Athenian Mistakes; The Peloponnesian War - Books 5-8, Thucydides

 Why you might read the Peloponnesian War?

(This is taken from the first post on this work as the reasons are still the same)

Thucydides work in the Peloponnesian war is credited as the first of modern history. While it is not the first to try and report history. It is none the less the first that tries to do so dispassionately and without melodrama. As such it is a great way to expand your understanding of what history is and where the genre has come from.

For my Self-Education project, it serves as the second history that I have sat down to read. It is the more important of the two for the reasons outlined above. One of the objectives of this project was to start at the start of genres and ideas. Because of this Thucydides deserves pride of place as the first serious and focused history.

The Content of the Peloponnesian War, Books 5-8

Book 5:

Battle of Amphipolis

The summer after the truce, Athens makes an attack on Cophos which is currently held by the Spartans. The Spartans come out of the city to confront the Athenian army. But the Athenians have sent ships around to the harbour. The Spartans try and retreat but are beaten to the city by the Athenian boats.

Cleon lead forces against Amphipolis, where Brasidas was. When the Athenians arrived the Spartans were well inside the walls. Cleon was overconfident and had his troops move closer to the city to have a look. Brasidas seeing the opportunity, took some troops to attack the disorganised centre. The troops under Clearidas were instructed to stay inside the city until he had attacked. Then to rush out and take the already frightened troops by surprise. This went to plan and the Athenians were routed and over 600 killed but Brasidas died.

Peace of Nicias

The Athenians now having lost a few engagements are far more open with peace and the Spartans agree. They return a few cities each way. They agree to peace that will be re-pledged every year. There are a few hiccups with local commanders not wanting to give up cities. They also take it a step further and come to a mutual defence treaty. In this treaty, they will support each other in the case of an outside attack. It included in Sparta's case of the helots revolting. Thucydides states that is the end of the 10 years of war 10 summers and 10 winters.

Negotiations with Argos

Thucydides notes that the specifics of the treaty were not really born out. So he considers what comes next as the eleventh year of the war rather than the first year of peace.

Sparta's allies did not agree to the peace deal. There is a lot of bad feeling in the Peloponnesian cities. Argos, decides they want to make a play for the leadership of the Peloponnese.  Argos has just had their treaty with Sparta run out. So they attract some of the Spartan allies into an alliance with them. When they try and push it further they get rebuffed by cities loyal to Sparta. In the meantime, Sparta is trying to get a treaty sorted with Argos but they can't agree on terms. Sparta in trying to get back Pylos sets up a treaty with Boeotia. This is against the treaty with Athens. Sparta hopes if they make a treaty with Boeotia they can trade a city, which the Boeotians hold, for Pylos. This fails as Boeotia dismantles the city before turning it over. Sparta then suggests to Boeotia that they ally with Argos. So they then can try and win the whole group over to Sparta. This fails in the end because the envoys can't get the Senate to agree to ally with Argos. 

Alliance between Athens and Argos

In the end Argos and her allies ally with Athens, except Corinth which ends up neutral in terms of Argos. Again the terms were non-aggression and mutual defence. This included not being able to make other treaties unilaterally. Argos was assaulted by Sparta and came away with a four-month truce

Battle of Mantinea

Argos is forced to act contrary to the truce with Sparta. This is due to the clause in their treaty with Athens. This is about not making other treaties unilaterally. So with their allies, they invade the Peloponnese and attack Tegea. The Spartans responded by laying waste to the land around Mantinea. The Argives array themselves on a position which will be hard to assault. The Spartans move as if to attack them but they retreat at the last minute. They then go and change the watercourse or a river to try and draw out the Argives. This works and the two forces meet on open ground. When they attack the right-wing of the Spartan's gets out of touch with the main force of the army and is defeated. The rest of the fighting goes the way of the Spartans. Their king seeing the wing failing sends his main troops to attack the Argives. Instead of pursuing the routing main part of the army. Following this defeat, the Argives sue for peace. A 50-year treaty is formed under what seems at this point to be the standard terms. This includes the return of the captured cities. The winter that followed was the end of the fifteenth year of the war.

The Melian Dialogue

Thucydides here details the discussion between the ruling body of Melian. This discussion is with the representatives sent to discuss them surrender. As there is a large Athenian army on their doorstep. Melian being an island. The Athenians point out their control of the seas. Because of this, the Melians were never going to get relief from Sparta. Even though they were aligned with them. This paid no regard to the fact that they had not taken part in hostilities to date. And that were, in fact, neutral in the current conflict. The Melians respond that they will be true to Sparta. Especial as they are their forbears as they are one of their colonies and that they have hope in Sparta. The Athenians create a blockading wall around the city and started a siege. The Melians broke through the blockade. They retrieve everything of use including food from the countryside. The Athenians strengthened the blockade but the Melians escaped again. At which point Athens assaulted the city and it was surrendered under force. 

Book 6:

Sicilian Antiquities

Thucydides details the people groups that have arrived on Sicily. when approximately they settled. That being said some numbers of the passage of years have the caveat "to the best of one's reckoning". He details first the non-Hellenic peoples' settlement. Then continues with he Hellenic peoples. Including how in places they displace the initial settlers.

Launching of the Sicilian Expedition

The Egestaeans are having a dispute with Syracuse and call in the Athenians to help them. The Athenians sensing a chance to take over all of Sicily agree to help. First, though they send envoys to check the Egestaeans have the money they have pledged to help. They then appoint commanders but one of them is against even going to Sicily. So he addresses the assembly reminding them of the threat that Sparta still poses. That this is not the time to dilute their strength with foreign wars. Especially when have just come out of a plague and a war but rather it is time to build up at home. Another of the commanders speaks against this. He proposes that the city keep moving forward. That it won't dilute their sea presence beyond what can handle Spartan sea presence. That Sparta already has the upper hand on land but seems unwilling to use it. In all the assembly goes with sending the expedition. The first commander inflates the number of troops needed to try and turn back the idea another way. Rather than balking, the assembly wholeheartedly agrees. A massive force is organised and sent with great provisions.

The Debate at Syracuse

The assembly at Syracuse does not believe the reports of the Athenian expedition. Thucydides reports the speech of one who did. He even went so far as to propose that they meet the force head-on at Tarentum. Their they could cut them off from ever reaching Sicily. The reply is that if they come we can take them. At this point, the general steps in and say no more discussion about the facts. Instead, we need to prepare and if it's not true all the better.

The Athenians arrive in Sicily

The Athenians arrive in Tarentum and find that a lot of cities will not grant them access. Eventually, they come to Rhegium where they are welcomed. They set up camp there while they work out their next step into Sicily. The assembly at Syracuse no longer doubts the existence of the expedition. Instead, they prepare accordingly. The Athenians send envoys to a few cities but are again not welcomed. At Catana, the army scares the locals into joining them and they move their base there. In the meantime, it has come to light that the Egestaeans do not have the money they promised. The first general suggests they only show the flag but is again overridden by the second and third. From there they debate how to attack. The second general being in favour of taking smaller cities first then Syracuse. Whereas the first wanted to take Syracuse first while the enemy was still scared of them. Again they end up going with the second option.

The story of Harmodium and Aristogiton

Here Thucydides takes a sidetrack into the history of Athens. He details the time where they were ruled by tyrants. How that went well at first. But after an attempt on the tyrant's life, it descended into mistreatment of the Athenians.

Recall of Alcibiades

Athens chooses to recall Alcibieades from the front. He is to face charges around defacement of sacred things. This is fueled by the suspicions that he is also plotting with others to take over the city. And in doing so replace the democracy with Tyranny or Oligarchy. He comes willingly in his own ship but on the way, they slip away from the escort and he goes into exile.

Athenian victory before Syracuse

The Athenians start planning to fight at Syracuse. Through spies arrive at a good place to set up for the battle. Then through a double agent deceive  Syracuse. convincing them that they will be unprotected at Catana. and the Syracusans march out, only to have the Athenians take to the ships and sail around behind them. So they go racing off to protect the city. Eventually, they come to fight in front of the city. The Athenians rout the inexperienced Syracusans. The Athenians then retreat to Catana for the winter.

