Greece

Mantinea

418 BC was a significant engagement in the Peloponnesian War. Sparta and its allies defeated an army led by Argos and Athens.

Alexander

(20/21 July 356 BC - 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great was a King (Basileus) of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty, an ancient Greek royal house. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander succeeded his father, Philip II, to the throne at the age of twenty. He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through Asia and northeast Africa, and by the age of thirty he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from Greece to Egypt into northwest India and modern-day Pakistan. He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of history's most successful military commanders. During his youth, Alexander was tutored by the philosopher Aristotle until the age of 16. After Philip's assassination in 336 BC, Alexander succeeded his father to the throne and inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. Alexander was awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his father's Panhellenic project to lead the Greeks in the conquest of Persia. In 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Empire, ruled Asia Minor, and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of decisive battles, most notably the battles of Issus and Gaugamela.** He subsequently overthrew the Persian King Darius III and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety. Seeking to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea", he invaded India in 326 BC, but was eventually forced to turn back at the demand of his troops. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, the city he planned to establish as his capital, without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in several states ruled by the Diadochi, Alexander's surviving generals and heirs. Alexander's legacy includes the cultural diffusion his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism. He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists and the resulting spread of Greek culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic civilization, aspects of which were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century and the presence of Greek speakers in central and far eastern Anatolia until the 1920s. Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and mythic traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which military leaders compared themselves, and military academies throughout the world still teach his tactics. He is often ranked among the most influential people in human history, along with his teacher Aristotle

Gordian knot

an extremely difficult or involved problem. Alexander I.

Theoric fund

(also Theoric Fund and Festival Fund) was in ancient Athens the name for the fund of monies expended on festivals, sacrifices, and public entertainments of various kinds; and also monies distributed among the people in the shape of largesses from the state. A special fund established at Athens, probably in the 350s BC, by Eubulus. In peacetime it received the fiscal surplus remaining after all annual expenditures mandated by law had been made. The purpose of the fund was to enable poor Athenians to attend public festivals, but it was also used for various other purposes including work on the dockyards and the public arsenal. In wartime, use of the surplus for military purposes was possible by vote of the Athenian assembly, but such use was unpopular.

Seleucus

(c. 358 BC - 281 BC) (Ancient Greek: Σέλευκος Α΄ Νικάτωρ) was one of the Diadochi.[B] Having previously served as an infantry general under Alexander the Great, he eventually assumed the title of basileus[C] and established the Seleucid Empire over much of the territory in the Near East which Alexander had conquered. After the death of Alexander in June 323 BC, Seleucus initially supported Perdiccas, the regent of Alexander's empire, and was appointed Commander of the Companions and chiliarch at the Partition of Babylon in 323 BC. However, after the outbreak of the Wars of the Diadochi in 322, Perdiccas' military failures against Ptolemy in Egypt led to the mutiny of his troops in Pelusium. Perdiccas was betrayed and assassinated in a conspiracy by Seleucus, Peithon and Antigenes in Pelusium sometime in either 321 or 320 BC. At the Partition of Triparadisus in 321 BC, Seleucus was appointed Satrap of Babylon under the new regent Antipater. But almost immediately, the wars between the Diadochi resumed and Antigonus[D] forced Seleucus to flee Babylon. Seleucus was only able to return to Babylon in 312 BC with the support of Ptolemy. From 312 BC, Seleucus ruthlessly expanded his dominions and eventually conquered the Persian and Median lands.

Peltasts

A peltast was a type of light infantry in Thrace and Paeonia who often served as skirmishers.

Second Athenian confederacy

A voluntary organization led by Athens, which many Greek states joined, some at the inception in 377 and others later. Though member states sent delegates to a common deliberative body known as the synedrion and hence had far greater say in policy decisions than the helpless allies of the Delian League, disaffection nonetheless developed and the alliance began to disintegrate in the late 370s. It suffered substantial defections in the 350s and was finally dissolved when the Corinthian League was established in 338 BC.

Aeschylus

Aeschylus was an ancient Greek tragedian. He is also the first whose plays still survive; the others are Sophocles and Euripides. Father of Tragedy. 523 BC, playwright and soldier. The Persians gave a lot of useful information about the war, and the Persians second invasion of Greece.

Cleon

Cleon was an Athenian statesman and a general during the Peloponnesian War. He was the first prominent representative of the commercial class in Athenian politics, although he was an aristocrat himself. He opposed Pericles, and rose to power after his death by being charismatic, and supported war against Sparta.

Alcibiades

Alcibiades, son of Cleinias, from the deme of Scambonidae, was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in the second half of that conflict as a strategic advisor, military commander, and politician. During the course of the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades changed his political allegiance several times. In his native Athens in the early 410s BC, he advocated an aggressive foreign policy and was a prominent proponent of the Sicilian Expedition, but he fled to Sparta after his political enemies brought charges of sacrilege against him. In Sparta, he served as a strategic adviser, proposing or supervising several major campaigns against Athens. In Sparta too, however, Alcibiades soon made powerful enemies and felt forced to defect to Persia. There he served as an adviser to the satrap Tissaphernes until his Athenian political allies brought about his recall. He then served as an Athenian general (Strategos) for several years, but his enemies eventually succeeded in exiling him a second time. The Sicilian Expedition was the idea of Alcibiades, and scholars have argued that, had that expedition been under Alcibiades's command instead of that of Nicias, the expedition might not have met its eventual disastrous fate.[2] In the years when he served Sparta, Alcibiades played a significant role in Athens's undoing; the capture of Decelea and the revolts of several critical Athenian subjects occurred either at his suggestion or under his supervision. Once restored to his native city, however, he played a crucial role in a string of Athenian victories that eventually brought Sparta to seek a peace with Athens. He favored unconventional tactics, frequently winning cities over by treachery or negotiation rather than by siege. Alcibiades's military and political talents frequently proved valuable to whichever state currently held his allegiance, but his propensity for making powerful enemies ensured that he never remained in one place for long; and by the end of the war which he had helped to rekindle in the early 410s, his days of political relevance were a bygone memory.

