The Peloponnesian War

by C.S. and M.F.

Works cited

The Peloponnesian War was a protracted struggle, and attended by calamites such as Hellas had never known within a like period of time. Never were so many cities captured and depopulated-some by barbarians, others by Hellenes themselves fighting against one another; and several of them after their capture were repeopled by strangers. Never were exile and slaughter more frequent whether in the War or brought about by civil strife. (qtd. in Botsford 196)

MAP KEY

1. Athens
2. Sparta
3. Mantinea
4. Corinth
5. Cephallenia Island
6. Elis
7. Attica
8. Laconia
9. Zacynthus
10. Pylos
11. Corcyra
12. Naupactus
13. Acamania
14. Argos

Ancient Greece in 431 BCE:

Causes of the War

• Athens grew to be a very powerful state and the Spartans became fearful. Sparta felt that since Athens had been dominating militarily, they might be a threat to all of the Greek city-states.
• Athens prevailed in trade over all the other Greek city-states. Athenian pottery was of high demand in Italy and an allied friendship with Corcyra, a colony of Corinth, showed that the Athenians wanted to control eastern and western trade. This monopoly on trade caused many aggravations for Sparta and other states (Grant 63).

Athens vs. Sparta

• Athens
  • Ionian State
  • Democratic with a steadily rising economy
  • Very intellectual
  • Contained a large number of colonies
  • Great naval power
  • Started military training at age 18, continued until the age of 60
• Sparta
  • Dorian state
  • Quick to react
  • Narrow-minded and isolated
  • Controlled a powerful empire
  • Very powerful army
  • Harsh military training began at age 7, ended at the age of 30
  • Boys were not considered men until the age of 30, at this time the could vote, marry, and have a home (Botsford 196)

The Armies

The armies of Athens and Sparta were anything but even. The Athenians and their allies were sorely outnumbered by the Spartans, which put them at a great disadvantage.

• Spartan Army
  • It consisted of 24,000 infantry and many light armed troops. Thebes contributed 10,000 infantry and 1,000 calvary to the army.
• Athenian Army
  • Under the leadership of Pericles, and their allies, had a fighting force including 13,000 infantry and 1,000 calvary. Athens controlled a navy superior to that of Sparta.

War Breaks Out

When the war broke out, in spring of 431 BCE, most Athenians crowded into the city of Attica, which left the outlying lands open to invasion from Sparta. Sparta's strategy was to invade yearly hoping to lower Athens's will and to encourage its subjects to rebel. Pericles, the Athenian leader, ordered the people to take refuge in the city but the people did not want to give up their lives of independence in the country. The people wanted to fight the Spartan invaders and, as their fields were being ravaged and ruined, they gathered in the streets and blamed Pericles for their losses (Botsford 200).

First Stage of the War

The first stage of the war, called Archidamian, from Archidamus, the Spartan king, began with the Battle of Stratus in the first year of the war. Athens deployed 100 ships under the command of three admirals which appeared in the Peloponnesse and damaged the cities of Laconia and Elis. Afterwards, they returned home in order to pick up supplies and to leave behind some men. The fleet then returned and attacked the city of Astacus, forcing out its leader. From this, they gained Cephallenia Island and its four towns for Athens. The ships then returned home victorious. (Kagan 75)

One Year Later-Sparta Fights Back

Athens was exhausted and made no attempt to follow up their success, which left them open to Spartan attack. Spartan admiral Cnemus then took 100 ships and plundered Zacynthus. After returning home, Cnemus proposed a plan to the Spartan government that would eliminate all Athenian cities from the Peloponnesse. His plan was to gather as many ships as possible and to attack and take Cephallenia, Zacynthus, Acarnania, and maybe Naupactus. The Spartan officials favored the idea and prepared for the Siege. (Finley 72)

Next, the Spartans called upon every ally for ships and Cnemus was appointed to lead the siege. He was given 1,000 heavily armed troops and was to meet Corinthian troops at the town of Leucas. Cnemus left without the Corinthians, who were late, because he had too many soldiers to feed and could wait no longer. First he plundered the small, unwalled village called Limnaea. He then crossed the northern part of Mount Thyamus and headed north to the town of Stratus.

Tragedy For Athens

Then, a deadly plague infected Athens in the year 430 BCE which wiped out a third of the Athenian population and was the cause of Pericles's death in 429 BCE At this time in the war, Athens was at a standstill. They could not enter their land to till it, nor could they work in their mines of Laurium. In spite of the Athenian naval supremacy, commerce was hampered by pirates and by the enemy's fleet. Even with all these hardships Athens endured, they managed to keep the advantage through the first years of the war (Kagan 97).

Athens Sees Brighter Days

In May, 425 BCE, an Athenian fleet, which was supposed to bring aid to Corcyra, was driven by a storm into the harbor of Pylos, where one of the generals, Demosthenes, had hoped they might stop, since it was an excellent spot to raid the Peloponnesian coast. The other two generals did not want to disobey orders, and at the end of the storm, proceeded on their journey leaving Demosthenes in the bay of Pylos. Demosthenes began work in order to fortify the peninsula of Pylos, both on the south and the north end, where the narrow strip of land connected it to the mainland. In response to this, the Spartan government ordered its army home from Attica and told Brasidas, the Spartan admiral, to return with the fleet. On his arrival at Pylos, he attacked Demonsthenes from land and sea. At this point, the other two Athenian generals returned and launched a surprise attack on the Spartan fleet (Kagan 97).

