In-Class Debate March 28 Sheehan Hall 90 points (weather permitting)

Transcription

1 The Players and the Context of the Sicilian Debate After the death of Pericles, a young man of aristocratic birth enters the political stage. Alcibiades was related to such notable figures in Athenian history as Cleisthenes, the father of Athenian democracy, Miltiades, the hero of Marathon, and Pericles himself, who raised the boy, after he was orphaned at a young age. No less a figure than the philosopher Socrates acted as his tutor. And indeed the beautiful youth was by no means deficient in mental abilities, but possessed a keen mind and artistic gifts. Seldom has anyone been so blessed both by nature and circumstance, and so admired and coddled by his surroundings, as Alcibiades. But he was also willful, proud and somewhat lacking in moral fiber. It would be mainly his doing that the third, and final stage of hostilities in the Peloponnesian War commenced. His relationship with Socrates stemmed from an episode when the young man, foolhardy as always, had rushed recklessly into the fray in a battle, was wounded, and about to make a short career of it, when the older man had saved his life. He became the only person who was ever able to instill some semblance of seriousness into Alcibiades, and chances are that without him, he would have gone completely to the dogs, his homeland being the better for it. A young ambitious man with designs on power needed a tutor in the art of rhetoric, and he could hardly have asked for a better teacher than his older friend Socrates would have had to have been blind at this point not to see that his efforts to build the character of this obstinate nature were wholly wasted. To instill any thought in Alcibiades for anybody other than himself, or any higher purpose whatsoever, was all but folly in such a thoroughly egotistical creature. Like the modern American Idol however, the people loved Alcibiades all the better for all his scandals and excesses. And though ideological niceties and political principles were a matter of no importance whatsoever to him, he decided to cast himself in the role of democratic populist leader, employing the popular assembly to propel himself to power. His ambitions were not for power in Athens alone however. His eyes were now fixed on an empire of all the Greek states, centered on Athens, with him at the head. All the while more moderate politicians on both sides had been struggling towards some sort of peaceful settlement. After more than a decade of war, they rightly felt that nothing would be gained by either side by the continuation of the war. An agreement was reached whereby the parties committed to maintaining the peace for 50 years. Upon being told of the peace agreement, Alcibiades simply remarked, Those years are likely to have very short months. (Plutarch) The means to undermining the peace presented itself through the city state of Argos. Argos, situated on the Peloponnesus peninsula, had been the traditional enemy of nearby Sparta. Alcibiades now convinced the assembly, over the objections of his rival, and leader of the

2 aristocratic party, Nicias, who had negotiated the peace agreement, to ally with Argos. The Spartans of course saw this as the provocation it was meant to be, and war resumed. It did not start off well. In 418 BCE the allied Athenian army was defeated at Mantinea, knocking Argos out of the war and boosting Spartan prestige among the states in central Greece, which until this point had been loath to throw their hat into the ring. Alcibiades and the popular assembly, growing ever more radical in their democracy, got their victory however, in 416 BCE, at the island of Melos. The people of Melos, of Dorian stock, had tried to remain neutral, and had refused to join the Delian League. The Athenians sent a fleet and began to lay siege to the city. (see Melian Dialogues OJPHN pgs ). In the end the city was forced to surrender. The popular assembly voted to execute all the male prisoners of war. Women and children would be sold into slavery, and Melos was to be resettled with Athenian colonists. Outright genocide was now acceptable policy. The following year envoys from the city of Segesta in Sicily arrived in Athens. They were there to implore for military aid in their struggle against the most powerful city on the great island, Syracuse. Sailing to Syracuse This opportunity to meddle in the affairs on Sicily seemed a blessing to Alcibiades. And there was indeed a case to be made for getting involved.