Zeus-Ammon

Amun, worshipped by the Greeks as Ammon, had a temple and a statue, the gift of Pindar (d. 443 BC), at Thebes,[24] and another at Sparta, the inhabitants of which, as Pausanias says,[25] consulted the oracle of Ammon in Libya from early times more than the other Greeks. At Aphytis, Chalcidice, Amun was worshipped, from the time of Lysander (d. 395 BC), as zealously as in Ammonium. Pindar the poet honoured the god with a hymn. At Megalopolis the god was represented with the head of a ram (Paus. viii.32 § 1), and the Greeks of Cyrenaica dedicated at Delphi a chariot with a statue of Ammon. Such was its reputation among the Classical Greeks that Alexander the Great journeyed there after the battle of Issus and during his occupation of Egypt, where he was declared "the son of Amun" by the oracle. Alexander thereafter considered himself divine. Even during this occupation, Amun, identified by these Greeks as a form of Zeus,[26] continued to be the principal local deity of Thebes. Several words derive from Amun via the Greek form, Ammon, such as ammonia and ammonite. The Romans called the ammonium chloride they collected from deposits near the Temple of Jupiter Amun in ancient Libya sal ammoniacus (salt of Amun) because of proximity to the nearby temple.[27] Ammonia, as well as being the chemical, is a genus name in the foraminifera. Both these foraminiferans (shelled Protozoa) and ammonites (extinct shelled cephalopods) bear spiral shells resembling a ram's, and Ammon's, horns. The regions of the hippocampus in the brain are called the cornu ammonis - literally "Amun's Horns", due to the horned appearance of the dark and light bands of cellular layers. In Paradise Lost, Milton identifies Ammon with the biblical Ham (Cham) and states that the gentiles called him the Libyan Jove.

Reforms of Ephialtes

An important series of measures proposed by the Athenian politician Ephialtes in 462 BC. The details of the reforms are unknown but the tendency was to reduce the political influence of the Areopagus council by limiting its function to that of the primary court for the trial of homicide. The humiliating rejection by Sparta of their help outraged the men of Athens1 and provoked hostile relations between the two states. The disgrace the rejection brought to Cimon carried over to his fellow aristocrats in general, thereby establishing a political climate ripe for further democratic reforms. An Athenian named Ephialtes promptly seized the moment in 461 B.C.2 and convinced the assembly to pass measures limiting the power of the Areopagus.3 More importantly, his reforms set up a judicial system of courts4 manned by male citizens over thirty years old chosen by lot for each case. The reforms made it virtually impossible to influence or bribe the citizen jurors because 1) all trials were concluded in one day, and 2) juries were large (from several hundred to several thousand). There was no judge to instruct the jurors, nor any lawyers to harangue them—only an official to keep fights from breaking out. Jurors made up their own minds after hearing speeches made by the plaintiffs and defendants, who spoke on their own behalf and sometimes called their friends and supporters to do so. The accuser and the accused, although they were required to speak for themselves, might pay someone else to compose their speech to the court, which they then delivered as if it consisted of their own words. A majority vote of the jurors ruled, and there was no appeal from the decision of the court.

Anabasis

Anabasis is the most famous work, in seven books, of the Greek professional soldier and writer Xenophon.

Antigonus

Antigonus I Monophthalmus, son of Philip from Elimeia, was a Macedonian nobleman, general, and satrap under Alexander the Great. He originally served under Phillip I, and was a general for Alexander - protecting his supply line during his long campaign. He was given land after Alexanders death. Started the Antigonid Dynasty.

Aristides "the Just"

Aristides was an ancient Athenian statesman. Nicknamed "the Just", he flourished in the early quarter of Athens' Classical period and is remembered for his generalship in the Persian War.

Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and scientist born in the Macedonian city of Stagira, Chalkidice, on the northern periphery of Classical Greece. Tutor of Alexander the Great.

Battle of Argusinae

Athenian Victory. The naval Battle of Arginusae took place in 406 BC during the Peloponnesian War near the city of Canae in the Arginusae islands, east of the island of Lesbos. In the battle, an Athenian fleet commanded by eight strategoi defeated a Spartan fleet under Callicratidas. The battle was precipitated by a Spartan victory which led to the Athenian fleet under Conon being blockaded at Mytilene; to relieve Conon, the Athenians assembled a scratch force composed largely of newly constructed ships manned by inexperienced crews. This inexperienced fleet was thus tactically inferior to the Spartans, but its commanders were able to circumvent this problem by employing new and unorthodox tactics, which allowed the Athenians to secure a dramatic and unexpected victory. The news of the victory itself was met with jubilation at Athens, and the grateful Athenian public voted to bestow citizenship on the slaves and metics who had fought in the battle. Their joy was tempered, however, by the aftermath of the battle, in which a storm prevented the ships assigned to rescue the survivors of the 25 disabled or sunken Athenian triremes from performing their duties, and a great number of sailors drowned. A fury erupted at Athens when the public learned of this, and after a bitter struggle in the assembly six of the eight generals who had commanded the fleet were tried as a group and executed. At Sparta, meanwhile, traditionalists who had supported Callicratidas pressed for peace with Athens, knowing that a continuation of the war would lead to the re-ascendence of their opponent Lysander. This party initially prevailed, and a delegation was dispatched to Athens to make an offer of peace; the Athenians, however, rejected this offer, and Lysander departed to the Aegean to take command of the fleet for the remainder of the war, which would be decided less than a year later by his total victory at Aegospotami.

