Greece Vocab

erastes

"lover" The term of the active partner in a homosexual relationship. Ideally the erastes was supposed to be not only a sexual partner but social mentor.

Aristophanes

(c. 446 - c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaeum, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his thirty plays survive virtually complete. These, together with fragments of some of his other plays, provide the only real examples of a genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy, and they are used to define the genre. Also known as the Father of Comedy and the Prince of Ancient Comedy, he has been said to *recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author.*

Phidias

(c. 480 - 430 BC) Sculptor, painter and architect. His statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. He also designed the statues of the goddess Athena on the Athenian Acropolis, namely the Athena Parthenos inside the Parthenon, and the Athena Promachos, a colossal bronze statue of Athena which stood between it and the Propylaea, a monumental gateway that served as the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens.

Pericles

(c. 495 - 429 BC) 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. He was descended, through his mother, from the powerful and historically influential Alcmaeonid family. He had such a profound influence on Athenian society that Thucydides, a contemporary historian, acclaimed him as "the first citizen of Athens". He turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire, and led his countrymen during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War. He promoted the arts and literature; it is principally through his efforts that Athens holds the reputation of being the educational and cultural center of the ancient Greek world. He started an ambitious project that generated most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis (including the Parthenon). This project beautified and protected the city, exhibited its glory, and gave work to the people. He also fostered Athenian democracy to such an extent that critics call him a populist.

Pindar

(c. 522 - c. 443 BC) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Was the first Greek poet to reflect on the nature of poetry and on the poet's role. Like other poets of the Archaic Age, he has a profound sense of the vicissitudes of life, but he also articulates a passionate faith in what men can achieve by the grace of the gods, most famously expressed in the conclusion to one of his Victory Odes. His worldview was diametrically opposed to that of democrats in Athens and elsewhere. He took it as axiomatic that merit was inherited. His many odes, rich in allusion and soaring in language, share a deeply held belief in an old-fashioned heroism - an excellence that takes as its starting point the assumption that men of worth spring from illustrious families that can trace their origins ultimately to divine ancestors. He was also disposed to connect physical prowess with all-around virtue.

Aeschylus

(c. 525 - c. 455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian. He is also the first whose plays still survive; the others are Sophocles and Euripides. He is often described as the father of tragedy: critics and scholars' knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier tragedies is largely based on inferences from his surviving plays. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in plays to allow conflict among them whereas characters previously had interacted only with the chorus. This tragedian conceives the creation of responsible government in Athens as the antithesis not only of tyranny but also of a disordered, chaotic universe in which emotional and female forces of vengeance were paramount. Famous for "Oresteia."

Sybota*

433 Corinthians attacked the Corcyrean fleet of 110 ships off this island chain.

Conon

444-394. Athenian general at the end of the Peloponnesian War. He led the naval forces when the were defeated at Battle of Aegospotami. He later contributed to the restoration of Athens' political and military power.

Pericles' Citizenship Law

451 BC; limited Athenian citizenship to those of Athenian parentage on both sides.

Thurii*

A colony founded in 443 in the instep of southern Italy. It was no ordinary establishment - the Athenians invited the other Greek states to share in founding Thurii as a Panhellenic colony, thus demonstrating their commitment to a spirit of cooperation and goodwill. Indicates that Athens had a growing interest in the rich lands to the west.

Battle of *Cnidus

A joint Athenian and Persian operation against the Spartan naval fleet in the Corinthian War. A combined Athenian-Persian fleet, led by the former Greek admiral Conon, destroyed the Spartan fleet led by the inexperienced Peisander, ending Sparta's brief bid for naval supremacy. The battle outcome was a significant boost for the anti-Spartan coalition that resisted Spartan hegemony in the course of the Corinthian War.

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.

Oresteia

A trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus concerning the end of the curse on the House of Atreus. The name derives from the character Orestes, who sets out to avenge his father's murder. In all likelihood the term "Oresteia" originally referred to four plays; today it generally designates only the surviving trilogy. The point of departure for the Oresteia was evidently Ephialtes' curtailment of the powers of the Areopagus, for the trilogy culminates in precisely the sort of trial that remained within the council's purview - a murder trial. It seems likely that Aeschylus supported the reforms and chose this august drama as a vehicle by which to reassure conservative Athenians that the trying of homicide cases, the privilege with which Ephialtes had conspicuously not tampered, was in fact the ancient mission of this venerable body. In this way he could draw attention away from the significant limitations that had been placed on its jurisdiction.

