Athens, How I love Thee 2
With the defeat of Thebes, Athenian hegemony was once more assured. Cimon, as leader of the victorious Athenian army, was well received and the next year was elected Polemarch Archon while Lysicaeum, as the leader of the far less successful northern attack, was demoted. Also praised was Pelaemon, who, as the war’s overall strategist, had appeared at the General Assembly reading out notices of Athenian victories. He was elected Basileus Archon while Pericles was made Eponymous Archon. This trio, although very different, was to rule Athens for the next ten years. Athens, however, had earned many enemies. Persia, ruler of Asia, saw her toeholds in Ionia a grave threat and all the while coveted the Ionian cities that were so wealthy. Sparta, meanwhile, saw her dominance as a threat to stability. Even her own empire, Corinth, Plataea, Aegina and the other cities subdued by force of arms, all of them sought independence. Their government was varied- some had kings, others oligarchies and yet more were democracies. There was no uniformity and it was this that worried the Athenian triumvirate, especially Pelaemon who sought to weld the Athenian empire into a single, strong entity. In November 450 Pericles delivered his famous Funeral Oration, given at the mass funeral of Athens’s war dead. It was unique as it was the only speech of his to be written down as he said it. In it he said that the people of Athens had a duty to preserve freedom and to liberate Greeks from the tyranny of foreign kings and oligarchs.
This message was carried throughout Athenian public policy for years, the idea of revolution inspired by Athens herself. First off, the empire was reformed. The oligarchies and kingdoms were toppled and replaced with democracies. These had the same structure as that of Athens, except there was no military branch of government. Also, three of the nine Archons were elected in Athens. In charge of the city’s military would be a junior Athenian general who would be appointed by the board of ten elected generals. Little could be done to stop this- those in government were all exiled, mostly to Macedon and Thrace although some fled to Persia. This process was ongoing for nearly a year, by 449 however it was complete.
The backlash was enormous. The King of Persia was aghast at the idea of democracies literally on his doorstep. He immediately amassed his armies preparing for an invasion of Ionia. He informed the Athenians that if they did not rescind their decision there would be war. Pericles refused, and so the Third Persian war began.
It began with the siege of Miletus. 10,000 Persians besieged the city with its garrison of 1,000 citizens and 200 Athenians. The city would hold out for nearly a year with naval resupply. Meanwhile, the Athenian navy fought the Persian one throughout the Mediterranean. Pelaemon led a force of 200 triremes in an attack on Cyprus. They met with 300 Persian ships at Salamis and defeated them, scattering them and sinking twenty. They landed on Cyprus and overthrew the Satrap, proclaiming a democracy. The Persian fleet regrouped and launched an attack on Crete which saw the island occupied for two years. In 448 the Persian king Artaxerxes petitioned Sparta to declare war on Athens. At first they were reluctant, yet when Artaxerxes promised gold and naval aid they agreed. Sparta declared war on Athens as did the Peloponnesian League. The city of Argos, frightened by its age-old enemy, aligned herself with Athens. A Spartan army led by King Pleistoanax marched north to Argos. The king had been recalled on the orders of the Delphic oracle despite evidence of treason, having accepted a ten talent bribe in the first Peloponnesian War from Pericles. His 5,000 hoplites reached Argos and met the Argives in battle. The result was a Spartan victory yet they could did not take Argos, instead marching on Corinth, which was well defended yet hostile to Athenian sovereignty.
In response, Lysicaeum with 6,000 hoplites left Athens. They stopped at Megara where 2,000 allies from Boeotia and Attica arrived. This force then moved south making for Corinth. They met the Spartans north of the city, which had opened its gates to them. The battle of Corinth saw the cataclysmic defeat of Athens. Lysicaeum lost 1,000 men and 1,500 were captured. He himself barely escaped with his life and was summarily ostracised. The Spartans marched north, where Plataea opened its gates to them. Thebes sent 1,000 hoplites to help them and the Spartans advanced through Attica. Panic gripped Athens- Pericles once more attempted bribery, offering Pleistoanax fifty talents if he would turn back. The king refused, however, conscious of the fact that the ephors (Spartan magistrates) were watching him constantly. He reached Athens in April, 447. Cimon, who had not led an army for years, was called upon to command the defence. He ordered every able-bodied Athenian over the age of twenty five to present himself at the Agora, including slaves. Some 35,000 men presented themselves. Nearly a three thousand were dismissed when it became apparent they were younger than twenty five yet the remaining force as equipped as best as could be managed and given rudimentary training. The Spartans, meanwhile, set in for a siege. They planned to make an attack on the Long Walls, hoping to catch the Athenians off guard. They tied ropes together ad made grappling-hooks. This failed, as the Athenians caught the hooks and threw them back. With assault an impossibility (siegecraft was still primitive) Pleistoanax settled in for a siege. He could not afford to wait, however. His supply lines were stretched and the Athenians had burned Attica before retreating behind the walls. Furthermore, Argos had recovered somewhat and was organising raids on Spartan lands. With no significant forces in the Peloponnese there was little they could do.