The debate at Camarina

Over the winter the Athenians go looking for allies and send envoys to Camarina. Syracuse hears of this and also sends envoys to Camarina. At the assembly the Syracusans speak first, they press the idea that Athens is there to take over all of Sicily. That Camarina can either submit now to slavery or join Syracuse in the fight. This way they would have some chance of retaining their independence. Athens replies that they are in the area in the cities very request. That they are setting up opposition to Syracuse for one purpose. So that they cannot help the Peloponnesians in the war they are fighting at home. In the end, Camarina sends them both away saying they will stay neutral.

Alcibiades in Sparta

Alcibiades gets certainty that Sparta would pardon him. He then continues in his exile by going to Sparta. He offers to them all he knows about Athens. He does start by explaining why they shouldn't be angry at him. He ends with an explanation of how he is working to get back to Athens. He sees no way this will happen unless the lose the war. The Spartans decide to send some troops and a commander to Syracuse and invade Attica.

More Athenian Success at Syracuse

The Athenians take the high ground over Syracuse. They do this while the Syracusans are busy arraying the army on the plain. They then build first a fort on the high ground facing back to Megara. Following that they start building a wall around the city to cut it off. The Syracusans counter by building a wall to try and cut them off.  they then leave a guard and go back to the city. The Athenians attack the counter wall and find the guards napping and then destroy the wall. Syracuse then tries to build a counter wall out the other side of the city but is again beaten back by the Athenians. Their counter wall destroyed. The Athenians complete the wall and have the harbour blockaded. Syracuse is now besieged.  

Book 7:

Gylippus arrives in Syracuse

The Spartan general Gylippus is dispatched to Syracuse. A fast boat is sent in advance of him so that the Syracusans don't lose hope and make terms with Athens. Before he arrives in Syracuse he grabs some extra troops from a couple of cities. Once he is there he quickly takes control. He focuses on the one gap in the Athenian wall around the city. This stops Syracuse from being totally enclosed. He and the Syracusans use this as an opportunity to build a counter wall. This they complete keeping the Athenians from being able to enclose them without a fight. There are also two battles in front of the city. The first the Athenians win. Due to Gylippus letting the battle happen where he can't use his cavalry and javelin throwers. He takes the blame for this and re-motivates the Syracusans to try again and they win. Gylippus then, with things all in order, leaves most of the army. He goes to try and win more cities to his side and therefore more troops.

Letter of Nicias

The sole remaining commander of the Athenians then sends for reinforcements from home. They are now about equal with the Syracusans and cannot take the city as things currently stand. He sends a letter detailing this to the Assembly. He does not trust the messenger to convey the direness of his situation properly. In this letter, he lays out the current numbers both on land and on the water. He states that either he needs the same number of men again or they need to decide to recall Him and his forces. He adds on a personal aside that they should recall him as the commander as he is having health issues. The Athenians decide not to recall him but send two extra commanders to share the load. They also promise the troops he has requested.

Fortification of Decelea

Sparta gathers troops and ships. It does so both from its own number and its allies. These they send to Gylippus at Syracuse.

Meanwhile, in Attica, the Spartans invade again. This time they choose to fortify Decelea, which is within sight of Athens itself. This puts far more pressure on Athens. It means that all year round they cannot use the land outside of Athens for food and production. Between this and the drain of the two wars, Athens starts running out of money. They even imposes a new tax on its citizens. Due to this when some troops they had sent for arrived too late to sail with the second expedition for Sicily. They send them home but ask them to do some raiding on the way rather than keeping them and paying them. They do so and even slaughter an entire town. They are caught by the local large city Thebes sending relief troops. Over a quarter of the Athenian number are killed and the rest driven back to the sea.

Athenian defeat in the great harbour

Syracuse is concerned if they wait to attach that the Athenians will be reinforced. They make an attack both on land and at sea. They modified their boats so that they could successfully do nose to nose ramming. The land-attack came to not a lot neither did the first attack from the sea. But the Syracusans set themselves up to go and replenish the men. They then come straight back to a second attack, catching the Athenians off guard. This pushes the Athenians back towards the shore. Then into their own makeshift breakwater. While the Syracusans lost two ships they put over seven out of action, though not sunk, for the Athenians. 

Athenian Defeat at Epipolae

The Athenian reinforcements arrive and this bolsters the Athenian resolve. Before they can make serious use of it reinforcement arrives for Syracuse. One of the Athenian generals decides that if they can't win quickly they should withdraw. He then launches a night attack at Epipolae. This is an absolute disaster and the Athenians take huge losses. Even though they are against a small part of the defending force. They take these loses due to loss of cohesion and not being able to tell their men from the enemy. The Athenian generals then start to discuss withdrawal. One even advocating leaving Sicily entirely. The other two out vote him and choose to withdraw to elsewhere in Sicily. They pass out secret orders to be ready to withdraw but are delayed by the omen of an eclipse. It looks like the Athenians no longer have confidence in their water superiority. So they launch a successful navel attack. Thucydides then takes a moment to detail all the people groups represented by the troops.

Syracusan victory at sea

The Syracusans start blocking off the harbour mouth. Their thinking is to not letting the Athenians escape. The Athenians make an all or nothing play for the harbour mouth. They man every ship they possibly can. They even load them with extra troops, expecting to fight a land battle on the sea. Both sides commanders speak to the crews to encourage them. This seems to be more hopeful on the Syracusan side than on the Athenian. The Athenians try to fight their war through the blockade. The battle swings wildly in both directions even at the same time. The fighting spreads across the harbour. In the end, the Athenians are routed and beach their ships and retreat to the camp. Initially, they want to slip away that night. Some Syracusans come and pretend to be on their side and tell them that Syracuse has blocked the passes. At this point, they have not.

Destruction of the Athenian expedition

The Athenians spend two days getting themselves ready. They then head out to try and get to Catana, their allies. By this time Syracuse has sent out troops to all the river crossings. They are to harry the Athenians and to find out which way they will go. When the Athenians come to the pass the Syracusan army has caught up with them. The Syracusans are harrying them with arrows and javelins but refusing to get close. The Athenian army pushes on but finds the pass blockaded and walled by the Syracusans. Spending three to four days attempting to break through. They then retreat by night to try another way. Once the Syracusan realise the Athenians are gone they march to catch up with them. After isolating the rear guard they force them to surrender. When they catch up with the main Athenian army they tell them of the rearguard surrender and ask them to do so as well. The Athenians suggest unreasonable terms and continue fleeing. They then come to a river and lose their cohesion and are being slaughtered by the Syracusans. Then their general surrenders as long as the slaughter stops. The generals are put to death by the Syracusans. This is against the wishes of the Spartan general who wanted to take them as prisoners to Sparta. The men were held in a stone quarry in poor conditions until most of them were sold as slaves. 

Book 8:

Alarm at Athens

Athens does not initially believe the total defeat in Sicily but comes to terms with it. They then vote to use the money they had previously voted not to touch. They use it to build new ships to try and hold on to their allies.

Beginning of Persian intervention

Sparta starts trying to convert Athens' allies in Ionia. They have a lot of success at first. Then Athens manages to get a force into the area and the back and forward of balanced warfare starts. Both sides over time send more and more resources to the area. Some of the cities that Sparta is liberating belong to the Persians. So a treaty is begun between Sparta and the Persian. This includes the destruction of the Athenian empire. As well as the return of Persian property to the Persian king. Thucydides records three iterations of this treaty with the Spartans. These go from them getting quite a rough deal to quite a good one. This good deal includes the Persian financial support for troops in Persian lands. 

The Oligarchic coup

Alcibiades comes back to bite Sparta in the neck. They sent him out with the navy but once he is out in Ionia he starts scheming on how to get recalled to Athens, his home. He starts buddying up with the local representative of the Persian king. He tries to convince him that they would be better allied with Athens than Sparta. He is also convincing the local general and senior men that there needs to be a revolution in Athens. They need to change to an Oligarchy. He is more successful with the second goal than the first. The Persians stay allied with Sparta for now as they are the ones with troops in Persian land. The change to Oligarchy happens in Athens without too much fuss. The Athenian general who was going back to Athens to make it happen arrives to find it all but done. On his way, he also converts Athens' allies to Oligarchy. He hopes that this will make them less likely to rebel but the opposite eventuates. The Athenian troops take the opposite view and declare themselves the Athenian democracy. Athens is then scared by the thought of the army coming home. So they start building a wall on the seaside of their harbour mouth. Alcibiades whips up the army by telling them he has Persian on his side and they make him a general. Meanwhile, he whips the Persians up because he is a general. In truth he doesn't really have backing from either. Athens sends ambassadors to Sparta to see about ending the war. Sparta thinks Athens will be a pushover because of internal strife. So their army approaches the walls. The Athenians reply by killing any who come to close from the walls and sending out the cavalry. Sparta then asks for peace but they do not come to an arrangement. Sparta sends ships to Euboea and after defeating the ships Athens send defeat the city. Athens is panicked that Sparta will send its ships on to the harbour of Athens. Sparta again isn't quite that forward-thinking. Athens suffers another mini-revolution. The 400 that have been running the city are deposed. While the 5000 they talked about but never implemented are setup instead.

