Greek period study sources summary Flashcards
Andokides on the peace of Epilycus - how does this link to the peace of Callias?
Andokides said “we are the people who first made a treaty with the Great King” (presumably 424/3) aka Darius II - the fact they made a treaty implies a previous treaty may have existed with Artaxerxes aka the Peace of Callias (449)
Aristophanes Acharnians on Pericles:
- says it was kidnapped prostitutes which started the issue causing P to:
“he made laws that were written like drinking songs and said that the Megarians should be banned from earth, from the Agora, from the sea and from the heaven”
“it was that that brought about this din of shields” - implying refusal to revoke the decree caused the war
Aristophanes Acharnians (425) on the long absence of Athenian ambassadors to Persia?
Ambassadors return - saying they were sent away in 437BC at 2 drachmas pay per day, and are “worn out… lying on soft cushions in our carriages”
Aristophanes Peace 421BC on the reason for war?
“then when the cities that you ruled realised you were at each other’s throats…they plotted against you…because of their fear of the tribute, and they used bribes to persuade the most powerful men at Sparta”
Aristophanes Peace 421BC on Cleon?
- accuses him of corruption - he was “laying accusations that they were Brasidean sympathisers” then “the foreigners…bunged up the mouths of those who made these accusations with gold”
“and the man who did this was the tanner” (aka Cleon)
Aristotle Politics on Athens relationship with her allies?
“for example the Athenians with regard to Samos, Khios and Lesbos: for as soon as they had a firm hold over their empire, they humbled these islands contrary to the agreements”
Aristotle Athenian Constitution on Aristeides?
“it was Aristeides who saw that the Spartans had gained a bad reputation because of Pausanias and urged the Ionians to break away from the Spartan alliance”
Diodorus on the reason for Aristeides promotion to General of the Hellenic League and his role in forming the Delian League?
“Aristeides’ conduct as General…made them all incline… towards the Athenians”
“Aristeides advised all the allies… to choose Delos as their treasury… and to impose a levy on all cities according to their means for the war which they suspected would come from Persia”
“he shared out the amount precisely and fairly that all cities were well pleased”
Diodorus on the Spartans’ initial debate whether to go to war (1st Peloponnesian War)?
“the Spartans debated whether to go to war with the Athenians over the command by sea”
“the Spartans judged that Hetoimaridas gave the right advice and they turned away from their intention of making war”
Diodorus on Athenian power and defeat of the Persians as leaders of Hellenic league?
“they had increased their hegemony to such an extent that on their own, without the Spartans and the Peloponnesians, they had defeated the great Persian forces in contests both by land and by sea”
Diodorus on the Peace of Callias?
“an agreement was made between the Athenians and their allies and the Persians about peace”
“all the Greek cities in Asia be autonomous; that the Persian satraps should not come closer than three days’ journey to the coast”
Diodorus on Athens moving the treasury - and possible corruption of Pericles
“the Athenians… transferred to Athens the moneys collected on Delos… some 8000 talents”
“handed it over to Pericles to look after… but after a time he had privately spent no small part of these moneys, and when asked to render an account he fell ill, unable to give an account of the money”
Harpokration s.v. Attikois Grammasin
“Theopompus… says… that the treaty with the Persians is a fake, being written up not in the Attic but in the Ionic alphabet”
Plutarch Aristeides on the setting of tribute?
“he assessed the contributions not only justly but in a way that was kind and fitting for everyone”
Plutarch Aristeides on how Aristeides came to replace Pausanias?
“in this way he took over the leadership… not by force… but by kindness and diplomacy”
“particularly the Khians, Samians and Lesbians.. tried to persuade him to accept the leadership”
Plutarch Cimon on Cimon’s role in the empire and how Athens turned league into empire?