Pericles addressed the people, telling them not to despair but to strengthen their resolve and to fight all the harder for their freedom. Throughout the siege, ships from the empire re-supplied the city- there were no rebellions thankfully as Athenian garrisons retained control. Pelaemon informed the Assembly that he was returning with his men, yet instead they voted to order him to attack Sparta herself. They hoped this knockout blow would destroy Sparta’s capacity to fight and force a surrender. In January 446 Pelaemon disembarked 6,000 hoplites in Lacedaemon. They marched on Sparta, which was little prepared. A force of some 1,000 boys and helots faced them at Laconia yet these were brushed aside almost contemptuously. Sparta was defended by boys, slaves and old men. The battle was fierce yet defeat was inevitable. Sparta was burnt. A detachment was sent to Messinia which erupted in celebration. Their old masters were defeated- after centuries of slavery they were free. They jubilantly declared a democracy and entered the Delian League. Meanwhile, to the east, not two stones were left on top of each other in Sparta.
When word reached King Pleistoanax he flew into a rage. He ordered a general assault on Athens. His 7,000 soldiers stormed the walls, and managed to enter Piraeus. They were unable to seize the docks however, and fierce fighting erupted. The Athenians contested every street, gradually retreating down the Long Walls until they had their backs to Athens proper. Cimon led the defence personally, with Pericles taking up weapons as well although he delegated command to Cimon. All Athenians defended the city and finally the Spartans were halted. They fought all night, the Spartans for revenge, the Athenians for their very existence. In the early hours of the morning Pleistoanax called off the attack. Some 3,000 Spartans and Boeotians lay dead. Nearly 5,000 Athenians had been killed, yet the city survived. Pleistoanax realised his position was impossible, and sued for peace. He and two bodyguards entered the city and addressed the General Assembly. Pericles was still wearing his blood-stained armour and Cimon was nursing an arm wound. The Assembly was not feeling generous. Their offer was simple- the Spartan army would be spared so long as their swore never to take up arms against Athens or her allies, and that they would never set foot in Attica again. They also demanded that Pleistoanax renounce his title of King and that he never set foot in Athens, Sparta or Thebes ever again. He was in no place to object. He agreed, and returned to camp. It was there that less than an hour later he killed himself. When the Athenians came to collect the Spartan’s arms many refused. Several Athenians were killed and a second battle began. It was chaotic yet the Athenians managed to form ranks and surround the Spartans. The Boeotians surrendered yet the Spartans fought on. The battle raged for twelve hours during which thousands perished. Finally, the Spartans were wiped out.
The battle of Attica had seen massive losses on both sides- 8,000 Athenians and 6,000 Spartans/Boeotians. They were all cremated on one night in March where the skies were red for two solid days. They were all buried outside the Long Walls, Spartan and Attican alike. The war had pushed both sides to the limit, yet Athens’s greater manpower and navy had given her victory. When Pelaemon returned he was greeted as a hero, yet when he saw the thousands of burned houses he wept. In 445 he, Pericles and Cimon were voted in as Archons once more.
The war’s aftermath saw Athens triumphant on every front. She sent a detachment of 2,000 to Thebes which was all-but destroyed, as was Corinth. It was unanimously decided that neither of these cities should ever be trusted again. Corinth was rebuilt as a colony yet Thebes was left desolate. New Leagues were formed- the Peloponnesian (led by Argos) the Lacedaemon (led by Messinia) the Boeotian (led by Plataea) and the Delphic League which contained most of Athens’s allies including the city herself. The Delian League was greatly expanded and Crete was reconquered.
Persia, however, remained hostile. Her navy was still in the Aegean, and in June of 445 it defeated a force of fifty Athenians ships sailing to Miletus, which had fallen the previous year. The Athenian people sent the great diplomat Callias to Ephesus where King Artaxerxes was at that time. The terms they offered were generous- Miletus, Halaricanassus and Pergamum would be handed over to Persia and Cyprus returned so long as Crete was returned to Athens and Persia promised never to interfere in the affairs of Greeks again. Artaxerxes, fully aware that his empire was already overstretched, agreed and peace was made.
The death of Cimon in 444 was much mourned, his body was carried through the streets on his shield by the other five Archons. He was cremated and his ashes buried outside the Long Walls with a bronze plaque listing his achievements. His funeral served as a funeral for all those killed in the Peloponnesian war. Pericles delivered a grand speech in which he praised all those who loved freedom and were willing to lay down their lives for others. A new temple to Nike was built on the Acropolis alongside the Parthenon. It was not as large yet was adorned with the names of all those killed in the war. A great statue of the Goddess stood next to her sister Cratos (strength) and Bia (force). These three would be the greatest symbols of the Athenian democracy.
By 444 BC a rough status quo had developed. There was Athens, leader of the Hellenic world, and then Persia, Queen of Asia. To the west were the cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily. These had a proud tradition of independence and formed their own leagues and alliances. The city of Syracuse, having thrown off its tyrants in 465 BC was aligned with Athens, accepting a garrison but not going so far as to join the Delian League. This alarmed other cities who formed the Sicilian League. This League included most of Greek Sicily and southern Italy. These alliances were short-lived an circumstantial yet they were almost all defensive alliances against Athens. In Athens herself, debate raged as to whether they should make an attempt to take these cities. It was eventually decided that they should not, and that instead Athens should cultivate good relations with them. When, however, it became apparent that few cities are receptive of diplomacy, it was decided to seek allies elsewhere. The Republic of Carthage seemed a likely candidate, and the diplomat Callias was sent to Carthage to negotiate terms. In it, an alliance was proclaimed between Carthage, Athens and their allies. The Carthaginians, seeing Athens’s great power, sought to profit from this by opening the Aegean to their trade. Soon trade between Carthage and Athens was booming. However, also included in the treaty was the provision for the division of Sicily. The Athenians had been unwilling to devote resources to any military expedition to the west yet when the Carthaginians insisted they gave in and agreed to the terms.