2nd 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.

Nicias

An 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.

liturgies

An indirect system of taxation whereby the rich were required to spend their own money in the service of the state. These included financing the training of a chorus for dramatic performances or financing a delegation to a religious festival in another state. The most expensive of these "taxes" was the trierarchy, which required a man to maintain a trireme for a year and to pay for the training of its crew.

Erechtheion

Ancient Greek temple on the north side of the Acropolis of Athens in Greece which was dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon; another work by Phidias.

Decelea

Ancient village in northern Attica that served as a trade route Euboea with Athens. The Spartans took it in 413 and fortified it as a major military post.

Epidamnus*

Asked Corcyra for military assistance, but Corcyra was like **** you

Megara*

Assisted Corinth at the Battle of Sybota; suffered from sanctions by Athens

Iphicrates

Athenian commander who owed his successes to his well-trained peltasts.

Thrasybulus

Athenian general and democratic leader. Pro-democracy sailors at Samos elected him general, making him a primary leader of their resistance to the coup. He called Alcibiades back from exile, and the two of them led Athens to many naval victories.

Critias

Athenian political figure and author. Leading member of the violent Thirty Tyrants. He was an associate of Socrates. Killed at Battle of Piraeus.

Cleophon

Athenian politician during Peloponnesian War. Staunch democrat and opponent of the oligarchs. Three times, he inspired the Athenian rejection of peace with Sparta. He was executed for a neglect of military duty.

Battle of *Leuctra

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. The battle took place in the neighbourhood of Leuctra, a village in Boeotia in the territory of Thespiae. The Theban victory shattered Sparta's immense influence over the Greek peninsula which Sparta had gained since its victory in the Peloponnesian War.

Potidaea*

City on the Chalcidic peninsula that occupied two positions in the Greek world simultaneously: it was both a Corinthian colony and a member of the Athenian alliance.

nomos

Custom or law. Sometimes it corresponds to the English words "mores," connoting a way of doing things that is deeply embedded in a value system. It can also be used, however, in a legal context; thus, for example, the rules laid down by Solon were called his nomoi.

Megarian Decree

Degree passed against Megara around 432 that excluded Megarian merchants from all ports of the Athenian empire. This decree enabled the Athenians to inflict considerable harm on a member of the Peloponnesian league without technically infringing the terms of the Thirty Years' Peace.

The 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.

Socrates

Famous philosopher from Athens. 470-399. Zeus help you if you don't know him.

"First" Peloponnesian War

Fighting mainly between Athens and the northern states of the Peloponnese, particularly Corinth. A significant gain for Athens is the capture in 457 of the large island of Aegina, occupying a strategically important position directly between Athens and the Peloponnese in the centre of the Saronic Gulf. Sparta intervenes for the first time in this same year, defeating the Athenians close to home at Tanagra. The war was followed by the Thirty Years' Peace although in reality hostilities never fully ceased and broke out into full war once again from 431 BCE.

Parthenon

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. It was completed in 438 BC although decoration of the building continued until 432 BC. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered the zenith of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art. It is regarded as an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece, Athenian democracy and western civilization, and one of the world's greatest cultural monuments.

Hippocrates

Greek physician (460-370). He established medicine as its own, distinct discipline.

klepsydra

Greek word for water clock???

Pnyx

Hill in central Athens, the capital of Greece. Beginning as early as 507 BC, the Athenians gathered on here to host their popular assemblies, thus making the hill one of the earliest and most important sites in the creation of democracy. It is located less than 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) west of the Acropolis. Quorum for the assembly was about 6,000 men. Could be a long walk for people.

Battle of Aegospotami

Last major battle of the Peloponnesian War, 405. When the Athenian fleet finally crumbled to Sparta under lysander. Without control of the sea, Athens could no longer import grain or communicate to its empire.

peltasts

Lightly armed Greek soldiers who carried light throwing spears and small, round shields. They functioned as skirmishers and could be deployed either alone or in concert with hoplites. Although they were utilized during the Peloponnesian War, they increased dramatically in importance in the fourth century. The Athenian commander Iphicrates owed his successes to his well-trained peltasts.

demagogue (demagogos)

Literally, a "leader of the people." This was the term some Athenians used to categorize the politicians who arose in Athens after Pericles' death. Usually it had negative connotations and suggested a man interested only in his own well-being, unlike a true statesman, who cared for the welfare of the state. Unlike the word "demagogue" today, however, it was occasionally used in a neutral way.