- essentially the allies didn’t send troops and only empty ships so Cimon used the money to enhance Athenian wealth and mean that the army was just Athenians
“the allies.. were already refusing to go on campaign… on the grounds that there was no need for warfare… since the barbarians had been removed and were not causing trouble”
“Cimon… did not apply force to any Greek”
“he put many Athenians in the ships in turn and made them labour on campaigns, and in a short time used the money and pay from the alllies to make the Athenians masters of those who paid”
Plutarch Cimon on the peace of Callias summing up sources?
he says Cimon’s victory at Eurymedon “so humbled the King’s pride that he made that famous peace”
“yet Kallisthenes denies that the Persians made a treaty”
“Krateros in his collection of decrees includes a copy of the treaty…and they say that the Athenians put up an altar of peace”
Plutarch Pericles on sending money to Sparta?
“Pericles included an entry of 10 talents ‘as was needed’ in his account of expenditures from his Generalship”
“some… have stated that Pericles had ten talents sent annually to Sparta, and that… in this way he deferred the war, not purchasing peace but time during which he could make preparations quietly”
Plutarch Pericles on Pericles’ conduct at Samos?
“in the ninth month the Samians surrendered and Pericles pulled down the walls, took away the ships and inflicted a large fine”
- also mentions a story that Pericles behaved cruelly but he denies the validity of the story
Plutarch Pericles regarding the Megarian decree?
“Pericles, who seems to have harboured some private grudge against the Megarians”
“Pericles was certainly responsible for this decree”
the death of a herald sent to Megara had “laid it down that henceforth Athens should be the irreconcilable and implacable enemy of Megara”
“the real reasons which caused the decree to be passed are extremely hard to discover, but all writers agree in blaming Pericles for the fact it was not revoked”
Plutarch Pericles on Pheidias?
He put a “figure representing himself” and “introduced a particularly fine likeness of Pericles” onto the shield of the statue of Athena causing him to be imprisoned and die
- this isn’t supported by other sources
Herodotus on the Persians main objectives and intentions in 490?
“Eretria and Athens as his main objectives
“though in fact the Persians intended to subjugate as many Greek towns as they could”
First state to medise and why?
Aegina due to hatred of Athenians
Where did the Persians burn temples and first invade “in revenge for the burnt temples of Sardis”
Eretria
- this is also an example of division within city states as 2 eretrians opened the gates to the Athenians and they had debated whether to stay and fight or retreat
Who led the Athenians at Marathon?
Miltiades
Miltiades’ encouragement for the Athenians at Marathon?
“if we submit to the Persians, Hippias will be restored to power”
- “if we fight and win, then this city of ours may well grow to pre-eminence amongst all the cities of Greece”
Herodotus on Xerxes deliberations about invading?
“Xerxes at first was not at all interested in invading Greece”
- he wants to live up to his ancestors
- Mardonius encourages him
- he calls Artabanus a coward for being realistic
Artabanus’ warning to Xerxes?
“the land itself will become more and more hostile to you the further you advance”
What does Demoratus tell Xerxes about the Greeks?
The Spartans will never surrender and will fight without allies in any number
Herodotus on Xerxes’ purpose?
“the purpose of Xerxes’ expedition… was in fact the conquest of the whole of Greece”
Herodotus on the role of the Athenians in Persian resistance?
“Greece was saved by the Athenians”
Without the Athenian fleet there would have been no Persian resistance and it would certainly have failed with each city taken one by one including Sparta
How many warships had Themistocles ordered to be built in order to fight Aegina, which ended up being key to success against the Persians?
200 according to Herodotus
“the first thing to be done was to patch up their own quarrels”
The first meeting of the Greek states who chose to resist Persia
Herodotus on his own role?
“my business is to record what people say, but I am by no means bound to believe it - and that may be taken to apply to this book as a whole”
Thessaly’s relations with Persia according to Herodotus?
the Thessalians “no longer hesitated but whole-heartedly worked in the Persian interest”
First Greek tactical decision against the Persians?