Athenian victory at Cynossema

Both the Athenians and the Spartans bring their fleets up to the Hellespont. Here they have the final naval battle in the text but not necessarily in the war. The text stops abruptly after this battle. In this battle, the Spartans are slowly routing the slightly smaller Athenian force. As they start to think they have won they lose their cohesion. The Athenians drive back into them and force them to run for the river and Abydos.

Reflections on The Peloponnesian War, Books 5-8

I'm not much of a history person by nature and this was at least more interesting than I was really concerned it would be. And the fact that Thucydides barely uses dates doesn't hurt either as I have the worst time keeping dates and years straight. He does use a lot of place names though and I ended up having to pull up a map of the area just to get my head around it sometimes.

Book 5:

The Spartan victory at Amphipolis shows again Brasidas' brilliance in war. He routed better quality troops with lower quality ones. Interestingly, he thought his allies were of inferior quality. It is not obvious in the text whether they were truly inferior or he just thought they were. His plan of attack shows his lateral thinking. This approach shows his willingness to approach the problem from an unconventional angle.

You feel like Thucydides expects the truce to fail between Sparta and Athens. Whether that is dues to him writing in hindsight or due to other factors is unclear. His explanation of how he will count the "peace" years as part of the war is telling. It shows just how little the peace actually came to pass. The reluctance of Sparta's allies affects their ability to make peace.  The fact that Sparta can't actually compel them to comply with the terms also doesn't help. This is the main downfall of the treaty. Sparta cannot make them give up cities that should be given to Athens under the treaty. The allies anger at Sparta over the unilateral decision for the treaty also does not help.

Argos decides to get into the mix in the area. This throws an added dimension of complexity to the treaties and alliances. And many get thrown around over the course of this book. They Argrives start out solo. Then they quickly become Athens supporters. Then after the defeat of Athens and their allies start to move towards being allies of Sparta. They do so even with it meaning in the long term going against Athens. This puts Argos in a position as it gets closer to the recommencement of the war between Athens and Sparta. Argo's haves to break oaths with at least one of them as the Oaths they have sworn. These oaths preclude them staying neutral in the next round.

In Melain is the first time we get a dialogue between two sides of an argument in assembly. Thucydides usually just details the big speeches given and then decided on. Maybe this is because there are only the ten lawmakers present on the Melain side. Compared to the more usual whole assembly of the people. It makes for slightly easier reading but the outcome is just the same really. Thucydides does not mention anything about Sparta in the following siege. Instead, he details just the actions of the locals.

Book 6:

Thucydides delves into the history of Sicily. This seems like a detour in the process of recording this war. To Thucydides, it was obviously important to his understanding of the war. Therefore it warranted inclusion even if I, as a modern reader, find it unnecessary. That and the inclusion of some of Athens' history which seems ever more so like a detour. It is most likely included to prove that even Athens has some Tyranny in its past.

Athens reach into Sicily reminds me of their first commander. He thought that Athens could win if they didn't engage in empire building while at war. I wonder if this is the start of the end for Athens. Though by the end of this book some time has passed and we do not see Sparta capitalising on this yet.

The whole issue of Alcibiades shows how much it is important not to slight people of power in the Greek world.  I can see Alcibiades information have a great impact on the war as well as the loss of his leadership for Athens. We saw in the previous book that he tried to get them to try him before he sailed for Sicily. They refused and now with the extra allegations, he decides to slip off to Sparta. There he is an exile running from what he sees as treachery against himself.

The debate at Camarina ending with the neutrality of the city is unsatisfying. We have just spent time seeing the speeches that were laid before them. That being said it is the safest option for Camarina. Better to not alienate either side until they are certain which side will win.

The victories by the Athenians over the Syracusans are inevitable. While the absolute numbers of the two forces are similar. Syracuse only has conscripts compared to Athens picked troops. So the quality difference between the forces as well as experience levels are huge. It's nice to see a city choose to go down fighting rather than surrendering to Athens the moment it is besieged. We will see how long that lasts in the next book.  

Book 7:

Gylippus' arrival in Sicily seems to mark the turning point of the invasion. The Syracusans take heart at his arrival and the troops he brings with him help as well. He proves over the course of the rest of the invasion to be a competent and forward-thinking general.

Back in Attica, they fortify Decelea. This was suggested to them by the Athenian Exiled politician Alcibiades.  It seems to have exactly the effect of Athens that he predicted. That being said I do not think we have seen the full extent of that yet.

Once Athens starts loosing in Sicily the wheels really start to come off fast. The Athenian reinforcements arrive. From there it is not long until the total defeat of the Athenian force. I think the mental blow of losing their superiority at sea hurt the Athenian moral. It seems to be this more than the physical loss. From there the troops are lacklustre and prone to panic.

Syracuse's switch from defender to aggressor avenging themself. This shows just how far the momentum shifts. As well as the ability of Gylippus to seize the moment and the momentum. In doing so he deals Athens a far worse blow. Rather than losing the invasion, it is losing that many troops and the gold they represent. This is especially important when they are also in a war with Sparta at home.

The addition of extra generals by Athens seems to have also caused more problems than it solved. The new generals seeming to almost be arguing for attacking and staying in Sicily. Yet their only argument is that they had only just been detached. It is only the one general who was already on the ground that saw clearly. Saw that the day was already lost. Their delaying and indecision eventually lead to the destruction of the entire force. 

Book 8:

I was expecting in this book to see the end of the war. I was not aware before reading this that the account is actually incomplete. I am also surprised that Sparta spends its time going for Athens' allies. Rather than for the city itself. they could have produced the greater land force at this point in time. Maybe this is a continuation of the idea that they are about freeing the Hellenic people. If this is the case it is even more important to them that the defeat of Athens itself. And this even surprises Athens at one point as well.

We also see the fall out in Athens of the total route in Sicily. There is utter disbelief. This is due to the fact that in these ancient times a defeated army would only sustain 20-30% casualties. It was this point they would rout and there would be no more losses. So forces were never destroyed in this way as a general rule. By comparison, you might lose all hands on a boat in a naval battle but you would not lose all the ships.

The Persians being bought into the fray at such a late date is interesting. It is unclear if this is when Thucydides noticed the influence that had been there all along. Or if rather they only got involved when asked. This second option is far less likely as the Persians are the real winners of the Peloponnesian war. When if that is not fully realised until the Macedonians invade under Alexander.

Alcibiades' scheming seems to work out for him in the end. While it is not recorded that he returns to Athens they do cancel his exile while he is working for them as a general. To get there though he manipulates the situation. Though at a couple of times it nearly backfires on him. Most of this is in the form of making himself out to be a bigger player than he is. He does this both in what is going on in Ionia and the coup in Athens.

Athens' departure from democracy is also a bit of a surprise as it is what, even today, they are best known for. It takes until a larger percentage of the population is part of the governance. It is only then that Athens refinds internal stability. 

What Others have to say about the Peloponnesian War

From the History Co-operative "Part of the reason Thucydides’ historical account of the Peloponnesian war is so significant is that it was one of the first times a historian put effort into determining both the short-and long-term causes of war."

"Athens was morally the aggressor, but it was Sparta who first declared war" From Colombia College

Comparisons with other texts

There is not much to add, in terms of comparison, especially to Herodotus, from my first post on this book. So I suggest you pop through that link and have a read there. 

I was musing in that post about the comparison of the fighting being about the type of government. This is something we see in modern wars as well. What we don't tend to see these days is the change in form of government in the country doing the invading and empire-building. Which is the huge inconsistency that we see when Athens takes on a form of Oligarchy. This is the very type of government they had been replacing. 

Conclusion

This post continues on from the first four books. Here we have seen Sparta gain the upper hand after Athenian overreach in Sicily. In Sicily, Athens is beaten and its army not just routed but demolished. We do not see how the story ends as the book cuts off abruptly. 

