Thucydides argues the Peloponnesian War was the greatest movement known, tracing its causes through early Greek history and the disputes over Epidamnus and Corcyra. This deck covers his account of those grievances, the Corcyraean naval battles, and Athens's alliance with Corcyra.
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Chapter 1 · Question
Why does Thucydides call the Peloponnesian War the greatest movement known?
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Chapter 1 · Answer
The author argues it surpassed all prior wars because both sides were fully prepared in every department, and the rest of the Hellenic race took sides, with even those who delayed already contemplating it. He claims it involved not only the Hellenes but much of the barbarian world, almost all mankind.
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CHAPTER I4 cards
Why does Thucydides call the Peloponnesian War the greatest movement known?
The author argues it surpassed all prior wars because both sides were fully prepared in every department, and the rest of the Hellenic race took sides, with even those who delayed already contemplating it. He claims it involved not only the Hellenes but much of the barbarian world, almost all mankind.
Chapter 1
Why did fertile land in early Hellas invite invasion and faction?
Thucydides argues the richest soils were most subject to changes of masters, naming Thessaly, Boeotia, and most of the Peloponnese except Arcadia. Good land encouraged aggrandizement of individuals, creating faction and ruin, and also attracted invaders. Attica, poor in soil, stayed free of faction and never changed inhabitants.
Chapter 1
What does Thucydides argue enabled Agamemnon to raise the Trojan armament?
The author argues Agamemnon's superiority in strength mattered more than the oaths of Tyndareus binding the suitors. He inherited the power of Pelops' descendants and had a navy far stronger than his contemporaries, so fear was as strong an element as love in forming the expedition. His own contingent was largest, and he furnished the Arcadians' ships.
Chapter 1
What does the desolation of Lacedaemon versus Athens illustrate?
Thucydides argues that if Lacedaemon were left desolate, its scattered villages and lack of grand temples would make posterity doubt its power, though it leads the Peloponnese. Conversely, Athens' appearance would suggest power twice its actual size. He concludes one must judge power, not inspect a town's appearance.
Chapter 1
CHAPTER II (part 1)4 cards
Why did the Epidamnians turn to Corinth instead of Corcyra?
Corcyra refused their supplication when the Epidamnians, as suppliants in the temple of Hera, asked their mother country to reconcile them with the exiled nobles and end the war with the barbarians. Left in a strait, the Epidamnians consulted Delphi, and the oracle told them to deliver the city to the Corinthians and seek help from their founders. They then went to Corinth and surrendered the colony in obedience to the god's command.
Chapter 2
What grievances made Corinth eager to aid Epidamnus against Corcyra?
The Corinthians believed the colony belonged as much to them as to Corcyra and felt a kind of duty to protect it. They also hated the Corcyraeans for contempt of the mother country: Corcyra failed to give Corinth the usual honours colonies owe a parent city, such as precedence at sacrifices, despite Corcyra's wealth, military strength, and pride in its ancient naval renown. These grievances made Corinth eager to send the promised aid.
Chapter 2
What terms did the Corcyraeans propose to Corinth before the naval battle?
The Corcyraeans, accompanied by envoys from Lacedaemon and Sicyon, told Corinth to recall her garrison and settlers, offering to submit the dispute to arbitration by mutually chosen Peloponnesian cities, with the colony going to whoever the arbitrators assigned, or to refer it to Delphi. Corinth replied that negotiation was possible only if Corcyra withdrew her fleet and the barbarians; while the town was besieged, arbitration was out of the question.
Chapter 2
How did the first naval battle between Corcyra and Corinth end?
Corinth sent a herald declaring war and sailed with seventy-five ships and two thousand heavy infantry under Aristeus, Callicrates, Timanor, Archetimus, and Isarchidas. At Actium the Corcyraeans warned them off, then put out with eighty sail, forty being engaged at Epidamnus, and won a decisive victory, destroying fifteen Corinthian vessels. The same day Epidamnus capitulated: foreigners were sold, Corinthians kept as prisoners. Corcyra later slew all captives except the Corinthians.
Chapter 2
CHAPTER II (part 2)4 cards
What kind of alliance did Athens make with Corcyra, and with what reservations?
Athens decided on a defensive, not offensive, alliance with Corcyra. It did not breach the treaty with the Peloponnese: Athens could not be required to join Corcyra in attacking Corinth, but each party had a right to the other's help against invasion of its own territory or that of an ally.
Chapter 3
Why did Athens ultimately side with Corcyra despite Corinth's arguments?
The author presents Athens' motives as fear that the Peloponnesian war was only a matter of time, unwillingness to see so large a naval power as Corcyra fall to Corinth, the hope that the two might weaken each other, and Corcyra's convenient position on the coasting route to Italy and Sicily.
Chapter 3
What instructions did the ten Athenian ships receive, and why?
They were told to avoid collision with the Corinthian fleet except under certain circumstances: if it sailed to Corcyra and threatened a landing on her coast or any of her possessions, they were to do their utmost to prevent it. These instructions were prompted by anxiety to avoid breaching the treaty.
Chapter 3
How does Thucydides describe the nature of the sea-fight at Sybota?
He calls it obstinate but not remarkable for science, more like a battle by land. Heavy infantry on the decks and archers and darters decided it; ships stayed stationary, breaking the line was not tried, and strength and pluck counted more than skill. It was the largest sea-fight yet between Hellenes in number of vessels.
Chapter 3
CHAPTER II (part 3)4 cards
What demands did Athens make of Potidaea before its revolt?
Athens ordered Potidaea to raze the wall facing Pallene, give hostages, dismiss the Corinthian magistrates, and not receive Corinth's annual successors. The Athenians feared Perdiccas and Corinth might persuade Potidaea to revolt and draw Thracian allies with it. These precautions were taken immediately after the battle at Corcyra, once Corinth was openly hostile.
Chapter 4
How did Perdiccas push Potidaea and neighboring cities toward revolt?
Perdiccas, king of Macedon, became Athens' enemy after Athens allied with his brother Philip and Derdas against him. He sent to Lacedaemon to involve Athens in war with the Peloponnesians, courted Corinth, and urged the Chalcidians and Bottiaeans to join Potidaea's revolt, believing border allies would ease his war. He also induced Chalcidians to abandon seaboard towns and settle inland at Olynthus.
Chapter 4
What happened at the battle outside Potidaea?
Callias led Athenians against Aristeus' force on the isthmus. Aristeus' wing routed its opponents and pursued far, but the rest of the Potidaean and Peloponnesian army was defeated and fled inside the fortifications. Aristeus ran his men through missile fire along the breakwater into Potidaea, saving most. Losses: nearly three hundred for Potidaea's side, one hundred fifty Athenians including Callias.
Chapter 4
How was Potidaea finally invested, and what did Aristeus do?
Athens walled the isthmus side but lacked strength to wall Pallene too, fearing attack if divided. Later Phormio arrived with sixteen hundred heavy infantry, ravaged the country, and raised works on the Pallene side, so Potidaea was invested by land and sea. Aristeus urged all but five hundred to sail out to stretch provisions; failing to persuade them, he escaped and continued the war among the Chalcidians.
Chapter 4
CHAPTER IV3 cards
How did Themistocles stall Sparta while Athens built its walls?
He told the Athenians to send him to Sparta at once but delay his colleagues until the wall was defensible, with everyone—men, women, children—labouring and sparing no building. At Sparta he made excuses about waiting for colleagues. When rumours arrived, he advised sending inspectors, then secretly had Athens detain them until his colleagues arrived with news the wall was high enough.
Chapter 6
What was the origin of the Delian League's treasury and tribute?
After the allies voluntarily transferred supremacy to Athens through hatred of Pausanias, the Athenians fixed which cities contributed money and which ships, professing to retaliate against the King's country. The office of 'Treasurers for Hellas' was instituted to receive the tribute, first fixed at four hundred and sixty talents, with the common treasury at Delos and congresses held in the temple.
Chapter 6
What was the precedent set by Naxos's revolt, and what caused defections?
Naxos left the confederacy, was besieged, and had to return—the first case of an allied city's engagement being broken by subjugation, a precedent others followed. Thucydides says the chief cause of defection was arrears of tribute and vessels and failure of service; the Athenians were severe and exacting. Allies who chose to pay money instead of serving in ships found themselves without resources for war.
Chapter 6
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Why did the Lacedaemonians finally decide to go to war against Athens?
The Lacedaemonians had long been aware of Athens' growing power but remained inactive, being slow to war and hampered by home conflicts. Only when Athenian encroachments on their confederacy could no longer be ignored did they feel compelled to act. Though they had already concluded the treaty was broken, they still consulted Delphi and summoned their allies for a vote before commencing war.
Chapter 7
What did the oracle at Delphi promise the Lacedaemonians about the war?
The Lacedaemonians sent to Delphi to ask whether it would be well with them if they went to war. The god reportedly answered that if they put their whole strength into the war, victory would be theirs, and promised that he himself would be with them, whether invoked or uninvoked. Despite this, they still wished to summon their allies and take a vote on making war.
Chapter 7
What arguments did the Corinthians make to urge the allies to vote for war?
The Corinthians argued the allies had grounds of injury, superiority in numbers and military experience, and obedience to orders. They proposed using loans from Olympia and Delphi to outbid Athens for foreign sailors, since Athens' power was mercenary rather than national. They also cited fomenting allied revolts and fortifying positions, and warned that divided, the coalition would be conquered in detail and enslaved.
Chapter 7
What was the curse of the goddess that the Lacedaemonians demanded Athens expel?
Cylon, an Olympic victor, seized the Acropolis after Delphi told him to do so at the grand festival of Zeus, but he misjudged which festival was meant. Besieged and starving, his followers were slain by the guards after being led from the altar. The killers and their descendants were called accursed, and the Lacedaemonians demanded their expulsion, knowing Pericles was connected to the curse through his mother.
Chapter 7
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What did Pausanias allegedly promise the Helots in exchange for insurrection?
The chapter states that Pausanias was intriguing with the Helots and promised them freedom and citizenship if they would join him in insurrection and help him carry out his plans to the end. The ephors, mistrusting even the Helots' evidence, would not take any decided step against a Spartan citizen without indisputable proof, in accordance with their regular custom.
Chapter 8
How did the ephors finally obtain certain proof against Pausanias?
A man of Argilus, once Pausanias's trusted servant, was to carry the last letter to Artabazus. Fearing none of the previous messengers had returned, he counterfeited the seal, opened the letter, and found a postscript ordering his own death. He showed it to the ephors, who then had him conceal them behind a partition at Taenarus so they could hear Pausanias commit himself with their own ears.
Chapter 8
How did Pausanias die after taking sanctuary?
Pausanias fled to the temple of the goddess of the Brazen House and took sanctuary in a small chamber. The ephors took off the roof, shut him in, barricaded the doors, and reduced him by starvation. When he was on the point of expiring, they brought him out of the temple while breath was still in him, and he died as soon as he was brought out.
Chapter 8
What does Thucydides say made Themistocles extraordinary?
Thucydides says Themistocles showed the most indubitable signs of genius, extraordinary and unparalleled. By native capacity, unformed and unsupplemented by study, he was the best judge in sudden crises allowing little deliberation, the best prophet of the future, able to expound theoretically what fell within his practice, and to divine good and evil hidden in the unseen future. The author concludes he surpassed all others in intuitively meeting an emergency.
Chapter 8
CHAPTER V (part 3)3 cards
In Pericles' speech, what should the Athenians do instead of fighting for their land?
