End of the Peloponnesian war

• End of the Peloponnesiian War 419-404
• Chaos after the Peace of Nicias

  • Corinth ally with Argos, Mantinea and Elis
  • Amphipolis still refused to return to Athens
  • Athen refuse to return Pylos to Sparta
  • Sparta want to exchange Panactum for Pylos, so they make a treaty with the Boeotians
  • this contradicted the terms of the peace
• Thucydides; Alcibiades wants to ally Athens with Argos: “he was genuinely convinced that the best thing for Athens was an alliance with Argos“
• Thucydides; Alcibiades‘ private grudges: “did not like the fact that the spartans had negotiated the treaty through Nicias… nor had they treated him with respect“ “in the past his family had looked after spartan interests“
• Thucydides; Alcibiades manipulates a treaty between Athens and Argos over Sparta: “his plan was to drive a wedge between Spartans and Nicias“
• Battle of Mantinea 418

  • Alcibiades entreated Patrae (N.Peloponnese) to join them while Argos attacked Epidaurus (S.Corinth)
  • Sparta send out an army
  • Argos and Athens hoped to take Tegea
  • Having both Tegea and Mantinea would mean the control of the route into and out of Laconia (really bad for Sparts)
  • Sparta win by outflanking Athens/Mantinea/Argos
  • Over 1000 Mantineans are killed, only 300 Spartans
  • soon Argos and Mantinea forge agreements with Sparta
  • renews Sparta’s reputation
• Thucydides; Spartans losses at the Battle of Mantinea: “so little to be hardly worth mentioning”
• Sicilian Campaign 415-413

  • Egesta (Sicily) ask Athens for help against Selinus, they claimed they could fund much of the cost to send Athens’ fleet, paying 60 talents upfront
  • Selinus was being helped by Syracuse
• Thucydides; Nicias‘ opinion: “Nicias had not wanted to be chosen for command” “his view was that the city was making a mistake“ “on a slight pretext that looked reasonable, was in fact aiming at conquering the whole of Sicily“ “we should spend our new gains at home”
• Thucydides; Nicias criticises Alcibiades: “entirely for his own selfish reasons” ”hopes to make some profit out of his appointment“
• Thucydides; description of Alcibiades: “most ardent supporter of the expedition“ “his desire to hold the command and his hopes that it would be through him that Sicily and Carthage would be conquered“
• Thucydides; Alcibiades is disliked by Athens: “they thought he was aiming at becoming a dictator, and so they turned against him, although in a public capacity his conduct of war was excellent“
• Thucydides; Alcibiades vouches for the campaign: “by sea they (Sparta) can do us no harm“ “by enterprising abroad to increase our power at home” “we shall become masters of all Greece“
• Thucydides; Athens’ opinion towards the Sicilian Campaign: “the older man though that they would either conquer… could come to no harm. the young had a longing for the sights and experiences of distant places“
• Thucydides; Athens try to gain support in Sicily (Camarina): “the Ionians are always the enemy of the Dorians” “it is for our own security that we are in Sicily“
• Thucydides; Alcibiades in Sparta: “on the invitation of the Spartans themselves“ “we sailed to Sicily to conquer first“ “unless you help her, Sicily will be lost“ “you will force Athens to lose if you fortify Decelea”
• Sicilian Campaign events

  • Nicias secures Epipolae
  • Nicias reduces his efforts
  • Gylippus arrives (spartan commander)
  • Nicias allows them to take the wall and focuses on securing the sea route
  • he asks Athens for more troops
  • Demosthenes is sent with 50 ships and 1200 hoplites
  • The Athenian fleet are defeated in the harbour
  • Demosthenes went on a night attack
  • sickness in the Athenian camp
• Athens try to escape Sicily

  • defeated in 2 naval engagements
  • 40,000 made a break for it, leaving Syracuse on foot
  • while stopping at a river to drink the Spartans and Syracusans slaughter them
  • Nicias and Demosthenes were executed
  • Athenian public outrage, vow to fight on
• Decelea 414/413 fall out

  • Athens constantly under pressure
  • lost 20,000 slaves and all the farm animals
  • lost horses
  • supplies redirected from Euboea over sea
  • loss of money
  • loss of man power
  • loss of property
• Thucydides; impact of Decelea: “the enemy were on top of them throughout the year“ “financially embarrassed“ “one of the chief reasons for the decline of Athenian power“
• Andocides; Athens alliance with Persia: “we began to make a true with the Great King and establishing a permanent accord with him” 425
• Thucydides; Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus both want credit for making an alliance with Sparta: “gain credit for bringing the Spartans into alliance with the king”
• Thucydides; Sparta sie with Tissaphernes/Chios: “made an alliance with the Chians”
• Thucydides; Corinth delay sending Peloponnesian support to Chios due to the Isthmian Festival: “the Corinthians were reluctant to sail“ “matters were held up”
• Attempted Revolt of Chios

  • Sparta Do not send aid at first
  • Athens suspect what’s going on
  • demand ships from Chios who send 7
  • most of the chian citizens do not know of the revolt
  • Sparta then go to Chios and Miletus to cause revolts
• Terms of Persian peace with Sparta

  • all the territories previously belonging to the king and his ancestors were to be returned to him
  • all money paid by subjects to Athens previously were to go to the king
  • Persia would provide Sparta with a good fleet (money or ships)
• Thucydides; Tissaphernes is difficult with supporting Sparta, possibly due to Alcibiades: “three obols, until he had consulted the king, when if the king should so order he would give, he said the full drachma“
• Plutarch claims that Alcibiades had slept with King Agis’ wife and fathered a child

  Thucydides claims that Alcibiades wanted to re enter Athens with Persian support as a bargaining chip
• Thucydides; Tissaphernes playing both sides: “he was keeping the two sides evenly balanced by not committing himself to either side”
• Thucydides; Alcibiades influence over Tissaphernes: “attempts to persuade Tissaphernes to become the friend of the Athenians”
• Oligarchic coup 411

  • council of 400
  • Athenian fleet at Samos rebelled
• The Samos Fleet

  • they do not attack the 400 beacuse they do not want to leave the Aegean open
  • but the Peloponnese send a fleet to Oropos which was opposite Euboea (Athens’ main food source)
  • they send a group of untrained rowers
  • they are defeated and try to flee to Eretria but are killed by the inhabitants
• Xenophon; Cyzicus: “ships gone; Mindarus dad; the men starving; at our wits’ end what to do“
• Athens have 3 naval successes after Eretria

  • Abydos
  • Cynossema
  • Cyzicus
• Diodorus reports that Sparta sued for Peace after all their naval failures but Cleophon persuaded Athens to continue war
• Xenophon; Sparta get a proper alliance with Cyrus: “the Lacedaemonians had obtained from they king everything they wanted“
• Xenophon; the Athenian ambassadors are held for 3 years: “not to let them go home yet, for his wished the Athenians not to know of what was going on“
• Xenophon; Cyrus‘ dedication: “he would do everything possible… use his own money… break up the throne whereon he sat“
• Xenophon; Callicratidas gets pissy with Cyrus: “the Greeks were in a sorry plight toadying to barbarians for the sake of money“ “he would do his best to reconcile the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians“
• Xenophon; Cyrus instructs Lysander about attacking Athens: “not to give battle to the Athenians unless he should far outnumber them in ships“