Have you read The Peloponnesian War? If so what did you think of it? 
 
Want to read The Peloponnesian War but haven't? Please leave me a comment and let me know why you want to read it.

Hopefully, this post inspires you to take the time to look into it on your own journey of Self Education.

Get a copy of The Peloponnesian War. 

 

 

Stories of the Aesir and great Kings; The Edda - Skaldskaparmal, Snorri

 

Why you might read The Edda -Skaldskaparmal

The Edda is the first work in which we see the Aesir or the Gods of the Norse pantheon. As such it is an important beginning in the myths and legends of the Norse people. Given the raiding of the Norse, it is part of the history of large parts of European peoples. Whether they acknowledge that or not is another thing entirely. The Skaldskaparmal continues these stories in its first section. In its second section, it gives us insight into how to understand the poetry of the same time period.

For my Self Education, it is important for me to gain a wide range of cultural and spiritual backgrounds. Even if those are widely now regarded as mythology. The insights into the ancient Norse religion is a great addition to the collection. It is also interesting to see the ways in which poetry is playing with words. This does not seem to change around the world. How exactly you play with words though does change from culture to culture.

The Story

Aegir goes to Asgard and Bragi tells him stories of the Aesir and kings:

Odin, Loki and Hoenir we travelling in the woods and had found no food until they found an Ox. When they tried to cook it would not cook. So an Eagle said to them if they let it eat what it wanted it would make sure it cooked. The eagle ate the choicest parts. Loki got angry and hit it with a stick. The stick get stuck and the Eagle dragged Loki around. Until he made an oath to get Idunn and her apples of youth out of Asgard. Loki does as he had pledged and Idunn is taken away by the giant that was the eagle. Without Idunn's apples the Aesir age. After a while, they realise the last place Idunn was seen was with Loki. They threaten to torture Loki but he tells them where she is. He says he will go and get her if Freyja would lend him her falcon shape. He heads out to giant land as a falcon and gets to where Idunn is being held. Luck has it that the giant is out fishing. So Loki turns Idunn into an acorn and flies her back to Asgard, but the giant notices and chases after him. As they approach Asgard the Aesir set up large piles of wood. Once Loki and Idunn are safe they light the wood. The eagle is going so fast he ends up in the fires and dies. 

The giant's daughter comes to seek vengeance. The Aesir convince her to take compensation instead. This compensation is in the form of marriage to one of the Aesir chosen by only his feet and if they can make her laugh. The first she chooses Njord to marry. She chooses Loki to make her laugh. Loki ties a rope between his privates and a goatsbeard and they have a tug of war, which in the end makes her laugh.

The gods were at war with the Vanir. A peace was procured by them all spitting in a bowl, the Aesir kept this and from it made a man Kvasir. He was a man of great knowledge and travelled the world. He travelled until some dwarves killed him and collected his blood. They then mixed the blood with honey and made a mead that makes everyone who drinks it a poet and a scholar. The dwarves then kill some giants. When the son of the giants comes for vengeance they buy the peace with their mead. Odin wants to get his hands on the mead. So he goes and sees the current owners brother and gets an oath out of him to help him try and get some from the brother. The brother refuses but Odin drills through a mountain. Then turns into a snake. Once inside he sleeps with a woman of the house who gives him a drink of mead for each of the three nights. He consumes it all then flies off back to Asgard and spits it out into the vats the Aesir have produced.

Odin rode into the giant lands. He wagered with a giant about who has the better horse. He then outran the giant's horse but the giant followed him all the way to Asgard. Odin then invited him in to eat and drink, from Thor's bowls, who was away. When the Aesir tire of his boasting they call on Thor who comes and threatens the giant. The giant challenges him to a duel once he is armed. Thor agrees and the day of the duel arrives. Thor kills him but is injured and trapped in under the giant as it falls dead. No one can move in until one of Thor's sons, very young about 3 or 4, comes and moves the giant and lo and behold Thor is not dead. Thor gives his son the dead giants mount in thanks.

Thor heads to Geirrods court. He does so without Mjollnir(his hammer), his belt of strength and iron gloves. He does so because Loki has convinced him to leave them behind. But on the way, he stops the night at Gird's house. She tells him that the giant is tricky and trying to kill him. So she lends him her belt of strength, iron gloves and her weapon, a staff. Thor arrives at Geirrods and is put up in a goat stable with one chair. So he sits on it. He soon realises it is getting closer and closer to the roof so he uses the staff to push on the roof and hears a great crack. The crack was the backs of the trolls two daughters who were under the chair breaking. Then Gerriod called Thor into the hall for a contest. Gerriod grabbed a red hot piece of iron and threw it a Thor. Thor who caught it in his iron gloves and threw it back at Gerriod. Gerriod tried to hide behind a pillar but the rod went right through it and him.

Loki gets one dwarf to make him great things. Then he takes a wager that his brother can't make better things. The price of the bet is Loki's head. The brother makes three items to rival the first brothers three. They then take them to Asgard for the gods to judge and the pronouncement is that the second brother did better. The dwarves then try to take Loki's head. After a while, Loki says you don't have the right to my neck so rather than kill him the sew his mouth shut.

Aegir, a man, holds a feast in the gods at his house, his flours are burnished gold and give light to the whole hall.

Odin, Loki and Hoenir are travelling when they see an otter eating a salmon. Loki kills the otter and retrieves both the otter and the salmon. That night they approach a mans house and give him the otter and the salmon for food for the night. The man called his son and then they set on the Aesir as the otter was their brother. The man makes the otter into a bag and says once it is full of gold and covered in it that will be the ransom paid. Loki leaves to a dwarven hall and takes his gold as a ransom for not killing him. so the Aesir pay the ransom for the otter. the father takes the gold but will give none to his sons, so the sons kill him. Then one brother will not give the other brother any of the gold. So he turns himself into a snake and finds a cave to go and sleep on it in. The other brother travels and goes to Sigurd son of Sigmund. Sigurd's foster father was Volsung, he tells him about the treasure and they travel to go and claim it. Sigurd digs a pit and lays wait in it for the first brother, with his extremely sharp sword, and kills him. Sigurd is to roast the heard of the serpent and give it to the brother. He burns himself while cooking it and sucking on the juices on his hand. He starts to hear the talk of the birds that the living brother is going to betray him so he kills him first. 

Sigurd meets a king names Gjuki. Sigurd marries his daughter Gudrun and swears brotherhood to her brothers. One of the brothers wants to marry. To do so he must ride through flames, which he can't do. He and Sigurd switch bodies and Sigurd does the feat as the brother then switch back. The brother gets to marry the woman. The brother tells his wife about the swap and she was speechless. From then on she urges another brother to kill Sigurd. They wouldn't because of the brotherhood. But a third would and split Sigurd with a sword and they killed his son. Their father then marries Gudrun Sigrurds wife. He kills her brothers, one by cutting out his heart and the other by a snake bite all the way to the liver. But he did not manage to claim their treasure which they had hidden. His wife made the brothers skulls into goblets and gave their roasted heads to her husband to eat. One of the brothers he had killed sons came and killed him while he slept. 

Gudrun throws herself into the sea hoping to drown. She is carried to land and seen by the local king who takes her as his wife. She has three sons. There is a daughter of Sigurd in the land. Another king heard of her beauty and send his son to the first king to get her for himself. The king's advisor though suggests, to the son and the girl, that his son marries the daughter of Sigurd. He also tells the king what happened. The king puts his son to death and thus puts himself in a bad position of being old with no sons. He and his men kill the daughter of Sigurd by trampling her with horses. When Sigurd's wife heard she sent her three sons to avenge her. The sons quibbled on the way. Two killed the third. Then when they killed the king not having the third was their undoing and they died in the process.

Frodi bought peace to the northern countries, where there was no murder or theft. he visited Sweden with a couple of slave women. There was in Sweden a millstone to large to be moved and yet it did what the miller commanded. Frodi sent the slave women to the mill to grind gold, peace and prosperity. They ground out an army to oppose Frodi instead. Mysing arrived by night and killed Frodi and his peace ended. He took the millstones and the women. While on his ship ordered them to grind salt but the sea became salty and they came upon a whirlpool and sank.

