Peloponnesian wars
Thirty Years Peace (445 BC)
A treaty signed by both Sparta and Athens which recognised that: -both Sparta and Athens were powerful empires -Athens dominated sea and Sparta dominated land -all conflicts were resolved -you could join the Delian or Peloponnesian league but could not change once joined -neither would interfere with each other's allies -both empires maintained their main parts of their empire with Athens only giving up a few territories The peace treaty would fail after 15 years and Sparta would declare war on Athens.
Archadamian War
After the end of the treaty Sparta declared war on Athens. The Spartan king led forces to Attica so most Athenians fled behind their walls. the Peloponnesians burned farms and land around Athens, causing outrage in Athens but they remained behind the walls as part of Pericles' plan. During this time they would use their navy to do raids along the Peloponnesian coastline and cause disruption without leaving the protection of their walls. Plague However, in 430BCE, a plague wiped out a third of the people within the walls and Pericles was killed with it. Even with Athens weakened by plague, they were still stronger than their enemies with supplies continuing to come in by sea protected by the long walls. Sparta sought the aid of the Persians to build them a navy which they did happily to get back at Athens. The war became a stalemate and some Deliean league states swapped to Peloponnesian. 1st battle A revolt at Lesbos, an Athenian ally, was almost lost. Oligarchs in the city Mytilene revolted with the backing of the Spartans so Athens sent out their troops to reinstate their government. Athens won the war but only just as they were still weakened by plague and the expedition itself took a lot of ships and soldiers. 2nd battle Thebes, a Spartan ally, tried to take the Delian city Plataea but failed. So then the Spartans sent in troops and captured Plataea killing everyone. They now controlled the north of Athens so could attack port allies and cities causing a weakness in Athenian economy. Athens was almost surrounded. 3rd battle Sparta took control of the Athenian colony Amphipolis, the home colony of Thucydides who was then exiled for his failure to protect his own city. No wonder he was biased against the Spartans for this. Peace of Nicias Athens and Sparta signed a treaty which marked the end of the Archidamian war. Athens and Sparta under the treaty would keep most of what they had and become allies but give back some territories to the other state. The treaty was broken almost immediately as many city states didn't even sign the treaty, Sparta and Athens didn't do as they were supposed to and because Sparta betrayed Corinth and Megara by giving in to Athenian demands.
Sicilian Expedition (415-413)
Athens had lost some key battles in the first Peloponnesian war and were already weakened by plague and poor decision making from weak leadership. They had the feeling the entire city was trapped behind the long walls and believed they had to go out to fight Sparta to show that Athens was still strong. This is when Alcibiades comes in. Alcibiades persuaded the Athenians into the Sicilian expedition by promising rich rewards of supplies, new opportunities for further conquests and weakening Sparta by cutting off their supplies. In fact, the expedition was only for Alcibiades' benefit who most likely wanted the supplies there to benefit his own wealth. During the expedition, Alcibiades was recalled back to Athens for supposedly defacing Hermes statues (an act done by his enemies). He wanted this to happen whilst he still had the favour of the Athenians but his enemies delayed the trial knowing this. He left Sicily with the other 2 generals, Nicias and Lamachus (weaker than himself. Athens was still under the control of the assembly without a strong leader) to return to Athens where he was sentenced to death so he went to the Spartans and sold them all of the Athenian secrets for safety. The Spartans would then destroy the Athenians on the expedition and they would lose 40,000 men.