Nicias

Athenian politician and general during the period of the Peloponnesian War. Nicias was a member of the Athenian aristocracy and had inherited a large fortune from his father, which was invested in the silver mines around Attica's Mt. Laurium. Following the death of Pericles in 429 BC, he became the principal rival of Cleon and the democrats in the struggle for the political leadership of the Athenian state. He was a moderate in his political views and opposed the aggressive imperialism of the democrats. His principal aim was to conclude a peace with Sparta as soon as it could be obtained on terms favourable to Athens. He was regularly elected to serve as strategos (general) for Athens during the Peloponnesian War. He led several expeditions which achieved little. Nevertheless, he was largely responsible for the successful negotiations which led to the Peace of Nicias in 421 BC. Following the Peace, he objected to the ambitious plans of Alcibiades for advancing Athens' interests. Despite this, Nicias was appointed to participate in the Athenian invasion of Sicily. The Athenian siege of Syracuse was nearly successful until the arrival of the Spartan general Gylippus, who turned the situation around so that the Athenians were themselves under siege. Nicias led his forces in a desperate attempt to escape by land. However, they were cut off and he and his Athenian army were overwhelmed and defeated. Subsequently, Nicias was executed.

Hippocrates

Hippocrates of Kos was a Greek physician of the Age of Pericles, and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine.

Callisthenes

Callisthenes of Olynthus was a Greek historian. Great nephew of Aristotle. They first met when Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great. Through his great-uncle's influence, he was later appointed to attend Alexander the Great on his Asiatic expedition as a professional historian.

Cleruchy

Classical Greece, was a specialized type of colony established by Athens. The term comes from the Greek word meaning "lot-holder". A form of Greek colony in which colonists retained the citizenship of the founding city. In the fifth century BC Athens established cleruchies in the territory of rebellious or unreliable allies as self-supporting garrisons.

The four hundred

Council of the Four Hundred, (411 bc) oligarchical council that briefly took power in Athens during the Peloponnesian War in a coup inspired by Antiphon and Alcibiades. An extremely antidemocratic council, it was soon replaced, at the insistence of the Athenian fleet, by a more moderate oligarchy, the Five Thousand. The new council lasted only 10 months, but full democracy was restored in 410 and a commission set up to prevent a recurrence.

Darius III

Darius III, last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia from 336 BC to 330 BC. Artashata adopted Darius as a dynastic name.

Mothakes

Doric Greek word meaning "stepbrother". The term was used for a sociopolitical class in ancient Sparta, particularly during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). The mothakes were primarily either offspring of Spartan fathers and helot mothers or children of impoverished Spartans. Mothakes were not able to contribute to the syssitia, the core civic daily institution for citizens, and thus were not allowed to maintain an "equal" status. They were, however, permitted to fight as troops along with perioeci. Though free, they were not Spartan citizens but were brought up alongside Spartan boys as their foster brothers. Due to the expenses of providing extra mess contributions, their rearing was usually sponsored by wealthy families. Some mothakes such as Gylippus and Lysander rose to prominence; the former's father exiled for treason and the latter raised in poverty

Sacred band

Elite Theban infantry formed about 378 BC. The Sacred Band consisted of 150 pairs of lovers. It played a major role in the Spartan defeat at Leuctra in 371 and later Theban military campaigns until it was totally destroyed at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC.

Kings peace

Ended the Corinthian War. Xerxes (Persian King) makes the peace, Ionia goes back to the Persians. Sparta keeps the peace, etc.

Epaminondas

Epaminondas, was a Theban general and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greek city-state of Thebes, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a preeminent position in Greek politics. In the process he broke Spartan military power with his victory at Leuctra and liberated the Messenian helots, a group of Peloponnesian Greeks who had been enslaved under Spartan rule for some 230 years, having been defeated in the Messenian War ending in 600 BC. Epaminondas reshaped the political map of Greece, fragmented old alliances, created new ones, and supervised the construction of entire cities. He was militarily influential as well, inventing and implementing several major battlefield tactics. The Roman orator Cicero called him "the first man of Greece", and Montaigne judged him one of the three "worthiest and most excellent men" that had ever lived,[1] but Epaminondas has fallen into relative obscurity in modern times. The changes Epaminondas wrought on the Greek political order did not long outlive him, as the cycle of shifting hegemonies and alliances continued unabated. A mere twenty-seven years after his death, a recalcitrant Thebes was obliterated by Alexander the Great. Thus Epaminondas—who had been praised in his time as an idealist and liberator—is today largely remembered for a decade (371 BC to 362 BC) of campaigning that sapped the strength of the great land powers of Greece and paved the way for the Macedonian conquest.

Epicurus

Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher as well as the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism. Only a few fragments and letters of Epicurus's 300 written works remain. "Minimize harm, maximize happiness."

Euripides

Euripides was a tragedian of classical Athens. He is one of the few whose plays have survived, with the others being Aeschylus, Sophocles, and potentially Euphorion.

Agesilaus

Eurypontid king of the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, ruling from approximately 400 BC to 360 BC, during most of which time he was, in Plutarch's words, "as good as thought commander and king of all Greece," and was for the whole of it greatly identified with his country's deeds and fortunes. Small in stature and lame from birth, Agesilaus became ruler somewhat unexpectedly in his mid-forties. His reign saw successful military incursions into various states in Asia Minor, as well as successes in the Corinthian War; although several diplomatic decisions resulted in Sparta becoming increasingly isolated prior to his death at the age of 84 in Cyrenaica. He was greatly admired by his friend, the historian Xenophon, who wrote a minor work about him titled Agesilaus.