Pericles urges the Athenians to abandon thoughts of land and houses and instead vigilantly guard the sea and the city. He argues that if they were islanders they would be impregnable, and that the desolation of all Attica is not equal to that of even a fraction of the Peloponnese. They should mourn lost lives, not lost property.
Chapter 9
Why does Pericles say he fears Athens' own blunders more than enemy schemes?
Pericles says he has many reasons to hope for a favorable outcome if the Athenians avoid combining fresh conquests with the conduct of the war and abstain from willfully involving themselves in other dangers. He states plainly that he is more afraid of Athens' own mistakes than of the enemy's devices, and promises to explain these matters in another speech.
Chapter 9
What answer did the Athenians give the Lacedaemonians, following Pericles' advice?
They refused to do anything on dictation but were ready to settle complaints fairly by the legal method prescribed in the truce. On specific points they offered terms: Megara could use their market and harbors when the Lacedaemonians suspended their alien acts, and cities would be left independent on the same basis. The envoys departed and did not return.
Chapter 9
CHAPTER VI (part 1)4 cards
What event marked the actual start of the Peloponnesian War, and when did it occur?
The war really began when a Theban force of just over three hundred, under their Boeotarchs, made an armed night entry into Plataea, a Boeotian town allied with Athens. This occurred in the fifteenth year after the thirty years' truce, at the beginning of spring, six months after the battle of Potidaea. The gates were opened by the Plataean Naucleides and his party, who hoped to seize power by bringing the city over to Thebes.
Chapter 10
How did the Plataeans defeat the Thebans who had seized their town?
Discovering the Thebans' small numbers, the Plataeans dug through party walls to gather unseen, barricaded streets with wagons, and attacked at night while daybreak approached. They beat back assaults, while women and slaves screamed and threw stones and tiles from houses; heavy rain and darkness hindered the fleeing Thebans, who lost their way and found the gate barred. Many were killed; survivors surrendered unconditionally.
Chapter 10
What happened to the Theban prisoners, and what dispute surrounds the Plataean and Theban accounts?
After the Thebans outside retired from Plataean territory without injury, the Plataeans hastily brought in their property and put the prisoners to death—one hundred and eighty, including Eurymachus. The Thebans claim an oath was given; the Plataeans deny any promise of immediate surrender, saying it depended on later negotiation, and deny the oath entirely. The Athenians' herald arrived too late to prevent the killings.
Chapter 10
What were the strengths and resources of each side's alliance at the war's opening?
Lacedaemon's allies included most Peloponnesians within the Isthmus except neutral Argives and Achaeans, plus Megarians, Locrians, Boeotians, Phocians, Ambraciots, Leucadians, and Anactorians; Corinthians and others furnished ships, Boeotians and others cavalry. Athens' side comprised Chians, Lesbians, Plataeans, Messenians at Naupactus, most Acarnanians, Corcyraeans, Zacynthians, and tributary cities; Chios, Lesbos, and Corcyra furnished ships.
Chapter 10
CHAPTER VI (part 2)4 cards
Why did most Athenians resist Pericles' order to move into the city?
They had long lived scattered across the countryside in independent townships, and old habits persisted even after Theseus centralized Attica. They had only just restored their homes after the Median invasion, so abandoning houses and hereditary temples caused deep trouble and discontent. The author notes they were not at all inclined to move.
Chapter 11
What did Theseus's centralization of Attica abolish and merge?
Theseus abolished the council-chambers and magistrates of the petty cities and merged them into the single council-chamber and town hall of Athens. Individuals kept their private property as before but were compelled to have only one political centre, Athens, which thus counted all Attica's inhabitants as citizens. From him dates the Synoecia, or Feast of Union.
Chapter 11
What was Archidamus's strategy in encamping at Acharnae?
He hoped the sight of his camp would provoke the Athenians, especially the three thousand Acharnian heavy infantry, to force a battle to save their property. If they did not take the field, he could ravage the plain in future invasions up to Athens's walls, and the Acharnians, having lost their own property, would be less willing to risk themselves for neighbors, creating division in Athenian counsels.
Chapter 11
What special fund and fleet did the Athenians set aside after the invasion?
They resolved to set apart a thousand talents from the moneys in the Acropolis, not to be spent, with current war expenses otherwise provided for. Anyone moving to use it for any other purpose except defending the city against an enemy fleet faced a capital offence. They also set aside a hundred of the best galleys each year, with captains, usable only with that money and against the same peril.
Chapter 11
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How did Athens honor its first war dead, and who delivered the eulogy?
The Athenians gave a public funeral: bones were laid out three days before, cypress coffins were borne one per tribe, and an empty bier honored the missing. The dead were buried in the public sepulchre in the Beautiful suburb, except those slain at Marathon, interred where they fell. Pericles, son of Xanthippus, was chosen to pronounce the eulogy.
Chapter 12
According to Pericles, what distinguishes Athens's constitution and laws?
Pericles says the constitution does not copy neighboring states but is a pattern to others; administration favors the many, which is why it is called a democracy. Laws afford equal justice in private disputes, advancement depends on reputation for capacity rather than class, and poverty does not bar service to the state.
Chapter 12
How does Pericles contrast Athenian and Spartan military habits?
Pericles says Athens opens the city to foreigners and trusts native spirit rather than system, while rivals seek manliness through painful discipline from the cradle. Athenians live as they please yet face danger; Spartans invade with all their confederates, while Athenians advance unsupported and usually win on foreign soil.
Chapter 12
What does Pericles say about Athenians and public affairs?
Pericles argues Athenians regard the man who takes no part in public duties not as unambitious but as useless. Ordinary citizens occupied with industry are still fair judges of public matters, and discussion is treated as an indispensable preliminary to wise action rather than a stumbling-block.
Chapter 12
CHAPTER VII4 cards
What did Thucydides say about the origin and causes of the plague?
Thucydides declines to speculate on the plague's origin and causes, leaving that to other writers, lay or professional. He states he will instead set down its nature and symptoms so it may be recognized by students if it breaks out again. He claims authority from having had the disease himself and watching its operation in others.
Chapter 13
What happened to birds and beasts that preyed on unburied plague victims?
Thucydides reports that all birds and beasts that prey upon human bodies either abstained from touching the corpses, though many lay unburied, or died after tasting them. Birds of that kind actually disappeared and were not seen about the bodies. He notes such effects could best be studied in a domestic animal like the dog.
Chapter 13
Why did nursing the sick cause the greatest mortality during the plague?
Those who feared to visit each other perished from neglect, and many houses were emptied for want of a nurse. Those who ventured to nurse died from infection. Thucydides says this especially struck those with pretensions to goodness, since honour made them unsparing in attending friends. Those who had recovered showed most compassion, as the same man was never fatally attacked twice.
Chapter 13
How did the plague change Athenian attitudes toward honour, pleasure, and law?
Thucydides says men now dared openly what they had formerly done in secret, seeing prosperity and sudden death reverse fortunes rapidly. They resolved to spend quickly and enjoy themselves, treating lives and riches as things of a day. Perseverance in so-called honour was popular with none; present enjoyment was judged both honourable and useful. Fear of gods or human law restrained no one.
Chapter 13
CHAPTER VIII (part 1)4 cards
What did Archidamus offer the Plataeans to avoid siege?
Archidamus proposed that the Plataeans remain neutral, join neither side, and receive both as friends rather than allies in the war. Alternatively, they could hand over their city and lands to the Lacedaemonians to hold in trust for the war's duration, with a sufficient allowance paid, and receive everything back afterward. The Plataeans rejected both, refusing to abandon the Athenians.
Chapter 14
How did the Plataeans counter the Peloponnesian mound?
The Plataeans built a wooden wall with brick infill on the city wall facing the mound, covered with skins and hides against fire. They pulled out wall sections and carried the earth inside; when the enemy packed the breach with clay in reed wattles, they dug a mine beneath the mound and carried off its material. They also built a crescent wall behind as a fallback.
Chapter 14
How did the Plataeans defeat the Peloponnesian battering rams?
The Plataeans lassoed and broke some engines. For others, they hung great beams by long iron chains from poles projecting over the wall, drew them up at an angle when a point was threatened, then released them so they fell with a run and snapped off the nose of the battering ram. The Peloponnesians, finding their engines useless, turned to circumvallation.
Chapter 14
Who remained inside Plataea when the siege began?
Before the siege, the Plataeans sent their wives, children, oldest men, and most non-combatants to Athens. Those left comprised four hundred Plataean citizens, eighty Athenians, and a hundred and ten women to bake their bread. Thucydides states this was the total at the siege's commencement, with no one else within the walls, bond or free.
Chapter 14
CHAPTER VIII (part 2)4 cards
How did Phormio defeat the Peloponnesians in his first naval battle?
Phormio had his ships circle the Peloponnesians, waiting for the usual morning wind from the gulf. When it rose, the enemy's ships, crowded in a narrow space and harassed by small craft, fell into confusion, fouling one another. Phormio then gave the signal and attacked, sinking an admiral's ship and capturing twelve vessels. The Athenians set up a trophy at Rhium and dedicated a ship to Poseidon.
Chapter 15
Why did the Lacedaemonians send commissioners to Cnemus after the defeat?
The Lacedaemonians sent Timocrates, Brasidas, and Lycophron in anger, ordering Cnemus to prepare to fight again and not be driven from the sea by a few vessels. They could not account for the defeat, especially since it was their first attempt at sea, and fancied their marine was not inferior but that misconduct had occurred. They did not consider the Athenians' long experience compared with their own little practice.
Chapter 15
Why did Phormio refuse to fight in the strait?
Phormio argued that in a contest between many clumsily managed vessels and a small, fast, well-handled squadron, want of sea room is a disadvantage. Without room one cannot sight an enemy far off, retire when pressed, break the line, or return upon the rear — the proper tactics of a fast sailer. The action would become a land battle in which numbers must decide. He promised to provide for this as far as he could.
Chapter 15
How did the single Athenian ship escape the Leucadian pursuer?
The lone Athenian ship was chased by a Leucadian far ahead of the rest. A merchantman happened to be lying at anchor in the roadstead; the Athenian ship sailed round it and struck the Leucadian amidships, sinking her. This sudden, unexpected exploit panicked the Peloponnesians, who fell out of order in the excitement of victory, some dropping oars and others running aground in the shallows.
Chapter 15
CHAPTER VIII (part 3)4 cards
What was the extent and tribute of the Odrysian empire under Seuthes?
The Odrysian empire ran along the seaboard from Abdera to the mouth of the Danube, and inland from Byzantium to the Laeaeans and the Strymon. Under Seuthes, successor of Sitalces, tribute from barbarian districts and Hellenic cities reached about four hundred talents in gold and silver, with presents of equal value besides. Thucydides says it surpassed all in Europe between the Ionian Gulf and the Euxine in revenue, coming next to the Scythians in military resources.
Chapter 16
What custom of gift-giving did Thucydides say prevailed among the Odrysians?
Thucydides describes a custom opposite to Persia's: among the Odrysians it was a matter of taking rather than giving, and more disgrace attached to not giving when asked than to asking and being refused. This prevailed elsewhere in Thrace but most extensively among the powerful Odrysians, since nothing could be done without a present. The author presents this as a characteristic of their political culture.
Chapter 16
Why did Sitalces' invasion of Macedonia fail and end in retreat?
