ipl-logo

Pericles Strategies During The Peloponnesian War

1047 Words5 Pages

The Athenian City State objectives had two overarching strategies during the Peloponnesian War. The strategies had different requirements of the means that the City State had to provide, which either increase or decrease the risks assumed by Athens. Pericles strategy at the start of the Peloponnesian War was driven off the objective to preserving the empire. The follow on leaders Cleon and Nicias, strategies shifted from defending to growth of the Empire that eventually contributed to its downfall.
The following strategy outline by Pericles was a defensive one, his ends was not to engage Sparta in a land battle, but to protect the City State of Athens. The objectives outline by him directed the people of Attica to “not to go out to battle, …show more content…

Athens had the means to support the war due to the immense wealth and the resources remitted from Athenian colonies and allies. He figured that they would outlast the Spartans do to their limited wealth and resource base available to them. To ensure that the means of Athens were maintained, she was required “to keep a tight rein on their allies” since without their allies the support being provided and remittance of resources would dry up. During the Spartan raids into Attica in attempts to draw out the Athenian army, the ever present risk that was present to answer the raids due to the honor which called the people to defending their homes and lands. Pericles minimized the risk by not calling an assembly or meeting the people, which could reverse the strategy that he outlined. To counter the raids by Sparta, Pericles directed the Athenian navy to conduct raids within the Sparta homeland of Peloponnesus, which strike at their limited resource …show more content…

The Athenians was able to project the new strategy with the Spartans as they requested for peace and the return of their soldiers on the island. Encourage by Cleon the Athenians reject the peace offering from Sparta “grasping at something further”. Athenians requested four cities that were lost to be return to Athens. The Spartan envoys needed time to consult on the request that the Athenians made. “Cleon violently assailed” the envoys, causing the Spartans to depart knowing whatever they offered would not be good enough for the

Show More
Related
152 Words | 1 Pages

After Thucydides' ostracism, Pericles was re-elected yearly to the generalship, the only office he ever officially occupied, although his influence was so great as to make him the de facto ruler of the state. For more than 20 years Pericles led many expeditions, mainly naval ones. Being always cautious, he never undertook of his own accord a battle involving much uncertainty and peril and he did not accede to the "vain impulses of the citizens". He based his military policy on Themistocles' principle that Athens' predominance depends on its superior naval power and believed that the Peloponnesians were near-invincible on land. (The fleet, backbone of Athenian power since the days of Themistocles, was manned almost entirely by members of the

Read More
1000 Words | 4 Pages

Pericles, who was Greek, can be biased in his statement because as a leader, he needs to win the people’s support. Therefore, he can only say the glories of Athens. Document 5 supports Document 4’s statement. Document 5 talks about the details of the Athenian government. It tells the reader “No one remained in power long enough to entrench himself”

Read More
444 Words | 2 Pages

The historian Thucydides described himself as a wealthy Athenian general whose exile to the Peloponnese allowed him to personally observe, from both the sides of the conflict, a comprehensive account of the Peloponnesian War. Book 1 in Thucydides’ “History of the Peloponnesian War” is dedicated to explaining over fifty years of the events and proceedings that led to the abandonment of the Thirty Year’s Peace and subsequent war. In Book 1 he identifies four main incidents, which I shall refer to as ‘grievances’, regarding the conduct of Athens towards both their Delian members and the Peloponnesian allies. Yet he also mentions what he deems to be a more ‘real’ truth than these four grievances that led to Sparta and the Peloponnese going to

Read More
864 Words | 4 Pages

Sparta was once one of the most important Greek city-states throughout Greece, famous for their military lifestyle. When you think of a Spartan warrior, you vision a man with huge muscles, red cloaks, long hair, and sharp swords. Spartan warriors were the best and feared fighters in Greece, they spend their whole lives learning new fighting techniques and serving their home, Sparta. At around six or seven years old, young boys would be taken from their homes to be trained as Spartan warriors.

Read More
894 Words | 4 Pages

This contrasts the two cities in their perspective of what they need. Sparta powers their army with the number of Helots within the confines of their territory. Athens sees military as important but has almost as many resident aliens in their city as Sparta has natural citizens(Document 6). Looking at a list of imported goods and exported goods into the two cities, you can see how Sparta imports materials needed for supporting an army like iron, ivory,and copper. On the other hand, Athens import necessities in which the need to survive on such as wheat, skins, and salted fish to eat.