hetaira

Meaning literally female companion, this term was normally used for courtesans in Classical Athens. They usually came from the metic class. They were generally more cultivated than citizen women; they were trained (usually by the older ones) to be entertaining and interesting rather than to be thrifty managers of households. Since Pericles' citizenship laws of 451-450 made it impossible for a man to marry a metic woman and still have his children enjoy citizenship rights, many Athenian men chose to have long-term associations with these simultaneously with their legal marriages to Athenian women. Some of them functioned as entrenched mistresses or even common-law wives, but others less fortunate were essentially prostitutes.

banausic

Means literally worked performed over a hot furnace; labor characterized by manual work performed indoors. Was despised by many wealthier Greeks. S: Distinctions between skilled and unskilled labor were often ignored. It may be that the leisured classes disdained indoor work because of its connection with slaves and women.

Peace of Callias

Peace made with Persia in 450, about when Cimon died campaigning in Cyprus. Because the only sources that mention the treaty date to the fourth-century, some scholars doubt that such a document ever existed, while others believe it should be dated considerably earlier or substantially later. What is certain is that Athens and Persia ceased fighting at this time, treaty or no treaty.

Cyrus the Younger

Persian prince and general, son of Darius II. He attempted to oust his brother, Artaxerxes II, from the throne in 401, but he failed and was killed.

Tissaphernes

Persian soldier. 445-395. Was convinced by Alcibiades that Persia's best policy option was to keep a balance between Athens and Sparta. He was known as deceptive and manipulative.

Anaxagoras

Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. Born in Asia Minor, he was the first to bring philosophy to Athens. He was charged with impiety and exiled. 510-428.

kleroterion

Randomization device used by Athens during time of democracy to select citizens for the boule. It was a giant stone slab with slots for tokens.

metics

Resident aliens in a Greek state. They probably existed throughout Greece, but we know only about those in Athens. Although they lacked citizenship, they mingled comfortably in Athenian society and were often called on for help in wartime. The women known as hetairai were generally these, though most of the women were probably housewives.

The 400

Short-lived oligarchy that controlled Athens after the democratic government was overthrown in 411.

Empedocles

Sicilian pre-Socratic philosopher. 490-430. He established the four elements of water, earth, fire, and air. He also believed in two powers known as love and strife that divide people.

Lysander

Spartan admiral who commanded the fleet that defeated Athens at Aegospotami in 405. He would go on to organize the control of Sparta over Greece, restructuring the Athenian government.

Archidamus

Spartan king and commander after whom the first part of the Peloponnesian War from 431-421 was named. An old family friend of Perciles, and one of the many Spartans hesitant to fight Athens.

Agis

Spartan king and founder of the Agiad dynasty. He ruled from 930 to 900.

Harmost

Spartan military governor or commander. Harmosts are first attested in the Peloponnesian War and are found after the end of the war, often stationed in cities that had previously been members of the Athenian Empire.

Brasidas

Spartan officer during the first decade of the Peloponnesian War.

Battle of *Mantinea

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

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. The immediate cause of the war was a local conflict in northwest Greece in which both Thebes and Sparta intervened. The deeper cause was hostility towards Sparta provoked by that city's "expansionism in Asia Minor, central and northern Greece and even the west". The war was fought on two fronts, on land near Corinth (hence the name) and Thebes and at sea in the Aegean. On land, the Spartans achieved several early successes in major battles, but were unable to capitalize on their advantage, and the fighting soon became stalemated. At sea, the Spartan fleet was decisively defeated by a Persian fleet early in the war, an event that effectively ended Sparta's attempts to become a naval power. Taking advantage of this fact, Athens launched several naval campaigns in the later years of the war, recapturing a number of islands that had been part of the original Athenian Empire during the 5th century BC. Alarmed by these Athenian successes, the Persians stopped backing the allies and began supporting Sparta. This defection forced the allies to seek peace. The Peace of Antalcidas, commonly known as the King's Peace, was signed in 387 BC, ending the war. This treaty declared that Persia would control all of Ionia, and that all other Greek cities would be independent. Sparta was to be the guardian of the peace, with the power to enforce its clauses. The effects of the war, therefore, were to establish Persia's ability to interfere successfully in Greek politics and to affirm Sparta's hegemonic position in the Greek political system.