Sitalces advanced through Cercine to Doberus and ravaged Mygdonia, Crestonia, and Anthemus, but the Macedonians avoided infantry battle, and his army ran short of provisions and suffered from the severity of the season. He also found the Athenians had not come with their fleet. On the advice of his nephew Seuthes, secretly won over by Perdiccas with a promised marriage, he retreated after thirty days.
Chapter 16
Why could the Athenians not march against Oeniadae in winter?
The river Achelous, flowing from Mount Pindus through Dolopia and the country of the Agraeans and Amphilochians, forms lakes where it meets the sea around Oeniadae, making an army's approach impracticable in winter because of the water. Oeniadae was unlike the rest of Acarnania in being always hostile to Athens. The nearby Echinades islands are close to the river's mouths, and its deposits are joining them to the mainland.
Chapter 16
CHAPTER IX (part 1)3 cards
How did the Mitylenians learn of the Athenian expedition in time?
A man crossed from Athens to Euboea, went overland to Geraestus, and sailed by a merchantman just putting to sea, reaching Mitylene on the third day after leaving Athens. Warned in time, the Mitylenians skipped the festival at Malea and barricaded their half-finished walls and harbours, so the Athenian surprise attack failed.
Chapter 17
What arguments did the Mitylenian envoys give at Olympia for their revolt?
They argued their alliance began when Sparta withdrew from the Median War, and that they joined to liberate the Hellenes, not to enslave them. As Athens subdued the allies, they feared the same fate, since they alone with Chios remained independent. They claimed fear, not friendship, held the alliance together, and that striking first was justified because Athens held the liberty of offence.
Chapter 17
What opportunity did the envoys say the revolt offered Sparta?
They urged Sparta to accept them as allies and send speedy relief, arguing disease and expenditure had wasted Athens, whose ships were either cruising Spartan coasts or blockading Lesbos. If Sparta invaded by sea and land a second time that summer, Athens would either not resist or withdraw from both shores, and Lesbos would be a gain, not a risk.
Chapter 17
CHAPTER IX (part 2)3 cards
How was the Peloponnesian blockade wall around Plataea constructed?
It had two parallel lines about sixteen feet apart, one facing Plataea and one facing outside attack from Athens. The space between was filled with huts built in one block for the guards, giving the look of a single thick wall with battlements on both sides. Towers of the wall's breadth crossed it at intervals of every ten battlements, passable only through the middle.
Chapter 18
Why did the Plataeans escape toward Thebes, and how did they finally reach Athens?
They reasoned the road toward the enemy's country was the last the Peloponnesians would suspect. They kept the chapel of the hero Androcrates on their right, went rather more than half a mile on the Thebes road, then turned toward the mountain to Erythrae and Hysiae, reaching the hills and escaping to Athens — two hundred and twelve in all.
Chapter 18
Why did Mitylene surrender to Athens, and on what terms?
When provisions failed and the Peloponnesian fleet did not arrive, Salaethus armed the commons for a sortie, but they refused to obey and demanded the provisions be shared or they would surrender the city themselves. The government agreed with Paches to surrender at discretion, with an embassy allowed to Athens and no citizen imprisoned, enslaved, or killed before its return.
Chapter 18
CHAPTER IX (part 3)4 cards
What does Cleon say about the three failings most fatal to empire?
Cleon names pity, sentiment, and indulgence as the three failings most fatal to empire. He argues compassion is due only to those who can reciprocate it, not to natural and necessary foes who would never pity Athens in return. He urges the assembly to punish the Mitylenians as their deliberate aggression deserves, insisting that mercy belongs only to unwilling offenders, not to those who rebelled by malice and free choice.
Chapter 19
What does Diodotus say is the real question before the assembly?
Diodotus argues the question is not the Mitylenians' guilt but Athens' interests. He says they are deliberating in a political assembly, not a court of justice, and the issue is how to make the Mitylenians useful to Athens. Even if he proved them ever so guilty, he would not advise death unless it were expedient; nor recommend indulgence unless it served the country's good.
Chapter 19
Why does Diodotus think the death penalty fails as a deterrent?
Diodotus argues hope and cupidity drive men to venture, and no law prevents this. Communities have enacted death for many lighter offences, yet it is disregarded; either a terror more terrible than death must be found, or the restraint is useless. Poverty gives courage of necessity, plenty breeds insolent ambition, and fortune tempts men with unexpected aid, so the impulse to risk danger never disappears.
Chapter 19
How does Diodotus criticize the treatment of speakers who give advice?
Diodotus says the two things most opposed to good counsel are haste and passion. He objects to accusing speakers of making displays for pay, since the charge of dishonesty makes a successful speaker suspected and a defeated one thought a rogue. Fear deprives the city of advisers; a wise city will not punish an unlucky counsellor, so orators need not sacrifice convictions for popularity.
Chapter 19
CHAPTER IX (part 4)2 cards
What happened to the Mitylenian towns on the continent after the Lesbos events?
The Athenians took possession of the towns on the continent belonging to the Mitylenians, which thus became for the future subject to Athens. This followed the events at Lesbos, where the Athenians had also dealt with the Mitylenians. The chapter closes by noting that such were the events that took place at Lesbos.
Chapter 20
How does the chapter describe the Mitylenians' relationship to cultivating the land?
The chapter notes that the Mitylenians cultivated the land themselves, in contrast to relying on others to work it. This detail appears alongside the account of the Athenians taking the Mitylenian towns on the continent, which became subject to Athens. The passage concludes by summarizing that such were the events that took place at Lesbos.
Chapter 20
CHAPTER X (part 1)4 cards
Why did the Lacedaemonian commander avoid taking Plataea by storm?
He wanted Plataea to appear to have come over voluntarily, so that if peace were later made with Athens and each side agreed to restore places taken in the war, Plataea would not be included in the list of places to be restored. He therefore sent a herald asking whether the Plataeans would surrender the town voluntarily and accept the Lacedaemonians as judges.
Chapter 21
What question did the five Lacedaemonian judges put to the surrendered Plataeans?
No charge was brought against them. The judges simply called up the Plataeans and asked whether they had done the Lacedaemonians and allies any service in the war then raging. The Plataeans asked leave to speak at greater length and deputed Astymachus and Lacon to represent them.
Chapter 21
What past services to Sparta and Hellas did the Plataeans cite in their defense?
They recalled fighting the Mede, being the only Boeotians then defending Hellenic liberty, serving at Artemisium, fighting beside Pausanias in their own territory, and sending a third of their citizens to help Sparta during the Helot revolt after the earthquake. They also noted Sparta had told them to seek Athenian help when they asked for alliance against Thebes.
Chapter 21
What does the author have the Plataeans argue about Sparta's blame for their alliance with Athens?
The Plataeans argue Sparta was to blame: when they asked for alliance against Theban oppressors, Sparta refused and told them to go to the Athenians as neighbours, being too far off. Having received Athenian help and citizenship at their own request, they say they could not honorably desert Athens, and that faults of the leading power fall on the chiefs, not the followers.
Chapter 21
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What question did the Lacedaemonian judges put to each Plataean before executing them?
The Lacedaemonians asked each Plataean, one by one, whether they had done the Lacedaemonians and allies any service in the war. When the Plataeans answered that they had not, they were taken out and slain without exception. The judges justified this by claiming the Plataeans had refused offers of neutrality and thus released Sparta from its covenant.
Chapter 22
How many Plataeans and Athenians were massacred, and what happened to the city afterward?
Not fewer than two hundred Plataeans were slain, along with twenty-five Athenians who had shared in the siege. The women were taken as slaves. The Thebans gave the city for about a year to Megarian emigrants and surviving Plataeans of their party, then razed it to the foundations, building an inn and chapel to Hera from its materials, and leased the land for ten years.
Chapter 22
What did the returned Corcyraean prisoners do after Corinth released them?
The Corinthians released prisoners taken in sea-fights off Epidamnus, nominally on security of eight hundred talents from their proxeni, but really on their engagement to bring Corcyra over to Corinth. These men canvassed citizens and intrigued to detach the city from Athens, eventually bringing Peithias to trial on a charge of enslaving Corcyra to Athens.
Chapter 22
How did the Corcyraean revolution escalate after Peithias was killed?
Conspirators burst into the senate with daggers and killed Peithias and sixty others, then moved to receive neither party except peacefully in a single ship. The commons and oligarchs fought; slaves joined the commons, women pelted tiles from houses, and the oligarchs fired buildings around the marketplace. Nicostratus arrived with twelve ships and arranged a settlement, but the commons then armed on pretext and four hundred suppliants were moved to an island.
Chapter 22
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According to Thucydides, what was the root cause of the evils in the Greek cities?
The author argues the cause of all these evils was the lust for power arising from greed and ambition, from which proceeded the violence of parties once engaged in contention. Leaders, professing fair aims like political equality or moderate aristocracy, pursued private prizes and recoiled from no means in their struggle for ascendancy.
Chapter 23
Why were the blunter wits most successful in this contest, according to the chapter?
The author argues the blunter wits were most successful because, apprehensive of their own deficiencies and their antagonists' cleverness, they feared being worsted in debate and surprised by versatile opponents, so they boldly resorted to action at once. Their adversaries, arrogantly thinking they would know in time, often fell victims to want of precaution.
Chapter 23
What did the Corcyraean exiles do after Eurymedon and the Athenian fleet sailed away?
About five hundred Corcyraean exiles who escaped took forts on the mainland and, mastering the territory over the water, used it as a base to plunder their countrymen on the island, causing severe famine in the town. Failing to win restoration envoys at Lacedaemon and Corinth, they gathered boats and mercenaries, crossed about six hundred strong, burned their boats, and fortified Mount Istone.
Chapter 23
Why did the Athenians send a fleet to Sicily, according to the chapter?
The Leontines, at war with Syracuse, appealed to their ancient alliance and Ionian origin. The Athenians sent the fleet under Laches and Charoeades on the plea of common descent, but in reality to prevent the exportation of Sicilian corn to the Peloponnese and to test the possibility of bringing Sicily into subjection. They established themselves at Rhegium.
Chapter 23
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How did the second plague outbreak compare with the first in duration and impact?
The plague returned in the winter after the summer campaign, having never fully left Athens. The second outbreak lasted no less than a year, while the first had lasted two. Thucydides says nothing distressed the Athenians or reduced their power more; 4,400 heavy infantry and 300 cavalry died, plus an uncounted multitude. Earthquakes occurred at the same time in Athens, Euboea, and Boeotia.
Chapter 24
What did Thucydides identify as the cause of the sea's retreat and inundation?
Thucydides argues the cause must be sought in the earthquake: where the shock was most violent, the sea is driven back and then suddenly recoils with redoubled force, causing the inundation. He states that without an earthquake he does not see how such an accident could happen. He reports inundations at Orobiae in Euboea and at Atalanta, with a lesser retreat at Peparethus.
Chapter 24
Why did the Lacedaemonians found Heraclea in Trachis, and why did it fail to trouble Athens?
They wished to assist the Trachinians and Dorians against the Oetaeans, and thought the town conveniently placed for the war: a fleet could be readied against Euboea and it served as a station toward Thrace. After consulting Delphi, they sent colonists, excluding Ionians and Achaeans. It initially alarmed Athens, but the Thessalians harassed the settlers and harsh Spartan governors drove inhabitants away.
Chapter 24
What went wrong with Demosthenes' campaign against the Aetolians?
Persuaded by the Messenians that the Aetolians, in unwalled villages with light armour, were an easy conquest, Demosthenes advanced without waiting for his Locrian light-armed reinforcements. The Aetolians gathered in full force and used javelin tactics, falling back and attacking as the Athenians advanced or retired. After his archers were broken, the Athenians fled into unknown ground; many were killed in a burning wood.
