Praise for A New History of the Peloponnesian War

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1 A NEW HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR LAWRENCE A. TRITLE A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication

3 Praise for A New History of the Peloponnesian War An insightful, highly readable history of the first all-out war in western history. Tritle knows Greek history and he knows what war does to soldiers and civilians alike. Tom Palaima, University of Texas at Austin Not another paraphrase of Thucydides, Tritle s sensitive new history of the great war between Athens and Sparta marshals the literary and material evidence to explore the human and societal experience, showing once again that military history extends far beyond the battlefield. Waldemar Heckel, University of Calgary Swift narrative, mastery of modern scholarship, and unusual integration of classical literature. Like his great source Thucydides, the author was a soldier, and the terrible brutality of war is immanent. Mortimer Chambers, UCLA By helping us understand broadly and deeply the human and social dimension of this war, Tritle s book brilliantly justifies its ambitious title of a new history of an often-treated old war. Kurt A. Raaflaub, Brown University

5 A NEW HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR LAWRENCE A. TRITLE A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication

6 This edition first published Lawrence A. Tritle Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February Blackwell s publishing program has been merged with Wiley s global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business to form Wiley-Blackwell. Registered Office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom Editorial Offices 350 Main Street, Malden, MA , USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at The right of Lawrence A. Tritle to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tritle, Lawrence A., A new history of the Peloponnesian War / Lawrence A. Tritle. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Greece History Peloponnesian War, B.C. 2. Greece History Peloponnesian War, B.C. Influence. 3. Greece History Peloponnesian War, B.C. Historiography. 4. Athens (Greece) Intellectual life. I. Title. DF229.T dc A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Set in 10.5/13 pt Minion by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong Printed in Malaysia I 2010

7 For my Mom, Dorothy B. Tritle and Najwa habibti and those who have seen the elephant and brought it home

9 CONTENTS List of illustrations List of maps List of abbreviations Chronology Acknowledgments Preface viii x xi xiii xix xxi Prelude a band of brothers 1 1 From this the Corinthians developed their bitter hatred for the Athenians 4 2 Give the Greeks their freedom 25 3 Our city is an education to Greece 44 4 War is a violent teacher 67 5 Spindles would be worth a lot 85 6 Weeping for joy The strong do what they have the power to do What of us then who for our children must weep? The whole of Greece against Athens Ships gone... don t know what to do Athens is taken Here s to the noble Critias! 223 Epilogue 241 Appendix A: A note on sources 243 Appendix B: Who s who in the Peloponnesian War 248 Appendix C: A Peloponnesian War glossary 258 Bibliography 263 Index 275 vii

10 ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1 Athenian casualty list, c Photo: American School of Classical Studies at Athens: Agora Excavations Soldier at his tomb. Attic white - ground lekythos from a grave in Eretria, late fifth century. Reed Painter. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY Attic relief, a dedication to the Thracian goddess Bendis, c British Museum, London. Photo: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY Warrior taking leave of his wife. Attic white-ground lekythos from Eretria, c Achilles Painter. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY The island of Sphacteria in the bay of Pylos in southern Greece. Photo: L. Tritle Bronze shield taken from the Spartans at Pylos, with drawing and decipherment of the dedication. Photo: American School of Classical Studies at Athens: Agora Excavations Attic grave relief depicting battle, late fifth century. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Fletcher Fund ( ). Photo: L. Tritle Gamma 16, Theban soldier killed at Chaeronea, 338/7. National Archaeological Museum, Athens (Photo Archive). Photo: J. Ma Ionic frieze from the temple of Apollo Epikourios, Bassai, c British Museum, London. Photo: The Trustees of the British Museum/Art Resource, NY. 117 viii

11 ILLUSTRATIONS 6.2 Nike of Paeonius, c Archaeological Museum, Olympia, Greece. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY Niobide, from the Sallustian Gardens, Rome. Greco - Roman after Greek original, c Museo Nazionale delle Terme, Rome. Photo: Scala/Ministero per i Beni e le Attivit à culturali/art Resource, NY The Great Harbor at Syracuse, Sicily. Photo: L. Tritle Funerary stele of Chairedemos and Lykeas, from Salamis, c Archaeological Museum, Piraeus, Greece. Photo: Nimatallah/Art Resource, NY Nike adjusting her sandal. Detail of the balustrade relief from the temple of Athena Nike, Athens, c Acropolis Museum, Athens. Photo: Nimatallah/Art Resource, NY Aphrodite attributed to Callimachus, late fifth century (imperial Roman copy, first second century AD). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York ( ). Photo: L. Tritle Funerary stele of Philoxenos and Philoumene, c J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu. Photo: J. Paul Getty Museum. 230 ix