The King's Peace

The agreement that ended the Corinthian War in 387 BC. A key role was played by Artaxerxes II of Persia, and Greeks were chagrined by the wording of the peace, which began, "I, King Artaxerxes, regard the following arrangements as just..."

Sophist

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.

hetaireiai

The military systems of some cities such as those in Crete grouped men in hetaireiai (bands of companions), but the word is most commonly associated with Athens. There young men of the upper class frequently belonged to hetaireia, or social clubs with political overtones, often of an antidemocratic nature. The mutilation of the herms in 415 was rumored to be the work of such a hetaireia, and the subversive activity of hetaireiai probably played a part in the oligarchic revolutions of 411 and 404.

Peace of Nicias

The peace of Nicias (421) was never entirely effective, and was never entirely put into effect. Thucydides records it as lasting for six years and ten months, but this only refers to the period in which neither side directly invaded the others territory. In reality the war resumed after a gap of about a year and a half, and in 418 BC Athenians and Spartans once against faced each other on the battlefield, at Mantinea.

dikasteria

The people's court at Athens. As Athens was notoriously litigious, these courts tried an enormous number of cases. A dicasterion was composed of hundreds of adult male citizens who were chosen by lottery at the last minute from those who had presented themselves for membership in the pool of jurors known as the heliaia.

dokimasia

The scrutiny Athenian citizens had to undergo before assuming a position in the government. Political enemies often used this procedure as a means of keeping a man out of public office.

eromenos

The term for the passive partner in a homosexual relationship. Ideally, the erogenous was an adolescent male, whose secondary sexual characteristics had not yet appeared.

Acropolis

The upper city or citadel of Athens; was the religious center of the city, which was magnificently adorned with temples in the fifth century. Pericles (c. 495 - 429 BC) in the fifth century BC coordinated the construction of the site's most important buildings including the Parthenon, the Propylaia, the Erechtheion and the temple of Athena Nike.

the 30

Thirty Tyrants. Pro-Spartan oligarchic rulers of Athens installed by Lysander in 404. They were violent and cruel to democrats.

Corcyra*

Told Epidamnus to go **** themselves

Sophocles

Tragic playwright. From Attica. Wrote Antigone and Oedipus. Died in 405. His plays show the beginning of Socratic logic.

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. It lasted 13 years, and ended when the Spartans declared war on the Athenians. During the peace the Athenians took steps in undermining the truce. Athens participated in the dispute over Epidamnus and Corcyra in 435 BC, which angered the Corinthians, who were allies of Sparta. Athens put into effect trade sanctions against the Spartan ally Megara due to its participation in the Corinthian/Corcyran dispute. In the year 432, Athens attacked Potidaea, which was a listed ally but a Corinthian colony. These disputes prompted the Spartans to declare that the Athenians had violated the treaty, thus declaring war. At this point the Thirty Years' Peace was void and the second Peloponnesian War (commonly known as the Peloponnesian War) began. The purpose of the treaty was to prevent another outbreak of war. Ultimately, the peace treaty failed in achieving its goal.

Long Walls

Walls built from a city to its port, providing a secure connection to the sea even during times of siege. Although long walls were built at several locations in Greece—Corinth and Megara being two of the best known examples—the phrase "long walls" generally refers to the walls connecting Athens to its ports at Piraeus and Phalerum. Those walls were constructed in the mid 5th century BC, destroyed by the Spartans in 403 BC after Athens' defeat in the Peloponnesian War, and rebuilt again with Persian support during the Corinthian War. They were a key element of Athenian strategy, since they provided the city with a constant link to the sea and prevented it from being besieged by land alone.

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.

Thucydides son of Melesias

Was a prominent politician of ancient Athens and the leader for a number of years of the powerful conservative faction. The exact year of his birth is unknown, but his family was noble and he was a relative of Cimon, the charismatic general and leader of the conservative party. After Cimon's death, he succeeded him in the leadership of the conservatives and decided to exert a *vehement opposition against Pericles*, who was leading Athens at the time. S: Thucydides represented the thorough-going conservative party at Athens; their views are most clearly represented by "the Old Oligarch" in his Constitution of the Athenians, which has come down to us among the works of Xenophon.