In March 442 BC the Athenian general Thucydides landed in Syracuse with 6,000 men and a fleet of 100 ships. He made a speech to the city Assembly, where he informed them that if Syracuse did not join the Delian League he would be forced to impose martial law. The Assembly voted themselves out of existence and Thucydides was made governor-general for the duration of the campaign. The capitulation of Syracuse sent shockwaves through Sicily and Magna Graecia. The Athenian army split in two, with Thucydides taking 3,000 men west and his subordinate taking 3,000 north. Meanwhile, the Carthaginians moved along the north coast and the southern coast. After two months the two forces met in the centre of the island. The two generals signed a treaty that recognised each others gains and they erected a monument announcing the treaty and the peace it created. The two armies then returned to their respective spheres of influence. The seizure of Sicily was met with little trouble in Greece proper but in Italy the storm that ensued would see the cities there one by one fall to tyrants as democracies were subverted and oligarchies fell from power. One- Tarentum, created the Sacred League that united most of southern Italy. They had their treasury in Neapoli and a sizeable navy was maintained. This counter-balance to Athens was to last nearly one hundred years.
Seeking allies in the north Athens sent out feelers to the Kingdom of Macedon under King Perdiccas II who consolidated his rule over the outlying Macedonian tribes with Athenian help. His kingdom had been wracked by a succession crises and independent warlords and chieftains had set themselves up in the north- in 443 the king controlled little more than Pella and its surroundings. With Athenian gold he hired Thracian mercenaries and reformed his army. He adopted the phalanx yet used great 18 ft. pikes and bucklers instead of the shorter Greek spears and hoplon shield. He also kept a heavy cavalry force and using a combined arms strategy he extended his rule through Macedon once more and then enlarged the kingdom to the north and the east, raiding north into Thrace and smashing any lasting Persian influence there that had lingered on since the campaigns of Darius the Great. A string of subordinate tribes and kingdoms were set up north and west into Illyria making Macedon the most powerful kingdom in the area. In return, Perdiccas promised to supply soldiers to Athens, and his heavy cavalry would come particularly in handy. He also paid a small tribute in gold which was mined in the mountains north of Pella.
In 442 BC Pericles announced that he would not run for Archon the following year. The public was filled with grief yet they allowed the 53 year old to leave with dignity. He retired to his property north of the city where he built his new home on a hill that overlooked the city. From here he wrote and made announcements advising the people and government, although he often protested his retirement when pressed. Of the original triumvirate only Pelaemon remained. He formed a political alliance with Thucydides, who was elected Polemarch in 441 (Pelaemon was elected Eponymous Archon). These two were generals both, yet they commanded enormous respect from all Athenians. Pelaemon, aged 37 (b. 479 BC) had created the Athenian empire as it was then and had defeated the Spartans in battle. Thucydides had conquered Sicily and been a general in the Boeotian War.
By 440 BC Messinia, newly liberated from Spartan tyranny, had become more and more anti-Athenian. One man, Teneus, an orator and writer delivered grand speeches to the General Assembly lambasting Athenian imperialism, stating that Athens would take Sparta’s place, and that they cared not for the freedom of Greeks but only their own gain. To this the Athenian delegates responded that the General Assembly of Athens held the liberty of all Greeks to be of utmost import and that Messinia was all the better for Athenian intervention. One of them, Demostacras, raised a piece of rubble, saying that it was Athenian metal that had burned Sparta and that the Athenian people supported Messina in her pursuit of freedom. The people were not convinced- they saw the annual contribution to the Delian League a new form of servitude and demanded that they leave the Delian League. A vote was held and the overwhelming majority voted to leave Athens. They declared independence and the Lacedaemon League was welded together as an alliance of twelve city-states that opposed Athens. The Athenians, alarmed, voted in favour of war with the League. Thucydides led 6,000 hoplites south through the Peloponnese where he demonstrated Athens’s power to all who may have considered wavering. Meanwhile, a force of 500 Athenian ships sailed around Greece, not for any military purpose but to demonstrate Athens's might. When the army reached Lacedaemon they ravaged the country, burning the unharvested crops in the fields. They then marched on Messinia in Spring 439 BC. They met the Lacedaemons in battle, 6,000 Athenians, Boeotians and Argives against 4,000 Lacedaemons. The battle lasted all day, the Lacedaemons fighting with tragic desperation. Finally the Athenians broke through and routed the Lacedaemons. The League surrendered, except for Messinia. She held out and was besieged. She had re-built her walls and was thus hard to take, yet the Athenians had time. Resupplied by her fleet the army stayed in the field through winter until the city finally surrendered. In a twist of irony, her populace was sold into slavery, mostly to Ionia and Egypt. The city was left a ruin as a reminder to Lacedaemons that all who opposed Athens were destroyed. It seemed that with the fall of Messinia and Sparta Athens had destroyed all Lacedaemon.
