Thucydides Flashcards
What work of Thucydides is studied?
The History of the Peloponnesian War
When does Thucydides account of the Pentecontaetia begin?
With the siege of Sestos 479 (1.89)
What does Thucydides write of Sparta and her allies concerning Athens, at the start of the period?
Thucydides cites growing Athenian power as a cause for concern for Sparta’s Peloponnesian allies, while it seems that the Spartans too did not want a rival to emerge within the Greek world.
What story does Thucydides write of Themistocles, 478BC? How is this supported?
The story is of Themistocles’ trickery of the Spartans over the rebuilding of Athens’ walls in 478BC (1.90-91). Archaeological records show that the walls were hastily built at that time.
What other projects does Thucydides claim that Themistocles urged?
Thucydides writes that Themistocles urged the assembly to complete the building programme at Piraeus which he had instigated during his first year as eponymous archon (a magistrate responsible for a key area of Athenian government each year).
What does Thucydides later write of this project proposed by Themistocles?
He later writes (1.107) that in about 458 BC the Athenians built the long walls down to Piraeus and Phaleron, its old harbour.
What does Thucydides claim was the seed for later conflict between Athens and Sparta?
The seed was sown when the Spartans learnt that the Athenians had rebuilt their walls:
‘… the Spartans showed no open signs of displeasure towards Athens … All the same the Spartans had not got their own way and secretly they felt aggrieved because of it.’ (1.92)
What events of 478 does Thucydides write of regarding Ionia?
(1.94-95) He writes of Spartan commander and regent Pausanias and his campaign in Cyprus and Byzantium. He further writes of the Ionian plot to remove Pausanias and request Athenian leadership instead.
What seemingly conflicts in Thucydides account of 478BC?
Given Thucydides’ comments about the Spartan grievances with Athens over the rebuilding of their walls, it is mysterious that the Spartans seemed so content to allow the Athenians to take over the leadership of the anti-Persian alliance.
What does Thucydides claim the stated purpose for the formation of the Delian league was?
‘… to compensate themselves for their losses by ravaging the territory of the King of Persia.’ (1.96)
What details does Thucydides give of the structure of the Delian league?
That the treasury was set at Delos but the Athenians elected representatives from their own citizen body to manage it.
What early successes of the Delian league does Thucydides write of?
- Suppression of piracy,
- Removal of all but one Persian garrison from the northern Aegean,
- Extension of Greek control down to the south-west of Asia minor,
- The greatest triumph was the Battle of Eurymedon. The Delian forces, led by Cimon, destroyed a Persian fleet at the mouth of the river Eurymedon and then routed the accompanying Persian army.
What does Thucydides write of Athenian rule in the Delian league?
(1.98) That the rule of Athenians became oppressive towards those who wished to leave the alliance. Thucydides’ first statement about Athenian oppression relates to the treatment of Naxos after its attempted secession in 470BC.
‘This was the first case in which the original constitution of the league was broken and an allied city lost its independence…’
What does Thucydides also write about the rule of allied cities?
Thucydides ascribes some blame to the allied cities, suggesting that they were content to allow Athenians to do their fighting for them.
What event, relating to the Delian league, does Thucydides write of happening in 465BC?
Thucydides mentions the revolt of the wealthy island of Thasos following Athenian interference in their valuable trade markets and a mine Thasos controlled in nearby Thrace. Thucydides writes that the Thasians appealed to the Spartans for aid, and that they were about to provide it when they were hit by both the earthquake of 465 and helot revolt of 464BC.
What does Thucydides believe of the Spartans?
He obviously believed that the Spartans were indeed set upon attacking Athens, although there is no way of establishing if this was true.
What conflict between two Spartan allies does Thucydides write of?
(1.103) He writes of a conflict between Megara and Corinth over border disputes.
What result of the Megarian-Corinthian conflict does Thucydides write of?
Thucydides observes ‘It was chiefly because of this that the Corinthians began to conceive such a bitter hatred for Athens.’ (1.103)
What expansion of Athenian operations, in 460BC, does Thucydides write of?
He writes of the expedition into Persian-controlled Egypt to support a rebellion by Inaros, a Libyan prince (1.104).
How did this expedition, 460, against Persian end, according to Thucydides
(1.109-110) Thucydides writes that the Persian sent a task force, 454, to face the rebels. This force routed the rebels, resulting in the Athenians losing 250 of their ships and withdrawing their forces from the region.
What event of 451BC does Thucydides write of? and what result does he write about?