To guard Thermopylae since it was narrower than the Isthmus of Corinth, and to send the fleet to nearby Artemisium so they could communicate
Why was a war council held at Thermopylae according to Herodotus?
the Greeks “suddenly doubting their power to resist”
Who stood with Leonidas against the Persians against their will according to Herodotus?
The Thebans
- this is likely an example of herodotus pro-athenian perspective
Why does Herodotus say that Eurybiades (Spartan) was in charge of the fleet at Artemisium?
Although the Athenians had 127/ 271 ships, members of the league said they would rather leave the league than fight under an Athenian
Herodotus on the Athenians’ taking command of the Delian League?
“the Athenians made the insufferable behaviour of Pausanias their excuse for depriving the Lacedaemonians of the command”
Themistocles argument on tactics at Salamis according to Herodotus?
“fighting in a confined space favours us but the open sea favours the enemy”
Herodotus on the Athenians’ story of the Corinthians fleeing?
says the “rest of Greece gives evidence in their favour” and is essentially Athens being petty against Adeimanthus
Herodotus on why Xerxes left?
“personally, I do not think he would have stayed in Greece… he was much too badly frightened”
“such is our love of freedom, that we will defend ourselves in whatever way we can”
Herodotus
- The Athenians say they will not submit to the Persians, after Alexander is sent as envoy
When did the Athenians ask the Spartans to march out to meet the Persians in Boeotia?
After Salamis
Mardonius’ capture of Athens as described by Herodotus?
“he captured a deserted town - ten months after its previous capture by Xerxes”
“you agreed with us to appose the invader in Boeotia, but you broke your word and allowed him to invade Attica. This conduct on your part has roused the anger of Athens”
- The Athenians to the Spartans after Mardonius has taken Athens again, according to Herodotus
Herodotus’ explanation for why the Spartans didn’t help the Athenians and took nearly 2 weeks to respond to their anger at this
“the fortifications of the Isthmus were now complete, and they therefore felt that Athenian help was no longer necessary”
Herodotus’ story of a banquet with Persians and Thebans?
the Persians told the Greeks they knew they were going to die but could do nothing but follow their commander
“Persia’s firm friends”
Herodotus describing the Thebans
“in courage and strength they were as good as their adversaries, but they were deficient in armour, untrained, and greatly inferior in skill”
Herodotus on the Persians at Plataea
Who does Herodotus say were the best of the Greeks at Plataea?
Spartans
Why did the Persians disarm the Samians at Mycale according to Herodotus?
they had previously set free 500 Athenian hostages - and Leotychides was shouting at them from his ship to revolt
Who fought best at Mycale, according to Herodotus?
The Athenian troops
What did the Persians wish to do with the Ionians after Mycale, according to Herodotus?
turn out the Greeks who had defended Persia and resettle the Ionians there
Thucydides on what caused the Peloponnesian War?
“what made war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta” - Thucydides trap idea
2 arguments of Corcyra as to why the Athenians should defend them, according to Thucydides?
- Corinth will attack them first, then attack Athens
- it would be wrong to deny them help
Corinth to Athenians on why not to help Corcyra, according to Thuc.?
“you would not only be helping them but making war on us”
- they argue that they had helped Athens defeat Aegina and stopped the Peloponnesians from helping Samos
What did the Athenians decide to do about Corcyra, according to Thuc?
to defend Corcyra if they are attacked but not directly attack Corinth as that would break the treaty
- “it was a fact that Corcyra lay very conveniently on the coastal route to Italy and Sicily”
“this gave Corinth her first cause for war against Athens”
Thucydides on the dispute over Corcyra in 433BC
What did Athens order the Potidaeans to do, according to Thuc?
tear down walls, stop accepting the magistrates Corinth sent and banish those Corinthian magistrates already there
What does Plutarch disclaim about his writing?
he is a biographer and may miss out events that don’t fit his narrative
Plutarch as a source?
- often trying to give moral lesson
- biography not history
- cites a range of sources
- 1st century AD long after events occur
Diodorus as a source?