Kraki was king in Denmark a young boy gives him that name and he gives him a gold ring as a gift. He went to war with the king of Sweden and send his berserkers to fight. They were victorious but he refused to pay them. He met them in Sweden and the local king gave them false hospitality. He tried to burn them alive but they leapt over the fire and slew those trying to burn them. He was given a horn of gold and told to ride back to his army. He was chased by the king and his men. So he threw out the coins and the army stopped to collect it. The opposing king kept on coming so he threw a gold ring and got the king to grovel like a pig.

One king, Hogni, has his daughter stolen by another king. So Hogni set out with his army but the other king fled by sea so he chased him. they eventually stopped and fought on an island. Every night his daughter would raise the fallen men. So each day they would fight with full armies again. This is the endless fight.

There is a subdivision here in the text as it moves from stories to instructions on how to write poetry:

First is the explanation of the Kenning Structure. How that if one God is named but with the title or description of another. Then it is actually the second god that is being referenced.

Following the gods are listed with their appropriate titles and descriptions. With a slight aside for the story of Heimdall being struck in the head and how now Heimdall's head can refer to a sword. The same list and descriptions are repeated with the Goddesses, Sun, Moon and Sea. Then we move on to the references for men and women. These are a lot more general as there are many people they could refer to. The one I find most interesting is that men can be referred to by masculine trees and women by feminine trees. Gold has its own section but they are mainly the names for gold we have seen in the preceding stories. Battle, weapons and armour have a lot of references to Odin and his Valkyries. Ships is the smallest section with them just being referenced as animals or the ski of the sea kings. References to Christ goes through the traditional Christian title for him. They also add a few place names.

Time is reckoned in months from Harvest to Corn-reaping and there are 15 in total.|

We have a genealogy of the Kings of the northlands in a story-based form.

 Finally, we have alternate names for positions and actions. These include poets being called greppar. Also, the young men who haven't taken possession of a farm being called drengir. 

Reflections on The Edda - Skaldskaparmal

From what I had read about the Edda I had expected this section to be shorter so its length was a nice surprise. The storied start with stories of the gods, mainly Odin and company. They are on various trips out of Asgard before moving on to stories of men. Nearly all the stories include some turn of phrase that the story is the origin for. It is quite interesting that there are so few stories of Thor and so many more of Odin.

I know Loki is a trickster, but tying a rope to his nethers for a laugh is a bit over the top. I guess it did have the desired effect of laughter. It seems like a story that is an affront to the dignity of the gods. But then Loki isn't truly an Aesir so maybe the dignified portrayals do not extend to him. Also, it is fitting that the laugh is at his expense. Since it was his foolishness that created the situation in the first place.

I find the creation method for the mead of poets rather gross. I have definitely heard in other contexts of using spit to seal a deal. Even if today it is mostly a thing kids do, keeping it to make a man is just an odd concept. but brewing mead mixed with that mans blood and then to be spat out by Odin. I wouldn't care how much of a poet it would make me I would not care to drink it.

Thor's son having the strength to move the giant that has fallen on Thor. The giant fell on Thor as he killed it. All other Aesir had failed to move the giant but Thors son succeeds. This shows that his house and hammer is in good hands. We do not know if this is one of the sons of Thor that will survive Ragnarok. But one of them will take up the hammer, as we see in the previous section.

The transition from the stories of the gods to the stories of man happens mid-story. We follow the gold used for the payment for Otter. This leads to Sigurd of the Volsung's killing the serpent who guards the same gold. Which also leads to the brothers of Sigurd's wife hiding the gold in the river where it is lost. It is very smooth and at first, you think it is just where that story leads. The next few stories are also of men, mainly kings, doing great things.

The final three stories are all about kings but they are more compact and singular in nature. The continual battle is the most interesting. Why would the daughter of one king kidnapped by the other want the battle to go on indefinitely? Surely she would want to go home with her father, which would require him to be able to win. It is also interesting that her name means battle as it is what she has made continual by her actions. 

What Others have to say about the Edda - Skaldskaparmal

"But now one thing must be said to young skalds, to such as yearn to attain to the craft of poesy and to increase their store of figures with traditional metaphors;" Says the Honest Modern Heathen

From Function and Relevance of the Kennings "The role that these "higher" or "proper" kennings play within individual poems can be illustrated by looking at the Völuspá of the Poetic Edda."

Comparisons with other texts

The obvious comparison here is of the story of Sigurd seen in the Nibelungenlied. Which relates closely to this part of the Edda. Here we see the origins of the gold and of the serpent that Sigurd kills as well as his untimely end. In the Nibelungenlied, we see a lot more about Sigurd's family. Also their interaction with the world with Sigurd being more of a side story. Whereas here in the Edda, his wife is the main focus. That is once the focus is off the gold. Her life after Sigurd becomes central. The main contents of the Sigurd story are the same between the two works. Though some of the more minor characters names are different the main ones are the same or very similar.

To compare this section with the second section of the Edda. As I previously noted we see a lot more of stories featuring Odin that we did in the second section. Also, we see a lot less of Thor. Though in both cases they travel with Loki and that is the beginning of all the troubles that follow. The characterisation between the two sections is consistent. Even as the style of the story changes slightly. In both sections, we see Thor called back from the giant lands to deal with something in a physical manner. It seems the other gods are perfectly happy to get Thor to do the fighting and killing. 

Conclusion

The third section of the Edda covers some more stories of the Aesir. It also covers Kenning, a poetic device used by the Icelandics and other Norse at the time. Those stories covered more about Odin and less about Thor than we saw in the section before. Some of the stories seemed a bit gross or vulgar to me as a modern reader but that does not diminish their worth. We compared the stories of Sigurd from the Nibelungenlied and found that the Edda gave us more context. 

Have you read the Edda? If so what did you think of it? 

 
Want to read the Edda but haven't? Please leave me a comment and let me know why you want to read it.

Hopefully, this post inspires you to take the time to look into it on your own journey of Self Education.

Get a copy of the Edda

The first nine years of the war; The Peloponnesian War - Books 1-4, Thucydides

 

Why you might read the Peloponnesian War?

Thucydides work in the Peloponnesian war is credited as the first of modern history. While it is not the first to try and report history. It is none the less the first that tries to do so dispassionately and without melodrama. As such it is a great way to expand your understanding of what history is and where the genre has come from.

For my Self-Education project, it serves as the second history that I have sat down to read. It is the more important of the two for the reasons outlined above. One of the objectives of this project was to start at the start of genres and ideas. Because of this Thucydides deserves pride of place as the first serious and focused history.

The Content of the Peloponnesian War, Books 1-4

Book 1: 

Introduction

Thucydides spends most of his introduction laying the groundwork for what is to come. He explains that he is trying to get as close to the facts as possible. He even hypothesises that it might be dryer to read. Dryer because it doesn't have the "romanticism" you would get in other accounts. He also lays out the prehistory of the Hellenites. First as a mobile population without much agriculture. Through to starting to build navies and walls for their cities. With that, he details the rise of first Sparta and then Athens one as a power of the sea and the other as the power on land. He leaves us there ready to jump into the fighting between these two.

The Dispute over Epidamnus

Epidamnus suffers some internal struggles. Being a colony of Corcyra sent word to there for help. The Corcyrans refused. So Epidamnus reaches out to Corinth, as they had been part of the colonists, for help. Corinth provides help in the form of troops that are settlers. Corcyran sees this as an act of aggression and attacks. Corcyran wins but then is spooked by Corinth building more boats. They decide to ask for an alliance with Athens. Both sides put their view of events to Athens. Athens then decides to grant Corcyran a partial alliance. The alliance is that they will help defend Corcyran land but otherwise not engage.

The Dispute over Corcyran

Athens sends 10 boats, with their compliment of troops, to Corcyran. The Corinthians sail to the general area and the two forces meet in the open ocean. Thucydides notes that it is the old style of fighting. The old-style is of ramming and then fighting hand to hand rather than a true naval battle. the Corinthians win most of the battle, though one wing is routed and chased to camp by the Corcyrans. During this battle, the Athenians have committed themselves to help the Corcyrans. The Corinthians press forward but spy more Athenian boats coming to help so back off for the night. The next day with the force balance is reversed by the extra Athenian boats. The Corinthians ask the Athenians if they will break the treaty they have with them. The Athenians reply that this does not break it. That they will not pursue the Corinthians. As long as they are not threatening Corcyran territory. The Corinthians sail home, but both sides claim the victory.