The "First" Peloponnesian War (460-445 BC) causes and consequences
Causes: Tensions were already evident between Sparta and Athens. The Spartans feared the Athenians were growing in power and treating their Delian League allies like subjugate states. This meant that the Athenians were growing in economic power from the taxes from city states so Sparta left the Delian League and began the Peloponnesian League. Athens then moved the treasury to Athens which was highly significant in assuring economic dominance and angered Sparta further. Consequences: -Athens breaks alliance with Sparta used for Persian war -Athens builds long walls -Athens bring various city states into the Delian League -Athens defeats several allies of Sparta along the Peloponnese -Athens moves the treasury -Athens and Sparta sign the peace of Callias (a cease of fighting during the war) to defeat the Persians for good. Egypt was overruled by the Persians at this time and there were wars in the Greek colonies in Egypt that had been attacked by the Persians. The Greek city states both went to fight in Egypt and get their cities back which they were successful in. -Athenian power growth leads to war again and breaking of the peace -several Athenian city states revolted and Athens lost Megara but crushed rebellion at Euboea -war ends by signing if 30 years peace treaty
The end of the Thirty Years Peace
During the peace, the Athenians had taken steps to undermine the truce these including their involvement at Corcyra and Potidea. Corcyra A dispute between Corinth and their colony of Corcyra arose. Corcycra refused to send troops in to help its colony Epidamnus in its conflicts so instead, Corinth sent in troops to help thinking that since Corcyra was their colony, they also owned Epidamnus. This resulted in Corcycra being angered and sending in ships to attack the Corinthians and they were victorious. Athens and Sparta remained neutral at this time. Corcyra sent an embassy to Athens asking for an alliance whilst the Corinthians also sent an embassy asking the Athenians to not get involved. Athens signed a treaty with Corcyra angering Corinth. Athens supplied a navy as a support system as to not break the treaty so the Corinthians sailed home without fighting, giving cause for war on Athens. Potidea Corinth sought help from the Spartans who refused to get involved in breaking the peace, angering the Corinthians. They therefore supported a revolt in the Delian League state of Potidea, angering the Athenians. Athens demanded that Potidea give up Corinthian magistrates and tear down the walls which Potidea refused. Corinth and Athens then sent troops to Potidea where Athens defeated the Corinthians and laid siege on Potidea. The Spartans then declared war on Athens for their breaking of the treaty. Megarian decree This decree was issued as Pericles prepared for war with Sparta. He re-organised state finances so there was money for the walls and navy, renewed alliances in Sicily for trade and issued the decree. They excluded Megara from the markets and ports of the Delian League and this meant starvation and ruin for the people of Megara. Pericles did this to show power over the Spartans and Corinthians, to hold a strategic position at Megara in case Sparta tried to attack by land and for trade and commerce without breaking the treaty.
Decelean War
Miletus was a city Athens took but lost almost straight away. The fall of Miletus was significant as it highlighted the introduction of the Spartan navy. The treaty of Miletus was the treaty between the Spartans and Persians that came from this. During this time Alcibiades was sent to Persia by the Spartans to organise a navy under their treaty. As Alcibiades began to fear the Spartans would have him killed, he joined side with the Persians, promising he would change the constitution in Athens for the Persians to come in and attack. The Persians gave him a fleet to return with which he used to attack many Spartan ships with on his way back (including the battle at Hellespont). He was welcomed back in Athens as a hero for his accomplishments at sea as he promised the Athenians he had only done this all for their benefit. Athens had weak leadership at the time and gave him most of the power, making him somewhat into a tyrant. He would start a coup during this time where Athenian democracy was overthrown with an oligarchic rule. He created the council of 400 to serve his own interests in helping the Persians attack but the council did not last and democracy was restored by Cleophon a year later. 4th battle Alcibiades had returned to Athens like a hero with absolute power. The Spartans offered the Athenians peace which they refused, possibly because they wanted to send the all too powerful, tyrant like Alcibiades off to war. Alcibiades won battle after battle on his way up to Hellespont where he defeated the Spartans at their stronghold where most of the navy was located. But Athens did not realise the Spartans had the money from their Persian alliance and had been building a navy to defeat the Athenians with. 5th battle At Notium, Lysander would defeat Alcibiades and his fleet. Alcibiades had left the fleet in control of one of his friends whilst he took care of affairs on land. The Athenians voted him to leave because of the loss, their only strong leader left. 6th battle At Arginousae, Sparta lost the battle losing 70 ships and 14,000 men giving the Athenians hope. However, many Athenian ships were lost due to storms and the Athenian generals were put to death for neglecting the soldiers left in the sea. Sparta once more offered peace but Athens refused. 7th battle Athens were finally defeated as Aegospotami. Lysander had stopped corn coming down to Athens by boat and Alcibiades came back to warn the Athenians of the danger which they ignored. The Athenian fleet tried to get the Spartans to fight on sea but they would not. Lysander would launch a surprise attack on the Athenians when they exited their boats for supper, a very surprising and unexpected move for the Spartans. The Athenians and their navy were destroyed and lost 160 ships and 3000 soldiers. This meant no supplies could come into Athens so Sparta could block them out to starve them.
