Battle of Sybota (Epidamnus/Corcyra/Corinth)

433. The Corinthians are troubled by Thurii. This suggests they received Perikles' attempt at "panhellenism" as really a veiled imperialism. Corcyra, itself a Corinthian colony, had planted its own colony, Epidamnus, near modern-day Albania. A civil war broke out between democrats and oligarchs. The democrats seek assistance from Corcyra, who denies their request. Epidamnus next seeks help from Corinth, who agrees. The Corinthians want to crush Corcyra, who is not a member of the Peloponnesian or Delian leagues, is terrified of Corinth, with its powerful navy. They ask Athens for an allegiance. Athens, fearing what would happen if Corinth got ahold of Corcyra's fleet, agrees to intervene. Soon, Athens is fighting Corinth at the Battle of Sybota, after which both Corcyra and Corinth claim victory.

Samian revolt

440. This city was a prominent and well-respected ally of Athens in the Delian League. One of the few members of the League still paying Athens in ships. This meant that they had not crippled their own navy, and had a large and powerful one of their own. Perikles brutally suppresses their revolt. Some oligarchs of this island go to the Persian satrap at Sardis and get Persian support for their revolt. As at Naxos and Thasos, Athens strips their walls and makes them pay a huge indemnity, the full cost of the siege. Generals are killed and hostages are taken. After this there are only two cities who are still sending ships to Athens.

Founding of Thurii

443. Athenians, led by Perikles, invite the other Greek states to share in the founding a Panhellenic colony as a testament to their goodwill. Example of Athens' expanding imperial ambitions in the first years of the Peace. Amphipolis is another strategic colony.

Periklean citizenship law

451. Before, residents of Athens became citizens upon turning 18 if they had at least one Athenian parent. Perikles changes the law to make it such that children must have two Athenian parents to become citizens. This was probably an anti-aristocratic measure aimed at stopping powerful families from making marriage alliances with other states. Implications are profound: the law isolates Athens from the surrounding poleis and leads to the kind of antipathy that engenders war.

Loss of Athenian fleet in Egypt; Treasury of Delian League moved from Delos to Athenian Acropolis

454. Perikles pursued revenge against Persia, sending a fleet to Egypt, which had rebelled against Artaxerxes. Megabazus pens in the Athenians, drains the channels around the island where they were camped. Whole fleet is destroyed, most soldiers are killed. Huge loss in morale. Athens responds by transferring the Delian League treasury from Delos (their reason was that the island of Delos was too proximate to Persia) to the Acropolis.

Battle of Tanagra; Battle of Oenophyta

457. Acme of Athenian Empire. Tanagra: Kimon tries to come back from his exile to fight in this battle, but Perikles kicks him out. War breaks out between an Athenian ally and a Spartan ally on the border of Attica. Sparta is supporting their ally with their hoplites. In turn, Athens is supporting Doris with their troops. Thus, Tanagra is an indirect engagement between Sparta and Athens through the proxy of their allies. Sparta wins, but both sides sustain enormous losses.

Athenians repel Corinthian invasion of Megara, build their own Long Walls.

459. Megara had defected from Corinth and joined the Delian League in order to gain protection from Athens. Corinth responded by joining forces with Aegina and fighting against Athens. The Athenians repelled the Corinthian invasion and built their famous Long Walls, which made besieging the city by land nearly impossible.

"First Undeclared Peloponnesian War"

460-445. Formally begins with the battles Tanagra (Athenian defeat) and Oenophyta (Boeotian defeat).

Spartan Earthquake

464. Leads to helot revolt. Sparta asks Athens for help putting down the revolt. Kimon brings 4000 hoplites (over the objections of Ephialtes) but Sparta dismisses the Athenians for an unclear reason, probably owing to their democratic tastes.

Revolt of Thasos

465. Both Athens and Thasos want control over the valuable mines in Thrace. Thasos was wealthy and well-positioned within the northern Aegean. Lots of mineral wealth, enough to fund their own protection. They revolt from the League. Athens besieges the city for nearly three years, destroying their fleet and stripping their city walls, as at Naxos. Athens makes Thasos pay tribute and takes control of the mines. This dramatically increases the wealth of the League's coffers.

Battle of Eurymedon

469. Kimon badly defeats a fleet of Persian ships at the mouth of the Eurymedon river, eliminating the Persian threat in Greece. Kimon's popularity skyrockets.

Destruction of Naxos

471/0. By most accounts, Kimon had successfully led the Delian League against what remained of the Persian threat in the decade after Plataea. Naxos evidently thought that the League had served its purpose; Athens sails against them, confiscates their fleet, and strips their city walls.

Formation of the Delian League

478. Created in 478 following the Persian Wars. Goals were the containment/expulsion of Persia, fundraising for devastated poleis, revenge against Persia. Treasury at Delos; regular meetings. All members were to be free and independent. Each state had one vote; all votes were equal. Some states were to provide money; others ships. Aristides devised a regular system of contributions. The phoros (money payment) went straight into the League treasury at Delos.