- uses Ephorus as a source, who probably wrote based on rhetoric
- often frames events dramatically
- 1st century BC
Thucydides as a source?
- lived in the time
- aristocratic
- never names sources
- used personal and eye-witness experience as sources
- Greek rationalism
Herodotus as a source?
- hated Corinthians and Thebans
- from Hallicarnassus
- born c.484 - 420s BC
- literary, epigraphic, archaeological and oral research methods
- oral sources mostly descendants of people at events
“the grievance of Corinth was that the Athenians were besieging her own colony of Potidaea” - Thucydides view from the other hand?
“Athens… had her own grievances against the Peloponnesians; they had supported the revolt of a city which was in alliance with her… and they had openly joined the Potidaeans in fighting against her”
Aegina and Megara’s involvement in war starting 431BC?
Aegina “behind the scenes… played a considerable part in fomenting war”
Megara mentioned “a number of other grievances” (the Megarian decree)
Corinthian speech according to Thuc?
“it is you who in the first place allowed the Athenians to fortify their city and build the Long Walls”
“in fact you know the chief reason for the failure of the Persian invasion was the mistaken policy of the Persians themselves”
Athenians to the Spartans 431BC? (thuc)
“we did not gain this empire by force”
“surely…the courage, the resolution and the ability which we showed then ought not to be repaid by such immoderate hostility”
“security, honour, and self-interest” the Athenians will not give up their empire
Spartan pro war 431BC (thuc)?
ephor Sthenelaidas “we should come to the help of our allies quickly and with all our might”
Thucydides on why the Spartans voted for war?
“the Spartans voted that the treaty had bene broken and that war should be declared not so much because they were influenced by the speeches of their allies as because they were afraid of the further growth of Athenian power”
Thucydides on Sparta’s reaction to Athens building the Long Walls (pentecontaetia)
“the Spartans had not got their own way and secretly they felt aggrieved by it”
“Pausanias had already begun to reveal the arrogance of his nature, and was becoming unpopular”
Thucydides on Pausanias
“after a siege Naxos was forced back into allegiance”
Thucydides on Naxos attempting to leave the Peloponnesian league
Thucydides on the reason for the Delian League to turn into an empire?
“for this position it was the allies themselves who were to blame”
- the allies didn’t want to serve abroad so gave money rather than men/ships to the league.
“the result was that the Athenian navy grew strong at their expense, and when they revolted they always found themselves inadequately armed and inexperienced in war”
What time span is covered in Thucydides’ Pentecontaetia?
Seige of Sestos (479BC -revolt of Samos 439BC)
What does Thucydides name as the first “open quarrel between Athens and Sparta” during the Pentecontaetia?
The helot revolt and Mt Ithome affair
How many days after the battle of Tanagra 457/6BC did the Athenians march back into Boeotia and defeat the Boeotians, according to Thucydides?
62 days later
After what key event was the 5 year truce of 452BC agreed? (thuc)
The Delian League forces had been defeated in Egypt in 454BC (by the Persians)
What was the first event after the 5 years truce of 452BC, according to Thuc?
The Battle of Coroneia where the Athenians were defeated by Boeotian exiles
Which Spartan King led the Peloponnesians in their invasion of Attica 446BC? (thuc)
Pleistoanax
What did Athens trade in order to evacuate Boeotia in 448BC?
hostages
What state attempted to revolt but was subdued by Athens in 447BC? (thuc)
Euboea
How many years into the 30 years truce agreed in 446BC did Samos revolt?
in the 6th year
When was the Chalcis decree written (event described in Thuc.)?