The Dispute over Potidaea

Potidaea while paying tribute to Athens and part of its alliance is a colony of Corinth. They want to rebel and Corinth suggests they do as Sparta has said if Athens moves there they will move in Attica. Potidaea and some of its surrounding towns rebel and throw off Athenian rule. Athens has already sent an army to pacify it. They do this successfully against the Corinthian troops sent to help Potidaea.

The Debate at Sparta and Declaration of War

The smaller city's of the Spartan alliance take the floor at the assembly. They explain to the assembly the increasing aggression of the Athenians. The Corinthian ambassador give a long speech to the Spartan assembly. In this speech, they detail their dealings with Athens. As well as the escalation of the situation and how Athens has already broken the peace treaty. This is followed by ambassadors from Athens. These ambassadors were not sent for this purpose but were in Sparta on business. They give an account but never rebut any of the points. Rather leaning on Athens size and navy. As well as what happened in the Persian war to try and convince Sparta to delay in any action. The King of Sparta then adds his thoughts about how Sparta should wait and grow its strength. Finally one of the Ephors speaks saying he does not understand long speeches. He concludes that Athens has clearly violated the treaty. The Spartans then take it to the vote by assent but the convener cannot tell which side won. He then asks them to go to sides of the room for their votes. From this war is declared by Sparta and thus the alliance against Athens.

The Pentecontaetia

Thucydides takes us back a little further to show us how Athens came to have such a powerful alliance. He goes over the various towns and cities they captured. Some though were recaptured or revolted. As well as where Athens put down revolts. It also details the expedition to Egypt to support the revolt there from the Persian Empire. A lot of the cites they took were from the Persian Empire, many they held on to but some were recaptured. We see Athens power grow. These seizures the start of the conflict between them and Sparta. This conflict leads to the 30-year truce being broken in the previous section.

The Allied Congress at Sparta

Sparta gets its allies together to see if they will agree to war against Athens. Thucydides records on speech imploring them to vote for war. War is agreed but they choose to build up their forces and not attack straight away.

The Stories of Pausanias and Themistocles

Thucydides then sidetracks to tell how one man betrayed Athens to the Persian. But that his attempts were thwarted and he would end up in exile. He ends up living with the Persians and wows them with his insight. Ultimately he cannot fulfil his promise to bring Athens under his control. From there it would be under the control of the Persians.

The Spartan Ultimatum and Pericles' Reply

The Spartans start sending envoys to Athens making unreasonable but truthful requests. The first is to exile people related to an event in which the goddess' supplicants were dragged off. Athens counters with a similar request. Finally, Sparta sends an ultimatum demanding the return of some cities. As well as the discontinuing of an embargo against one of their cities. And finally to give all Hellenites their freedom. In Athens senate, Pericles argues for the war on the bases that if they force it to be at sea they are sure to win. Athens agrees. 

Book 2:

Outbreak of War

First Thucydides outlines the attack made by the Theban against Plataea. This is to try and get them to change sides before the war broke out, they were in the Athenian alliance. Plataea didn't want to change and managed to capture what of the invading force did not die in the fighting. Theban reinforcements arrived too late. Then they were tricked into retreating. The Athenians promise the return of their captured men. Plataea instead executes them. Before the war starts in full Thucydides lists the resources each side had at their disposal. 

The first year of the war

The war starts with the king of Sparta taking his army and invading Attica. At first, he does not go far into the territory. Thucydides supposes that he still thought the Athenians would come to terms. Eventually, he moves on to rampaging through the rest of the land. His delays did allow Athens to bring its possessions and people inside the city walls. The Athenians retaliate by sailing around the Peloponnese. Then rampaging from the boats into the Spartan's land. Thucydides rounds out the year with the winter actions of the two players. The Peloponnesians withdraw from Attica. Athens makes a quick land foray into enemy territory and does some damage. Athens also establishes an extra island base.

Pericles' Funeral Oration

Thucydides lays out the Athenian custom relating to the war dead. They were buried that winter. It included a procession of the bones and a public funeral in which the best gave a speech honouring the dead. Pericles was chosen for this. He proceeded to spend more time talking about the greatness of Athens than in praising the dead.

The Plague

In the second year of the war,  the Peloponnesians were ravaging Attica and other areas. Athens at the same time sufferers a major plague. Thucydides does not speak in terms of numbers or percentages of the population. Rather he speaks of it killing poor and rich alike. That it did not matter how the person was treated they usually still died. He did layout the general symptoms of the plague and its suggested origins in Egypt. Some did survive though and lived as if sickness could no longer touch them. This lead to a disheartening in the people. They started to live like they would die tomorrow. That the only thing worth pursuing was gratification. He also comments that one foray by the navy was turned back by losing a quarter of the men to the plague in the space of a week.

The Policy of Pericles

The Athenians get so disheartened with the enemy in their territory and the plague in their city. They send an envoy to Sparta, which is rejected. They start to get angry with Pericles, who was a main supporter of the war. He resolves this by speaking to them and helping to renew their courage. this seemed to work though they did still grumble. Pericles' main opinions that Athens should not go out to meet the Peloponnesians. That a battle on the plain would not go their way. Rather they should stay behind her walls. Also that she should not try and increase her empire while at war. And do nothing that would endanger the cities safety. These were all policy while Pericles was the general and alive, which was about two and a half years.

The fall of Potidaea

The Potidaeatians run out of food and some even resort to cannibalism from the long siege. Because of this, they come to terms. The generals on the Athenian side agree to let them escape with the clothes on their backs and a little money. They go and settle elsewhere in the area, wherever would take them. The generals were reprimanded for not taking the decision to Athens. Athens thought they could have got unconditional surrender.

The Siege of Plataea

The next summer the Peloponnesian army does not go raiding in Attica. Instead, they lay siege to Plataea. The people of Plataea ask them to remember the oath taken by the king's father. The king of Sparta points out it is them breaking that as they have joined the Athenians. There is a protracted siege. The Peloponnesians build a mound to try and get over the wall. The people of Plataea undermine this in several ways. first, they build up a wooden upper wall. They try to break down the mound by digging through their own wall and removing earth from the mound. Eventually, the Spartan army tries to burn them out and mainly succeeds.

Victories of Phormio

Athens has ships defending Naupactus. Sparta sends ships out from Corinth and are spotted by the Athenian ships. The Athenians defeated the Spartans although the Spartans had superior in numbers. This was Sparta's first naval action. The Peloponnesians are re-enforced and draw up at the opposite sides of the gulf. Thucydides records first the Peloponnesian admiral putting fighting spirit back into his men. They needed this to attack force they had previously been defeated by. Then the Athenian sides Admiral doing the same due to the great numbers of the opponent. The ensuing battle at first goes the way of the Peloponnesians and they capture many ships. The retreating Athenians turn on them and recapture many ships and capture many more.

Thrace and Macedonia

Thucydides takes a small detour. In this, he details Thraces encroachment into Macedonia. Including how some of the neighbouring cities were worried. Worried that with Athens distracted the army from Thrace might attack. This did not eventuate. 

Book 3:

Revolt of Mytilene

Mytilene is part of the Athenian alliance but revolts and then sends an envoy to Sparta for help. This envoy speaks to the assembly. He speaks about how they joined Athens when the Persians were invading. How now Athens is gobbling up its free allies and making them part of its empire. That it is not Mytilene that is breaking faith but that the terms are no longer valid. Sparta is swayed by this reasoning and promises to send ships. 42 ship to be exact the following summer, so Mytilene keeps from coming to terms with Athens. Summer comes and the fleet takes its sweet time to get to Mytilene. In the meantime, they have had to come to terms with Athens due to lack of food. The ships get to neighbouring cities. There they find out that Mytilene has fallen and choose to go back to the Peloponnese. Leaving the Mytilene people to Athens. That being said they get favourable terms with the Athenians. They agree to no killing of the perpetrators. Though this may be only until the judgement comes from Athens.

The Mytilenian Debate

The Athenians decide to execute all the men in Mytilene and send out a boat to get that done by the conquering force. The next day many are unhappy with that and the debate comes back around. Thucydides details two of the submissions. The first is in favour of the retribution saying it will dissuade other cites from revolting. And generally scaremongering. That, if they don't other cities, will be more likely to rebel. How can they fight a war and put down revolts at the same time? The second is focused on what is the best possible outcome for Athens. He points out that if the execute them all other cities if they do revolt are less likely to come to terms. for if they come to terms they know that they will be killed. Whereas if Athens is forgiving and just kills the perpetrators. Then other cites are more likely to throw off the revolutionaries. Then stop the revolt by the people, if they think that they can spare their own lives by doing so. The assembly votes to spare them and a ship is sent out to try and beat the first one to Mytilene. It succeeds in doing so by a matter of minutes.