Hellenica

Hellenica simply means writings on Greek subjects. Several histories of fourth-century Greece, written in the mold of Thucydides or straying from it, have borne the conventional Latin title Hellenica.

Citizenship law of 451

In 451 B.C. Pericles introduced one of most striking proposals with his sponsorship of a law stating that henceforth citizenship would be conferred only on children whose mother and father both were Athenians.1 Previously, the offspring of Athenian men who married non-Athenian women were granted citizenship. Aristocratic men in particular had tended to marry rich foreign women, as Pericles' own maternal grandfather had done. Pericles' new law enhanced the status of Athenian mothers and made Athenian citizenship a more exclusive category, definitively setting Athenians off from all others. Not long thereafter, a review of the citizenship rolls was conducted to expel any who had claimed citizenship fraudulently. Together these actions served to limit the number of citizens and thus limit dilution of the advantages which citizenship in Athens' radical democracy conveyed on those included in the citizenry. Those advantages included, for men, the freedom to participate in politics and juries, to influence decisions that directly affected their lives, to have equal protection under the law, and to own land and houses in Athenian territory. Citizen women2 had less rights because they were excluded from politics, had to have a male legal guardian3 (kurios), who, for example, spoke for them in court, and were not legally entitled to make large financial transactions on their own. They could, however, control property and have their financial interests protected in law suits. Like men, they were entitled to the protection of the law regardless of their wealth. Both female and male citizens experienced the advantage of belonging to a city-state that was enjoying unparalleled material prosperity. Citizens clearly saw themselves as the elite residents of Athens.

Lysander

Lysander was a Spartan admiral who commanded the Spartan fleet in the Hellespont which defeated the Athenians at Aegospotami in 405 BCE

Olympias

Olympias was a daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus, the fourth wife of the king of Macedonia, Philip II, and mother of Alexander the Great.

Periclean Age

Pericles was arguably the most prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during the Golden Age— specifically the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars.

Pericles

Pericles was arguably the most prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during the Golden Age— specifically the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars.

Philip II

Philip II of Macedon was the King of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, the third son of King Amyntas III, and father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.

Pindar

Pindar was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved.

Plato

Plato was a philosopher and mathematician in Classical Greece, and the founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world.

Ptolemy I

Ptolemy I Soter I, also known as Ptolemy Lagides, c. 367 BC - c. 283 BC, was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, who became ruler of Egypt and founder of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and dynasty. In 305/4 BC he demanded the title of pharaoh.

Hellenistic

The Hellenistic period covers the period of ancient Greek (Hellenic) history and Mediterranean history between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire as signified by the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the subsequent conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt the following year. The period of Greek history extending from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC to the death of Cleopatra VII of Egypt in 30 BC.

Roxane

Roxana, was a Bactrian princess and a wife of Alexander the Great. She was born earlier than the year 343 BC, though the precise date remains uncertain, and died in c. 310 BC.

Sophocles

Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides.

Pausanias

Spartan of the 5th century BC. He was a scion of the royal house of the Agiads but was not in the direct line of succession: he was the son of Cleombrotus and nephew of Leonidas I, and served as regent after the latter's death, since Leonidas' son Pleistarchus was under age. Pausanias was also the father of Pleistoanax, who later became king, and Cleomenes. Pausanias was responsible for the Greek victory over Mardonius and the Persians at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC, and was the leader of the Hellenic League created to resist Persian aggression during the Greco-Persian Wars.

Chaeronea

The Battle of Chaeronea was fought in 338 BC, near the city of Chaeronea in Boeotia, between the Macedonians led by Philip II of Macedon and an alliance of some of the Greek city-states including Athens and Thebes. Result Decisive Macedonian victory. Territorial changes Macedon establishes hegemony over the majority of Southern Greece (Except Sparta). Phillip and Alexander lead in this battle. The battle has been described as one of the most decisive of the ancient world. The forces of Athens and Thebes were destroyed, and continued resistance was impossible; the war therefore came to an abrupt end. Philip was able to impose a settlement upon Greece, which all states accepted, with the exception of Sparta. The League of Corinth, formed as a result, made all participants allies of Macedon and each other, with Philip as the guarantor of the peace. In turn, Philip was voted as strategos (general) for a pan-Hellenic war against the Persian Empire, which he had long planned. However, before he was able to take charge of the campaign, Philip was assassinated, and the kingdom of Macedon and responsibility for the war with Persia passed instead to his son Alexander.

Battle of Cunaxa

The Battle of Cunaxa was fought in 401 BC between Cyrus the Younger and his elder brother Arsaces, who had inherited the Persian throne as Artaxerxes II in 404 BC. The Battle of Cunaxa was fought in 401 BC between Cyrus the Younger and his elder brother Arsaces, who had inherited the Persian throne as Artaxerxes II in 404 BC. The great battle of the revolt of Cyrus took place 70 km north of Babylon, at Cunaxa (Greek: Κούναξα), on the left bank of the Euphrates River. The main source is a Greek eyewitness and soldier, Xenophon. Tactical draw, strategic victory for Persia however.

Gaugamela*

The Battle of Gaugamela was the decisive battle of Alexander the Great's invasion of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. 331 BC, Darius makes a final effort to deter Alexander. Darius flees again, Alexander takes the Persian capital Persepolis and burns it, and chases after Darius to only find him murdered. Alexander murders Darius' murderer.

