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
The Second War began when the Spartan King Archimedes II laid siege to the city of Plataea. The Athenians were able to hold their position until 427 B.C.E., when the city fell. During that time, a revolt by the Spartans as taking place at Mytilene, which put additional pressure on Athens. While they defended and successfully extinguished that revolt, the Athenians made additional progress into Peloponnese, by sea, as well as Italy, by land. Athens’ success eventually ended when they were defeated in an attempt to recover Amphipolis in 422 B.C.E.
Interestingly, this war against Sparta, also known as the First Peloponnesian War, was due to the Athenians trying to unify all of Greece under a democracy. Pericles informs the people that they deomcratically voted to go war under his leadership and that if they keep fighting and directing rage to him and each other, that they would be their own undoing. He unifies the people to remember who their real enemy is and that they must all stay strong together and help each other stay
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
His strategy was to evacuate the Athenian countryside and retreating to the walls of Athens, leaving the navy to attack Sparta opportunistically. However, this decision costed him dearly. The crowded population within Athens walls lead to a plague that killed him and his two sons in
There were 300 Spartans commanded by their king, Leonidas and 6,000 soldiers from other city-states against the Persian army of 100,000 men. The small Greek force held their position for two days till a Greek traitor told Xerxes of another path that was used by local people. Using this pass, the Persians passed through the mountains in secret and trapped the Greeks from the front and behind. On the third day, King Leonidas chose to stay to fight to the end and told the rest of the city-states to run while they still could but the Spartan army would die till the end. Although the Battle of Thermopylae was lost it showed that the Spartans were not afraid of the Persians and brought hope to the rest of the Greek city-states.
His strategy to wait out the land attacks by the Spartans by remaining inside Athens walls may have been successful had the people of Athens, including Pericles, not be subjected to a plague that took over Athens (Thucy. History of the Peloponnesian War
Pericles explicitly describes how Athens is definitely equal to Sparta, and in fact better, because it has the supply of more troops. Pericles additionally explains Athens’s superiority in terms of its navy, citing that Sparta could never surpass it even if it gained enough supplies (1.143). In his funeral oration, Pericles also loquaciously praises Athens’s government and culture, even saying that the city is “the school for Hellas” (2.41.1). Pericles’s utilizes multiple examples to explain the greatness of Athens, suggesting the idea that this is a country any man should be willing to fight for. Additionally, Pericles infuses a persuasive rhetorical question in his oration: “Did not our fathers resist the Persians…and advance their affairs to their present height?
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.
Athens was one of the most powerful and revered city-states in Ancient Greece. A very controversial leader in Athens of this time was Pericles. Pericles was born into the wealthy and influential Alcmaeonidae family in 495 BCE. He came to power as a statesman in Athens in 461 BCE, and ruled unto his death is 429 BCE. Pericles set three goals for Athens which included strengthening democracy, empire, and glorifying Athens.
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.
The same day that Thermopylae was won by the Persian army, their fleet was preparing for an attack on the greeks at sea. They battled head to head in the Euboea Channel. The Greeks were fighting so viciously that they destroyed many of their enemies ships and forced the Persians to withdraw. With the loss of Thermopylae by the Greeks, they viewed the north as no longer being attainable, and also decided to end any land-sea endeavors to the north. After the battle at Thermopylae the greeks experienced an influx of pride and boost of
Before the fighting began, the Athenians believed that “war [was] inevitable,” (Thucydides 1998, I.144) illustrating that in the unjust society, there is deep instability that will lead to war; even though there may be peace, it will not be sustainable without justice. Similarly, in the Corinthians’ plea to the Spartans, they say that peace is only sustainable if there is justice (Thucydides 1998, I.71). Furthermore, the short-term peace that is achieved by the warring states does not last because it was not wrought with just intentions. Both states signed the treaties because they suffered defeats and it was in their interests, not because they wanted to do what was just. (Thucydides 1998, V.15, V.36).
In “The Greeks” the rise and fall of the Greek empire is detailed. In part one, the tyrant, Pisistratus, is introduced. It covers Athens economic progress and it’s improvement of social structure. After Pisistratus died in 527 BCE. his son, Hippias took over.
Pericles was convinced that the war against Sparta was inevitable if unfortunate. In his eyes Sparta was envious of Athens' preeminence. Another reason for Sparta to wage war was Sparta's fear of Athenian power and growth. Therefore, he did not hesitate to send troops to Corcyra to reinforce the Corcyraean fleet, which was fighting against Corinth an ally of Sparta.