In Athens herself politics was changing. For twenty years the city had been under the thumb of various politicians and alliances. These men, through the oversight of the people and the Assembly, were generally very competent and it seemed that this political compromise between all-out democracy and Republicanism was working. There was, however, still the fear that the Archons may grow too powerful, that they may some day desire to take control of Athens entirely. No one dared to call Pericles an oligarch or a tyrant, he was far too respected, yet Pelaemon had the whiff of authoritarianism about him. sure, he was competent and popular, yet he was a soldier, and had always campaigned for the harshest treatment of their enemies. People feared he may become another Cimon who, although respected, was by no means popular. In 439 BC therefore the office of Auditor was created. This was in truth a board of five Auditors who would oversee the Archons, and were picked by lot from the general populace. These in turn were supervised by the Council of 500 (the legislative branch of the Athenian government, picked by lot from a pool of volunteers over the age of 30). The Auditors had the power to veto the Archons yet the Council of 500 could veto any decision by the Auditors.
By 438 the reconstruction of Athens was underway. With an influx of population from Attica the city had swelled to an enormous size of 60,000 (inc. slaves etc.) of whom 45,000 were citizens (rather than resident aliens, who could only gain citizenship by act of the Popular Tribunal). All these had to be provided with houses and infrastructure. Seven new roads were built which emanated in every direction and converged on the Acropolis. The Agora was enlarged and the General Assembly was enlarged and refurbished so that it could fit the 6000 Assembly members and 2,000 observers as well as the Council of 500 and the Archons, generals etc. who would also be present. Piraeus was rebuilt along a gridiron pattern and it extended seawards as well as towards Athens along the corridor provided by the Long Walls. Athens too grew towards the sea and the old wall to Phalerum was strengthened to protect the outgrowth that had spilled outside the city walls.
The Persian Empire, meanwhile, was in dire straits. King Artaxerxes was ageing and cracks were beginning to show in the Royal edifice. Armed conflicts raged in Ionia, with armed uprisings, and in Egypt, where pretender Pharaohs cropped up almost annually. In the east, meanwhile, Bactria and Indus grew yet more restless as the empire contracted its hold on them and tribute flowed less often, drying up in some cases. In 434 BC the west coast of Anatolia rose up. The cities of Miletus, Ephesus, Sardis and Halaricarnassus all rose up almost simultaneously while the local satrap, a hellenised Persian Parnasses claimed the title of king and declared independence. Battle raged across Asia as Persian royal armies marched west to meet the Satrap’s forces, who were also engaged in the secessionist Greeks. Athens seized the initiative and occupied Pergamum, Miletus and Ephesus as well as several other coastal cities, admitting them into the Delian League in a matter of weeks. Athens then sent financial aid to Parnasses, hoping that his rebellion would destroy Persian influence in Asia Minor. In August 433 BC a junior general called Telesius proposed to the General Assembly a naval attack on Egypt. This drew great support, as he provided the evidence of the repeated uprisings against Persia as well as the fact that Persian garrisons had been depleted as forces were shifted north. Thucydides, who was Polemarch Archon for that year, made a counter-argument saying that if there should be a military expedition against Persia it should be against the shipyards of Sidon and Tyre. He claimed that destroying these sites would cripple Persia’s navy and, especially in the case of Tyre, give Athens a toehold in the levant.
The debate raged for three weeks until Pelaemon proposed that while the main bulk of Athenian forces attack Egypt a small diversionary force attack Sidon and Tyre. This was agreed on, with a massive majority vote. In September the fleet set off from Piraeus before splitting and heading to its two targets. The attack on Egypt consumed 500 ships and 15,000 men, the largest force yet fielded by the Athenian democracy. It was comprised of Athenians, Atticans, Ionians and Argives with a few Cretans and Rhodesians. The ships were all Athenians, more than half the total fleet. this force was further subdivided- three wings, the centre carried the main force of the army while the two others flanked it. they were headed for the Egyptian Delta around Naukratis, the old Greek colony. They arrived there after a weeks sailing and disembarked without trouble. They then proceeded south at breakneck speed, reaching Memphis after two weeks. Word had reached the satrap of the Greek advance and he had laid up supplies for his garrison of 8,000. The Athenians surrounded the city and dug trenches and built walls to contain the defenders. It was here that general Telesius displayed his genius, for he dug trenches at angels to the walls so that the Persians never got a clear shot at the Greeks inside. Soon in this fashion they reached the walls and here they began chipping away at the wall with picks and spades. This proved ineffective, so they withdrew and tried again, this time using battering rams. These were somewhat more effective, destroying the stone facing and damaging the wall structure beneath yet the walls withstood. Growing worried at his lack of progress, Telesius then opted for an all-out assault. Ladders were prepared and grappling hooks made. The Greeks attacked at night and during a storm where the northerly winds brought in a chill wind that forced the sentries to huddle around their fires. They gave little warning and soon were on the walls in force. Desperate fighting broke out and for three hours things appeared to be in the balance. Finally, however, the Persians used their light spears and slings to pick the Greeks off one by one and forced them back under a rain of missiles. Several hundred were killed on both sides yet the Persian fared the worse. Telesius then lay in for a siege, and it was then that word reached him of the attack on Sidon and Tyre. Both city’s docks had been burned and most of the Persian fleet sunk. Sidon had been damaged extensively and Tyre was occupied by a force commanded by Thucydides and 3,000 Athenians. The Persian satrap was attempting to lay siege yet his attempts were being thwarted.
Gaining heart from this, he resolved himself once more to an attack and in the small hours of the morning a second assault was waged. This time the Greeks burst through, scattering the Persians and forcing them back through the narrow streets. Many Greeks were killed in narrow streets yet they forced the Persian back before forcing them out of the city or to surrender. Memphis had been taken in a month.