12 MAPS Boeotia - Attica 24 Macedonia-Chalcidice 96 Sicily 145 Ionia 166 The Hellespont 182 x

13 ABBREVIATIONS Titles of periodical literature are generally abbreviated in accordance with those listed in L Année philologique. Names of ancient authors and titles of works are mostly abbreviated as listed in the Oxford Classical Dictionary (see below) or LSJ = H.G. Liddell and R. Scott, A Greek - English Lexicon, 9th ed., rev. by H.S. Jones and R. McKenzie (Oxford, 1940). The following should also be noted: APF J.K. Davies, Athenian Propertied Families. Oxford, ATL B.D. Meritt, H.T. Wade-Gery, and M.F. McGregor, eds. The Athenian Tribute Lists, 4 vols. Cambridge and Princeton for American School of Classical Studies, Athens, Beloch K.J. Beloch, Griechische Geschichte. 2nd ed. 4 vols. Strassburg, Berlin, Leipzig, CAH Cambridge Ancient History, ed. by J.B. Bury et al., 1st ed., 12 vols. Cambridge, ; with a new edition (e.g., second and third), FGrHist Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker. F. Jacoby, ed. Vol. 1 2, Berlin, Vol. 3, Leiden, Fornara C.W. Fornara, ed. and trans., Translated Documents of Greece and Rome. Vol. 1. Archaic Times to the End of the Peloponnesian War. 2nd ed. Cambridge, xi

14 ABBREVIATIONS Gomme A.W. Gomme. A Historical Commentary on Thucydides. Vols Oxford, Gomme-Andrewes-Dover A.W. Gomme, A. Andrewes, and K.J. Dover. A Historical Commentary on Thucydides. Vols Oxford, Hor nblower S. Hor nblower. A Commentary on Thucydides. 3 vols. Oxford, IG Inscriptiones Graecae. Berlin, ML R. Meiggs and D.M. Lewis, eds., Greek Historical Inscriptions to the End of the Fifth Century B.C. Rev. ed. Oxford, PA J. Kirchner, Prosopographia Attica. 2 vols. Berlin, P - B P. Poralla, A Prosopography of Lacedaemonians from the Earliest Times to the Death of Alexander the Great. 2nd ed., by A.S. Bradford. Chicago, RE Realencyclopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft. Ed. by Pauly - Wissowa - Kroll. OCD 3 Stuttgart, Oxford Classical Dictionary. S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth, eds. 3rd ed., rev. Oxford, Pritchett W.K. Pritchett. The Greek State at War. 5 vols. Berkeley and Los Angeles, xii

15 CHRONOLOGY Please note: all three - digit dates are BC/BCE; fifth century and fourth century, when referred to as such, should be understood as BC/BCE. Common era dates, when used, will be identified as AD/CE; nineteenth and twentieth (centuries) and all four - digit dates should be taken as modern. Political - Military Events Social - Cultural Events Era of the Persian Wars: Athens burned by invading Persians 490 Battle of Marathon: Athens defeats invading Persian army 480 Battles of Thermopylae/ Artemisium and Salamis 479 Battles of Plataea/Mycale: Persian defeat complete 478/7 Establishment of Delian League under Athenian leadership 472 Aeschylus, Persians 1 c.469/8 6 Battle of Eurymedon 468 Sophocles premiers 466/5 Revolt and suppression of Naxos by Athens 464 (?) Earthquake in Sparta 1 Readers should note that few dates for the performance of Attic drama are secure. Their discussion below is placed where it seems most likely. This applies as well to the dates assigned to works of art. xiii

Ionian Greek colonies

Bronze Age Greece Ionian Greek colonies Athens Piraeus, Athens Harbor Persian Empire Earth and Water In 492 B.C. King Darius I of Persia demanded earth and water from the Greek city-states. Athens and