Beliefs, values and attitudes of Pericles, Alcibiades and Lysander throughout the Peloponnesian wars
PERICLES Pericles' beliefs were that Athens was the strongest and most dominant power. He valued the military, navy, economy and trade and these values were exemplified by his work in Athens at the time. His attitude towards the war was that as long as trade continued and the Athenians remained behind the protection of the long walls, they could not be defeated. He strongly believed that by sticking to this plan, Sparta could not win and this was seen through his re-election 15 times as general as the people clearly believed in his decisions and plans. His will to show power over the Spartans and assure Athenian dominance would have influenced his decisions at Corcyra, Potidea and in issuing the Megarian Decree. ALCIBIADES Alcibiades' beliefs would have been highly influenced by his survival of the plague where he would have seen many deaths and a decline in trade. For this reason, he would see the faults in Pericles' plans to remain behind the long walls. At the same time, he also saw a way in which to benefit himself as he was a very unscrupulous man with little values. His attitude was that he was the greatest leader of all time and that he would be undefeated, leading to cockiness, enemies and defeats for Athens and himself. LYSANDER Lysander's life was shaped by the environment in which he grew up in in Sparta which had constant wars with helots and other city states. Being surrounded by constant death would have shaped his beliefs and attitudes towards Sparta and Athens. He thoroughly believed in an oligarchical political system and that Sparta would dominate if they built a navy like the Athenians. He did not value tyranny which he believed Athens supported, fueling his wars with Athens. Although he was a scrupulous man, he made some poor decisions later in life that weakened Sparta for his own political benefit.
Aftermath of War for Athens
Peace treaty Sparta would blockade the Athenian port at Piraeus to starve them, giving them no choice but to surrender. The terms of the peace treaty were: -Athens would break down all long walls -the loss of all foreign territories -all exiled Athenians would return -Surrender all Athenian ships (triremes) but 12 for trade -become a subject state of Sparta 30 oligarchs Lysander would commission a new constitution in Athens of 30 oligarchs, made up of exiled Athenians. The oligarchs however, had grudges against Athens and went on killing sprees and stole land. This resulted in civil war and at the battle of Piraeus, democracy would return to Athens.
Aftermath of war for Greece
Sparta became very wealthy and those at the top corrupt from the power over Athens leading to the increase of the periokoi and helot population significantly. Lysander however, attempted to change the political system in Sparta to better his position, weakening their power significantly. Sparta was unable to maintain full control over Athens and other city states leading to many battles. Other city states were constantly at war with each other too, weakening Greece's overall power in lack of unity. Greek mercenaries would be used to fight for whoever paid them which included the Persians. Thebes would also rise up and defeat Sparta in open warfare which had never been done before. Athens would also rise back up and from a confederacy like the Delian league where they would take control as the prominent city state once more with a new navy funded by the Persians. Although it was not what it once war, they would remain the intellectual and financial center of Greece through this period. Vulnerable to foreign invaders such as the Romans, Greece would eventually be overruled by Philip II of Macedon.
Thucydides credibility
Thucydides was a Thracian man who had a love for politics, was a high ranking Athenian military commander who had a knowledge of war as well as an admiration for Pericles. It is important to remember that Thucydides was in favour of the Athenians and therefore held strong biases against the Spartan rule. In his portrayal of Spartan men and any Athenian tyrants, he is particularly harsh in his views of their leadership qualities. Thucydides describes Cleon, Pericles' political opposition, as a violent man and criticizes his forms of leadership however, this is most likely due to the fact that Cleon had Thucydides banished, highlighting the effect of personal grudges on the historian's work. However, he does not fail to accurately tell the events of the Peloponnesian war in a fair and honest way, even admitting to the failures of the Athenians throughout. He is fair in his recount of the First Peloponnesian war for example, where he admits to the Athenian influence in the destruction of the Thirty Years Peace by siding with Corcyra to overthrow Corinth and unintentionally anger the Spartans thereby forcing the Spartans to initiate war. His beliefs on the causes and turning points are all accurate reasons that lead to war and make him a reliable source in understanding the mistakes made by both the Spartans and Athenians. The fact that Pericles died in the plague makes sense as to why Athens fell into weak leadership afterwards, with men like Alcibiades coming forward with poor ideas to improve Athens' state of power. Pericles strategy was to remain inside the protection of the long walls where the Spartans could not get to them but Alcibiades and other Athenian democrats did not follow this, leading to events like the Sicilian expedition which had destructive impacts on the Athenian army and influence. Therefore although Thucydides had biases, he accurately represents the events that took place on both sides of Sparta and Athens by naming their strengths and weaknesses in their involvement in war.