The Persian empire, shocked by these assaults, was sent reeling. Artaxerxes, nearing sixty, sent letters to Pericles begging him to make peace. He had messaged Pericles because he was the only Athenian politician he respected. Pericles drew himself out of retirement once more and addressed the General assembly. His speech was listened to by all, for the people had missed his orations. He urged them to make peace and keep their gains. The people heeded this respected man and authorise Callias to go to Susa to bargain for peace. The two parties did not meet in Susa, however, but in Jerusalem where the client king of Judea entertained the Athenians who was impressed by the large temple yet somewhat disappointed by its lack of decoration. The peace talks proceeded for three weeks after which terms were agreed. Athens would sell Tyre back to Persia for 4,000 talents and in return Athens would be granted the right to settle Naukratis and the Egyptian coastline. Egypt was also set up as an independent kingdom, a client of Athens but paying tribute to Persia. In return for all this, Athens agreed to withdraw all support for Parnasses, whose rebellion floundered two months later leading to the Satrap’s capture and execution. Persia and Athens also signed a treaty of non-aggression effective for thirty years. On negotiating these terms Callias was proclaimed a hero and he, Thucydides and Pelaemon were elected Archons for 430 BC.
On 23rd March 428 BC a vote was held among the general citizen populace of Athens. Once all votes were counted, the result was overwhelming. Three days later the Hellenistic Democracy was announced. All the cities contained in the Delian, Boeotian, Delphic, Lacedaemon and Peloponnesian Leagues were admitted without reference. The plan was to have a pan-hellen democracy that would meet at Corinth. Each city would sent three delegates who would then elect generals and magistrates. Each city would remain autonomous yet all military decisions would be made by the Assembly. Each city was given three seats, except for Athens who spoke for all her empire and thereby gained 33 seats. The cities had little choice, Athens had complete hegemony over them. There was some belated resistance yet it was crushed. In 424 BC the first Panhellenic Assembly was held in a newly built auditorium. The delegates voted to have as their Archons: Pericles of Athens, Lysimachus of Rhodes, Poleamon of Syracuse and Telos of Corfu plus the six revolving Archons, of whom at least three were Athenian at any one time. This Athenian-controlled state extended her empire across the entire Greek world, from the Crimea to the Nile, from Syracuse to Byzantium.
Pericles’s triumphant return to politics in 424 would see the fulfilment of a lifetime’s work. Now in his early seventies however his talents were failing him. His voice became weak and the burdens of state weighed down on him. after only three months he begged the Assembly to grant him leave of absence. This request was rejected and he was ordered to serve out the rest of his term. In August 423 he collapsed in his Athenian home. He was carried to one of the numerous hospitals that bore his name (part of the massive extension of healthcare in Athens undertaken in the 440s). He made a partial recovery yet his speech was slurred and he was given to mood swings. Once more he begged that he leave his post. He was once again turned down- the Archons of Athens were afraid that without Pericles, a figurehead that all of Greece respected, the Panhellenic League would collapse. From then on he conducted all business from his coach. He was occasionally carried out to address the Assembly in his weak, shaky voice yet he rarely finished and often had to have an aide finish his sentences.
On one particularly chill day he was left by an inattentive slave too far from the fire and he took a chill. He was taken to his bed and there his case deteriorated. He was visited by Pelaemon and Thucydides as well as the other Archons of Athens and several Panhellenic dignitaries. It was there that he confided to them all that Cimon was the only political rival he ever truly respected. He then said his now famous last words: “I hear posterity calling me.” and died. He was buried outside the Long Walls in a grand mausoleum and the funeral way was lined with thousands of grieving Greeks. The event was attended by almost every leader of the Greek world and the pallbearers were the Archons of the Panhellenic League. The funeral orations were delivered by Pelaemon and Lysimachus, Basileus Archon of Athens and the Eponymous Archon of the Panhellenic League respectively.
The death of Pericles saw Greece once more thrown into political turmoil. It had seemed that so long as the old statesman lived there would be no political crises, for he could always sort it out through his force of personality. Now Pelaemon found himself alone, his mentor gone. The Panhellenic League began to deteriorate. Factions formed between the pro-Athenian and anti-Athenian parties. Most worryingly for Athens, several members of the Delian League found themselves in the latter camp. In 422 the split was definite- finally on the first day of the new session, after the elections of December 422 March 3rd) several members refused to take their seats. Eighteen representatives mostly from the Peloponnese and Macedon abstained from the proceedings. No action was taken against them and soon others joined them. Soon the total number of sitting Representatives was reduced from 300 to 196. The rest convened on the ruins of Megara, the city burnt by Athens decades earlier. Here they announced the formation of the Sacred League. The Sicilian cities (including Syracuse) the Thracian, Macedonian, Thessalian, Boeotian and Peloponnesian cities predominated, although Argos and Corinth remained Athenian. Their secession spelled the end of the Panhellenic League- Pelaemon dissolved it later that year and instead simply extended the fashion of colonial government that administered the Athenian Empire. War had begun.