Chapter 24
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Why did the Syracusans help Messina revolt from Athens?
The Syracusans contrived the revolt chiefly because Messina offered an approach to Sicily, and they feared Athens might later use it as a base to attack them with a larger force. The Locrians joined because they wished to carry on hostilities from both sides of the strait and reduce their enemies, the people of Rhegium.
Chapter 25
How did Demosthenes persuade the soldiers to fortify Pylos?
He did not persuade the generals or soldiers at first; he argued Pylos had a nearby harbour and that the Messenians, old natives speaking the Lacedaemonian dialect, could harm Sparta by incursions and serve as a trusty garrison. The fleet was carried in by a squall, and the soldiers, wanting occupation, took a sudden impulse to fortify it themselves.
Chapter 25
How many Spartans were left on Sphacteria and under whose command?
The Lacedaemonians carried heavy infantry to the island, drafted by lot from all the companies; some had crossed earlier in relief parties, but those left there numbered four hundred and twenty, with their Helot attendants, commanded by Epitadas, son of Molobrus.
Chapter 25
What did Brasidas do when his captains hesitated to beach their ships?
Brasidas, captain of a galley, shouted that they must not let the enemy fortify in their country to save timber, but shiver their vessels and force a landing, urging allies to sacrifice ships for Lacedaemon. He forced his own steersman to run ashore, stepped onto the gangway to land, and was cut down by the Athenians, fainting from his wounds.
Chapter 25
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What terms did the Lacedaemonians offer Athens, and what did they ask in return?
The Lacedaemonians offered a treaty, peace, alliance, and the most friendly relations in every way, asking in return for the men on the island. They argued it was better for both sides not to stand out to the end, on the chance that a favourable accident might let the men escape or that blockade might force them to succumb.
Chapter 26
How did the Lacedaemonians say great enmities should truly be settled?
Not by revenge and military success, nor by forcing an opponent to swear to a disadvantageous treaty. Rather, when the more fortunate combatant waives his privileges, conquers his rival in generosity, and accords peace on more moderate conditions than expected. The adversary then owes a debt of generosity to be paid in kind and is inclined by honour to stand to the agreement.
Chapter 26
How did Cleon and the Athenians respond to the Spartan peace offer?
Cleon, a popular leader very powerful with the multitude, persuaded the Athenians to demand that the men on the island surrender themselves and their arms and be brought to Athens, and that the Lacedaemonians restore Nisaea, Pegae, Troezen, and Achaia. The Athenians, holding the men, thought the treaty would be ready whenever they chose and grasped at something further.
Chapter 26
What hardships did the Athenians besieging Pylos face, and how did the Spartans on the island get supplies?
The Athenians suffered from want of food and water, no spring except a small one in the citadel, drinking water grubbed from the shingle, cramped quarters, and no anchorage. Their greatest discouragement was how long the siege took. The Lacedaemonians advertised for volunteers to carry in corn, wine, cheese, and food, offering high prices and freedom to Helots who succeeded.
Chapter 26
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How did Demosthenes' tactics at Pylos neutralize Spartan heavy infantry?
Demosthenes divided the troops into companies of about two hundred and had them occupy the highest points, surrounding the enemy on every side. This left the Lacedaemonians without a tangible adversary, exposed to cross-fire from light-armed troops using arrows, darts, stones, and slings, who could not be engaged at close quarters because they could flee and then turn on any pursuer.
Chapter 27
What message did the Lacedaemonians on the mainland send to the trapped men?
After heralds carried questions back and forth two or three times, the last messenger from the continent told them: "The Lacedaemonians bid you to decide for yourselves so long as you do nothing dishonourable." Upon consulting together, the men on the island surrendered themselves and their arms to the Athenians.
Chapter 27
What surprised the Hellenes most about the Pylos surrender?
Nothing in the war surprised the Hellenes so much. The common opinion was that no force or famine could make the Lacedaemonians give up their arms, but that they would fight on and die with them in their hands. People could scarcely believe the surrendered men were of the same stuff as the fallen.
Chapter 27
How did the Athenians exploit the prisoners and Pylos after the battle?
The Athenians decided to keep the prisoners in prison until a peace, and if the Peloponnesians invaded Attica in the interval, to bring them out and put them to death. Messenians from Naupactus were sent to Pylos and began destructive incursions into Laconia; the Lacedaemonians, finding Helots deserting and fearing revolution, sent envoys to recover Pylos and the prisoners, but the Athenians dismissed them without result.
Chapter 27
CHAPTER XIII3 cards
How did the Athenians capture Cythera and what terms did the Cytherians get?
At Cythera the Athenians took Scandea with ten ships and two thousand Milesians, then defeated the Cytherians who fled to the upper town and capitulated to Nicias, agreeing to leave their fate to Athens with only their lives safe. A prior correspondence between Nicias and certain inhabitants sped the surrender and secured better terms; otherwise the Athenians would have expelled them as Lacedaemonians so near Laconia.
Chapter 28
What did Artaphernes' intercepted dispatches reveal about Sparta's messages to Persia?
Aristides, son of Archippus, arrested Artaphernes at Eion on the Strymon as the Persian traveled from the King to Lacedaemon. Taken to Athens, his dispatches were translated from Assyrian and read: they said the King did not know what the Lacedaemonians wanted, since no two of their many ambassadors told the same story, and that they should send plain-speaking envoys with this Persian. Athens later sent him back to Ephesus.
Chapter 28
What happened at the battle near Solygia between Athens and Corinth?
Athens landed eighty ships and two thousand heavy infantry near Solygia, slipping past the Corinthians in the dark. After hard hand-to-hand fighting, the Athenians, aided by cavalry the enemy lacked, routed the Corinthians, who lost two hundred and twelve men including general Lycophron; fewer than fifty Athenians fell. The Athenians set up a trophy, then withdrew to their ships as Corinthian reinforcements approached.
Chapter 28
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How did the Spartans treat the 2,000 Helots who claimed to have distinguished themselves?
The Spartans proclaimed that Helots who claimed to have most distinguished themselves against the enemy would receive their freedom, intending this as a test of the most high-spirited and rebellious. About two thousand were selected, crowned themselves, and went round the temples rejoicing. Soon afterwards the Spartans did away with them, and no one ever knew how each perished. Thucydides notes Spartan policy was always governed by the need to guard against the Helots.
Chapter 29
Why did the Lacedaemonians send Brasidas with an army to Thrace?
The Thracian towns in revolt against Athens and Perdiccas, alarmed at Athenian successes, procured the army's departure. The Lacedaemonians hoped to divert Athenian attacks on Peloponnese, especially Laconia, by sending an army to their allies who would maintain it. They were also glad of an excuse to send some Helots out of the country, fearing that the occupation of Pylos might encourage them to move.
Chapter 29
What was the Athenian plot involving Boeotia, and which places were to be betrayed?
Certain Boeotian men, chiefly the Theban exile Ptoeodorus, proposed to Hippocrates and Demosthenes that they change the constitution and introduce democracy as at Athens. Siphae was to be betrayed by one party, Chaeronea by another, and the Athenians were to seize Delium, the sanctuary of Apollo in Tanagra. All were to occur on an appointed day so the Boeotians could not unite to oppose them.
Chapter 29
How did Brasidas persuade Acanthus to admit him, and what did he claim?
Brasidas marched against Acanthus, an Andrian colony, shortly before the vintage. The people were divided; fear for their still-unharvested fruit enabled Brasidas to persuade the multitude to admit him alone and hear him before deciding. He claimed the Lacedaemonians sent him to free Hellas, swore oaths that allies he brought over would be independent, and argued his force was adequate since the Athenians had not dared engage him at Nisaea.
Chapter 29
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Why did Pagondas argue the Boeotians should fight the Athenians outside Boeotia?
Pagondas argued that the Athenians crossed the frontier and built a fort in Boeotia precisely to harm it, so they were enemies wherever encountered. He rejected waiting for safety, saying a threatened country cannot weigh prudence calmly, and urged that with neighbors trying to enslave near and far, Boeotians must fight to the last, trusting past victory at Coronea and the god's help.
Chapter 30
How did the two armies differ in depth and light troops at Delium?
The Boeotians fielded seven thousand heavy infantry, over ten thousand light troops, one thousand horse, and five hundred targeteers; the Thebans formed twenty-five shields deep, the rest as they pleased. The Athenians formed eight deep throughout, equal in heavy infantry numbers, with cavalry on both wings, but had no regularly armed light troops, nor had Athens ever had any.
Chapter 30
How did the Boeotians finally capture the fort at Delium?
After the battle the Boeotians gathered darters, slingers, Corinthian heavy infantry, the evacuated Peloponnesian garrison, and Megarians, and attacked the fort. They sawed a great beam lengthwise, scooped it out, rejoined it like a pipe, and hung a cauldron of lighted coals, sulphur, and pitch at one end, with an iron tube and bellows. The blast set fire to the vine-and-timber wall, and the defenders fled.
Chapter 30
What dispute arose between Athens and Boeotia over the dead and the temple at Delium?
The Athenians fortified Delium, a temple of Apollo, and used its sacred water. The Boeotians said this violated the law of the Hellenes and demanded they evacuate the temple before recovering their dead. The Athenians replied that conquest carries possession of temples with the duty to keep ceremonies, that they acted under wartime necessity, and that presumptuous offenders, not victims of circumstance, commit transgression.
Chapter 30
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Why did the fall of Amphipolis alarm Athens so greatly?
Thucydides cites its value for shipbuilding timber and the money it brought in. Strategically, while the Lacedaemonians held no bridge and were watched by Athenian galleys at Eion and blocked by the lake, they could go no further; with Amphipolis taken, the path seemed open, and Athens feared its allies would revolt, encouraged by Brasidas's moderation and his declarations that he came to free Hellas.
Chapter 31
How did Brasidas capture Torone?
Invited by a few conspirators, he arrived before dawn and waited near the temple of the Dioscuri. Seven light-armed men with daggers entered through the sea wall, killed the garrison of the highest post, and opened a postern. The townsmen inside then broke the bar and opened the market gates, raised the fire-signal, and Brasidas's troops rushed in, surprising the town before most Toronaeans recovered.
Chapter 31
What did Brasidas tell the Toronaeans after capturing the town?
He said the conspirators should not be seen as bad men or traitors, since they acted not from corruption or to enslave the city but for its good and freedom. Those who had not joined should not fear losing the fruits, as he came to destroy neither city nor individual. He excused past opposition and warned them to be staunch allies and responsible for faults in future.
Chapter 31
Why did the Lacedaemonians conclude a one-year armistice with Athens?
Thucydides says the Lacedaemonians wanted their men back while Brasidas's good fortune lasted: further successes might make the struggle less unequal in Chalcidice but would still leave them deprived of their prisoners, and even there they were not certain of victory. The Athenians wanted leisure to take precautions before more towns revolted, and possibly to conclude a general peace.
Chapter 31
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Why did Mende revolt against Athens, and how did Brasidas justify accepting it?
Mende, a Pallene town and Eretrian colony, revolted partly because Brasidas was forward in the matter and because his refusal to betray Scione encouraged it; its conspirators were few and feared detection. Brasidas received Mende without scruple despite its coming over during the armistice, citing certain infringements of the truce he alleged against the Athenians.