Athena Promachos

Was an immense statue of Athena sculpted by Phidias; was placed on the Acropolis, to be encountered first as one entered through the Propylaia. The colossal bronze statue is lost to us, but we have descriptions from ancient times to know that it was so large that ships approaching the coast of Attica could see Athena's spear. It stood on the Acropolis until the late 5th c. CE when it was moved to the forum of Constantine in Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

Euripides

Wrote tragic plays in Athens, including Sophocles. 480-406. His plays have had a profound impact on modern theater, particularly in his depiction of heroes and myths.

Egyptian Expedition

ca. 460 BCE Athens' land empire now stood at its maximum extent. Determined to continue operations against Persia, Pericles persuaded the Athenians to send ships to Egypt, which had rebelled against King Artaxerxes. The Egyptian campaign dragged on for years, ending in a wretched debacle in 454 after an eighteen month siege in which Artaxerxes' general Megabazus penned in the Athenians on the island of Prosopitis. Nearly all the Athenians were killed.

Samian Revolt*

Military conflict between Athens and Samos in 440. The war was initiated by Athens's intervention in a dispute between Samos and Miletus. When the Samians refused to break off their attacks on Miletus as ordered, the Athenians easily drove out the oligarchic government of Samos and installed a garrison in the city, but the oligarchs soon returned, with Persian support. A larger Athenian fleet was dispatched to suppress this agitation. This fleet initially defeated the Samians and blockaded the city, but Pericles, in command, was then forced to lead a substantial portion of the fleet away upon learning that the Persian fleet was approaching from the south. Although the Persians turned back before the two fleets met, the absence of most of the Athenian fleet allowed the Samians to drive off the remaining blockaders and, for two weeks, control the sea around their island; upon Pericles's return, however, the Athenians again blockaded and besieged Samos; the city surrendered nine months later. Under the terms of the surrender, the Samians tore down their walls, gave up hostages, surrendered their fleet, and agreed to pay Athens a war indemnity over the next 26 years. During the course of the war, the Samians had apparently appealed to Sparta for assistance; the Spartans were initially inclined to grant this request, and were prevented from doing so primarily by Corinth's unwillingness to participate in a war against Athens at the time. In 433 BC, when Corcyra requested Athenian assistance against Corinth, the Corinthians would remind the Athenians of the good will they had shown at this time.

Theramenes

Moderate oligarch in Athens. In 411, he succeeded in replacing the narrow oligarchy with a broader one. He tried the same in 404 and was executed by extremists.

Xenophon's "Anabasis"

Most famous work, in seven books, of the Greek professional soldier and writer Xenophon. Xenophon accompanied the Ten Thousand, a large army of Greek mercenaries hired by Cyrus the Younger, who intended to seize the throne of Persia from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Though Cyrus' mixed army fought to a tactical victory at Cunaxa in Babylon (401 BC), Cyrus was killed, rendering the actions of the Greeks irrelevant and the expedition a failure. Stranded deep in Persia, the Spartan general Clearchus and the other Greek senior officers were then killed or captured by treachery on the part of the Persian satrap Tissaphernes. Xenophon, one of three remaining leaders elected by the soldiers, played an instrumental role in encouraging the 10,000 to march north across foodless deserts and snow-filled mountain passes, towards the Black Sea and the comparative security of its Greek shoreline cities. Now abandoned in northern Mesopotamia, without supplies other than what they could obtain by force or diplomacy, the 10,000 had to fight their way northwards through Corduene and Armenia, making ad hoc decisions about their leadership, tactics, provender and destiny, while the King's army and hostile natives barred their way and attacked their flanks.

Decarchy

Narrow oligarchy composed of Spartan sympathizers, supported by Spartan garrisons, that were established By Lysander after the Peloponnesian War in cities of former Athenian Empire. The decharcies 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 early 390s BC.

Battle of Cyzicus

Naval battle during Peloponnesian War in 410. Athenian fleet led by Alcibiades, Thrasybulus, and Theramenes destroyed the Spartan fleet. It allowed Athens to regain control of many cities on the Hellespont, and led to a Spartan offer o peace which Athens rejected.

Amphipolis*

Northeastern Athenian colony at a strategic point on the Strymon River by the border of Macedonia and Thrace in 437. In addition to protecting Athens' access to grain, timber, and minerals, Amphipolis helped the Athenians monitor activities in the recently organized kingdom of the Thracian Odrysians to the north and east as well as in Macedonia to the west. But the town drew much of its population from neighboring towns, undermining its identification with Athens; and during the war with Sparta, it failed to serve as a rallying point for Athenian loyalties in the north. Less than fifteen years after its founding, Amphipolis was in Spartan hands.