Battle of Issus*

The Battle of Issus occurred in southern Anatolia, in November 333 BC between the Hellenic League led by Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Persia, led by Darius III, in the second great battle of Alexander's conquest of Asia. Darius cuts off Alexander while he is taking Persian cities along the coast. This battle was direct confrontation between Darius and Alexander, forcing Darius to flee and Alexander to capture his entire family. Alexander treated them respectfully. Alexander also captures treasury and can now enter Egypt, humiliating Darius with this victory.

Leuctra

The Battle of Leuctra was a battle fought on July 6, 371 BC, between the Boeotians led by Thebans and the Spartans along with their allies amidst the post-Corinthian War conflict.

Potidaea

The Battle of Potidaea was, with the Battle of Sybota, one of the catalysts for the Peloponnesian War. It was fought near Potidaea in 432 BC between Athens and a combined army from Corinth and Potidaea, along with their various allies. Potidaea was a colony of Corinth on the Chalcidice peninsula, but was a member of the Delian League and paid tribute to Athens. After Sybota, Athens demanded that Potidaea pull down part of its walls, expel Corinthian ambassadors, and send hostages to Athens. Athens was afraid that Potidaea would revolt due to Corinthian or Macedonian influence, as Perdiccas II of Macedon was encouraging revolts among Athens' other allies in Thrace. Athens gathered a fleet of 30 ships and 1,000 hoplites under the overall command of Archestratus, which was originally meant to fight Perdiccas in Macedonia but was diverted to Potidaea. The Potidaeans sent ambassadors to Athens and Sparta, and when negotiations broke down in Athens, Sparta promised to help Potidaea revolt. The Athenian fleet sailed for Potidaea, but when it arrived, Archestratus attacked the Macedonians instead, as the Potidaeans had already revolted and allied with Perdiccas. Corinth sent 1,600 hoplites and 400 light troops to Potidaea as well, under the command of Aristeus. In response, Athens sent out another 2,000 hoplites and 40 more ships, under the command of Callias. After some fighting against Perdiccas, the combined Athenian forces sailed to Potidaea and landed there. Perdiccas and 200 of his cavalry joined with Aristeus, and their combined army marched to Potidaea as well. In the ensuing battle, Aristeus' wing of Corinthian troops defeated a section of the Athenian line, but elsewhere the Athenians were victorious. Aristeus returned to Potidaea along the seacoast with some difficulty, hoping to avoid the main Athenian army. A reserve force of Potidaeans, located in nearby Olynthus, attempted to relieve Aristeus, but they were defeated as well. The Corinthians and Potidaeans lost about 300 men, and the Athenians about 150, including Callias. The Macedonian cavalry did not join the battle. The Athenians remained outside Potidaea for some time, and were reinforced by another 1,600 hoplites under the command of Phormio. Both sides built walls and counter-walls, and the Athenians succeeded in cutting off Potidaea from the sea with a naval blockade. During the blockade, representatives from Corinth, Athens and Sparta met in Sparta, resulting in a formal declaration of war. However, this siege, which lasted until 430/429, seriously depleted the Athenian treasury, dumping as much as 1,000 talents/year into this attack. This made the Athenian people unhappy, and in combination with the plague that swept through Athens in the early 420s BC, made the continued leadership of Pericles untenable. The Periclean strategy of hiding behind the Long Walls and relying on the low cash reserves of the Peloponnesians was starting to become unfavorable to the greater Athenian consciousness. In several of Plato's dialogues, the philosopher Socrates is revealed to be a veteran of the Battle of Potidaea, where he saved the life of Alcibiades

Sphacteria

The Battle of Sphacteria was a land battle of the Peloponnesian War, fought in 425 BC between Athens and Sparta

Granicus

The Battle of the Granicus River in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great and the Persian Empire.

Congress of Corinth

The Congress at the Isthmus of Corinth took place in 481 BC, under the presidency of Sparta, and brought together a number of the Greek city states. The Congress agreed to the end of the war between Athens and Aegina. The Congress also discussed the threat from the Persians. Athens was unwilling to place her forces under Sparta and its King Leonidas. Gelon, tyrant of Syracuse wanted high command, but Sparta and Athens refused. However, during the Congress, Gelon had to withdraw due to Carthage's plans to invade Sicily. Finally, Athenian archon and political leader, Themistocles, agreed that Athens' navy serve under a Spartan admiral to achieve the unity of the Greek states. In an environment where the Greeks were continually breaking into factions within cities and creating rivalries between cities, Themistocles actions were advanced and far-sighted. Nevertheless, Thebes and Thessaly were unwilling to support Athens against the Persians, and Crete decided to remain neutral.

