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
