History Chapter 8: Pericles at War (PDF)

# Chapter 8 - Pericles at War Themistocles' navy was the envy of all Greece, and its establishment prompted similar investments in trireme building throughout the Mediterranean. The most powerful leaders of city-states and kingdoms along the sea conducted their crews back and forth over the water,...

# Chapter 8 - Pericles at War Themistocles' navy was the envy of all Greece, and its establishment prompted similar investments in trireme building throughout the Mediterranean. The most powerful leaders of city-states and kingdoms along the sea conducted their crews back and forth over the water, raiding one city and peacefully trading with the next, until the waters of the Mediterranean were filled with large galleys, soldiers, merchants, and intrepid travelers searching for knowledge and adventure. Life sped up and multiplied rapidly in this little corner of the universe until urban communities became the powerhouses of the landscape. It was as it had been centuries before in Ionia and the small, peaceful towns of Greece and Anatolia: The number of wealthy families grew so that whole scores of citizens were able to spend time thinking and wondering about their place in the bigger picture that was life. Thus, spiritual enlightenment and the intellectual pursuit of knowledge came to define an entire civilization. Pericles saw all this happening in his Athenian home, and it inspired him to turn Athens into the next Babylon. Themistocles and Pericles had transformed the once humble democratic city into a beautiful, well-fortified center of military prowess, intellect, trade, and luxury. Still, it was not enough for Pericles. He desired nothing less than an Athenian empire, and once he felt the city's internal structure was the envy of all of Greece, Pericles knew it was time to act. He also knew exactly how empires were won - through ruthless warfare. Having helped his fellow citizens to build the most enviable culture of 5th-century BCE Mediterranean, he now persuaded them to fight for the ideals of Athens on the battlefields of foreign nations. First, Pericles had to deal with Athens' nearest adversary: Sparta. Tensions had risen between the two realms ever since they had banded together as allies within the Delian League. As strong as Athens had become, its elected leaders knew better than to think theirs was an infallible city. They formed the Delian League to consolidate the culture and sovereignty of 300 Greek cities, including Athens and Sparta. This Greek alliance meant a larger navy, more military resources, and, above all, no more infighting among the cities of the realm. Now, their focus was targeted outward, toward the greater enemies of the world. It was not a perfect solution. The Spartans were jealous of the Athenian monopoly over the League, while Athenians felt superior over the military power in the south. It was not difficult to goad either side into war against the other, especially since Greek culture was by nature one that glorified warriors over all others. Spartan King Archidamus II made the first move by invading Attica in 431 BCE. Pericles took action, convincing all Athenians to retreat behind the fortified stone walls of the city proper, which stretched all the way down to the port at Piraeus. Though cut off by land from external resources, Pericles determined to keep the port open to merchant suppliers thanks to extensive fortifications around the entire harbor, including archers towers. Though the walls may be put to siege, Pericles was confident that the port would not fail. The city prepared to stay in confinement for as many as three years, expecting that Sparta's forces would wear thin or admit defeat before more time passed. While the population of Attica shrank back behind the city walls and waited for their leader's prediction to come to pass, Pericles sent the navy to attack the Spartan coastline known as the Peloponnesian coast. This military campaign between Athens and Sparta came to be known as the Peloponnesian War. As the great citizens of the beautiful city sheltered alongside one another, doing their best to pass the time in an entertaining - if not particularly productive - manner. Pericles hosted lavish dinner parties with all the intellectuals of the day. Renown philosopher and oddball Socrates amused his host and friends at such parties by making eloquent speeches in favor of his own beauty over that of others. In reality, Socrates knew all too well that his face was anything but lovely, but he did not mind poking fun at himself for the benefit of a laugh or a good debate. He always strove to teach those among him to learn by asking questions and follow their own good judgment. "I tell you, let no day pass without discussing all the things about which you hear me talking. A life without this sort of examination is not a life worth living," he told his friends and students. Outside the city walls, Spartan warriors occupied the Athenians' farmland, burning and slashing their crops, vines, and orchards. After one year in the closed city, the port that was Athens' lifeline proved just as dangerous as the Spartans outside. It was 430 BCE when plague accompanied the goods that passed through Piraeus, infecting those within the fortified walls. It was an ironic attack from an enemy against which no defensive measures had been - or could have been - taken. It was the worst possible time for such illness, as the Athenians were crowded behind their city walls and piled against one another. Conditions in the city were conducive only to quickening the disastrous spread of disease which struck its victims down rapidly. Victims were first afflicted with what the historian Thucydides called "violent inflammation" of the head and eyes. Next, the illness moved into the gut, causing "ulceration and uncontrollable diarrhea." People died in sick, suffering heaps, and the birds and street animals who dared to eat the flesh of the corpses themselves suffered the same fate. It was catastrophic, with dead bodies piled in the stinking streets and nothing but imported and potentially infected goods coming through the port. Little did the Athenians know, the plague had begun in northern Africa and followed popular trade routes all the way into Piraeus, where it spent three long years agonizing the citizens of Athens. One-third of the city's population died in horrid pain, and Pericles was not spared. Plutarch, Pericles' biographer, described how the plague struck the city's beloved leader: "The plague seized Pericles not with sharp and violent fits, but with dull and lingering distemper...wasting the strength of his body and undermining his noble soul." All manner of known medicines and miracle cures were administered to the suffering man, but after six months of illness, he too succumbed to the disease, dying in 429 BCE. Political chaos followed the death of the great statesman as multiple politicians jostled for the vote of the citizens. With no clear leadership and mob rule threatening to overrun the city, Athenian soldiers found themselves ordered about at the whims of an unprepared group of leaders who quickly abandoned Pericles' war strategies. Pericles himself had died surrounded by friends who praised his many achievements; his war, however, was lost. Athens surrendered in 404 BCE and became a subject of the new powerhouse of Greece, Sparta.