Read More
1346 Words | 6 Pages

This shows that there is still a need for Sparta and that the Athenians will need their land battle experience in order to completely remove the Persians from the Greek territory. Therefore, the Athenians would need the Spartans, and they should be given credit for their land

Read More
255 Words | 2 Pages

Leila Sara Khan, Unit 1 Task 1 Criteria 1.1 Communication methods relevant to health and social care. One to one A one to one is a verbal communication that can be used in many environments such as, a school, nursing homes, CAMS and nursery’s.

Read More
664 Words | 3 Pages

Pericles argues that Athens has become a model for others, and articulates what it is to be a good citizen. This can be seen when he says, “although the eyes of an enemy may occasionally profit by our liberality; trusting less in system and policy than to the native spirit of our citizens; while in education, where our rivals from their very cradles by a painful discipline seek after manliness, at Athens we live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger.” (Thucydides, 2.39) It proves that Ancient Athens’ valued greatness and worked in order to achieve the excellence of the state, by focusing on rebuilding themselves back up after the Persian war. Pericles played a big role in this because he showed his ambitions to rebuild Athens, which lead to the thriving of other subjects such as literature, philosophy, science, art, and religion.

Read More
234 Words | 1 Pages

Many see love as a positive quality and for the most part it is. It gives us compassion for our fellow man, allows us to bond with each other, and care for our families. But it also has self-destructive properties too. In Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians feel a really strong patriotism to their city and empire.

Read More
1488 Words | 6 Pages

Athens and Sparta, located between the Aegean and the Ionian Sea, allied with each other in the Greco-Persian war. Due to the advanced and powerful navy of Athens incorporation with the well-built army of Sparta, they gained victory over the Persian Empire. After the victory, Athens gained wealth and dominance over the other Greek societies causing tensions between Sparta. They both share similarities towards their cultural background but had different views in creating an ideal society in addition to their state’s place in the world. Moreover, they differ from the concepts of a well trained or educated society and a well built military, but share similarities in their government format.

Read More
1284 Words | 6 Pages

Socrates and Pericles had extremely differing views about Athenian life. Pericles was a Politician, whereas Socrates was a philosopher. In “The Funeral Oration of Pericles”, Pericles contradicts himself a lot. While in “The Apology of Socrates”, Socrates does not go back on what he said in the past. He stands by everything he has said.

Read More
711 Words | 3 Pages

Sparta vs. Athens To begin with, Athens and Sparta were both famous in antiquity for their legend, cultures and the character of the people. On the one hand, the two poleis share certain obvious affinities, such as language, geographical scope, a common Greek ancestry etc. On the other hand, they were polar opposites in many aspects, from social spheres, political structures, to military might, which I believe there are some hidden depths in these city-states. Hence, let’s look at how did their people obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community, and who held public office first.

Read More
1134 Words | 5 Pages

Pericles, a key political figure of 5th century Athens states, “Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves.” The Athenians had no desire to follow what appeared as mediocre government, the Athenians pushed for the best form they could find. Arete, for Athens, meant every person had a voice in politics. Politics embraces the reason of the mind as well as the emotion of the heart. Therefore, the very essence of a good human being would lie in being a politically active person.

Read More
316 Words | 2 Pages

These days, the number of people who take tests as an admission college is getting to higher since it can be one of advantage for getting job opportunities the fact they graduate university. According to statistic brain(2016), the number of students enrolled universities is recorded 17,487,475 in 2016, which is included both private and public university. As you can know, students,who decide to enter a university, are increasing rapidly and it will have been more important for undergraduate. So, it can be said that importance is attached to the format of the test as well.

Read More
763 Words | 4 Pages

“Melians (90): It is useful at any rate the way we see it, not to destroy a principle that works for the common good; that one falling in danger should be treated with fairness and justice, and thus benefit from this, if he can persuade his judges, even short of the exact limits.” At this point the Athenians were quite confident in their power, and didn’t need power. Since they were stronger than the Melians, it means that it was better for the Melians to think of their survival and not justice at that point. According to the Athenians, justice would only be considered when both sides are neutral. However, the Melians were not ready to give up on justice as they believed that it was a principle that works for the common

Read More

More about Pericles Strategies During The Peloponnesian War

Related Topics

Open Document