He details the five-year peace with the Peloponnesians (1.111-112). He mentions that this allowed the Athenians to launch a campaign on Persian-controlled Cyprus. Cimon, returned from ostracism, died in this conflict, but the Greeks managed to win on land and sea (1.112).
What does Thucydides write about the peace of Callias? Why is this important?
Thucydides makes no mention of the peace of Callias, yet such an event would have been highly relevant to his account of the pentecontaetia. It would have made the Athenian allies believe that there was no reason to continue to contribute to the Delian league.
What do learn of Pleistoanax through Thucydides?
(5.16) We learn the king was exiled by the Spartans for having taken a bribe to withdraw his troops.
What terms of the 30-year peace can be drawn from Thucydides’ work?
- It was to last 30 years (1.115),
- Athens was to give up Nisaea and Pegae, the harbours traditionally belonging to Megara, together with Troezen and Achaea in the Peloponnese (1.115),
- Each side was to keep the allies it possessed at the conclusion of the treaty (1.140),
- If an ally revolted and joined the other alliance, the treaty was broken (1.35),
- A list of the allies on each side was annexed into the treaty (1.40),
- Any neutral state not listed could ally itself with either side (1.35, 1.40),
- Argos was specifically excluded from the treaty, but was permitted to be at peace with Athens. It was already at peace with Sparta because of the thirty year truce established 451-50 BC (5.14),
- Neither side was to make an armed attack on the other if either wished to go to arbitration (1.140, 7.18),
- There may have been a clause pertaining to Aegina because of a later complaint that they were wronged by a treaty. However, it is unclear if this refers to the 30 year peace or another treaty with Athens (1.67).
What does Thucydides write of the Samos-Miletus war 440BC?
The replaced Samian oligarchs turned to Persian Satrap of Lydia, Pissuthnes, and with his help ejected the Athenian garrison. There followed a naval encounter and two sieges. Nine months later, the Samians surrendered, handed over their fleet and were instead required to pay tribute to Athens from then on (1.115-117)
What does Thucydides write as the reason for war between Sparta and Athens 431 BC?
‘… But the real reason for the war, is in my opinion, most likely to be disguised by such an argument [referring to the complaints]. What made the war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta.’ (1.23)
This idea is repeated (1.88, 1.118).
What was the first complaint according to Thucydides?
Epidamnus-Corcyra (1.55)
What did the Corinthians do in regard to Athens during the Corcyraean conflict, according to Thucydides?
(1.40) The Athenians debated forming an alliance with Corcyra, which was then a neutral state. The Athenians received a delegation from Corinth dissuading them from doing so. The Corinthian argument hinged on the fact that when the Samians revolted in 440BC, the Peloponnesians had considered aiding them. Corinth had sided with the those who said Athens had the right to control their allies as they saw fit.
What else did the Corinthians argue to the Athenians, according to Thucydides?
That the clause in the thirty-year peace concerning neutral states did not apply if the neutral state sought to join one side to simply start hostilities (1.40-41) (referring to the Corcyraean appeal for Athenian aid against Corinth and their argument that conflict between Athens and Sparta was inevitable).
What was the Athenian response to the Corcyraean appeal, according to Thucydides?
Athens decided to ally with Corcyra, but only in a limited defensive manner. They would engage to stop the Corinthians landing on the island of Corcyra, but that was all. This meant that the Athenians could claim that the Corinthians started hostilities if battle was joined (1.44).
What does Thucydides write of the governance of Potidaea?
That, although a subject state of Athens, it was a Corinthian colony; still receiving annual magistrates from Corinth (1.56).
What does the Thucydides write the Athenians commanded of the Potidaeans? why?
By early 432BC, Athens, fearing Potidaea would revolt, ordered them to take down their defenses (1.56-58).
What did the Potidaeans do in response to the Athenian command? What does Thucydides write of the situation?
The Potidaeans, initially, sent an embassy to the Spartans, whose ephors agreed to invade Attica if Potidaea was attacked. The ephors must not have been able to persuade the assembly, however, as the agreement was never fulfilled. The Potidaeans revolted and the Corinthians sent an army to support them. Athens in response sent several contingents as the situation deteriorated and besieged the city (1.60-61, 1.66).
What does Thucydides write of the Megarian complaint?
‘In particular the delegates from Megara, after mentioning a number of other grievances, pointed out that, contrary to the terms of the treaty, they were excluded from all the ports in the Athenian empire and from the markets of Athens itself.’ (1.67)
What does Thucydides write of the importance of the Megarian decree when it came to avoiding war?