The Panhellenic War was the most brutal war of the 4th century BC, pitting two massive forces against each other in a brutal death match for control over the Greek world. The Sacred League held its temporary capital at Delphi before moving it to Syracuse out of expedience. In April 423 troops were raised on both sides, but little action took place. Athens took on supplies for a siege and began repairing her walls. The fleet was also readied for an attack- some 600 ships were mustered; almost 350 had deserted. In May an Athenian army under the command of Thucydides marched into the Peloponnese. He had 4,000 hoplites and some cavalry. He was met with little resistance, the Peloponnesians burned everything in their path. Finally they besieged Pylos for three months before lifting the siege and moving on. The army then ravaged the countryside, despoiling the site of Sparta and the ruins of Messinia. They then quartered themselves in Argos which supplied 800 hoplites. With a presence in the Peloponesse they had split the Sacred League- any co-ordination had to be accomplished by sea. This troubled the leaders of the League who readied a fleet of 300 ships to try and give battle to the Athenians. They rounded Salamis and appeared on the horizon from the towers of the Long Walls. The fleet was readied and battle was given before a crowd of cheering Athenians. The Athenian admiral Lucainon split his forces, sending 50 ships around the island while his main force engaged the main League forces. The battle was fierce and the two combatants were evenly matched until the 50 ships arrived and chased away the League ships. Some 10 ships had been captured Athens, and the League had to tow a further 13 away. The Athenians had lost one ships and six more were damaged. The fleet received a warm welcome back to port as the cheering citizens showered their praises upon them.
With failure on sea it was decided in Syracuse to seek out alliances. Two embassies were sent- one to Susa and the other to Pella. Th embassy to Pella easily persuaded King Artaxerxes II to attack Athens. He promised to loan the League some 500 ships. Meanwhile he led an army into Egypt, defeating the puppet Thirty- First Dynasty and besieging Naukratis, a city of some 3,000 citizens and loyal to Athens. Meanwhile a second force of 40,000 attacked the Ionian cities. Samos was attacked and Pergamum was taken. Miletus was cut off and could only be reinforced by running the blockade. With numerical superiority the League split the Athenian Empire while re-uniting their own. The Aegean was cut in half along the middle with Persian aid. Meanwhile the Athenians were busy. Their fleet had, at the time of the Persian intervention, been split. Some 400 were in Athens while 200 were in Byzantium. Communication was hard and the smaller fleet was ordered to stay in position.
In Athens Lucainon refitted his ships and trained his crews. In February 422 they finally made their sortie. The League, under their admiral Telemon quickly took the bait and engaged the force of 400 with 600 ships both Persian and Greek. The battle looked dire for the Athenians and they were in danger of being flanked. However, they kept a tight formation and broke through the League forces, punching a hole through which the fleet could file. They docked in Miletus and refitted themselves as well as taking on reinforcements of 20 ships docked there. The defence was proving desperate, the Persians were persistent and the supplies brought by the ships was insufficient. It as decided to evacuate as many civilians as possible. 100 ships were reduced to a skeleton crew and some 3,000 civilians were evacuated. All males over 14 were drafted into the defence of the city while the rest were sent away. The rest of the fleet guarded the 100 and under the cover of night they snuck out, bypassing the League ships and safely arriving in Athens two days later. The civilians were put in camps and provisioned as well as possible.
The League, however, had tightened its grip around Athens’s throat and provisioning fleets became more and more scarce. Finally word got through to the 200 ships in Byzantium to go towards Athens. During this time the blockade intensified. Rationing had to be implemented yet it was difficult to enforce. The garrison received the largest rations and this caused a urge in recruitment. There was not enough, however. As a show of solidarity Pelaemon admitted himself only a bowl of porridge a day, a hunk of bread and some water. Public relations was not enough, and soon people went hungry. The population had been swelled to nearly 70,000 and the strains were showing. In May riots broke out and soon full-blown civil disorder began. This was met with force and pleas from the government. Action was needed.
Fortunately, in late May 422 BC the 200 ships arrived. The League fleet saw the force and moved to envelope them. They had almost surrounded the force when the main Athenian force emerged. The 400 ships attacked fiercely and the League ships were forced to retreat. The Athenians then relieved Miletus and sent ships to the Aegean islands to reassert Athenian control.
With the Athenian empire re-united once more they went on the offensive. There were two fronts: the Peloponnesian and the Boeotian. Boeotia had been quiet and a knock-out blow was sought there. If the cities there could be subjugated then the League would break down. General Caerex, only 26 led the force of 3,000 hoplites north. They marched on Plataea where they received reinforcements and then proceeded on Thebes and Delphi. Thebes had never recovered from their mauling yet their leaders were vocal critics of Athens. The Boeotian forces drew up around Thebes, numbering in total 4,000 men. The Athenians were outnumbered yet they formed their line. They advanced in good order yet as they neared the Boeotians the left flank fell behind the right, opening a chink. The Boeotians exploited this and almost drove the Athenians in two. Caerex, seeing that his line was broken, ordered a retreat and the Athenians regrouped at Plataea. That winter they ravaged the Boeotian countryside. The campaign had not been a disaster yet there was no knock-out blow.
Meanwhile, in Pella, a diplomatic war was being waged. The Sacred League petitioned King Phillip I of Macedon to attack Athens. They promised him all of Macedon, Thrace and Byzantium if only he would side with them. Athens, meanwhile, promised him financial support and advisors to help him build a fleet. They also reminded him of his father’s pledge to support Athens. They had forgotten, however, that Phillip hated his father. In 421 BC Phillip openly sided with the League and besieged Potidae. In response the Athenian envoys went to the king’s younger brother, Craterus, who also angled after the crown. They encouraged him to rebel and offered him some land in Thessaly. He agreed and with the support of many nobles rebelled against his brother. The civil war would rage for three years and neither side would play an effective part in the war.