Could It Be the End?

Now, that the Spartans were besieged, they were so disturbed by the predicament that they surrendered, and a truce was negotiated and envoys were sent to Athens to offer not only peace, but also an alliance. A man by the name of Cleon welcomed this offer but demanded the return of four cities which Athens was too weak to hold on to earlier in the war. By demanding these cities, Cleon destroyed all hope of a peace agreement between Sparta and Athens and the war continued (Kagan 97).

The War Resumes . . .

After many other battles, in the spring of 421 BCE, Nicias, the new leader of Athens, negotiated a peace agreement between the two rival states. The Spartan king, Pleistoanax, who had been brought back from exile because of Archidamus's death, also wanted peace (Green 192).

A Brief Time of Peace

The Peace of Nicias was meant to last for 50 years and it was to allow the exchange of prisoners and captured cities. This was the end of the Archidamian war (The First Stage) and now the problem was to keep the Peace of Nicias (Green 192).

Keeping this peace proved to be impossible when, during the Peace of Nicias, Athens, yet again, elected a new general. In 420 BCE Alcibiades, the nephew of Pericles, was elected as the new general. After he was elected, Alcibiades' first military move was directed toward the Peloponnesus. When the Thirty Years' Truce between Sparta and Argos came to end in 421 BCE, Athens formed an alliance with Argos. Elis and Mantinea joined the alliance also. After this alliance, Sparta defeated the new allies at Mantinea in 418 BCE, made a treaty with Argos and left Athens by itself. These actions were a serious blow to peace in Greece. The defeat at Mantinea took away Athens' advantageous position (Green 192).

Athens Draws First Blood Again-
The Sicilian Expedition

Alcibiades decided to resume the policy of conquest. This started the Sicilian Expedition. In 415 BCE, all Athens' final reserves were devoted to the expedition. The Fleet Consisted Of:

• 134 ships with 130 supply boats.
• Over 5,000 infantry
• 1,300 light armed troops
• 30 cavalry comprised the army.

Counting the crews, at least 27,000 men made up this large armada. (Botsford 216)

The Outcome:

The Sicilian Expedition was quite disastrous. The fleet and army were completely destroyed. Nothing was saved and of those who went, only a few returned home. Athens was completely stripped of all hope at this time. (Dover 107)

Battle At Sea

In the year 406 BCE, the Athenians, under eight generals, met Lysander in a great naval battle. The Athenians possessed 150 ships against 120 Spartan ships. Never in the history of Greek naval warfare had so many ships and men engaged in one naval battle. It was a great victory for Athens. (Botsford 231)

War Becomes Costly for Athens

In the same year, the financial strain on Athens was so great that gold coins were issued for the first time, and bronze coins were plated with silver. All the Athenian treasuries, including that of Athena, were exhausted and still they refused peace. Sparta, at this time, interrupted the food supply to Athens which was coming from the Black Sea (Kagan 304).

More Tragedy for Athens

In 405 BCE Lysander was in the Aegean Sea and so Athens launched the last of its ships and crew to attack his fleet. The Athenian fleet was on the European side of Hellespont at the mouth of the Aegospotami River. They were taken by surprise while the crews were searching for provisions along the shore. The Athenians were massacred. (Kagan 305)

Now the Athenians, finding themselves besieged by land and sea, were without ships and had no soldiers, no provisions and no allies. The future held nothing bright for the Athenians. (Botsford 233)

War Comes to an End

Sparta was willing to offer peace under these terms which Botsford quotes:

That the Long Walls and Fortifications of Piraeus should be destroyed; that the Athenian fleet, with the exception of 12 vessels should be surrendered; that the exile should be restored; and lastly, that the Athenians should acknowledge the headship of Sparta in Peace and War, leaving her the choice of friends and foes, and following her lead by land and sea. (235)

Major Changes for Athens

Athens was forced to undergo many changes that affected society for years after the war. In September, 404 B.C.E, Thirty Tyrants began their rule at Athens. They were put in charge by Lysander and ordered to draw up the new constitution for Athens. The rule of the Thirty Tyrants rapidly degenerated to a selfish bloody tyranny. Supported by their Spartan commanders they proceeded to condemn and put to death their political enemies. There were banishments and many fled because of fear to surrounding states. In spite of orders from Sparta, the neighbors of Athens received the exiles with sympathy and aid (Kagan 323).

Closing Remarks

The Peloponnesian War was a catastrophe not only for Athens but also for Greece. The Athenians meant to build up a lasting power, the strongest in Hellas, to win the recognition of their political leadership for many or all the other Greeks, and to lift their race to a political destiny worthy of its civilization. Never again was Athens a first-rate power, although she remained the cultural leader of Hellas. The result of the war was the crushing defeat of Athens and the end of its empire. A more long-range result was the weakening of all the city-states. This made them vulnerable to a takeover by Macedonia several decades later. (Green 202)

It is clear that the events during the Peloponnesian War affected all of Greece. The animosities of Athens and Sparta did not only affect their own societies, but those of their allies, foes, and other Greek city-states.