‘But the chief point and the one that they [the Spartan embassy] made most clear was that the war could be avoided if Athens would revoke the Megarian decree which excluded the Megarians from all ports in the Athenian empire and from the market in Attica itself.’ (1.139)
What does Thucydides write of Pericles, regarding the Megarian decree?
Thucydides claims that the suggestion of revoking the Megarian decree was vigorously opposed by Pericles (1.140).
What does Thucydides write of the people of Aegina in regards to the complaints against Athens?
He briefly reports that the people of Aegina sided with Corinth when they brought their complaints to Sparta. He writes that the Aeginetans felt they had been denied their independence in contravention of a treaty (1.67).
What other irritation to the Corinthians does Thucydides report?
(2.68) He writes of a local conflict between three communities of the Ambracian gulf: Ambracia, which had Corinthian connections, and Amphilocian Argos together with the Acarnanians. The Amphilocians and the Acarnanians appealed for, and received, Athenian military help.
What does Thucydides write of the Corinthian complaint?
‘When one is deprived of one’s liberty one is right in blaming not so much the man who puts the fetters on as the one who had the power to prevent him, but did not use it - especially when one [Sparta] rejoices in the glorious reputation of having been the liberator of Hellas.’ (1.69)
Here Thucydides recreates a speech given by the Corinthian representatives to the Spartans, urging war against the Athenians.
What does Thucydides write in recreation of the defence of Athenian imperialism given by the Athenian delegation to Sparta 432, book 1 chapter 75?
He claims that the Athenian assembly defended their imperialism by,
1. Maintaining that the empire was not obtained through force, and that their allies came of their own accord - asking Athens to be their leader (1.75),
2. Writing that the development of Athenian power was forced upon them by circumstance. Thucydides writes that the Athenian delegation said that ‘fear was our first motive [in developing their empire]; afterwards honour, and then interest stepped in.’ (1.75),
3. He writes that the Athenians didn’t relax their hold of their allies because of the suspicion and ill-disposition of the Peloponnesian allies. He writes that if the Athenians didn’t forcibly hold onto their allies they would have went over to the Spartans (1.75).
What does Thucydides write in recreation of the defence of Athenian imperialism given by the Athenian delegation to Sparta 432, book 1 chapter 76?
- That the Athenians had to rule imperiously or fall into danger, that, therein, they have done nothing to be wondered at.
What does Thucydides claim Archidamus II identified as necessary to beat the Athenians?
- Persian support - if only financially to pay for the navy,
- A navy equal to that of Athens,
- Athenians allies to be in revolt.
What does Thucydides write persuaded the Spartans to declare war?
Claims that the ephor Sthenelaidas opposed Archidamus II, and that his view won over the assembly (1.86-88).
What does Thucydides write about the meeting of the second Peloponnesian league voting block?
That Corinth once again re-iterated their complaints and pointed to the ability of Athens to cripple the economic vitality of the other Greek states, as the Megarian decree had done (1.121-122)
How does Pericles respond to the Spartan demands in order to have peace, according to Thucydides?
He writes that Athens, following Pericles lead, would not ‘free the Greeks’ by any means. Empire was good for Athens and a war, in Pericles’ view, was winnable (1.139).
What was the Spartan stated policy for declaring war on Athens 431BC, according to Thucydides?
to liberate the Greeks, for this reason Archidamus II declared war (2.8)
What does Thucydides write of Pericles initial strategy against the Spartan annual invasions?
The policy was to avoid hoplite battle with the Spartan army because the Spartans could not be beaten (e.g. 2.65)
What does Thucydides write of Pericles strategy in regards to empire during the Archidamian war?
Pericles insisted that Athens ought not to increase the size of its empire while it waged war (2.65).
What does Thucydides write of Pericles commands to the rural populations of Attica?
Pericles commanded them to abandon their fields, move inside the city for the duration of the invasion, and resist the temptation to defend their lands (2.13).
What event does Sparta admit was in contravention to the 30-year peace, according to Thucydides?
The first event of the war involved neither Athens or Sparta. Thebes, a Peloponnesian ally, knowing that war with Athens was coming and looking to expand its influence in Boeotia, attacked Plataea, an Athenian ally. This was in direct contravention of the thirty-year peace, something that Sparta reportedly later admitted (7.18).
What factor does Thucydides consider as doing the most damage to Athens in the Archidamian war?
Thucydides writes that the plague, 430BC, did more damage than any other factor (1.23). Thucydides further claims that it was impossible to determine how many of the civilian population died. The Athenians lost 4,400 out of the 13,000 hoplites stationed in Athens.
