She makes good use of Donald Kagan’s seminal studies, and while her bibliography is not exhaustive, she lists the key secondary literature one may turn to if one wants to know more about the scholarly disagreements. The Athenian victory was not a foregone conclusion, given the Spartan fleet they faced was much more experienced and the Athenians were fighting with hastily summoned, untrained, and untested recruits. Callicratidas was killed during the battle, although our sources disagree on how. In a highly unorthodox arrangement, the fleet was commanded collaboratively by eight generals; these were Aristocrates, Aristogenes, Diomedon, Erasinides, Lysias, Pericles, Protomachus, and Thrasyllus. All told, the Spartans lost some 70 ships, and the Athenians 25. At the start of the campaigning season in 406 BC the Athenians had a fleet of 70 ships in Asia Minor, commanded by Conon, while the Peloponnesians had 140 ships under the newly appointed Callicratidas. This book makes it eminently understandable how great that tragedy was. Recreating the claustrophobic, unhygienic conditions in which the ships' crews operated, … To him, the mob had made the wrong decision at Mytilene, in the aftermath of Arginusae, and in the case against Socrates. The fleet, now stationed at Chios, was in poor condition, Spartans at home were discouraged, and supporters of Callicratidas were displeased by the notion that his rival Lysander would rise to power again if the war were to continue (Sparta's allies in the Aegean were demanding his return).
The war continued, but Athens' decision was to prove costly less than a year later when Lysander, in command of the Spartan fleet once more, decisively defeated the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami; within two years of the dramatic Athenian victory at Arginusae, the city surrendered and its walls were torn down. Surprise Attack in Ancient Greek Warfare, Kill Caesar! In 406 BC, Callicratidas was appointed as the navarch of the Spartan fleet, replacing Lysander. She gives all the background one needs to understand the Athenian-Spartan rivalry. Unfortunately, a great storm came up and prevented the Athenians from accomplishing either task.
The Athenians would already know part of the story, because Theramenes and Thrasybulus had already returned to Athens with six tons of human remains and the crews of their ships would not have remained silent. Her special field of study is ancient intelligence history. When the Athenians regrouped at Arginusae to take stock of how many ships were destroyed and how many men were lost at sea, the generals should have used this information to mount an organized rescue operation. Surprise Attack in Ancient Greek Warfare and Kill Caesar!
[11], At Athens, the public relief at this unexpected victory was quickly subsumed in a bitter rhetorical battle over who was responsible for the failure to rescue the sailors.
It would be a crucial win for the Athenians, as losing the battle would have led to their total defeat by the Spartans. He achieved a series of early successes, capturing Delphinium in the territory of Chios and Methymne on Lesbos. Once the dead were collected, they could tow any salvageable wrecks and put up a trophy on some nearby piece of land to commemorate the victory at sea. The question of how the Athenians won at Arginusae has long puzzled historians. [3] When Callicratidas attacked him, however, with a fleet that had swelled to a size of 170 ships, Conon was forced to flee to Mytilene, where he was blockaded with his fleet after losing 30 ships in a clash at the mouth of the harbor. The Battle of Arginusae: Victory at Sea and its Tragic Aftermath in the Final Years of the Peloponnesian War. Six of those generals obeyed orders and returned, two generals refused the summons and, so far as we know, never went home again.
The superior Athenian numbers, combined with the tactics they had implemented, created a dangerous situation for the Spartans, and Callicratidas' helmsman advised him to retire without a fight, but the navarch insisted on pushing on. The fleet came together at Samos, and sailed up the coast towards Lesbos, pausing on the night before the battle at the Arginusae Islands, east of Lesbos and close to the mainland. She received her Ph.D. in ancient history from the University of Michigan. Chair in Military History. She provides a summary of the events that caused the long war and discusses the tactical intricacies of Greek naval warfare. Within the month, this attack resulted in a showdown with the Athenians themselves, whose 150 ships had taken up a position off the tiny Arginusae islands. It was a complicated and lengthy business, interrupted by debates over procedure. The question of how the generals should be tried for their failure to rescue the survivors was then brought before the assembly. Without a doubt, one of the most controversial events of the war was the Athenian naval victory at Arginusae that became one of the most infamous chapters in the history of ancient Athens. He commanded on the right, while the Boeotians, commanded by Thrasondas of Thebes, held the left.
[15] By chance, the philosopher Socrates, holding public office for the only time in his life, was epistates on the day that the generals were tried. The Spartans, who had traditionally fought on land but could not seem to inflict much damage on the Athenian homeland, ultimately adapted their strategy to fighting a war at sea.
She has both copious notes and a detailed section on further reading. [1] Callicratidas was a traditionalist Spartan, distrustful of Persian influence and reluctant to ask for support from the Persian prince Cyrus, who had been a strong supporter of Lysander. The Athenian fleet was drawn up in two lines.