In 420 Thucydides marched into the Peloponnese. He had only 2,000 men after many had been re-diverted to the north. Outside Megalopolis he met with the Peloponnesian general Socrates. They both arrayed their battle lines and fought. The battle was inconclusive and both armies put up trophies. For two years these generals would spar across the Peloponnese.
For two years the war waged without any clear winner. Athens suffered from a lack of unity as her territories could be easily divided. Miletus was relieved in the Summer of 418 and an expedition against Crete repulsed. Finally in July 417 the ten generals plus the Archons of Athens met to discuss the war. After much wrangling they decided to attack Syracuse. They readied 500 ships and 40,000 soldiers and they set off in March 416. They landed outside Syracuse, to the north. The Sicilians massed 10,000 men and, although greatly outnumbered, they fought fiercely. Meanwhile, Carthage entered the war on Athens’s side. She supplied grain and war goods as well as invading Sicily, although the territory she took would never be Athenian again. The Sicilian campaign proved the breakthrough looked for in Boeotia. The Sicilians were defeated and soon notices of surrender were being accepted from across Magna Graecia. Syracuse was taken but not burned. With Sicily subdued and the capital of the League taken the war was effectively over. The League’s treasury was in Athenian hands and it arrived in Athens to cheering crowds along with the triumphant soldiers. These soldiers were sent to Boeotia where they eventually in 414 smashed the Boeotians. The Sacred League collapsed and the final invasion of the Peloponnese was a foregone conclusion. Socrates surrendered himself and his army to Thucydides near Sparta and the two of them surveyed the ruins together, wistfully recalling their encounters. There was no hostility between them and it was with tears in his eyes that Thucydides informed Socrates that the General Assembly had voted for his death. Socrates killed himself a few minutes later.
To the victors go the spoils of war. Greece was smashed and Athens could re-create her as she willed. Pelaemon, aged 63, announced to the Athenian people the creation of the Hellenic League. It was well received. It was hoped this League would not fracture like its predecessor. Peace was swiftly made with Persia, Athens allowing the reconquest of Egypt so long as her colonies remained independent. Macedon also resolved itself- Phillip bowed to Athens and his brother was quickly removed. The Macedonian line was restored therefore and with Athenian gold continued its process of hellenisation. Pella built its first academy and here thinkers could be seen discussing philosophy and mathematics in coarse Greek. At this time Socrates of Athens gained notoriety for his controversial views. He received a great following among the young, especially for his mild manner and simple, logical arguments and trains of thought. He had many disciples, one of whom was made a member of the General assembly in 412. The philosopher occasionally addressed crowds yet he far preferred smaller dialogues with his companions. Pelaemon himself sat in on one of these and swapped a few words with Socrates. After this Pelaemon held a soft-spot for the lisping old man and he was allowed to teach in peace for the rest of his days, during which he espoused non-violence, rationality and, above all, equality both in soul and in politics.
In 414 plague struck Athens. It was more virulent than any of its predecessors and in the crowded city, flooded still with refugees, it killed thousands. Mass graves on Salamis were filled faster than they could be dug. Fortunately the doctors of Athens realised the dangers of bad air coming from corpses and ordered them either buried on Salamis or burnt up entirely. Still, some 2,000 were killed including two Archons. Pelaemon died in 411 and his funeral was almost as grand as Pericles’s. If Pericles had been the architect of Athens’s golden age then Pelaemon was its Marshall, the one who wielded it and reforged it after the Hellene War.
The power of Athens was thus cemented over the Eastern Mediterranean. She held the Aegean in the palm of her hand and the rest of Greece quivered before her, paying tribute and signing any treaty waved in front of them. Italy was so cowed by Athens that they would not pose any resistance to Athens for two centuries. Sicily was meanwhile divided between Athens and Carthage- 2/3 Carthaginians with the south east Athenian. Thus the status quo was maintained for nearly 100 years. Governments rose and fell, in Athens and in Carthage. The Persian empire began its long period of decline as a succession of young and weak rulers set in. The great King Artaxerxes II died in 402 and his heirs were pygmies compared to him. Western Anatolia fell back into Athens’s sphere of influence and rebellions rocked Egypt. A new Greek colony was planted in Egypt. It was named Pericopolis after Pericles, who after many centuries became almost semi-divine. His statues were elevated to be equal to those of Herakles and Asclepius. He was always depicted wearing his helmet and bearing a message, often interpreted to be the message of the fall of Sparta, the expression of grim appreciation that of psychological victory. The new city grew swiftly as refugees from beleaguered Egypt crossed into Athenian territory to live in freedom in the thriving polis. Three great cities emerged: Naukratis, Pericopolis and Peluseum. These three were to be Athens’s bastions in Egypt.
To the north the kingdom of Macedon began its steady expansion north. King Amyntas III in 351 BC led a force into Thrace, crushing the tribesmen there. He planted colonies in the Greek style and filled them with veterans. His son Philip carried on this legacy, his military genius wielding the phalanx with skill, crushing the tribes with ease and extending his rule all the way to the Danube. Here he stopped, and looked north longingly. He asked his generals whether they should continue. Scared, they declined, and the Macedonians struck camp. The steady spread of Greek civilisation throughout Macedon brought civilisation to the barbarians, who abandoned their trousers for tunics and their beer for fine wine, their coarse bread for fine loaves. King Philip was a strong king, and quarrelled often with the Athenians. At one point he was so incensed that he ordered Athens burned. He rescinded this order later, of course, but he did march soldiers into Thessaly. This angered the Athenians, and a solution was met. The kingdom of Thessaly was created, with Prince Philip (the king’s younger son) of Macedon as its king. It was agreed that Alexander (the elder) would take Macedon and Philip (III) Thessaly. A second kingdom was also carved out, that of Epirus. A local warlord, Perdiccas, was elevated and enthroned. He was given Athenian aid and his armies grew considerably, and he carved out a niche in Dalmatia.