What does Thucydides write of the Cleonymus and Thoudippus decrees? and what were they?
The Cleonymus 426BC and Thoudippus 425BC decrees insisted upon tightening up the tribute collections, placing penalties on officials who failed in their duties to exact the tribute. According to the list appended to the Thoudippus decree, tribute from the allies was increased across the board. This rose from the 460 talents first levied by Aristeides (1.96) and the 600 talents reported at the start of the war (2.13) to 1460 talents at this time.
What does Thucydides write of the Spartan response to Sphacteria?
He writes that the Spartans were so concerned by the isolation of the Spartan hoplites, 425BC, that they arranged an armistice before sending an embassy to Athens to call for peace (4.19-20).
What does Thucydides write of the Spartan surrender to Cleon
‘This event caused much more surprise among the Hellenes than anything else that had happened in the war. The general impression had been that the Spartans would never surrender their arms whether because of hunger or any other form of compulsion; instead they would keep them to the last and die fighting as best they could’ (4.40)
What does Thucydides write of Brasidas?
‘Brasidas… was a man who in Sparta itself had a great reputation for energy in every direction and who on his foreign service had shown himself to be so valuable to his country.’ (4.81)
What does Thucydides write of the Spartan response to Brasidas using an army of helots?
‘The Spartans were also glad to have a good excuse for sending some of their helots out of the country, since in the present state of affairs, with Pylos in enemy hands, they feared a revolution.’ (4.80)
What does Thucydides write of Brasidas’ capture of Amphipolis? What was Thucydides’ relation to this event?
Thucydides, 424BC, was sent from Thasos in support of the town of Amphipolis. Fearful that with Thucydides’ arrival the town would turn against him, Brasidas offered moderate terms to the inhabitants. With little persuasion the inhabitants of Amphipolis let him enter before Thucydides arrived. Thucydides, himself, writes,
‘The Athenians also feared that their allies would revolt… declaring wherever he [Brasidas] went that his mission was the liberation of Hellas. The cities subject to Athens, when they heard of the capture of Amphipolis, of the terms being offered, and of the considerate nature of Brasidas himself, eagerly embraced the idea of a change.’ (4.108)
What does Thucydides write as the reason Brasidas didn’t receive reinforcements?
Thucydides (4.108) says that this was due to jealousy and a desire to recover the prisoners taken at Sphacteria.
What event of spring 423BC does Thucydides record?
(4.117) He records an armistice agreed between Sparta and Athens.
How does Cleon die in Thucydides narrative?
In the battle of Amphipolis 422BC, according to Thucydides, Cleon died ingloriously: after turning tail he was killed by a javelin in the back.
What did Thucydides write of the deaths of Brasidas and Cleon? What did he think their deaths meant?
‘Cleon and Brasidas were dead - the two people who on each side had been most opposed to peace, Brasidas because of his success and honour which had come to him through war, Cleon because he thought that in time of peace and quiet people would be more likely to notice his evil doings and less likely to believe his slander of others.’ (5.16)
What does Thucydides claim of Sparta after their defeat at Sphacteria?
That they had lost their reputation and confidence militarily (5.13-15).
What does Thucydides write of Pleistoanax 422/21 BC
That he hoped for a political success and period of calm upon his return from exile (5.16-17). Thucydides also writes that he led the Spartan side of negotiations.
What does Thucydides write as the terms of the Peace of Nicias 421BC?
- Everyone had the right to go to pan-Hellenic temples,
- The treaty was to last 50 years,
- Neither Athens and its allies, not Sparta and its allies, were to attack each other,
- The Spartans were to give back the cities they had taken in the Thrace-ward region,
- The Spartans were to relinquish Panactum, a strategically important fort on the border of Attica and Boeotia,
- The Athenians were to give back Cythera and other islands off the Peloponnese,
- The Athenians were to give back the prisoners taken at Sphacteria,
- The allies were to swear to the agreement,
- The Athenians and the Spartans were entitled to adjust conditions if they agreed.
(5.18)
What does Thucydides write of Sparta’s allies response to the peace of Nicias?
A number of them did not accept the terms: the Boeotians, Corinthians, Eleans, and Megarians (5.17, 5.25). Additionally, the inhabitants of Amphipolis didn’t return to the Athenians, and the Spartan commander on the ground was unwilling to compel them to do so.
What does Thucydides write of Alcibiades, initially?
That he was new chief agitator, that he had taken over as the favourite of the people after the death of Cleon. He also writes that he sought an alliance with Argos (5.43).
What does Thucydides see as the greatest disaster for Athens?