Chapter 32
How did Brasidas extricate his army from the Illyrians and Arrhabaeus?
Brasidas formed his heavy infantry into a square with light troops in the centre, posting young soldiers to dash out at attackers and himself with three hundred picked men in the rear to face about during the retreat. He sent the three hundred to seize a hill before the enemy massed, then marched to Arnisa, the first town of Perdiccas, the same day.
Chapter 32
What does Brasidas tell his troops about the barbarians' apparent fearsomeness?
Brasidas argues the enemy is formidable only in outward bulk, loud yelling, and brandished weapons; in real fighting they lack regular order, treat flight and attack as equally honourable, and prefer frightening from a safe distance. He urges his men to stand their ground and retire in good order, saying those who give way will see their heroism in pursuit.
Chapter 32
How did Mende fall to the Athenians, and what terms did they give it?
Inside Mende, Polydamidas was dragging and knocking about a popular-party man who refused to sortie; the commons seized arms and rushed the Peloponnesians and the opposite faction, who fled to the citadel fearing the gates would open. The Athenians burst in and sacked Mende as if by storm, then let the Mendaeans retain civil rights and judge the revolt's authors, walling off the citadel.
Chapter 32
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Why did the Athenians expel the Delians from Delos?
The Athenians concluded that the Delians must have been polluted by some old offence at the time of their consecration, and that this had been the omission in the previous purification of the island, which had been thought duly accomplished by removing the graves of the dead. The Delians were given Atramyttium in Asia by Pharnaces and settled there after leaving Delos.
Chapter 33
How did Cleon capture Torone from Pasitelidas?
Cleon sailed into Cophos, learned from deserters that Brasidas was absent and the garrison weak, and advanced. Ten ships sailed round into the harbour while his land force attacked the outwork. Pasitelidas, fearing the ships would reach the city first, abandoned the outwork and fled inside, but the Athenians from the ships had already taken Torone and their land forces burst in over the pulled-down wall, capturing him.
Chapter 33
Why did Brasidas choose stratagem over a regular battle at Amphipolis?
Brasidas mistrusted his strength, thinking it inadequate not in numbers but in quality, since the flower of the Athenian army was present with the best of the Lemnians and Imbrians. He therefore picked 150 heavy infantry and planned a sudden attack before the Athenians retired, reasoning he would not get such a chance again once their reinforcements arrived.
Chapter 33
What mistake did Cleon make when Brasidas sallied from Amphipolis?
Cleon, unwilling to fight before reinforcements arrived, ordered a retreat toward Eion, moving the left wing. Impatient at the slowness, he joined the retreat in person and wheeled the right wing round, turning its unarmed side to the enemy. Brasidas, seeing the motion, attacked and routed the panic-stricken centre, while Clearidas issued from the Thracian gates to support him.
Chapter 33
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Why does Thucydides refuse to treat the interval of treaty as peace?
The author argues the treaty period cannot rationally be considered peace, since neither party gave or got back all that was agreed, violations occurred on both sides in the Mantinean and Epidaurian wars, Thracian allies remained openly hostile, and the Boeotians had only a truce renewed every ten days. Counting by seasons, the first ten years' war, the treacherous armistice, and the later war make up the twenty-seven years he records.
Chapter 34
Why did Corinth turn to Argos after the peace with Athens?
The Corinthians argued that Lacedaemon could have no good end in view, or she would never have made treaty and alliance with the once detested Athenians, and that the duty of guarding Peloponnese now fell to Argos. They urged Argos to invite any independent Hellenic state to a defensive alliance, negotiated by a few plenipotentiaries rather than the assembly, so rejected applicants would not be publicly exposed.
Chapter 34
Why did Mantinea defect to Argos, and why did the clause in the treaty alarm Peloponnese?
The Mantineans feared Lacedaemon would not leave them undisturbed in the Arcadian conquests they had made during the Attic war, so they joined Argos, the Lacedaemonians' historical enemy and a sister democracy. The clause allowing Lacedaemon and Athens to add to or take away from the treaty at discretion was the real origin of the panic, raising suspicion of a combination against the liberties of the allies.
Chapter 34
How did Sparta treat the Helots who had fought under Brasidas and the prisoners from the island?
The Lacedaemonians decreed that the Helots who had fought with Brasidas should be free and live where they liked, and soon settled them with the Neodamodes at Lepreum, on the Laconian and Elean border, while at enmity with Elis. The Spartans taken prisoner on the island and who had surrendered their arms were disfranchised at once, though some held office, being barred from office and from buying or selling; later the franchise was restored.
Chapter 34
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Why did the Argives send envoys to Lacedaemon to seek a treaty?
The Argives feared isolation: Boeotia's promised ambassadors never arrived, Panactum was razed, and Boeotia had made a separate alliance with Lacedaemon. They suspected Athens was privy to this, so their hoped-for Athenian refuge seemed closed. Fearing Lacedaemon, Tegea, Boeotia, and Athens all at once, they sent Eustrophus and Aeson to make the best treaty they could and be left in peace.
Chapter 35
What terms did the Argives and Lacedaemonians agree regarding the Cynurian land dispute?
Argos wanted the Cynurian land question, involving Thyrea and Anthene, referred to arbitration. Lacedaemon refused discussion at first, offering the old terms. Eventually they conceded a fifty-year truce allowing either side, provided neither plague nor war existed in Lacedaemon or Argos, to formally challenge and decide the territory by battle, with no pursuit beyond either frontier. The terms were written down but required Argive approval and oaths at the Hyacinthia.
Chapter 35
Why did the Athenians angrily reject the Lacedaemonian ambassadors?
The Athenians believed Lacedaemon had played them false twice: Panactum, which should have been restored standing, had instead been razed, and Lacedaemon had made a separate alliance with the Boeotians despite promising to join Athens in compelling holdouts to accede to the treaty. Considering other failures of the compact, the Athenians concluded they had been overreached and sent the ambassadors away in anger.
Chapter 35
How did Alcibiades trick the Lacedaemonian envoys before the assembly?
Alcibiades feared the envoys would repeat in the popular assembly that they had full powers to settle everything, winning the crowd and sinking the Argive alliance. He persuaded them that if they stayed silent about their powers in the assembly, he would return Pylos to them and settle other issues. When they denied having full powers before the people, the Athenians lost patience and turned toward the Argive alliance.
Chapter 35
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Why did the Argives want to gain possession of Epidaurus?
The stated pretext was to exact the offering for pasture-land owed to Apollo Pythaeus, over whose temple the Argives had chief management. But apart from this, Alcibiades and the Argives were determined to gain Epidaurus if possible, thereby ensuring the neutrality of Corinth and giving the Athenians a shorter passage for reinforcements from Aegina than sailing round Scyllaeum.
Chapter 36
Why did the Lacedaemonian army twice return home without marching?
Both times the sacrifices for crossing the frontier proved unpropitious. First they marched out to Leuctra under Agis, then returned and told allies to prepare for the month of Carneus, a holy time for the Dorians. Later they marched to Caryae, but unfavorable frontier sacrifices again sent them back.
Chapter 36
What truce did Agis grant the Argives, and how was it received?
As the armies were about to engage, Thrasylus and Alciphron parleyed with Agis, urging arbitration and peace. Acting on their own authority, not by order of the people, Agis granted a four-month truce without consulting the majority or explaining to allies. The Lacedaemonians and allies blamed him for leaving so fair a field; the Argives later stoned Thrasylus, who fled to an altar.
Chapter 36
What new law did the Lacedaemonians impose on Agis after his failures?
Angry over the truce and the capture of Orchomenos, the Lacedaemonians nearly decided to raze his house and fine him ten thousand drachmae. Agis promised to atone by good service in the field, and they abstained. They then made a law, hitherto unknown at Lacedaemon, attaching ten Spartans as counsellors to him, without whose consent he could not lead an army out of the city.
Chapter 36
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Why did hoplites tend to drift to the right in battle?
Thucydides explains that fear makes each man try to shelter his unarmed side with the shield of the man to his right, believing closer-locked shields give better protection. The first man on the right wing starts this by striving to withdraw his exposed side from the enemy, and the rest follow him. This drift caused the Mantineans to outflank the Sciritae and the Lacedaemonians to outflank the Athenians.
Chapter 37
What orders did Agis give, and why did they fail?
Fearing his left would be surrounded, Agis ordered the Sciritae and Brasideans to move out and even the line with the Mantineans, and told the polemarchs Hipponoidas and Aristocles to fill the gap with two companies from the right wing. Given at the moment of onset, the orders failed: the two polemarchs refused to move and were later banished from Sparta for cowardice, and the enemy closed before the Sciritae could return.
Chapter 37
What did the Argive treaty with Lacedaemon require, and what followed?
The treaty required Argos to restore hostages, evacuate and raze the Epidaurus fortification, and leave all Peloponnesian cities independent; a fifty-year alliance followed, with disputes settled by arbitration and neither side to treat with Athens unless it withdrew from Peloponnese. Argos then gave up its league with Mantinea, Elis and Athens. Later the Lacedaemonians helped set up an Argive oligarchy, which the commons soon overthrew.
Chapter 37
CHAPTER XVII4 cards
Why did Athens refuse to let Melos remain neutral?
The Athenians reject Melian neutrality because their friendship would signal Athenian weakness to subject states, while their enmity would demonstrate Athenian power. As islanders weaker than others, Melos must not be allowed to baffle the masters of the sea. The Athenians argue that submission extends their empire and adds to their security.
Chapter 38
What principle do the Athenians state about justice between states?
The Athenians claim that right is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. They say they did not invent this law but found it existing and will leave it to exist, and that anyone with equal power would act the same.
Chapter 38
How do the Athenians assess Spartan reliability as allies?
The Athenians say the Lacedaemonians are worthiest when their own interests or country's laws are at stake, but most conspicuous in treating what is agreeable as honourable and what is expedient as just. They add that Sparta courts danger as little as possible and, distrusting its home resources, attacks neighbours only with numerous allies.
Chapter 38
What warning do the Athenians give about hope and disgrace?
The Athenians warn that hope is extravagant and ruinous to those who stake everything on a single venture, and that the weak should not turn to prophecies and oracles when visible hopes fail. They also warn against the seductive name of disgrace, which leads men who see the danger clearly to fall wilfully into hopeless disaster.
Chapter 38
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Why did the Athenians resolve to sail against Sicily with a larger armament?
The Athenians resolved to sail again to Sicily with a greater force than under Laches and Eurymedon, hoping to conquer the island. Most were ignorant of its size and the number of its Hellenic and barbarian inhabitants, and did not realize they were undertaking a war not much inferior to that against the Peloponnesians. They were also incited by Egestaean envoys urging aid against Selinus and Syracuse.
Chapter 39
Who were the earliest and successive barbarian inhabitants of Sicily according to Thucydides?
Thucydides names the Cyclopes and Laestrygones as earliest, though he cannot say their race or origin and leaves readers to the poets. Next the Sicanians, whom he says were Iberians driven from the river Sicanus by the Ligurians, despite their claim to be aborigines. Then Trojans and Phocians settled as Elymi, and the Sicels crossed from Italy, defeating the Sicanians. Phoenicians also held coastal promontories for trade.
Chapter 39
Which cities did the Chalcidians and Corinthians found in Sicily, and when?
The first Hellenes were Chalcidians from Euboea with Thucles, who founded Naxos and built the altar to Apollo Archegetes. Syracuse was founded the year after by Archias, a Heraclid from Corinth, who drove the Sicels from the island of the inner city. In the fifth year after Syracuse, Thucles and the Chalcidians founded Leontini and then Catana, with the Catanians choosing Evarchus as founder.