Corcyra

The Corinth-Corcyra War of 435-431 BC began as a dispute between Corinth and her colony Corcyra, but the Athenians were soon dragged into the conflict, and it contributed to the outbreak of the Great Peloponnesian War. The Corinth-Corcyra War was partly the result of the long-standing hostility between Corinth and Corcyra. Corcyra (modern Corfu) had originally be founded as a colony of Corinth, but for some time the younger city had refused to pay her parent city the usual honours, something that was greatly resented in Corinth. The relationship between the two cities had not always been so hostile. When Corcyra decided to create a colony of her own at Epidamnus, Corinth had been invited to provide the official 'founder' of the city (Phalius, son of Eratocleides, from the then ruling family of the Heraclids). Corinth also provided some of the original colonists. The city of Epidamnus was founded on the Illyrian coast, in the territory of the Taulantians (modern Albania). The city had prospered for some time, but in the years before the outbreak of the war had been threatened by both internal conflict and by the Taulantians. Things came to a head when the Democratic faction within the city expelled the Aristocrats. The exiled aristocrats joined with the Taulantians and launched a series of piratical attacks on the city. Both factions from Epidamnus sought help from their mother city of Corcyra, and the exiled aristocrats were clearly the more successful. The ambassadors from the democrats were refused an official audience, while the exiled aristocrats, who were able to point to the tombs of their ancestors in Corcyra, would soon have the active support of the mother city. When it became clear to the Democrats that they could not expect any help from Corcyra they decided to consult the Oracle at Delphi to find out if they should ask for help from their founder's city of Corinth. The Oracle replied that they should hand their city over to the Corinthians. Unsurprisingly the Corinthians accepted this offer, and prepared to mount an expedition to the city. A force of colonists from Corinth, Ambracia and Leucas soon reached Epidamnus. When this news reached the Corcyraeans they responded by sending a fleet to besiege Epidamnus, operating alongside the exiles and the Illyrians. News of the siege reached Corinth, where work began on raising a relief force. This consisted of a military contingent, including thirty ships and 3,000 hoplites from Corinth, and a group of new colonists. A number of Corinth's allies also provided ships, and eventually a force of 75 ships carrying 2,000 hoplites was sent to try and lift the siege of Epidamnus. While this relief fleet was being put together the Corcyraeans sent a diplomatic mission to Corinth, where they demanded that the new colonists withdraw from Epidamnus, and offered to take the issue to arbitration, with neutral cities from the Peloponnese to serve as the arbitrators. The Corinthians responded by demanding that the siege of Epidamnus be lifted before any negotiations could begin. The Corcyraeans suggested that either both sides should withdraw their troops (and the Corinthians their colonists) or both sides should stay in place while the issue went to arbitration. The Corinthians turned down both of these offers, and the fleet sailed. As the Corinthians sailed north, the Corcyraeans sent a fleet of eighty ships south. The two fleets met somewhere between the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf (the site of the battle of Actium) and Cape Leucimme (or Leukimme) at the southern end of Corcyra. The resulting battle ended in a victory for Corcyra, after which the surviving Corinthians sailed home. On the same day Epidamnus surrendered. The first phase of the war thus ended with a clear victory for Corcyra, but the Corinthians were not ready to end the fighting. For most of year after the battle of Leucimme the Corcyraeans were in the ascendency, raiding Corinthian allies from the sea, but all the time the Corinthians were building new ships and preparing to strike back. In the summer of 434 BC the Corinthians occupied a series of fortified positions around Actium, while the Corcyraeans positioned themselves around Leucimme. The two fleets and armies then faced each other across the gulf between Corfu and the mainland for the rest of the summer, only returning to their homes at the start of the winter of 434-433 BC. Up until this point Corcyra had managed to remain neutral in the affairs of mainland Greece, not joining the Athenian or Spartan led leagues, but as the scale of the Corinthian war effort became obvious they decided to try and join the Athenian League. Corinth also sent representatives to Athens, and the two sides got to put their case to an assembly. Thucydides records speeches from both sides, and although the wording is largely his own, the general arguments are probably the ones used at the time. The Corcyraeans admitted that they hadn't been allies of Athens in the past, but that this was a mistake, and they now needed help to preserve their freedom against a powerful threat. They claimed to be the second most powerful naval force in Hellas, and potentially a powerful ally in any future struggle against Sparta. The terms of the Thirty Year Peace that had ended the First Peloponnesian War expressly allowed any neutral state to join either league. Corcyra was an important staging post on the sea routes to Italy and Sicily, major sources of grain for Athens. Finally the Corcyraeans raised the prospect of Corinth taking possession of their powerful fleet, leaving Athens to face the combined fleets of Corinth, Corcyra and the Peloponnese. The Corinthians responded by attacking Corcyraean neutrality, describing it as a cover for the wrong-doings of their sailors; accusing them of being a disloyal colony, that they were the aggressors in the war over Epidamnus, and that if Athens did allow Corcyra into their league then war between Corinth and Athens would surely follow. The Corinthians also pointed out that they had recently defended Athens' right to punish her allies when the Spartans had been close to declaring war over the Athenian treatment of Samos. The Athenians need two assemblies to come to a conclusion, but after the second one they decided to side with the Corcyraeans. This would not be a full alliance, in which each side was bound to come to the aid of the other in any war, but a defensive one, in which Athens was only committed to intervene if Corcyra was attacked. Given than Corinth was clearly preparing for just such an attack, this alliance was just what the Corcyraeans needed. A squadron of ten Athenian ships was sent to Corcyra, with orders to avoid battle unless the Corinthians were attempting to land on Corcyraean territory. The two fleets were soon facing each other close to the southern tip of Corfu, with the Corinthian fleet anchored in a harbour at Chimerium, on the mainland just to the south of Corfu, while the Corcyraean fleet (and their ten Athenian allies) were a little further north, in the Sybota islands (close to the mainland, opposite the southern tip of Corfu). The Corinthian fleet set sail on the night before the battle, only to find the Corcyraeans already at sea. In the resulting battle of Sybota each side's left wing defeated the other's right, but the Corinthian victory was the more significant. They destroyed 70 ships, the Corcyraeans only 30. After a pause in the fighting the Corinthians were about to return to the fray when twenty fresh Athenian ships were sighted. Fearing that they were the advance guard of a larger fleet the Corinthians withdrew. On the following day they sent envoys to the Athenians, who stated that they would only fight if the Corinthians attempted to attack Corcyra. This allowed the Corinthians to sail home, although only after erecting a victory trophy on the mainland close to Sybota. The Corcyraens also erected a trophy, and perhaps had the better claim to victory, having successfully defended their island against attack by a larger fleet. After the battle of Sybota the Corinth-Corcyra war lost its intensity, before two years later becoming part of the wider Great Peloponnesian War, in which Corcyra fought on the side of Athens and Corinth on the side of Sparta.

