¶ … Greek History
Ancient Greek History
As the leader of Athens during the Peloponnesian War, it was Pericles' responsibility to develop an overall strategy for the waging of the war. The strategy he developed played on Athens' strengths and the weaknesses of the Spartans. Thucydides, in The Peloponnesian War, praised Pericles' strategic ability stating "when war broke out, he also he seems to have rightly gauged the power of his country."
(Strassler 1996, 127) Athens was primarily a sea power, and so Pericles placed his faith in the Athenian fleet. Instead of confronting the Spartans on land, Pericles called for all Athenians to enter the city and wait. He knew that the Spartans could never undertake a successful siege of Athens because of the "long walls" which connected the city to the sea. As long as the fleet kept the city supplied, they could outlast the Spartans.
While Thucydides was clearly a supported of Pericles and his strategic decisions, his plan did have a few drawbacks. First of all, concentrating the large number of people in the city of Athens caused a plague which created misery and chaos within the city itself. Unfortunately, Pericles was one of the first victims of the plague and his strategy of outlasting the Spartans was abandoned after his death. By avoiding a land battle with the Spartans, Pericles' strategy was effective, however it was not considered "honorable" by many of the more aggressive Athenians. They felt that by refusing to fight the Spartans, Pericles' strategy was cowardly. After his death of Pericles, his successors gave in to the more aggressive elements and neglected to maintain his strategy, leading Athens into disaster. Many who experienced it, including Thucydides himself, viewed Pericles' strategy, and "the neglect of it as the cause of the disaster."
(Cawkwell 1997, 56)
Question #3:
The Athenian Ecclesia, or "Assembly" was the...
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