Chapter 39
What did the Egestaeans argue to persuade Athens to intervene in Sicily?
The Egestaeans, at war with Selinus over marriage and disputed territory, reminded Athens of the alliance from Laches' time and begged for a fleet. They argued that if Syracuse went unpunished for depopulating Leontini, it would gain all Sicily's power and might one day aid its Dorian brethren and the Peloponnesians against Athens. They also promised sufficient money for the war.
Chapter 39
CHAPTER XVIII (part 2)3 cards
How did Alcibiades use his Olympic display to justify his command?
Alcibiades says the things for which he is abused bring fame to his ancestors, himself, and profit to the country. The Hellenes, expecting Athens ruined by war, concluded it greater than it really was because of the magnificence with which he represented it at the Olympic games, entering seven chariots, a number never before entered by any private person, winning first prize and placing second and fourth, with everything else in a style worthy of his victory.
Chapter 40
What does Nicias claim about Sicily's cities in his second speech?
Nicias says they are going against cities that are great and not subject to one another, not in need of change so as to welcome servitude for freedom. Besides Naxos and Catana, expected to join from their connection with Leontini, there are seven others armed like Athens' own power, especially Selinus and Syracuse, full of heavy infantry, archers, and darters, with galleys, money, and above all numbers of horses and home-grown corn.
Chapter 40
What was Nicias' purpose in giving his extravagant estimate of the force needed?
Nicias, perceiving it useless to deter the Athenians by the old line of argument, thought he might perhaps alter their resolution by the extravagance of his estimates, and spoke a second time. He concluded thinking he should either disgust the Athenians by the magnitude of the undertaking, or, if obliged to sail, do so in the safest way possible. Instead they became more eager, holding that he had given good advice and the expedition would be safest in the world.
Chapter 40
CHAPTER XVIII (part 3)4 cards
How did the Sicilian expedition's scale compare with earlier Athenian fleets?
Thucydides says this first fleet was by far the most costly and splendid Hellenic force ever sent by a single city. Earlier armaments under Pericles against Epidaurus and under Hagnon against Potidæa were not inferior in ships or heavy infantry, but were sent on short voyages with scanty equipment; this expedition was prepared for long service by land and sea.
Chapter 41
What did the state and captains each contribute to the fleet's equipment?
The treasury paid each seaman a drachma a day and provided sixty empty men-of-war and forty transports with the best crews available. Captains added a bounty beyond the treasury pay to the thranitae and crews, and spent lavishly on figure-heads and equipment, each striving to make his own ship excel in beauty and fast sailing.
Chapter 41
What did the expedition's departure ceremony involve?
Once ships were manned and loaded, a trumpet commanded silence and prayers before sailing were offered by all together to a herald's voice, not by each ship separately. Wine bowls were mixed throughout the armament and libations poured from gold and silver goblets by soldiers and officers, while crowds on shore joined in the prayers. After the hymn and libations they put to sea.
Chapter 41
How did Thucydides characterize the expedition's fame and ambition?
He says it was famous not less for its wonderful boldness and splendid appearance than for its overwhelming strength relative to its opponents, and for being the longest passage from home hitherto attempted and the most ambitious in its objects considering the resources of those who undertook it. He also notes the crowd came simply to see a sight passing all belief.
Chapter 41
CHAPTER XIX3 cards
What does Hermocrates claim the Athenians' real purpose in Sicily is?
Hermocrates argues the Athenians' stated aims—helping the Egestaeans and restoring Leontini—are pretexts. Their real goal, he says, is to conquer Sicily, and above all Syracuse, believing that once Syracuse falls the rest will easily follow. He urges the Syracusans to expect the expedition soon and prepare rather than dismiss the reports out of contempt or disbelief.
Chapter 42
What strategy does Hermocrates propose for meeting the Athenians at sea?
Hermocrates proposes that the Siceliots launch their whole navy with two months' provisions and meet the Athenians at Tarentum and the Iapygian promontory, forcing them to fight for their passage across the Ionian Sea. He argues this would dismay the enemy, who would face a long crossing in disorder, and could be attacked in slow, small detachments or worn down by rowing.
Chapter 42
How does Athenagoras respond to reports of the Athenian expedition?
Athenagoras dismisses the reports as invented by agitators seeking to frighten the people and seize power. He argues the Athenians would not open a new war in Sicily while the Peloponnesian War continues, and that Sicily, especially Syracuse, is more than a match for any invasion. He also defends democracy against oligarchic critics who claim only the rich should rule.
Chapter 42
CHAPTER XX (part 1)4 cards
How did the Athenians trick the Syracusans into marching on Catana?
The Athenian generals sent a Catana native loyal to them, whom the Syracusan generals believed to be in their own interest. He claimed the Athenians slept in the town away from their arms, and that Catana's pro-Athenian party would shut the gates and burn the ships while the Syracusans attacked the camp. The Syracusans believed him without sufficient inquiry, fixed a day, and marched out—letting the Athenians sail by night to Syracuse.
Chapter 43
What positions did the Athenians choose before the battle, and why?
They camped near the Olympieum where walls, houses, trees and a marsh fenced one side and cliffs the other, limiting the Syracusan cavalry. They felled trees for a palisade by the ships, built a fort at Daskon with picked-up stones and wood, and broke the bridge over the Anapus. These preparations went on unhindered, the Syracusan cavalry being the first hostile force to appear.
Chapter 43
How did Nicias encourage his army before the battle?
Nicias argued a long speech was unnecessary, since the force itself inspired more confidence than fine words with a weak army. He stressed their picked troops faced mass levies of Siceliots whose skill did not match their rashness, and warned they were far from home with no friendly land except what their swords won, since enemy cavalry was numerous. He urged them to fight boldly, counting present necessity more terrible than the enemy.
Chapter 43
What did Hermocrates tell the Syracusans after their defeat?
Hermocrates urged them not to give way, saying their spirit was unconquered but their want of discipline had done the mischief. They had not been beaten as badly as expected, being novices—artisans against the most practised soldiers in Hellas. He blamed the fifteen generals, conflicting orders, and insubordination, and proposed few skilled generals, winter training, and arming more heavy infantry, so courage plus discipline would give them every chance.
Chapter 43
CHAPTER XX (part 2)4 cards
What did Hermocrates argue to the Camarinaeans about their neutrality?
Hermocrates argues that Camarina's policy of siding with neither side is neither safe nor fair: if they abstain, the defeated perish unaided and the victor offends unhindered. He urges them to join Syracuse, their fellow Dorians and kindred, rather than assist the Athenians, and warns that Athenian victory would owe itself to their decision while Syracuse would remain their lasting enemy.
Chapter 44
How did Euphemus justify Athens' empire and its intervention in Sicily?
Euphemus argues Athens earned rule by fielding the largest fleet and resisting the Medes, while its Ionian subjects had sided with Persia. He claims Athens rules in Hellas to avoid subjection and intervenes in Sicily so the Syracusans cannot harm it, framing fear as the motive for holding the empire and denying any intent to enslave the island.
Chapter 44
How did the Camarinaeans actually decide, and why?
The Camarinaeans sympathized with Athens except for fear of Athenian conquest of Sicily, but as Syracuse's neighbours they feared Syracuse more. They had already sent Syracuse a few horsemen and resolved to support it most in fact, though sparingly. To avoid slighting Athens, especially after its success, they answered both parties that their oaths required siding with neither.
Chapter 44
Which Sicels joined the Athenians at Naxos, and what did they provide?
While Syracuse prepared for war, the Athenians encamped at Naxos and negotiated with the Sicels. Those in the lowlands who were subjects of Syracuse mostly held aloof, but the interior peoples who had always been independent, with few exceptions, joined the Athenians at once, bringing down corn to the army and in some cases money.
Chapter 44
CHAPTER XX (part 3)4 cards
What does Alcibiades claim will follow if Syracuse falls?
Alcibiades argues that if Syracuse falls, all Sicily falls too, and Italy immediately afterwards, bringing the danger to the Peloponnese. He urges Sparta to send troops who can row and serve as heavy infantry, plus a Spartan commander to discipline existing forces, and to fortify Decelea in Attica to drain Athenian revenues.
Chapter 45
Why did the Spartans decide to fortify Decelea and aid Sicily?
The Spartans had already intended to march against Athens but were waiting. After hearing Alcibiades' specific information, which they believed came from the man who best knew the truth, they became much more earnest. They turned to fortifying Decelea and sending immediate aid to Sicily, naming Gylippus to command the Syracusans.
Chapter 45
Why did the Syracusans consider Epipolae so important to defend?
The Syracusans saw that without mastering Epipolae, a precipitous height directly above the town, the Athenians could not easily invest them even if victorious in battle. They therefore resolved to guard its approaches, since the ascent by Euryelus was the sole possible route, the rest being lofty ground falling to the city and visible from within.
Chapter 45
How did the Athenians capture the Syracusan counterwork?
The Athenians waited until midday when the Syracusans were in their tents or gone into the city and the stockade was loosely guarded. They sent three hundred picked men with light troops to rush the counterwork while the rest advanced in two divisions toward the city and the postern gate. They took the stockade, were briefly beaten back from the outworks, then demolished the counterwork and set up a trophy.
Chapter 45
CHAPTER XX (part 4)2 cards
What did the Argives do in the Phliasid?
The Argives made an incursion into the Phliasid, ravaged the land, killed some of the inhabitants, and then returned home. The chapter presents this as a brief military action, with no further detail on the campaign's duration, commanders, or outcome beyond the destruction and killing.
Chapter 46
How does the chapter describe the Argive incursion's conclusion?
The chapter states that the Argives returned home after ravaging the Phliasid and killing some of its inhabitants. The return home is presented as following the destruction, not as a separate negotiated settlement; no truce, treaty, or terms are mentioned in the passage.
Chapter 46
CHAPTER XXI (part 1)2 cards
How did Gongylus prevent Syracuse from ending the war?
Gongylus, a Corinthian commander, reached Syracuse with a single ship just before Gylippus. He found the Syracusans about to hold an assembly on whether to end the war. He stopped this and reassured them by saying more vessels were still coming and that Gylippus, son of Cleandridas, had been sent by the Lacedaemonians to take command.
Chapter 47
Why did Nicias write a letter to Athens instead of relying on messengers?
Nicias feared messengers might fail to report the truth through inability to speak, failure of memory, or a wish to please the multitude. He thought it best to write so the Athenians would know his own opinion without it being lost in transmission and could decide on the real facts. The letter described the enemy's cross wall and planned combined land and sea attack.
Chapter 47
CHAPTER XXI (part 2)4 cards
Why did the Lacedaemonians feel justified in renewing war against Athens?
The Lacedaemonians believed Athens had been first to infringe the truce, since Athenian offers of arbitration were always rejected while their own had earlier been refused. They also thought Athens, fighting both themselves and the Siceliots, would be easier to subdue. Alcibiades urged fortifying Decelea, and the Syracusans and Corinthians pressed for an invasion to stop reinforcements reaching Sicily.
Chapter 48
What was the purpose of fortifying Decelea, and where was it located?
Decelea was about thirteen or fourteen miles from Athens and a similar distance from Boeotia. The fort was meant to annoy the plain and the richest parts of the country, and it was in sight of Athens. The Lacedaemonians and allies invaded Attica under Agis, son of Archidamus, devastated the border plain, then fortified Decelea, dividing the work among the different cities.