Corinthian war

The Corinthian War was an ancient Greek conflict lasting from 395 BC until 387 BC, pitting Sparta against a coalition of four allied states: Thebes, Athens, Corinth, and Argos, who were initially backed by Persia.

First Peloponnesian War

The First Peloponnesian War was fought between Sparta as the leaders of the Peloponnesian League and Sparta's other allies, most notably Thebes, and the Delian League led by Athens with support from Argos.

Megaran decrees

The Megarian Decree was a set of economic sanctions levied upon Megara c. 432 BC by the Athenian Empire shortly before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War.

Melian dialogue

The Melian Dialogue is a dramatic set-piece debate inserted by the ancient Greek historian Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War concerning the invasion of the island of Melos by Athens in 416 BCE. It dramatizes the negotiations between the emissaries of the Athenian invaders and the rulers of Melos

Revolt of Mytilene

The Mytilenean revolt was an incident in the Peloponnesian War in which the city of Mytilene attempted to unify the island of Lesbos under its control and revolt from the Athenian Empire.

Parthenon

The Parthenon is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patron. Construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the peak of its power.

Peace of Nicias

The Peace of Nicias, also known as the Fifty-Year Peace, was a peace treaty signed between the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta in March 421 BC, ending the first half of the Peloponnesian War.

Thirty tyrants

The Thirty Tyrants (Ancient Greek: οἱ τριάκοντα τύραννοι, oi triákonta týrannoi) were a pro-Spartan oligarchy installed in Athens after its defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BCE. The pro-Spartan puppet government installed in Athens by Lysander in 404. The Thirty, who murdered over a thousand citizens, as well as metics whose property they coveted, were overthrown in 403.

Aegospotami

The naval Battle of Aegospotami took place in 405 BC and was the last major battle of the Peloponnesian War. In the battle, a Spartan fleet under Lysander destroyed the Athenian navy. This effectively ended the war, since Athens could not import grain or communicate with its empire without control of the sea. Decisive Spartan victory; Athens is besieged and surrenders. End of Peloponnesian War

Decarchies "10 man rules"

The polis of Sparta was the greatest military land power of classical Greek antiquity. During the classical period, Sparta governed, dominated or influenced the entire Peloponnese. Additionally, the defeat of the Athenians and the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War in 431-404 BCE resulted in a short-lived Spartan dominance of the Greek world from 404 to 371 BCE. Due to their mistrust of others, Spartans discouraged the creation of records about their internal affairs. The only histories of Sparta are from the writings of Xenophon, Thucydides, Herodotus and Plutarch, none of whom were Spartans. Plutarch was writing several centuries after the period of Spartan hegemony had ceased. This creates difficulties in understanding the Spartan political system, which was distinctly different from any other Greek polis. Narrow oligarchies composed of Spartan sympathizers, supported by Spartan garrisons, that were established by Lysander after the Peloponnesian War in a number of cities of the former Athenian Empire. The decarchies had absolute authority in their cities and were responsible for maintaining their cities' loyalty to Sparta during the last years of the fifth century BC and the early 390s BC.

Sarissa

The sarissa or sarisa was a long spear or pike about 4-7 metres (13-23 ft) in length used in ancient Greek and Hellenistic warfare. It was introduced by Philip II of Macedon and was used in his Macedonian phalanxes as a replacement for the earlier dory, which was considerably shorter. The standard weapon of the Macedonian phalanx. Introduced by Philip II, the sarissa was a pike approximately 18 feet in length composed of two pieces of cornel wood—one tipped with a long leaf-shaped point and the other with a spike—held together by a metal sleeve.

Academy

The school founded by Plato at Athens during the 380s BC in the groves sacred to the hero Academus. Its most famous pupil was Aristotle. The Academy continued to function until the Christian emperor Justinian ordered it closed, along with other pagan schools, in AD 529.

Epidamnus

The siege of Epidamnus (435 BC) saw the Corcyraeans capture their own former colony, overcoming a garrison partly provided by their own mother city of Corinth (Corinth-Corcyra War, 435-431 BC). Epidamnus, on the Albanian coast, was a Greek colony founded by Corcyra (modern Corfu). Corcyra was herself a colony of Corinth, and so in keeping with tradition a Corinthian, Phalius, son of Eratocleides, from the then ruling family of the Heraclids, had been selected as the official founder of the city, and the original colonists included a number of Corinthians amongst the Corcyraeans. As with most Ancient Greek cities Epidamnus was the scene of constant strife between the Aristocratic and Democratic factions within the city, and it was also often threatened by the surrounding Illyrians. In the period just before the siege the Democrats had come to power and had exiled many of the Aristocrats. The exiles had allied themselves with the Illyrians, and began a series of raids on the city. They also attempted to enlist the help of Corcyra, playing on their family connections to the city. The Democrats of Epidamnus also attempted to enlist help from the Corcyra, but with less success, failing to even win an audience. Their next step was to ask for help from Corinth (after consulting the Oracle of Delphi). The Oracle told them to hand control of their city over to Corinth, an offer than the Corinthians happily accepted. A first group of new colonists from Corinth, Ambracia and Leucas reached Epidamnus safely, marching via Apollonia to avoid the Corcyraean fleet. The Corcyraeans reacted angrily to the arrival of the new colonists. A fleet of twenty five ships (with fifteen ships following behind) was sent to Epidamnus, where they demanded that the new colonists should be ejected and the exiles allowed back into the city. When the Epidamnians rejected these demands the Corcyraeans joined with the local Illyrians and the aristocrat exiles and began to besiege the city. When news of the siege reached Corinth a relief force was raised, eventually reaching a strength of 75 ships carrying 2,000 hoplites (and probably a large number of more lightly armed missile troops, recorded as being present at the battle of Sybota two years later). This relief expedition was defeated at the naval battle of Leucimme (435 BC), fought in the seas between the southern part of Corfu and the gulf of Actium. Even if the Corinthians had been victorious at Leucimme, it would have been too late. The defenders of Epidamnus were already desperate, and on the very same day as the naval battle the city surrendered (given the distance between Leucimme and Epidamnus the two events have to be unrelated). Under the terms of the surrender all Corinthian citizens were held as hostages, while all other foreign troops and settlers were to be sold into slavery. The two victories on the same day put the Corcyraeans in strong position, which they exploited over the next year, but when it became clear that Corinth intended to continue the fight the previously neutral Corcyraeans decided to attempt to join the Athenian League in order to gain allies in the next stage of the war. This fateful step eventually saw the war between Corinth and Corcyra escalate into the Great Peloponnesian War and drag in most of Greece.