The end of Plataea

Sparta is besieging Plataea but Plataea is out of food. They agree to terms including their people being put through the court. Sparta brings in its allies to help with the court. The court asks one question, "Have you done anything to help the Spartans and their allies in the war?" The Plataeans replied with a long speech about how they were allies back in the time of the Persian war. That Sparta's war dead were even buried there. That they had gone to the Athenian alliance when Thebes was attacking them. Thebes responds. They show how the Plataeans had chosen the Athenian side in this war. They had not taken neutrality when offered to them. As well as how when Thebes had sent men to discuss them changing sides they killed them. Sparta decided that the right question was the first one asked. If the men answered no they were executed. Sparta moved on the people and the city was no more.

Civil war in Corcyra

Corcyra descends into civil war after a pro-Sparta faction tries to seize power. This goes back and forward with much loss of life and loss of property, from fire mainly. The pro-Athens group finally wins power an executes its rivals. Thucydides use this as a chance to speak to the moral decay in the Hellen world due to this war. He speaks of a time where men do what is profitable for themselves. That cunning becomes synonymous with intelligence. That statesmanship becomes something that doesn't really happen. Instead, people put together speeches to justify evil acts.

Operations in Sicily and Greece

That summer Athens sent a ship to Sicily and razed the land but did not take the city. That winter the plague flared back up in Athens for about a year. The plague had lasted about two years the first time. This hurt the army. Yet the Athenians still sent an expedition to Aeolus and ravaged some islands. This was in the winter. The Spartans the following year, lead by the king's son, went to attack by land. They did not get past the isthmus due to earthquakes. Thucydides notes a series of earthquakes and tsunami's across the area. Sparta founded a colony, Heraclea in Trachis. Though it did not turn out as they had wished due to low settler retention. This was because of the neighbours attacking and the vicious governor. Athens also attacked Aetolia they won many towns. Yet they were beaten in the field by the local army and retreated. The Athenians also tried to take Naupactus. Troops arrived from Sparta before they could get there. They decided they could not win and went off elsewhere.

End of the sixth year of war

The Athenians carry out a purification of Delos. This included digging up the graves and moving them to the mainland. There they held Delian games. The armies meet just out of Argos involving the locals. Though the Peloponnesian contingent was larger, their flank was ambushed. This lead to the rout of the force. Their reinforcements were also defeated before they could combine. The locals formed a treaty between each other. This covered all except in relation to the Spartan, Athenian war. 

Book 4:

Athenian success at Pylos

The Athenians while sailing around the Peloponnese stop at Pylos. One of their commanders argues they should fortify it as there is a harbour and it is close to Sparta. His fellow commanders and the army both disagree. The weather is bad and they end up staying for a while and the sailors either get bored or start to worry about Sparta. They fortify the position. When they go to leave they leave a force there to hold it. Sparta after withdrawing from Attica for the summer send troops. They try and take it back by land and by sea as well. When they arrive they take the harbour and put troops on the island in the harbour mouth. They hope to deter Athenians from landing. The attack from the sea does not go well with little to no places to land the ships. Then a large Athenian naval detachment shows up and fights in the harbour with the Spartans who lose. The Spartans with men now trapped on the island ask for an armistice. This is while they petition Athens for peace and the end of the war. This petition takes place in Athens but the Athenians do not want peace. So the armistice ends with the Spartan troops still stuck on the island.

Final victory at Pylos

Athens beats the Syracusans in Messina forcing them to retire. In Pylos Athens finally decides to send more ships to try and force a victory before the winter arrives. On the island, the Spartans accidentally set fire to some of the dense woods. This creates some clear land. From this, the Athenians learn that there are more of them than they had realised. Also, they now had somewhere to land. The Athenians land in overwhelming numbers. They kill the local lookouts then proceed to the main camp. At first, the  Spartans try to hold the camp but the Athenians have them surrounded. So they flee to their last line of defence an old fort up on the cliffs. But the Athenians have allies with them that are comfortable with to the landscape. They proceed around on the cliffs to surround the Spartans again. After asking to check with the land-based troops the island troops surrender. They are then taken back to Athens as prisoners.

Further Athenian successes

In the same summer, Athens wins engagements in Corinth, Cocryra. As well as preemptively putting down a revolt in Chios. The following year they had success in Cythera. Thucydides points out the morale of the Spartan troops dropped significantly. When Athens raided on the coasts they did not come up against much resistance. There were troops posted there but they thought that they could not win. They surrendered easily. Athens also won against Aegina.

Peace in Sicily

The cities of Sicily meet and a long speech is put to them. They should agree to peace as there is a bigger threat than their petty disagreements. Athens is in the area and has been helping without being asked, in the civil war and this is cause for alarm. The speaker sees the Athenians incursion as a precursor to them taking control of the area. In his opinion, if they can provide a united front they can send the Athenians away. If they do try and press the situation at least they will be united to fight for their freedom. His idea is carried and the Athenians are informed that they will be held to the peace settlement as well. The Athenians leave. The generals of the fleet are either banished or fined for not proceeding to conquer the island.

Fighting in Megara

Athens invades Megara and takes the fort at Nisaea. The Spartans arrive hoping to save Nisaea but find it has already fallen to the enemy. So they array themselves close to the sea to try and draw out the Athenians, but they refuse to come out and take action. Eventually, Megara allows the Spartans into the city and the Athenians give up and head home.

Brasidas in Thrace

The Spartans under Brasidas march to Thrace through Thessaly.  They were stopped on the way by the locals. But they talked their way into being let through. Though they hurried in case they chose to bring a force up to stop them. On arrival, the Perdiccas allowed them full access to their land. They even paid half the armies expenses. They wanted the Spartans to attack their neighbour Arrhabaeus. The Spartans insisted on speaking to them first. To try and get them to come over to their side by revolution. The Spartan army would support the revolution. Otherwise, the Spartan Army would have to attack. They choose to revolt as did many others in the area.

Athenian defeat at Delium

The Athenians encroach into Boeotia and fortify a temple on a hill. They retreat to rejoin the main army. The Boeotian's march against the Athenian army but it has left their lands. Their commander stirs them up with a speech. He speaks about how they must take the Athenians on for the encroachment. Even if they have retreated and the army catches the Athenians. They line up for battle and come to fighting man to man. One flank is beaten back by the Athenians. The Boeotian commander sees this and sends cavalry to their aid. The fight ends in a complete rout of the Athenian army. The Boeotian's chase down and kill many but most getaway once the sunsets. The Boeotian's then send heralds demanding the withdrawal of Athenian troops. The Athenians are more interested in a truce to claim their dead. The Boeotian's refuse until the fort at Delium is dealt with. They get reinforcements from Spartan forces in the area and march on Delium. They burn down the fortifications and so take out the fort.

Brasidas captures Amphipolis

Brasidas continues capturing cities in Thrace. This is mainly by them choosing to revolt against Athens and him being let in by the revolutionaries. He gained great favour with the cities of the area. He would always let the Athenians take their goods and leave peaceably. In particular, he took Amphipolis by marching during a storm. He had taken their land before they knew it. Taking the city took a little longer but Brasidas moved at pace as he was worried the city would get reinforced. In the end, conspirators opened the gates. Brasidas took the city and favourable terms. As before and he let the Athenians leave with their goods and their lives.

Armistice between Athens and Sparta

Sparta sends an envoy to Athens with a list of possible agreements for an armistice. These have been agreed on by the Spartans and their allies. They mostly detail how things are going to stop and stay in place for the year of the armistice. Though they leave it open to Athenian suggestions. The Athenians agree to it as it was sent and the armistice comes into force. Before he is notified of the armistice Brasidas takes another town. Then there is then an argument over whether he should give it back or not.

