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A NEW HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR L AWRENCE A. T RITLE A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication 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 A NEW HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR L AWRENCE A. T RITLE A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication This edition first published 2010 © 2010 Lawrence A. Tritle Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February 2007. 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 02148-5020, 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 www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell. 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 1988. 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., 1946A new history of the Peloponnesian War / Lawrence A. Tritle. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4051-2250-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-1-4051-2251-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Greece–History–Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C. 2. Greece–History– Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C.–Influence. 3. Greece–History–Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C.–Historiography. 4. Athens (Greece)–Intellectual life. I. Title. DF229.T74 2010 938′.05–dc22 2009020186 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 For my Mom, Dorothy B. Tritle and Najwa habibti and those who have seen the elephant and brought it home 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 ‘From this the Corinthians developed their bitter hatred for the Athenians’ 2 ‘Give the Greeks their freedom’ 3 ‘Our city is an education to Greece’ 4 ‘War is a violent teacher’ 5 ‘Spindles would be worth a lot’ 6 ‘Weeping for joy’ 7 ‘The strong do what they have the power to do’ 8 ‘What of us then who for our children must weep?’ 9 ‘The whole of Greece against Athens’ 10 ‘Ships gone . . . don’t know what to do’ 11 ‘Athens is taken’ 12 ‘Here’s to the noble Critias!’ Epilogue 4 25 44 67 85 111 132 144 165 186 205 223 241 Appendix A: A note on sources Appendix B: Who’s who in the Peloponnesian War Appendix C: A Peloponnesian War glossary Bibliography Index 243 248 258 263 275 vii 1 ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1 3.1 3.2 3.3 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 6.1 Athenian casualty list, c. 450. Photo: American School of Classical Studies at Athens: Agora Excavations. 16 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. 50 Attic relief, a dedication to the Thracian goddess Bendis, c. 400. British Museum, London. Photo: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY. 51 Warrior taking leave of his wife. Attic white-ground lekythos from Eretria, c. 440. Achilles Painter. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 55 The island of Sphacteria in the bay of Pylos in southern Greece. Photo: L. Tritle. 87 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. 90 Attic grave relief depicting battle, late fifth century. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Fletcher Fund (40.11.23). Photo: L. Tritle. 101 Gamma 16, Theban soldier killed at Chaeronea, 338/7. National Archaeological Museum, Athens (Photo Archive). Photo: J. Ma. 102 Ionic frieze from the temple of Apollo Epikourios, Bassai, c. 420–400. British Museum, London. Photo: The Trustees of the British Museum/Art Resource, NY. 117 viii I L L U S TRATI O N S 6.2 6.3 8.1 10.1 10.2 10.3 12.1 Nike of Paeonius, c. 420. Archaeological Museum, Olympia, Greece. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. Niobide, from the Sallustian Gardens, Rome. Greco-Roman after Greek original, c. 460–30. Museo Nazionale delle Terme, Rome. Photo: Scala/Ministero per i Beni e le Attività culturali/Art Resource, NY. The Great Harbor at Syracuse, Sicily. Photo: L. Tritle. Funerary stele of Chairedemos and Lykeas, from Salamis, c. 400. 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. 410. 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 (32.11.3). Photo: L. Tritle. Funerary stele of Philoxenos and Philoumene, c. 400. J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu. Photo: J. Paul Getty Museum. ix 118 119 155 190 197 197 230 MAPS Boeotia-Attica Macedonia-Chalcidice Sicily Ionia The Hellespont 24 96 145 166 182 x 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 ATL Beloch CAH FGrHist Fornara J.K. Davies, Athenian Propertied Families. Oxford, 1971. 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, 1939–53. K.J. Beloch, Griechische Geschichte. 2nd ed. 4 vols. Strassburg, Berlin, Leipzig, 1912–27. Cambridge Ancient History, ed. by J.B. Bury et al., 1st ed., 12 vols. Cambridge, 1923–39; with a new edition (e.g., second and third), 1970–2001. Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker. F. Jacoby, ed. Vol. 1–2, Berlin, 1923–26. Vol. 3, Leiden, 1940–58. 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, 1983. xi ABBRE V I A T I O N S Gomme Gomme-Andrewes-Dover Hornblower IG ML PA P-B RE OCD3 Pritchett A.W. Gomme. A Historical Commentary on Thucydides. Vols. 1–3. Oxford, 1945–56. A.W. Gomme, A. Andrewes, and K.J. Dover. A Historical Commentary on Thucydides. Vols. 4–5. Oxford, 1970–81. S. Hornblower. A Commentary on Thucydides. 3 vols. Oxford, 1991–2008. Inscriptiones Graecae. Berlin, 1873–. R. Meiggs and D.M. Lewis, eds., Greek Historical Inscriptions to the End of the Fifth Century B.C. Rev. ed. Oxford, 1988. J. Kirchner, Prosopographia Attica. 2 vols. Berlin, 1901. P. Poralla, A Prosopography of Lacedaemonians from the Earliest Times to the Death of Alexander the Great. 2nd ed., by A.S. Bradford. Chicago, 1985. Realencyclopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft. Ed. by Pauly-Wissowa-Kroll. Stuttgart, 1894–1980. Oxford Classical Dictionary. S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth, eds. 3rd ed., rev. Oxford, 2003. W.K. Pritchett. The Greek State at War. 5 vols. Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1971–91. xii 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 490–78 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 Aeschylus, Persians1 472 c.469/8–6 Social-Cultural Events 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