Themistocles

Themistocles was an Athenian politician and general. He was one of a new breed of non-aristocratic politicians who rose to prominence in the early years of the Athenian democracy.

Thucydides

Thucydides was an Athenian historian, political philosopher and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC.

Tissaphernes

Tissaphernes was a Persian soldier and statesman. He was the grandson of Hydarnes.

Agora

central spot in ancient Greek city-states. The literal meaning of the word is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center of athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life of the city. The Ancient Agora of Athens was the best-known example. In Homer, the term for the place of gathering, the assembly of the people. In the city-state period it denoted the public space of a city or town, being both the marketplace and civic center. Lingering in the agora was the best way to inform oneself about public affairs, make business contacts, and collect gossip.

Socrates

classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. He is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes. Plato's dialogues are among the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity, though it is unclear the degree to which Socrates himself is "hidden behind his 'best disciple', Plato". Through his portrayal in Plato's dialogues, Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics, and it is this Platonic Socrates who lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method, or elenchus. The latter remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and is a type of pedagogy in which a series of questions is asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand. Plato's Socrates also made important and lasting contributions to the field of epistemology, and his ideologies and approach have proven a strong foundation for much Western philosophy that has followed.

Delian League

founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, members numbering between 150 to 173, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Plataea at the end of the Second Persian invasion of Greece. The modern name for the confederacy organized under Athenian leadership after the end of the Persian wars. Founded in 477 BC, the League was slowly converted into an Athenian empire as Athens began forcing unwilling states to remain in the organization, or to join it if they were not already members.

Lyceum

gymnasium and before that a public meeting place in a grove of trees in Classical Athens. The grove was named in honor of its patron Apollo Lyceus ("Apollo as a wolf" or "Apollo in the form of a wolf"). Though best known for its connection with Aristotle, the Lyceum was in existence long before his founding the Peripatetic school there in 334 / 335 BCE and continued long after his flight from Athens in 323 BCE until the Roman general Sulla sacked Athens in 86 BCE. The remains of the Lyceum were discovered in modern Athens in 1996 in a park behind the Hellenic Parliament

Pelopidas

important Theban statesman and general in Greece.

Peace of Philocrates

is the name given to the peace treaty concluded in 346 BC between Athens and Macedon under Philip II. Philocrates was the name of the main Athenian negotiator of the Treaty.

Hegemon

is the political, economic, or military predominance or control of one state over others. In Ancient Greece (8th century BCE - 6th century CE), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of a city-state over other city-states. The dominant state is known as the hegemon. A state or individual who headed an organization of states. Athens, for example, was the hegemon of the Delian League, Sparta of the Peloponnesian League. A hegemon was said to exercise hegemony; hence the period of Theban ascendancy in the 360s BC is known as the Theban hegemony. Hegemon was also the title of the leader of the Corinthian League. This hegemon was officially elected by the League council and was its chief executive and commander-in-chief of its military forces with full authority to conduct the League's military and diplomatic activities.

Sophists

paid teacher of philosophy and rhetoric in ancient Greece, associated in popular thought with moral skepticism and specious reasoning. A person who reasons with clever but fallacious arguments. The itinerant intellectuals who taught and gave speeches during the latter part of the fifth century BC. Some were primarily teachers of oratory, while others engaged in thoughtful speculation about society that challenged entrenched conventions. Sophists were drawn to the climate of Athens, where response to them was mixed. Plato made the discrediting of the sophists an important part of his dialogues, accusing them of substituting showy rhetorical displays for real wisdom such as Socrates possessed.

Demosthenes

prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by studying the speeches of previous great orators. He delivered his first judicial speeches at the age of 20, in which he argued effectively to gain from his guardians what was left of his inheritance. For a time, Demosthenes made his living as a professional speech-writer (logographer) and a lawyer, writing speeches for use in private legal suits.

Thirty Years' Peace

treaty, signed between the ancient Greek city-states Athens and Sparta, in the year 446/445 BC. The treaty brought an end to the conflict commonly known as the First Peloponnesian War, which had been raging since c.460 BC

Metics

were non-Athenians who generally found the cosmopolitan city of Athens more appealing than their own homelands. Metics could not own property, which was crippling in Athenian society, but they could hold jobs for property owners and they did have to pay a tax. Resident aliens in a Greek state. There were probably metics throughout Greece, but we know only about metics in Athens. Although they lacked citizenship, metics mingled comfortably in Athenian society and were often called on for help in wartime. The women known as hetairai were generally metics, though most metic women were probably housewives.