End of the ninth year of war

This takes place before the armistice as Thucydides mentions it at the end of the section. Athens fights back against Brasidas. When he moves against Arrhabaeus, he comes up against opposition. He with his allies find the local army formed up against them. They rout them, those that routed move to the top of a hill and stay there. Brasidas and his allies hear they have been betrayed. The force they thought was coming to reinforce them instead reinforces the enemy. They decided to retreat but do not discuss when. Overnight some of Brasidas' allies get spooked and flee. The rest find no choice but to also flee, so when Brasidas' army gets up in the morning it is alone facing a larger army. They still successfully retreat by holding formation and their nerve. When they arrive back in their allies land they rage and plunder the arms left by the fleeing army. This causes discontent. This eventually leads to this city going over to the Athenians. This leaves Brasidas unable to get back to Amphipolis and so he stays where he is. Thucydides then mentions that nothing happens in the winter because of the armistice.

Reflections on The Peloponnesian war, Books 1-4

Book 1:

The first thing that is really interesting is Thucydides introduction. It is more about introducing his methods than introducing his topic, though he also does some of that. And we see the difference in purpose from those who had come before him. He says, “My work is not a piece of writing designed to meet the needs of an immediate public, but was done to last forever.”

Thucydides spends a good deal of time on the things he thinks proceeds the war. This can be seen by the fact that he has used one-eighth of his text on it. And while I do feel it could have been ordered better or possibly that some stories could have been left out. He does neatly lay out the events that proceeded the war as well as the inciting incidents. 

He also does not shy away from reporting the discussions in the senate in Athens and assembly in Sparta. These then lead to the deceleration of war from both sides.

It is Corinth'd alliance with Sparta that set off the war. Otherwise, the initial battles over cities would have remained localised. They would have only lead to a war on a small scale between Corinth and Athens. But their part in the bigger whole makes it a much bigger playing field. That being said in the later parts of the book we see aggression from Athens. These are aimed in other directions than Corinth but still at the Spartan alliance.

The main difference Thucydides sees between the two alliances is financial. Athens takes tributes from its member states. Whereas Sparta only requires troops from its members when there is a war to fight. This means that Sparta has to gather its army and navy from its member states. Whereas Athens can pay to build its army and navy at home.  

Book 2:

Thucydides start with the war proper though as chronological as he is it is a little hard to follow at times. Though near the end of the book he states that was the end of summer three so three years is what he has covered in this book.

The way each side chooses to fight is indicative of them knowing their strengths. Athens by sea to raid in Sparta's back areas and Sparta by land rampaging closer and closer to the Athenian wall. That being said we do see one land raid from Athens. It is in the fall as Sparta has retreated for the winter. In the third year, we see Sparta move to try to cut of allies of Athens. Instead of destroying land where the Athenians can see them. Whether this is a change of strategy or due to the fact that there is not much left to destroy in Attica is not clear.

The naval battles showed the Spartans lack of experience at sea. Though they did do a lot better in the second engagement they were still beaten by a lesser force. This does not bode well for future sea battles. This is especially true when considering Athens has more ships to start with. Actually what surprised me most is that there is only the one set of battles at sea. Whether that is all that happened or if it was all that Thucydides saw fit to mention in three years of war. But then both sides are trying to avoid battles in their less favourable element. So we also see very few actual actions on land. Mainly we see a whole lot of occupying and destroying.

The Plague is an interesting situation. It starts to wipe Athens superiority in numbers and their populaces resolve to fight. As much as their leader tried to bolster them they still were struggling with the burden of war. It is odd that even with invading Attica during the plague it wasn't transmitted to the Spartan army. This suggests that it was only man to man transmittable as a disease. The Spartans were probably right to retire early from the war that year. 

Book 3:

It is interesting how many of the actions we see in this book are not direct conflicts. Instead, they are smaller ones that call in the Spartans and or Athenians to help. Often the winner is whoever gets their first. Some of these are current allies but most are external states that think they can gain something. Even if it is only getting help from the bigger Waring powers. The larger powers do so because they are looking for extra allies and better positions. We see this in the Spartan colony where they agree so they can have a base in the area. Unfortunately, it doesn't end up working out that way for them.

Again Thucydides shows the political debates at Athens. It is interesting that in the end, they put aside justice for the gain of the Athenian war effort. Though it was a debated situation. They are lucky that the second boat made good enough time. That they beat the boat with the previously decided verdict. It is also interesting to see that the assembly at Athens could change its mind. That they could even reopen the debate about a decided issue. I would think that it would weaken their hold on their empire. As well as slow down their political landscape which would make running an empire harder. But Thucydides is rather silent on that and as such, I would assume does not see this as a problem.

The final throws of the dice at Plataea shows that Sparta winning which is a nice contrast to the defeats at sea. The trial of the leaders is a little odd. The leaders themselves show that in how they respond to the question. They plead their case without reference to the question. It feels very much like Sparta to have such a simple and short question because it is from them we get the term laconic.

Thucydides explains the social and moral degradation of the Hellen people. He points to the civil war at Corcrya as the start point of this. While I see his point I think it would be more correct to say that this war between Sparta and Athens is the catalyst. The destabilization of the Hellen corporate identity. It is the war that breeds the disunity that proceeds the moral degradation.

Yet again the plague hits Athens. It leaves me wondering if they would have fared better if they had not had this second problem to deal with. To deal with alongside trying to wage this war. Not that they are faring badly so far. At the absolute least it is a secondary loss of troops. But there is also the effect on morale which Thucydides does not go into.

Thucydides also correctly deduces that of tidal waves are caused by earthquakes. I do not think this was commonly accepted knowledge. He states it as his own opinion rather than fact but that could just make him ahead of his time. 

Book 4:

Thucydides in his introduction suggests that he was part of this war. When he mentions that he has relayed the speeches some which he had heard himself. It is in this book that we find out that he was on the Athenian side and was a general in at least one action.

This book starts off with a lot of Athenian success. Thucydides even mentions that the Athenians start acting like they can't lose. But as the book progresses we see some Spartan victory as well. That being said it is starting to look like the Athenians have the upper hand. Now that we know Thucydides is Athenian we will have to wait and see if this is bias.

The discussion around the temple at Delium is interesting. Both sides argue in the general law of Hellens that they have the right to it. It looks a lot like Athens is trying to justify its actions in fortifying a temple. When Hellenic law says it should be left alone.

The fortification at Pylos is a big blow for the Spartans. Losing land inside their own border, not just to raiding but to occupation by the Athenians. Strategically it also makes it much harder for Sparta to get ships around the peninsular. Once around the peninsular, they could threaten Athens on the other side of the mainland. This is a huge disadvantage for Sparta. It leaves some of its cities without easy access to the main stock of troops in the alliance.

The peace in Sicily is a blow for the Athenians with them trying to take the island to take tribute and support from it. The locals have chosen the smart road to oppose Athens. However, we do not see them reaching out to Sparta. So they do so but rather by their own means unifying so they can stand alone outside of either alliance. They are trying to stay outside the conflict going on in the Peloponnese.

Thucydides goes back and tells other stories from before the armistice. He does so without notifying the reader in any way. It makes me wonder what other things in this history have been out of sequence without me knowing. There have been sometimes where it is clearly so but I wonder about other times. 

What others have to say about the Peloponnesian war, books 1-4

The history co-operative has this to say "The Peloponnesian War is also significant because it’s one of the first wars documented in a reliable way."

Speaking of Thucydides the conversation puts it this way "the war found an author of meticulous standard and dedication who created a work that still resonates in the disciplines of history

Comparisons with other texts

Compared to the Histories by Herodotus, the Peloponnesian war is far more focused. Herodotus rambles through not just the war in question but a whole heap of sidetracks along with the war. Both are trying to relay history. I question if there is a bias in the work Thucydides. He is doing a much better job of writing to be read accurately in the future. Herodotus' by contrast embellishes and extravagates especially in his rounding of numbers. Thucydides is a lot more precise with numbers.

Thucydides makes a statement about the general invading a city to bring it a new form of government.  This reminds me of the current day in the way that certain western countries view wars in foreign lands. It is interesting that a justification of war that is so ancient is still being used today. I guess there is nothing really new in war.

Brasidas treatment of the cities revolting from Athens is a lot like winning hearts and minds. Which is something we hear about with modern wars. It works well for him in this time and it's a strategy that we have seen in work well in more modern wars as well. 

Conclusion

This book will be continued in a second post. So far we have covered the first four books. In this, we have seen Athens gaining the upper hand. But we have also seen it warned about expansionism while at war. We have also looked at how Thucydides set out to write a fair history and how this was a first. Also, we have touched on some tactics that are similar to our modern warfare and marvel at how they have stood the test of time. Finally, we have looked at the differences between this and Herodotus' history.

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