After a failed revolt of the city of Chalcis (in Euboea)
What state revolted as the same time as Samos in 440BC and returned to being a subject state around the same time too? (thuc)
Byzantium
Spartan tactical decisions in 431BC? (thuc)
improve their naval capability, encourage Athenian allies to revolt, “build fortified positions in their country”
“it is because we are the victims of aggression and because we have adequate reasons that we are going to war; and once we have made ourselves secure from the Athenians we shall at the proper time return to peace”
Thucydides on the Spartans explanation for war
What do the Spartan embassy to Athens say in 431BC? (thuc)
“that war could be avoided if Athens would revoke the Megarian decree”
then after initial refusal,
“peace is still possible if you will give the Hellenes their freedom”
Pericles argument against revoking the Megarian decree 431BC (thuc)?
that it will only lead to bigger requests
- he says that Sparta have been breaking the treaty because they “never once asked for arbitration”
“people’s feelings were generally very much on the side of the Spartans, especially as they proclaimed that their aim was the liberation of Hellas”
Thucydides on the situation in 431BC
King Archidamus advising the Spartans on strategy etc. in 431BC (thuc)
“we are greater in numbers and in better spirit than ever before”
the Athenians “think they have a right to supremacy and are much more used to invading and destroying other people’s land than seeing this happen to their own land”
What does Pericles reassure the Athenian people of at the start of the 2nd Peloponnesian War (thuc)?
that his friendship with King Archidamus “was certainly not going to be harmful to Athenian interests”
Pericles tactics for Athens in 431BC (thuc)?
stay in the city, keep tight hold of allies, bring the navy to the “highest state of efficiency”
- reminds everyone of the sources of income they haven’t used yet
“it was under him that Athens was at her greatest”
“his successors did the exact opposite”
“it was he who led them, rather than they who led him”
“so, in what was nominally a democracy, power was really in the hands of the first citizen”
Thucydides on Pericles
Thucydides on the reaction to events at Pylos from the Greeks?
Spartans ask for peace
caused “surprise among the Hellenes”
“the helots began to desert”
Spartan motivation to send Brasidas to Thrace? (thuc)
“so that when Sparta wanted to make peace…she…had places to offer in exchange for those held by Athens”
When did the Athenians intercept a Persian (Artaphernes) with a message for the Spartans implying they were discussing peace but the Persians wanted “definite proposals” (thuc)?
424BC
“in the end it was only because they had destroyed themselves by their own internal strife that they were forced to surrender”
Thucydides on the eventual failure of the Athenians in the 2nd peloponnesian war
Why did the “capture of Amphipolis caused great alarm at Athens”? (thuc)
it supplies timber and revenue to Athens
Why did the Spartans not send Brasidas reinforcements when he asked? (thuc)
“because what they really wanted was to recover the prisoners…and end the war”
Spartan reasons for peace of 421BC? (thuc)
“it seemed impossible to fight Athens and Argos at once”
- felt the war hadnt gone to plan
- helots deserting and raids on the peloponnese were unexpected + worrying
Athenian reasons for peace of 421BC? (thuc)
lost confidence after losses at Delium and Amphipolis
“the two people who on each side had been most opposed to peace”
Thucydides on Cleon and Brasidas
Which Peloponnesians were against the Peace of Nicias?
Corinth, Megara, Boeotia and Elis
Thucydides on the Peace of Nicias overall?
“it would certainly be an error of judgement to consider the interval of the agreement as anything except a period of war”
Who led a group in Athens hoping to end the Peace of Nicias and why? (thuc)
Alcibiades
- he felt left out that he hadn’t been part of negotiations, said that the
“Spartans could not be relied upon… their only object in making the treaty was to be able in this way first to crush Argos and afterwards to isolate Athens and attack her”
Why did the Mantineans, Eleans and Argives come to Athens to negotiate an alliance during the Peace of Nicias? (thuc)
Alcibiades invited them
Nicias before the Sicilian expedition? (thuc)
Says they should focus their gains at home not abroad. Said the old men should stand up to the young men (Alcibiades). “our country is now on the verge of the greatest danger she has ever known”
Then says that if they go they should at least send a larger force - this backfires and results in much larger losses
Alcibiades’ search for personal wealth and honour “later on had much to do with the downfall of the city of Athens”
Thucydides on Alcibiades, people stopped trusting him and “trusted their affairs to other hands, and before long ruined the city”
“to the rest of Hellas it looked more like a demonstration of the power and greatness of Athens than an expeditionary force”
Thucydides on the Sicilian expedition
Syracuseans against Athenians according to Thucydides?
