The Archidamian War Flashcards
Corcyran Civil War
(427 BCE) Athenian-allied commoners fight Spartan-allied oligarchs. Commoners eventually win, but the revolution is bloody and tragic.
Corinth
Corinth started fighting with Athens over Athens’s involvement in Corcyra. As Corinth’s ally, Sparta was drawn into the fight.
Megarian Decree
(432 BCE) Athens puts an embargo on Spartan ally Megara, absolutely destroying their economy. Athens sacked Megara the following year.
Battle of Potidaea
(432 BCE) Athens suspects their ally, Potidaea, of betraying them and sacks them.
Archidamus
Spartan king and leader in the first Peloponnesian War.
Battle of Platea
(429-427 BCE) Thebes sieged Athens’s ally Platea. Sparta eventually defeated Platea and allowed Thebes to raze the city to the ground.
Mytilenean Debate
(428 BCE) Cleon and Diodotus argue over what to do about the defeated Mytilenean rebels. Cleon says kill every last one of them and Diodotus says no don’t. They initially go with Cleon’s plan but eventually back out.
Acanthus
(424 BCE) Brasidas convinces Acanthus to side with Sparta over Athens.
Battle of Pylos and Sphacteria
(425 BCE) Athens takes a Spartan fort at Pylos. Then, Athens attacked a Spartan force at Sphacteria and forced the Spartans to surrender.
Delium
(424 BCE) Athens is forced to flee their fort at Delium by the Boetians.
Battle of Amphipolis
(424-422 BCE) Sparta sieges the Athenian colony of Amphipolis. Thucydides is exiled for doing a bad job. The Spartans win but both Brasidas and Cleon are dead, so it’s peace time.
Peace of Nicias
(421-414 BCE) Athens and Sparta have a temporary but never fully implemented peace treaty
Melian Dialogue
(416 BCE) Melos is like please don’t kill us and Athens is like lmao sucks to b u