Philip campaigned ceaselessly, extending his rule to the Black Sea and to the Balkan mountains along the Danube. He set up strings of fortresses settled by veterans and civilised barbarians. In 446 BC he sent his son to be educated in Athens, where his tutor was the well-respected Aristotle. In 452 it had been decided to grant resident aliens Athenian citizenship so long as they paid a special tax. Aristotle accepted this and bore his citizenship with pride. Alexander and his three companions (Ptolemy, Hephaeston and Cassander) learned swiftly although they would always prefer horse riding and gambling to philosophy and the theatre.
Carthage, meanwhile, had expanded into Iberia and Sardinia, taking Corsica and planting colonies in the south of Gaul. The Barcid family distinguished itself as the foremost political dynasty, becoming virtual dictators in the 4th century.
In 345 BC Philip offered to purchase Byzantium from Athens for the sum of 1,000 talents. The lucrative trade passing through it would enrich Macedon, which had few large ports. Athens refused outright, and in retribution Philip ordered the construction of Galata across the Golden Horn. The Macedonian city received little trade and the Macedonians could only watch dumbfounded as the ships docked in Byzantium instead. They had much to learn of commerce. Financially however the kingdom was stable and in fact was thriving. The Balkan gold mines generated monetary wealth aplenty and the kings of Pella adorned themselves with gold and foreign luxuries. Philip began looking east to the Persian empire, a long decaying fossil that had become more and more unstable. In 338 BC the vizier Bagoas ordered the murder of King Artaxerxes III and replaced him with Darius III, who proved uncontrollable and had the vizier murdered. This new king proved a tough politician and swiftly cemented his own personal rule. In the previous years Persian control had been eroded to such an extent that the satraps of Asia Minor were all but independent, aligned with either Athens of Macedon. It was against these warlords that Darius moved. He gathered an army of 40,000 men in a show of force and crossed into Anatolia. He marched west, receiving homage from Cappadocia and Galatia. The Satraps of Phrygia, Lydia, Caria and Ionia however sought Greek aid. Athens turned them down, although they offered them some financial support. They accepted this yet went to Philip of Macedon, asking him to invade the Persian empire and remove Darius from power. Philip consented, and gathered 20,000 men and marched them into Anatolia, renting a flotilla from Athens to cross the Hellespont. Darius, when he heard of this, sent a letter to Philip in which he declared his invasion illegal and amoral. Philip ignored Darius and continued south. Darius meanwhile had met the Satraps in battle, defeated them and retaken much of his former possessions. He sent a second letter to Philip, offering him Bithynia and Msyia. Philip accepted and thus Macedon got its first Asian holdings.
While the king had been away, Philip’s son Alexander had ruled in Macedon. Surrounded by his loyal friends he proved an able administrator and in the three months of Philip’s absence led an expedition across the Danube which collected tribute from the Dacians. He also sent an embassy to his weak-willed brother in Thessaly; they signed a treaty whereby in times of war they would each defend the other. This would prove useful to Alexander in the campaigns he was already planning. When his father returned Alexander presented him the booty taken in Dacia. Philip snorted, and displayed the wealth he had taken. Although in public he treated his son harshly and as an inferior, in private he was very affectionate and grew to respect his son, whom he recognised would be a very able ruler. In his years as crown prince Alexander would lead armies and expeditions north across the Danube, until in 332 BC he led an army of 10,000 across the Danube, crushing the Dacians and extending Macedonian rule to the Carpathians. Here he built a series of forts, and a city to the east on the shore of the Black Sea called Philipia. He received tribute from the local chieftains and warlords whom he made nobles and dispensed land to. The land of Dacia was rich and the mountains contained much gold which strengthened Macedon yet further.
Migration north also increased as Macedonians were offered lands in the north. One family of horsebreeders opened up a chain of stud farms that raised thousands of horses bred specially for the Macedonian army. These ranches cleared hundreds of miles of land and transformed the plains into great prairies. Yet more land was given over to grain cultivation which fed the burgeoning urban populations of Macedon and Greece. Athens by then had a population of nearly 100,000 as the 5th century refugees declined to go home and stayed in Athens, which once more began colonising. She founded colonies in Egypt, whose Greek population grew rapidly. Across the rest of Greece as well Syracuse, Corinth, Plataea, Miletus and Rhodes all had 20,000 inhabitants. Carthage had 40,000 inhabitants and the young city of Rome 8,000.
Pella itself was small, only 11,000, yet it was a grand Royal capital with a great Royal palace and hunting grounds. In 330 BC Aristotle was invited to Pella. He accepted and as son as he arrived requested a new academy. One was built in the Athenian fashion and soon thinkers from across Greece came to Pella to enjoy royal patronage. King Philip was especially partial to little toys and contraptions and one, such as a steam-driven wheel delighted him truly. None then realised such technology’s potential- the work done by such machines was minimal and amount of wood they consumed was enormous. Alexander especially enjoyed the steam-driven bow built by a Cypriot inventor- it could fire an arrow 500 yards without any help from a human.