The Sicilian expedition. He specifically reports the Sicilian expedition as a mistake when criticising the successors of Pericles and their change of policy to expand the empire (2.65).
What does Thucydides write of the structure of the Sicilian expedition?
That the assembly initially voted to send sixty ships under a tripartite general-ship of Nicias, Alcibiades, and Lamachus (6.8).
What does Thucydides write of Nicias’ response to this expedition?
He writes that Nicias spoke at great length against the expedition when they had such great difficulties at home (6.12-13)
How does Thucydides write of Alcibiades in regards to the Sicilian expedition?
He writes that Alcibiades pressed the expedition out of desire to cross Nicias, who he had likewise been at odds with in other points of state. That he hoped to be the one to subdue both Sicily and Carthage, and to increase his own personal power and wealth. (6.15)
What does Thucydides write of Nicias response, and attempt to get the expedition cancelled?
He mentions that Nicias asked for far greater forces in the hope that the enormity of the undertaking would dissuade the assembly. The assembly undeterred, however, agreed to send many more men (6.24)
What does Thucydides write of Alcibiades actions upon his escape to the Peloponnese?
(6.89-91) He advises the Spartans to send out their own commander to Sicily. Thucydides writes that Alcibiades also makes an attack on democracy in this same address,
‘As for democracy, those of use with any sense at all knew what that meant, and I just as much as any. Indeed, I am well equipped to make an attack on it; but nothing new can be said of a system which is generally recognised as absurd.’ (6.89)
How does Alcibiades convince the Spartan assembly to mobilise against the Athenians in Sicily, according to Thucydides?
He inflamed the Peloponnesians by claiming that the Athenian intention was to capture Siciliy, Italy, and then Carthage, before using the resources of these conquests against the Peloponnese (6.90-91).
What else does Alcibiades convince the Spartan to do in 414BC, according to Thucydides?
He advised the Spartans of the strategy of Episteichismos. He recommended Decelea, which sat on the main road from the port at Oropus, where Euboean produce was landed, to Athens itself (6.91, 7.18).
What does Thucydides say of the Episteichismos at Decelea?
Thucydides writes that it is one of the chief reasons Athens lost the war (7.27-28). That, rather tjan the annual invasions that deprived the Athenians their field for four to six weeks, they now were deprived of these for the whole year. He further mentions that the Athenians constantly sent cavalry against the Peloponnesians at Decelea, as a result their horses soon became lame or injured.
What does news of Sicily inspire according to Thucydides?
Encouraged parties amongst Athens’ allies to rebel (8.2). Thucydides (8.5) writes of the representatives of Euboea and Lesbos that King Agis receives and that the representatives of Chios went to Sparta itself to request support if they were to revolt. In 8.5 he also writes that Tissaphernes, Satrap of Caria, accompanied the Chians. Additionally, Pharnabazus (8.6) travelled to Sparta to negotiate (8.6).
What event of 425BC does Thucydides write of that implies the long-standing interest of Persia in the Peloponnesian war?
A persian message to Sparta had been intercepted and read at Athens; the contents implied that the Spartans were asking for Persian support (4.50).
What events of 412BC does Thucydides write of regarding to politics in the Ionian city-states?
The Spartans decided to act in Chios’, and Tissaphernes’, interests (8.6). This initially didn’t go well, because the people of Chios were unaware of their Oligarchs’ embassy to Sparta (8.9). Alcibiades convinces the Spartans to sail quickly, and through some persuasive speech at Chios brought about the revolts first of Chios and then Miletus (8.17).
What terms does Thucydides record of the alliance made between Spartan commander Chalcideus and Tissaphernes?
- All the territories previously belonging to the king and his ancestors shall be his,
- All money paid by subjects previously to Athens was to go to the Persian king,
- The war will be carried on jointly,
- Any people who revolt from Persia shall be enemies of Sparta,
- Any who revolt from Sparta shall be enemies of Persia.
(8.18) —- This was most likely a draft, in the final version it was agreed the Persian king was only to have control and the taxes of the Asiatic Greeks.
What does Thucydides write of Tissaphernes involvement in the Spartan war effort?
- He writes that Tissaphernes was late in his payments to the rowers of the Peloponnesian fleet (8.29). This is most likely due to a want to see the Greeks weakend themselves and because of the influence of Alcibiades who had, now fallen out of favour with the Spartans, become a resident of Tissaphernes’ court,
- Tissaphernes mustered a Phoenician fleet to aid the Peloponnesians, but failed to bring it fully into the Aegean, prolonging the naval war (8.87).