3 The Greek cities in Sicily were part of that vast network of Greek colonies across the Mediterranean world, that had been founded during the turbulent early iron age. Many Greeks had manned boats in that time and left overpopulated cities in the old country for greener pastures, as Greeks have done on more than one occasion, the last wave having washed up on the shores of America. Now Syracuse was trying to expand its domain over all the other cities on Sicily. This could potentially constitute a danger to Athens, as Syracuse was a Dorian colony, and sympathetic to their Spartan brethren. If they gained supremacy of the whole island, the Spartan position would be strengthened. Aside from the fact that Syracuse was aligned with Sparta, their fellow Dorians, there was another, and more basic, reason behind the planned invasion, one that went to the heart of the Peloponnesian War itself. Some have argued that the Athens needed an overseas empire for its very survival. Unlike the Eurotas valley, the homeland of the Spartans, which to this day is one of the few truly fertile agricultural regions of Greece, Attica had long been denuded of most of its vegetation and subject to extensive soil erosion. There was simply no way its rocky soil could support its large, mainly urbanized, population. Olives and wine were the only agricultural products which could be produced off it in any quantity. And while these, and industrial products such as the pottery from the Kerameikos district of Athens, could be traded for grain elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean, such as Egypt, the cost of imports were beginning to strain the economy. Establishing colonies and dependencies, or gaining them through force of arms, in fertile regions seemed the obvious answer. While access to commodities such as coal, or oil, were the life blood of later nations, and sent them on colonial ventures, grain would make or break Athens. Sicily, dominated by the city state of Syracuse, was at this time the bread basket of the Greek world. Here was an opportunity not only to raise the fortunes of Athens, but himself as well. Through a Sicilian campaign, Alcibiades saw the possibility of gaining further glory, but not least enough spoils of war to put him up nicely for the rest of his life and able to indulge his costly weakness for horse racing to his heart's desire. He may even have dreamt of following up the conquest of Sicily by uniting the Greek states in a national war on Carthage, the later mortal enemy of Rome, and the most powerful Phoenician state, which was located in present day Tunisia, just across from Sicily. Having done so, the western Mediterranean would be theirs for the taking, and a united Greek empire, under the

4 leadership of Athens, would dominate the entire sea. He set to work convincing the popular assembly. He was aided in this by the fact that very few ordinary Athenians had any idea at all how large and populous Sicily actually was. The Island is in reality ten times the size of Attica. A ship would take a whole week just circumnavigating it. And Syracuse herself rivaled Athens both in wealth and population. Augurs, oracles and soothsayers of questionable integrity proclaimed the favor of the gods to the proposed venture. Political propagandists worked the masses with visions of ships laden with treasure putting in at the port of Piraeus. The envoys from Segesta, the city which had asked for Athenian aid, spun tales of how rich their country was, and assured the citizens of Athens that their government would be willing to underwrite the entire cost of the expedition. A fact finding mission was dispatched to Segesta tasked with reporting back to the assembly on the veracity of the claims. While there, they were wined and dined in the homes of the local big wigs. And they were dazzled by the gold and silver in every home they visited. Little did they know that it was the same plates and dishes, which had been collected from the whole countryside, and which was just being moved from house to house ahead of the impressed visitors. The Athenians were further impressed when the envoys from Segesta accompanied the fact finding mission back to Athens and handed over 60 talents, a rather tidy sum, for the first month's wages for the fleet. There could hardly be any doubt as to the financial muscle of the city. Gold fever gripped the people. Even the old and infirm were eager to join up in the hope of making their fortune. The streets over there were paved with gold! In the spring of 415 BCE the fleet was ready to set sail. The assembly had attempted to square the political circle however, by conferring joint command of the expedition on Alcibiades and his old foe Nicias. Then something happened which was to have profound consequences for the course of the war. One morning they woke up to discover that the Hermai, stone markers representing the god Hermes, set in front of houses and in public places for good luck, had been desecrated. Ears, noses and the prominent phalluses had been broken off. Hermes, the god of trade and commerce, who brought fair winds at sea, was naturally very dear to the Athenians. Like modern Westerners, the urbane Athenians might not be very religious, in the true sense of

5 the word; but, just as most people today, reading horoscopes and fearing bad omens, they were still superstitious. And this was no deed of some ribald youngsters after a few too many at the tavern. This was wide spread and looked deliberate. And it might very well have been. One thought that comes immediately to mind, is that it might have been the political enemies of Alcibiades and the expedition in the aristocratic party. If such was the case, it worked like a charm. Suspicion was quickly directed at Alcibiades and his entourage of young hangers-on. Had he not derided religion on more than one occasion? Had they not made the streets unsafe at night for honest folk with their drunken carousing? For once, chances are that Alcibiades was blameless in a scandal he was accused of. But witnesses, of dubious credibility, were produced who pointed the finger at him and his supporters. He moved for a speedy trial, so the matter could be resolved before the fleet set sail. The opposition however managed to delay the case, as they feared his personal charm and eloquence would sway the jury. And so the mighty fleet set out from Piraeus, while throngs of people waved them off. Never had so great an armada been dispatched from a single Greek city. And the pride of the Athenians knew no bounds.