Conon was still blockaded at Mytilene by 50 Spartan ships, and decisive action against those ships could lead to their destruction before they had a chance to join the remainder of Callicratidas' fleet. Depending on the height of the waves and the cant of the ship, a large percentage of their oar shafts might be under water. This inexperienced fleet was thus tactically inferior to the Spartans, but its commanders were able to circumvent this problem by employing new and unorthodox tactics, which allowed the Athenians to secure a dramatic and unexpected victory. This loss of crew would lead to the most controversial aspect of the battle. [6] To counter the Spartans' superior skill and maneuverability, the Athenian commanders implemented several new and innovative tactics. Debra Hamel introduces readers to Athens and Sparta, the two thriving superpowers of the fifth century B.C. When news of the lost men got back to Athens, citizens were furious. According to Xenophon he fell overboard after his ship rammed an Athenian ship, and was drowned. At Sparta, the defeat at Arginusae added to a long list of setbacks since the war in the Aegean had begun in 412 BC. The Athenian people soon regretted their decision, but it was too late. As a war that spanned more than a generation, one can focus on its strategy in its entirety, or study one of its many parts. She traces the story from the second Persian war to 406 BCE when the Athenians launched the fleet that would fight at Arginusae. This gave Eteonicus, the Peloponnesian commander at Mytilene, time to evacuate his army and fleet. Two of the leaders went into exile from Athens, and the six who returned to Athens were tried, convicted, and eventually executed, including Pericles the Younger, son of the the archon of Athens early in the war. For the first time in the war, the Spartan crews and commanders were more experienced than their Athenian opposites, as the Athenians' best crews had been at sea with Conon. Of the eight generals in command during the battle Protomachus and Aristogenes decided not to return to Athens. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015. Triremes did not operate well in rough weather. The broad account followed here and in the following paragraph is that of Diodorus, People of the American Civil War by state, Greece articles missing geocoordinate data, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arginusae?oldid=2772182. The naval Battle of Arginusae took place in 406 BC during the Peloponnesian War near the Arginusae islands east of the island of Lesbos.
Modern historians have portrayed the Arginusae proceedings as an example of mob rule or the moral nadir of democracy. Combining an eminently readable style with discussion of the … Callicratidas, once he had assembled his fleet, sailed against Methymna, on Lesbos, which he laid siege to and stormed. The Battle of Arginusae describes the violent battle and its horrible aftermath. Her books include Espionage in the Ancient World: An Annotated Bibliography, Intelligence Activities in Ancient Rome: Trust in the Gods, But Verify, Spies in the Bible, Operation Messiah: St. Paul, Roman Intelligence and the Birth of Christianity, Rome’s Wars in Parthia: Blood in the Sand, Ambush!
Richmond Electoral District, Carousel Post, The Dig Netflix Release, Donna Fargo Net Worth, Ransom Roblox Id Not Pitched, My Heart Will Go On E Major, Is Being Alone Bad For Your Health, Psychologist Vs Psychiatrist, Knowledge Vs Wisdom Quotes, Symmap Database, Brant Kuithe Nfl, What Key Is The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald In, Taras Bulba Meaning, Alcohol At Fenway Park, Pocono Raceway Winners, Hockenheim Weather, Let Me Take It To The Max I Want To Love You Lyrics, Anne Hathaway Les Mis Character, Eastern Pacific Time Now, Xi Scrabble Word Meaning, Lemon Popsicle Streaming, Brazil Gp 2019 Podium, Most Collectible Pistols, Make-up Test, That's How Much I Feel, The Internship Where To Watch, Daniel Daley Net Worth, Mai Drum Kit 2, Arjun Nair Radiology, Man Utd Vs Fulham 2012, Iva Colter Wikipedia, The Internship Where To Watch, Vinny Magalhaes Knee, Nadine Coyle Daughter, Liverpool Vs Leicester 1-1, Gundagai To Sydney, Cheesecake Factory Kapolei, Pietermaritzburg University, Sister, Sister Cast Now, K-1 Kickboxing 2020, Danza Kuduro Translation, Hotels Near Blissful Hill, Mike And Susan Rattler, Ucla Gymnastics Girl, Smu Football 2017, Nurburgring 24 Hours 2019 Schedule, Kiss Principle Workout, Huddersfield Vs Chelsea 2018, Arnold Schwarzenegger Biggest Movies, Opinion Meaning In Bengali, Everton V Bournemouth Live Commentary, Mla Victoria, Master Of The House Reprise, Uri Wikipedia, What Time Zone Is Texas Dallas, Who Wrote The Tennessee Stud, Mooc Writing, Eating Snake Meat, Oh Say Less Meaning, Brock Purdy Interview, Muktika Ganguly, Wbbl Crowds, Intruder (2020 Korean Movie Full Movie Eng Sub), Alfredo Sauce With Cream Cheese, Mega Mix Songs, Acropolis Museum, Nick Andros 2020, Kelvin Gastelum Vs Jack Hermansson Full Fight Video, Tls Solutions, Will To Power Songs, Casabella Magnet Mop, Oregon Ducks Football Tickets 2020, Bailey Chase Wiki, California Honeydrops Playlist, Tupac Thats Just The Way It Is, Leonardo Santos Vs Gsp, Everything Foreign Drum Kit, Randall Knife Dealers, Piri Reis Map Mystery,