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War, policy and Perikles

War, policy and Perikles. Today: the outbreak of war; Perikles ’ policies and strategies Wednesday: debate on when & under what circumstances war is the best option Friday: final readings ( Thuc . 2.65 and Tracy 88-95): a discussion assessing Perikles , Athens & empire.

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War, policy and Perikles

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  1. War, policyand Perikles • Today: • the outbreak of war; Perikles’ policies and strategies • Wednesday: • debate on when & under what circumstances war is the best option • Friday: • final readings (Thuc. 2.65 and Tracy 88-95):a discussion assessing Perikles, Athens & empire

  2. Wednesday: when and under what circumstancesis war the best option?Prepare a 1 min. opening statement & talking points • Debate teams • Polemicists, who pursue war whenever the autonomy, authority and power of their polis is compromised: surnames Achenbaum-Dickey (sit near the windows) • Diplomats, who pursue war after negotiations and only as a last option: surnames Elwell-Levenson (sit on the aisle) • Pacifists, who pursue war under virtually no condition unless their polis is under direct assault: surnames McGuire-Unkovic (sit near the maps) • Friday’s discussion – the entire class • What is your assessment of Perikles, Athens & empire? READ: Thuc. 2.65 and Tracy 88-95

  3. Peloponnesian League ca. 500-480 BCE

  4. Athens’ response to Sparta’s concern that the Athenians will ally with Persia, 480 BCE “There is the Greek nation – the community of blood and language, temples and ritual, and our common customs …” (Hdt. 8.144) • τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν ἐὸν ὅμαιμόν τε καὶ ὁμόγλωσσον καὶ θεῶν ἱδρύματά τε κοινὰ καὶ θυσίαι ἤθεά τε ὁμότροπα ... • To Hellênikon eon homaimontekaihomoglôssonkaitheônhidrumatatekoinakaithusiaiêtheatehomotropa …

  5. Athens and Sparta in 435

  6. Ostensible causes of the war, 432/1 BCE:Athenian meddling in Spartan/Corinthian affairs Epidamnos Potidaea (revolt, 432/1)Sparta demands Athens leave Corcyra: Corinth demands Athens desists Megarian decree: Corinth demands Athens yields Aegina: Sparta demands Athens yields

  7. Thucydides 1.23.6 on the real cause of the Peloponnesian War τὴν μὲν γάρ ἀληθεστάτην πρόφασιν, ἀφανεστάτην δὲ λόγωι, τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἡγοῦμαι μεγάλους γιγνομένους καὶ φόβον παρέχοντας τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις ἀναγκάσαι ἐς τὸ πολεμεῖν. tên men gar alêthestatênprophasin, aphanestatênde logoi, tousAthênaioushêgoumaimegalousgignomenouskaiphobonparexontastoisLakedaimonioisanagkasaies to polemein. The real cause I consider to be the one which was formally most kept out of sight. The growth of the power of Athens, and the fear which this inspired in Lacedaemon, made war inevitable.

  8. The Peloponnesian War, 432/1-404/3 • How do we reconcile a) the sentiment expressed by Herodotus regarding 480 BCE and the then-alliance between Athens and Sparta with b) the outbreak of war in 432/1? • Is there something about Athenian democracy & Spartan oligarchy that made the conflict inevitable?

  9. What is at stake … For Sparta? For Athens? For Perikles?

  10. What are the main points in Perikles’ speech for war?(Thuc. 1.140-145 = Tracy Pericles pp. 52-57)? “Τῆς μὲν γνώμης, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, αἰεῖ τῆς αὐτῆς ἔχομαι, μὴ εἴκειν Πελοποννησίοις.” “Tês men gnômês, ô Athênaioi, aieitêsautêsechomai, mêeikeinPeloponnêsiois.”“Athenians, the same view always I maintain, do not yield to the Peloponnesians.” • Thucydides 1.140

  11. Main points … • Do not yield … • Sparta refused to negotiate or compromise on … • Potidaea, Aegina, Megara, and to “let the Hellenes be free” • Sparta’s power resides in her outsized army, but not in a fleet, in cash resources, or in the ability to sustain war, & her allies are not unified • Athens can sustain losing Attica, for it has the fleet (just as our ancestors did at Salamis, and we cannot let them down), it has the lands of its allies, and it can field a better army than Sparta can field a better navy • Spartans are farmers, while Athenians have been plying the seas with its navy of citizens since the Persian Wars – and that is our strength (1.143–Periklean γνώμη (gnômê)/ strategy; 2.14, next slide) • If we lose the war, we will lose our alliance as well • Do not add to your empire and do not take risks • I fear our own mistakes far more than our enemies (1.144) • We won’t start the war, but we’ll defend ourselves if they do • It is necessary to go to war, and the greatest glory comes from the greatest risks

  12. Perikles’ strategy (γνώμη, gnômê): Thuc. 2.14 = D&G 9.4 “The Athenians took Perikles’ advice and brought their children, women and other household possessions in from the country, even removing the woodwork from the very houses; they sent their sheep and cattle across to euboea and the neighbouring islands. But they found this removal hard, as the majority of them had always been used to living in the country ….”