Chapter 48
How did the Syracusans capture Plemmyrium despite losing the sea-fight?
Gylippus led the army out by night, assaulting the forts on Plemmyrium by land while Syracusan galleys attacked from both harbours to distract the Athenians. The largest fort fell first; the two smaller garrisons fled. At sea the Athenians won, sinking eleven Syracusan ships for a loss of three, but the Syracusans took the forts and set up three trophies. Thucydides calls the capture the chiefest cause of the Athenian army's ruin.
Chapter 48
What did Demosthenes do on his voyage to Sicily before arriving there?
Demosthenes sailed from Aegina, joined Charicles and the thirty Athenian ships, took on Argive heavy infantry, and raided Epidaurus Limera and the coast of Laconia opposite Cythera. There he helped fortify an isthmus as a refuge for deserting Helots and a base for plundering, like Pylos. He then sailed to Corcyra to collect allies, while Charicles finished the fort, left a garrison, and returned home.
Chapter 48
CHAPTER XXI (part 3)4 cards
How did the Syracusans modify their ships before fighting the Athenians in the harbour?
They cut down their prows to a smaller compass to make them more solid, strengthened the cheeks, and ran stays six cubits into the vessels' sides inside and out, copying the Corinthians' earlier alterations at Naupactus. They expected this to beat the Athenians' slighter bows, since the Athenians relied on sailing round and charging the side rather than meeting prow to prow.
Chapter 49
Why did the confined harbour favour the Syracusan tactic of charging prow to prow?
The Syracusans reasoned that in the great harbour the Athenians could not break the line or sail round, and if repulsed could not back water except a little way toward their own camp. Crowded into a small space, the Athenians would foul one another and fall into disorder, which the chapter says harmed them most in all the sea-fights, since they lacked the whole harbour to retreat over.
Chapter 49
How did Ariston's advice let the Syracusans attack the Athenians unexpectedly?
Ariston, a Corinthian and the ablest helmsman in Syracusan service, urged the commanders to have the sale market moved down to the sea so crews could land and dine beside the ships. The Syracusans withdrew, landed, and ate; the Athenians assumed fighting was over for the day and disembarked to dine. The Syracusans then manned ships and attacked, catching the Athenians confused and mostly fasting.
Chapter 49
What was the outcome of the Naupactus sea battle between the Corinthians and Athenians?
After an obstinate struggle the Corinthians lost three ships and disabled seven Athenian ones, whose foreships were stove in by reinforced Corinthian beaks. Neither side sank enemy ships or took prisoners, and no pursuit occurred. The Corinthians set up a trophy as victors for disabling more ships, and the Athenians later set up their own trophy in Achaia, each side denying the other a decisive victory.
Chapter 49
CHAPTER XXII4 cards
Why did Demosthenes attack Epipolae so quickly after arriving?
Demosthenes feared repeating Nicias's mistake of letting the terror of a first arrival evaporate. He judged that he, like Nicias, was most formidable to the enemy on the first day, so he sought to exploit the Syracusans' consternation immediately. He also calculated that whoever mastered the ascent to Epipolae and its camp could take the single counterwall, thereby either ending the war by taking Syracuse or leading the army home.
Chapter 50
What caused the Athenian defeat in the night battle on Epipolae?
After initial success, the Athenians advanced in disorder and were first routed by the Boeotians. In the moonlight they could not distinguish friend from enemy, and the watchword caused confusion: enemies who knew it escaped, while Athenians who failed to answer were killed. The paean sung by Dorian allies sounded nearly identical to the enemy's, spreading panic, and men collided with friends and citizens.
Chapter 50
What did Demosthenes and Nicias each argue after the Epipolae disaster?
Demosthenes urged immediate withdrawal while the sea was open and the reinforced fleet gave superiority, arguing it was better to fight the fortifiers in Attica than squander money on an unsubduable Syracuse. Nicias refused to lead off the army without an Athenian vote, fearing reports of weakness and later prosecution at home. He claimed Syracuse was worse off financially, having spent two thousand talents, and had informants promising betrayal of the city.
Chapter 50
Why did Nicias prefer to stay and besiege Syracuse?
Nicias had exact information about Syracuse's financial distress and believed the enemy would soon be worse off, since they depended on costly mercenaries and had spent two thousand talents. He also trusted messages from a pro-Athenian party urging him not to raise the siege, and had increased confidence in the fleet. He feared returning without an Athenian vote and facing a dishonourable charge, preferring a soldier's death to an unjust sentence.
Chapter 50
CHAPTER XXIII (part 1)3 cards
What happened to Eurymedon in the great sea-fight in the harbour?
The Syracusans and allies first defeated the Athenian centre, then caught Eurymedon, commander of the right wing, as he sailed out from the line toward the land to surround the enemy, trapping him in the hollow and recess of the harbour. They killed him and destroyed his accompanying ships, then chased the whole Athenian fleet ashore. Eighteen Athenian ships were taken and their men killed.
Chapter 51
How did the Syracusans try to destroy the remaining Athenian ships?
They filled an old merchant vessel with faggots and pine-wood, set it on fire, and let it drift down the wind, which blew full on the Athenians. The Athenians, alarmed for their ships, contrived means to stop it, put out the flames, and check the nearer approach of the merchantman, thus escaping the danger.
Chapter 51
What did the Syracusans do to the mouth of the Great Harbour?
After their decisive sea victory, the Syracusans sailed freely along the harbour and determined to close its mouth with boats, merchant vessels, and galleys moored broadside across it, so the Athenians could not slip out even if they wished. The mouth is nearly a mile wide. They no longer thought only of saving themselves but of preventing the enemy's escape.
Chapter 51
CHAPTER XXIII (part 2)4 cards
What does Gylippus claim will happen to Athenian ships because of their mixed crews?
Gylippus argues the Athenians will be hampered by having heavy infantry on deck contrary to custom and by embarked darters, described as born landsmen such as Acarnanians, who will not know how to discharge weapons while keeping still. He says this will confuse them and make them fight not according to their own tactics, so their numbers will gain them nothing in a confined space.
Chapter 52
How does Gylippus explain the psychological effect of the Athenians' earlier naval defeats?
Gylippus says that when men are checked in what they consider their special excellence, their whole opinion of themselves suffers more than if they had never believed in their superiority. The unexpected shock to their pride makes them give way more than their real strength warrants. He claims this is probably now the case with the Athenians, while the Syracusans' confidence has been strengthened by having conquered the best.
Chapter 52
What does Nicias do to encourage the captains before the final sea battle?
Nicias calls on the captains one by one, addressing each by his father's name, his own, and his tribe. He adjures them not to belie their personal renown or obscure their ancestors' hereditary virtues, reminding them of their country, the freest of the free, and the unfettered discretion allowed to all to live as they pleased. He adds appeals to wives, children, and national gods, not caring if they seem commonplace.
Chapter 52
Why does Hermocrates' plan to block the Athenian retreat fail to be carried out immediately?
The authorities agreed with Hermocrates that the enemy should not escape by night and that roads and passes should be guarded, but they doubted the people would obey. The people were rejoicing and at ease after the sea battle and were celebrating a festival with a sacrifice to Heracles, most of them drinking in their rapture at the victory. So Hermocrates resorted to a stratagem of his own.
Chapter 52
CHAPTER XXIII (part 3)4 cards
What does Nicias tell his troops makes a city, rather than walls or ships?
Nicias urges his soldiers not to despair, telling them to reflect that wherever they settle they are themselves a city, and that no other city in Sicily could easily resist or expel them once established. He concludes that men make the city, not walls or ships without men in them, and stresses that the safety of the march depends on their own order and resolve.
Chapter 53
How did the Athenians' night march cause the army to divide?
Nicias and Demosthenes lit many fires and led the army off by night toward the sea, away from the Syracusan guard. A panic seized the Athenians, common to large armies marching at night through enemy country. Nicias's leading division kept together and moved well ahead, while Demosthenes's division, over half the army, became separated and marched in disorder.
Chapter 53
What terms did Demosthenes's surrounded troops receive upon surrender?
Trapped in an enclosure and showered with missiles all day, Demosthenes's men capitulated on condition that no one be put to death by violence, imprisonment, or want of necessities. About six thousand surrendered, laying down all their money, which filled the hollows of four shields, and were taken to the town. Gylippus had also offered liberty to islanders who came over.
Chapter 53
What happened to Nicias and Demosthenes after the surrender?
The remaining captives were held in the quarries as the safest way to keep them, but Nicias and Demosthenes were butchered against Gylippus's will; he had hoped to take the enemy's generals to Lacedaemon as the crown of his triumph. The author notes Demosthenes was a great enemy of Sparta, while Nicias was a friend for urging the Athenians to make peace.
Chapter 53
CHAPTER XXIV (part 1)4 cards
How did the Athenians initially react to news of the Sicilian disaster?
They long disbelieved even respectable soldiers who had escaped and reported the destruction, finding it too complete to be credible. Once convinced, they grew angry with the orators who had promoted the expedition, as if they had not voted it themselves, and with oracle-reciters and soothsayers who had encouraged hopes of conquering Sicily. Facing losses with no replacements, few ships, empty treasury, and no crews, they despaired of salvation.
Chapter 54
What measures did the Athenians resolve on after the Sicilian disaster?
They determined to resist to the last: provide timber and money, equip a fleet as best they could, secure their confederates and above all Euboea, reform city finances on a more economical footing, and elect a board of elders to advise on affairs as occasion arose. Thucydides remarks that, as is the way of a democracy, in the panic of the moment they were ready to be as prudent as possible.
Chapter 54
Why did Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus each seek a Peloponnesian fleet?
Both wanted the King's tribute from their districts, which the Athenians prevented them from collecting. Tissaphernes calculated that weakening Athens would get the tribute better paid and draw Sparta into alliance with the King; he was also commanded to take Amorges, rebel bastard son of Pissuthnes, alive or dead. Pharnabazus sought a fleet for the Hellespont to cause his cities to revolt and win the King Sparta's alliance.
Chapter 54
How did Sparta respond to the Chian and Erythraean revolt request?
After Phrynis, one of the Perioeci, reported that Chios truly had the ships and greatness claimed, the Lacedaemonians allied with the Chians and Erythraeans and voted to send forty ships, since Chios already had not less than sixty. They first meant to send ten with admiral Melanchridas, but after an earthquake sent Chalcideus instead and equipped only five in Laconia.
Chapter 54
CHAPTER XXIV (part 2)4 cards
What were the terms of the King-Lacedaemonian alliance regarding peace and revolt?
The King and the Lacedaemonians and their allies were to carry on the war against Athens jointly, and neither could make peace with the Athenians without the other's agreement. If any state revolted from the King, it would be treated as an enemy by the Lacedaemonians and their allies; likewise, any revolt from the Lacedaemonians would make that state an enemy of the King.
Chapter 55
What happened at Samos when the commons rose against the upper classes?
The Samian commons, working with some Athenians present in three ships, rose against the upper classes. They put to death about two hundred in all and banished four hundred more, then took their land and houses. The Athenians decreed Samos independent, sure of its fidelity, and the commons governed thereafter, excluding the landholders from all share in affairs and forbidding intermarriage between the two groups.
Chapter 55
Why did Phrynichus refuse to fight the approaching Peloponnesian fleet at Miletus?