“the fact is that just as they won an empire in Hellas, so they are trying to win another one here, and by exactly the same methods”
Athenian response to the Syracuseans speech against them? (thuc)
“we have told you that it is because of fear that we hold our empire in Hellas, and it is also because of fear that we have come here to settle matters for our own security”
What does Alcibiades tell the Spartans the Athenians plan for the Sicilian expedition was? (THUC)
he says the plan was to conquer Sicily then the Hellenes in Italy then the Carthaginian empire. After this they hoped to invade the Peloponnese with their new forces
What does Alcibiades tell the Spartans to do to win the war? (thuc)
send an elite force and good commander to Sicily to mobilise the troops there then they should fortify Decelea in Athens
Who does Thucydides say had asked the Spartans to invade Attica around 413BC?
Syracuse and Corinth
Thucydides on Spartan motivations and plans during the end of the Peloponnesian war?
wanted to force Athens into a war on 2 fronts (attica and sicily)
“in the first war they thought that the fault had been more on their side” but now they feel the Athenians were in the wrong
“ever since Decelea had been first fortified…Athens suffered a great deal”
Thucydides
“the occupation of Decelea, resulting…. in so much devastation of property and loss of manpower, was one of the chief reasons for the decline of Athenian power”
Thucydides
Reasons for the success of the occupation of Decelea, according to Thucydides?
- “every single thing that the city needed had to be imported”
- 20,000 Athenian slaves deserted
- “Spartan King Agis was there in person”
- food supplies had to be rerouted
“next winter the whole of Hellas, after the great disaster in Sicily, turned immediately against Athens”
Thucydides
“the Spartans determined to throw themselves into the war without any reservations”
they hoped to be free in future from the “kind of danger” which would have occurred had Athens successfully added Sicily’s resources to their own
Thucydides on Spartan motivation towards the end of the war
Who were trying to make “separate arrangements” regarding helping Sparta? (thuc)
Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus
“directly after the revolt of Miletus the first alliance between the King of Persia and the Spartans was concluded by Tissaphernes and Chalcideus”
Thucydides
“I feel quite sure that his motives…were to wear down the Hellenic forces and to keep matters in suspense: their efficiency was being impaired during all the time he took…and he was keeping the two sides evenly balanced, by not committing himself to either side and so giving it the advantage”
Thucydides on why Tissaphernes had taken 147 Phoenician ships away and not returned them
In what year is Cyrus sent, according to Xenophon and what does he say about the Athenians knowledge of this event?
In 407BC, a group of Athenian ambassadors with Pharnabazus supposedly bumped into returning Spartans with Cyrus - Cyrus asked Pharnabazus to stop the Athenians returning home and informing their city which he did
How much money did Cyrus tell Lysander he had on hand and what he was willing to spend in 407BC? (Xenophon)
500 talents
he said he would spend his own money and even take apart his throne if needed
Callicratides anti-Persian sentiment? (Xenophon)
“it was a sad day for the Greeks, he said, when they had to make up to foreigners for the sake of money”
he says that Lysander had returned to Cyrus the money he had, and that he he wanted to win without Persian help
How many days went by before conflict at Aegospotami? Xenophon
4 days
Who advised the Athenians to move from Aegospotami to Sestus? Xenophon
Alcibiades. They didn’t listen.
Why does Xenophon say the Athenians were distracted at Aegospotami?
they were “contemptuous of Lysander for not coming out to fight”
What are the 5 pieces of archaeological evidence for the period study?
- serpent column 478BC
- Chalcis decree c.446BC
- Thoudippos decree 425/4BC
- Naqs-e Rustam inscriptions 1 and 2
- Xerxes inscription