  13. 459/8 (or as early as 461/0): Long Walls, Athens • What needs to be defended? • - 4 miles along each Long Wall • - 5 miles around the city’s circumference • What’s vulnerable? • - the space between the Long Walls and the wall to Phaleron • - all of Attica • What’s the strategic advantage of this policy?

  14. What do you think of … • Perikles’ main points? • Perikles’ strategy and leadership? and • Why does Thucydides invoke Themistokles (1.138.3, Tracy Pericles p. 59) and provide such a positive assessment of him?

  15. The outbreak of war, 432/1:Perikles outlines Athens’ resources (Thuc. 2.13-14, Tracy 62-63) • 300 triremes, 6540 talents(including the gold on Athena’s chryselephantine statue) • 29,000 soldiers, incl. young, old, and metics • 1,200 cavalry and 1,600 archers • Perikles offers to sacrifice his own property in Attica: why? • Archidamus invades Attica,ravages Eleusis and attacks the deme of Acharnai. What is Perikles’ policy? (Thuc. 2.21-22 = Tracy 65-67)

  16. Perikles’ Funeral Oration:Kerameikos (“potters’ quarters”) / public cemetery

  17. Perikles’ Funeral Oration:Thuc. 2.34-46, Tracy 68-76 • Praises the Athenian way of life • “our entire city is the education of Hellas” (2.41) • Praises the heroic dead, who have achieved kleos, timê, aretê • “the whole earth is the tomb of famous men” (2.43) • Extols the city and encourages the living to emulate the dead • “take them as your models ... [for] happiness comes from freedom and freedom from courage” (2.43 • Consoles the living • “have children [to bear up under your losses] … be cheered by the kleos of your sons” (2.44) • “[for the widows …] great glory will come to you if you live up to your existing natures, and greatest will be hers who is least spoken of among men whether for her excellence or for blame” (2.45)

  18. The plague: Spring 430(5th c. kylixby Douris, Oedipus & sphinx) • The plague kills indiscriminately and devastates the polis • “… people … acted for pleasure only … [they did not] take trouble for something regarded as noble … [and] no fear of god nor any law of man served as an impediment” (Thuc. 2.53 = Tracy 80) • Social constraints deteriorate • “Fear of gods or law of man there was none to restrain them. As for the first, they judged it to be just the same whether they worshipped them or not, as they saw all alike perishing; and for the last, no one expected to live to be brought to trial for his offences, but each felt that a far severer sentence had been already passed upon them all and hung ever over their heads, and before this fell it was only reasonable to enjoy life a little” (Thuc. 2.53) • “They remembered in their distress … the following verse which the old men said had long ago been uttered: ‘A Dorian war shall come and with it death’ “ (Thuc. 2.54)

  19. Responses to the plague • Perikles does not alter his γνώμη (gnômê) and continues to attack the Peloponnese • King Archidamus / Spartans devastate Attica again, this time near Laurion in the south • Athens, despite Perikles’ advice, sues for peace but is rebuffed by Sparta, leading to Perikles’ final speech: Thuc. 2.60-64 = Tracy 81-87

  20. Perikles’ final speech(Thuc. 2.60-64 = Tracy 81-87) • I don’t deserve your criticisms which are prompted by our suffering from an unpredictable plague which we could not have anticipated • “Yet you are angered with me who am … no one’s inferior at knowing what needs to be done and conveying that to others, a man who loves his city and is impervious to bribes” (2.60 = Tracy 83) • War is foolish unless … • it prevents subservience to another • conquest of our enemies is justified • We must persevere and sustain our self-confidence which depends on our superiority and our γνώμη • Our naval power maintains our empire and our freedom to act • “[we] have our [our empire] as a tyranny. To have taken it was, it seems, unjust; to let it go perilous” [2.63 = Tracy 85] • The gods granted us our rule over most Hellenes, the memory of which will survive and which we deem to be just Is this a sensible γνώμη and a sufficient justification?

  21. When and under what circumstances is war the best option?Prepare a 1 min. opening statement & talking points • Wednesday’s debate teams • Polemicists, who pursue war whenever the autonomy, authority and power of their polis is compromised: surnames Achenbaum-Dickey (sit near the windows) • Diplomats, who pursue war after negotiations and only as a last option: surnames Elwell-Levenson (sit on the aisle) • Pacifists, who pursue war under virtually no condition unless their polis is under direct assault: surnames McGuire-Unkovic (sit near the maps) • Friday’s discussion – the entire class • What is your assessment of Perikles, Athens & empire? READ: Thuc. 2.65 and Tracy 88-95

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