Phrynichus, receiving precise intelligence of the fleet from Leros, flatly refused to stay or let others stay and fight. He argued it was no disgrace for an Athenian fleet to retreat when it suited them, but worse to be beaten and expose the city to serious danger after its recent misfortunes. He had the wounded, troops, and stores taken aboard and sailed off to Samos that evening.
Chapter 55
How did the Chians' revolt fare, and what does Thucydides say of their character?
The Chians revolted only after securing numerous gallant allies and perceiving Athens' desperate state after the Sicilian disaster. Thucydides says that after the Lacedaemonians, the Chians alone knew how to be wise in prosperity and ordered their city more securely as it grew. Yet the Athenians defeated them in three battles and ravaged their previously uninjured country, blockading them by sea and land.
Chapter 55
CHAPTER XXIV (part 3)3 cards
Why did Lichas object to the treaties with Tissaphernes?
Lichas argued that neither the treaty of Chalcideus nor that of Therimenes could stand. He found it monstrous that the King claimed all the territory formerly ruled by himself or his ancestors, since this would put the islands, Thessaly, Locris, and everything as far as Boeotia back under subjection, and would give the Hellenes a Median master instead of liberty.
Chapter 56
What happened to the Chian slaves during the Athenian siege?
Chios had more slaves than any city except Lacedaemon, and they were punished more rigorously because of their numbers. When the Athenian armament established a fortified position on the island, most of them immediately deserted to the enemy, and through their knowledge of the country they did the greatest mischief to the Chians.
Chapter 56
How did the sea-fight near Syme unfold for Charminus?
Charminus, watching for the twenty-seven Peloponnesian ships, mistook the straggling left wing for the expected squadron and attacked with part of his twenty vessels, sinking three and disabling others. Then the main Peloponnesian fleet appeared and surrounded him. The Athenians fled, losing six ships, and escaped to Teutlussa and then Halicarnassus.
Chapter 56
CHAPTER XXV (part 1)4 cards
Why did Alcibiades advise Tissaphernes to cut Peloponnesian pay and not end the war quickly?
Alcibiades, now advising Tissaphernes, reduced pay from an Attic drachma to three obols a day, paid irregularly. He urged Tissaphernes not to hurry to end the war or bring up the Phoenician fleet, but to let the two sides wear each other out, keeping land and sea power divided so the King could call in one against the other. The author notes Alcibiades did this partly to engineer his own recall to Athens.
Chapter 57
Why did Phrynichus oppose Alcibiades' oligarchic proposals at Samos?
Phrynichus, still general, thought Alcibiades cared no more for oligarchy than democracy and only sought to be recalled. He argued it was not the King's interest to side with untrusted Athenians when he could befriend the Peloponnesians, and that the allies would never prefer servitude under either constitution to the freedom they already had. He also believed the 'better classes' would prove as oppressive as the commons.
Chapter 57
How did Phrynichus turn his exposure to Alcibiades to his own advantage?
Phrynichus secretly wrote to the Spartan admiral Astyochus denouncing Alcibiades, but Astyochus revealed the letter to Alcibiades and Tissaphernes. When Alcibiades demanded Phrynichus be put to death, Phrynichus anticipated the arriving letter by warning the army that the enemy meant to attack unfortified Samos, so the camp was fortified sooner than it otherwise would have been. Alcibiades' later letter then gained no credit.
Chapter 57
What did the envoys from Samos propose at Athens, and what did the multitude at Samos think?
The club at Samos sent Pisander and others to Athens to negotiate Alcibiades' restoration and the abolition of the democracy, hoping to make Tissaphernes a friend. At Samos the emissaries openly told the armament the King would provide money if Alcibiades returned and the democracy were abolished. The multitude were at first irritated but kept quiet by the prospect of pay from the King.
Chapter 57
CHAPTER XXV (part 2)4 cards
What did the treaty between Sparta and Tissaphernes stipulate about the King's Asian territory?
The treaty, concluded in the plain of the Maeander, provided that the King's country in Asia should belong to the King and that he should treat it as he pleased. The Lacedaemonians and their allies pledged not to invade or injure it, and each side was bound to prevent any violation of the other's territory.
Chapter 58
What were the terms for paying the fleet under the Spartan-Persian treaty?
Tissaphernes was to pay the ships present until the King's vessels arrived. After that, the Lacedaemonians and allies could pay their own ships if they wished, or continue receiving Tissaphernes' pay, which they would have to repay at the end of the war.
Chapter 58
How did the oligarchic conspirators in Athens seize power and silence opposition?
They assassinated popular leaders like Androcles, publicly claimed only five thousand should share in government while the real authors ruled, and had speakers pre-approved. Fear and the exaggerated belief in the conspirators' numbers cowed the people, and opponents were quietly killed with no search for the murderers.
Chapter 58
What did the Four Hundred do after the assembly ratified the new constitution?
The assembly ratified the constitution without a single opposing voice and was dissolved. The Four Hundred then entered the council chamber, backed by armed accomplices posted near the walls and by Andrians, Tenians, Carystians, and Aeginetan settlers, ready to seize arms and suppress any opposition.
Chapter 58
CHAPTER XXV (part 3)3 cards
What oath did Thrasybulus and Thrasyllus bind the soldiers at Samos to?
They bound all the soldiers, and the oligarchical party especially, by the most tremendous oaths to accept a democratic government, to remain united, to prosecute the war actively against the Peloponnesians, to be enemies of the Four Hundred, and to hold no communication with them. All Samians of full age swore the same oath, and the soldiers shared their affairs and dangers with the Samians.
Chapter 59
How did the army at Samos justify not losing heart after the city revolted from them?
They argued the seceding party was smaller and poorer in resources. They had the whole fleet, could compel allied cities to supply money, and held Samos, a city that had once nearly deprived Athens of command of the sea. With the fleet they could better provision themselves than the home government, and could exclude Piraeus from the sea more easily than be excluded.
Chapter 59
Why did the Peloponnesian fleet finally decide to fight a decisive naval battle?
The crews murmured that Astyochus and Tissaphernes were ruining their cause: Astyochus kept waiting for a Phoenician fleet that barely existed, and Tissaphernes paid irregularly and incompletely. The Syracusans were most urgent. Learning of the disturbance at Samos, they put to sea with one hundred and ten ships and ordered the Milesians to move by land on Mycale.
Chapter 59
CHAPTER XXVI (part 1)4 cards
Why did the Peloponnesians send Clearchus with forty ships to Pharnabazus?
They sent Clearchus, son of Ramphias, with forty ships to Pharnabazus because they had refused to fight the united Athenian fleet, doubted they could match it, and lacked money for so many ships, especially since Tissaphernes paid badly. Pharnabazus invited them and promised pay, and Byzantium offered to revolt. A storm drove most of the ships to Delos and back to Miletus; ten under Helixus reached the Hellespont and caused Byzantium's revolt.
Chapter 60
Why did Thrasybulus and the Samian army recall Alcibiades?
Thrasybulus, who had firmly resolved to recall Alcibiades since changing the government, persuaded the soldiery in assembly to vote for his recall and amnesty. The chiefs sailed to Tissaphernes and brought Alcibiades to Samos, convinced their only chance of salvation lay in his bringing Tissaphernes over from the Peloponnesians to the Athenian side. The assembly then elected him general alongside the existing commanders.
Chapter 60
How did Alcibiades prevent the Samian fleet from sailing against Piraeus?
When the Athenians at Samos wanted to sail against their own countrymen, Alcibiades stopped them, though no one else could have held back the multitude. Thucydides calls this the first and most signal service he did the state, since Ionia and the Hellespont would otherwise have fallen to the enemy. He answered the envoys himself: he accepted the Five Thousand but demanded the Four Hundred be deposed and the Council of Five Hundred restored.
Chapter 60
What does Thucydides think was Tissaphernes' intention at Aspendus?
Thucydides says it seems evident Tissaphernes did not bring the Phoenician fleet because he wished to wear out and paralyse the Hellenic forces, wasting their strength through the time lost on his journey and keeping the two sides evenly balanced. Had he wished to end the war, he could have, likely giving victory to the Lacedaemonians. Thucydides notes 147 Phoenician ships reached Aspendus, and others gave different explanations.
Chapter 60
CHAPTER XXVI (part 2)4 cards
What did the heavy infantry in Piraeus do to the fortification in Eetionia?
After Theramenes agreed it was best, the heavy infantry and many Piraeus residents climbed onto the fortification and began demolishing it, calling for all who wished the Five Thousand to govern instead of the Four Hundred. The next day they released their prisoner Alexicles and assembled in the theatre of Dionysus, deciding to march into the city.
Chapter 61
Why did the Four Hundred neither want the Five Thousand to exist nor be known not to exist?
Thucydides explains the Four Hundred thought sharing power with so many partners would be outright democracy, while keeping the Five Thousand a mystery would make the people afraid of one another. The crowd at Piraeus likewise used the name 'Five Thousand' rather than saying 'the commons,' fearing some of them might really exist.
Chapter 61
What happened to the Athenian fleet at Eretria?
The Athenians put to sea hastily with untrained crews because Euboea was vital once Attica was closed to them. The Eretrians ensured no food was for sale so the sailors were away buying dinner, and a signal from Eretria told Agesandridas when to sail. The Athenians were routed, losing twenty-two ships; those fleeing into Eretria were butchered by its inhabitants.
Chapter 61
How did the news from Euboea affect Athens and its government?
Thucydides calls the panic unprecedented, worse than Sicily, since they lost their fleet and Euboea, worth more than Attica. Expecting an attack on Piraeus, they manned twenty ships, deposed the Four Hundred, and handed government to the Five Thousand — all who furnished a suit of armour. The author argues this first constitution was the best government Athens enjoyed in his time.
Chapter 61
CHAPTER XXVI (part 3)4 cards
What did the Athenians do after their naval victory at Cynossema?
After defeating the enemy and losing fifteen of their own ships, the Athenians set up a trophy on Point Cynossema, secured the wrecks, and restored the enemy's dead under truce. They then sent a galley to Athens with news of the victory, which, coming after the disasters at Euboea and amid revolution at Athens, gave the Athenians fresh courage.
Chapter 62
How did the Athenians at Sestos follow up their victory?
On the fourth day after the sea-fight, the Athenians at Sestos hastily refitted their ships and sailed against Cyzicus, which had revolted. Off Harpagium and Priapus they sighted and captured the eight vessels from Byzantium, routed the troops on shore, then recovered the unfortified town of Cyzicus and levied money from its citizens.
Chapter 62
What did Alcibiades report on returning to Samos from Caunus and Phaselis?
Alcibiades returned with his thirteen ships and reported that he had prevented the Phoenician fleet from joining the Peloponnesians and had made Tissaphernes more friendly to the Athenians. He then manned nine more ships, levied large sums from the Halicarnassians, fortified Cos, placed a governor there, and sailed back to Samos as autumn approached.
Chapter 62
Why did the Antandrians expel the Persian garrison from their citadel?
The Antandrians, of Aeolic extraction, feared Arsaces might harm them after he treacherously killed the Delian settlers at Atramyttium, luring them from their town as friends and having them shot down at dinner. As Arsaces also laid burdens on them too heavy to bear, they conveyed infantry from Abydos across Mount Ida and expelled his garrison.
Chapter 62
Source and licence
Text used: Project Gutenberg eBook #7142 (Public domain in the United States). Generated from the full text; cards paraphrase the source.
Version: Public domain edition. Retrieved 2026-10-25. Cards reviewed 2026-10-25.
These cards paraphrase the text for study. They are not a substitute for reading the book, and they do not reproduce long passages.
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