Sparta Declares War
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book 1.24-88
DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT AN ANCIENT GREEK SCHOLAR. FOR THE FULL DISCLAIMER, READ HERE.
“For it began now to be felt that the coming of the Peloponnesian War was only a question of time…”
1.44.2; Richard Crawley translation
Introduction
This next part of Book 1 will cover the two primary events that provoked Sparta to declare war on Athens: The Battle of Sybota and the Potidaean Revolt. The next section will give a brief rundown of each event for those history buffs reading this.
The most interesting thing to note about this part is it introduces one of the main staples of Thucydides’ work: The speeches.
Thucydides mentioned earlier that there will be speeches in his work and explained how he will handle them:
With reference to the speeches in this history, some were delivered before the war began, others while it was going on; some I heard myself, others I got from various quarters; it was in all cases difficult to carry them word for word in one’s memory, so my habit has been to make the speakers say what was in my opinion demanded of them by the various occasions, of course adhering as closely as possible to the general sense of what they really said.
1.22.1; Richard Crawley translation
I can hear the modern historian’s aneurysm from here.
Well, the jokes on the modern historian because I’ve probably never heard of him, but everyone knows who Thucydides is and his work is 100x better than anything a modern historian could produce today.
I digress.
These speeches are fantastic. Robert Strassler mentions in the Introduction that he chose to edit the Richard Crawley translation for his Landmark Thucydides because Crawley did an excellent job translating the speeches.
All quotes from The History of the Peloponnesian War are from The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to The Peloponnesian War edited by Robert B. Strassler. Strassler uses a cleaned up version of the Richard Crawley translation (1874) to make it more readable for an American audience. This is the must-have edition of The History of the Peloponnesian War for the lay person. It has a good deal of footnotes, summaries, maps, and a running timeline at the top of each page. There are also a handful of articles and a conclusion that summarizes events Thucydides does not cover (as his work ends abruptly).
The Road to War
Here’s a brief rundown of the two events that provoked Sparta to declare war on Athens:
The Battle of Sybota
First, to introduce the main characters:
Corinth → A city in the Peloponnesus and allies of Sparta. It was a port city known for its trade and its navy. The only other cities to have a naval power as prominent as Corinth’s were Athens and Corcyra.
Corcyra → A colony of Corinth on an island in the Ionian Sea. The centuries long feud between Corcyra and Corinth is legendary. According to Thucydides, the first recorded naval battle in Greek history happened between Corcyra and Corinth a few centuries before the Peloponnesian War (see Book 1.13.4). According to Herodotus, the feud began when Corcyra executed the exiled son of a Corinthian tyrant to keep him from coming to Corcyra. The tyrant responded by capturing 300 young Corcyraean men with the intention of making them eunuchs, but the Corinthian ship was detained in Samos and the 300 young men eventually were freed (see Histories Book 3.48-53).
Epidamnus → A colony consisting of Corcyraeans, Corinthians, and Dorians in what is now modern day Albania. It was an important trading hub.
Epidamnus fell into factional strife which culminated with the populace ousting their oligarchic rulers. These exiled rulers, in turn, allied themselves with the local foreigners and began a campaign of piracy against Epidamnus.
The Epidamnians petitioned Corcyra for help, but were ignored. The Epidamnians then turned to Corinth who agreed to help. Corinth sent men to bolster Epidamnus and Corcyra responded by allying with the exiled Epidamnian rulers and besieged Epidamnus. Corinth sends in a naval fleet, but they are defeated and Epidamnus surrenders.
When Corcyra heard news that Corinth was building an even bigger navy to send against them, they sent arbiters to Athens to petition for help. Corinth also sent arbiters to warn Athens to stay out of the conflict as that would be a breach of the truce Athens had with the Peloponnesians.
Athens listened to both sides and chose to ally with Corcyra. Athens believed a war with Sparta and its allies (Corinth was one of Sparta’s allies) was only a matter of time and having the power of Corcyra’s navy would be beneficial.
Athens sent some ships to Corcyra’s aid against Corinth and a navy battle ensued: The Battle of Sybota. It ended more or less in a stalemate. Although the Athenian ships tried their best to serve more as a deterrent than an actual fighting fleet, to avoid any direct breach of the truce, Corinth saw their actions as a breach of the truce.
The Potidaean Revolt
Potidaea → A Corinthian colony in Macedonia that was a tributary ally of Athens.
Right after the Battle of Sybota, Athens turned their attention to Potidaea. They demanded Potidaea shut out all Corinthian and Macedonian influences in their city (as both were allies and the current Macedonian king was stirring up unrest in the region to annoy Athens). However, the Potidaeans, after getting assured by Sparta that they had their backs, decided to revolt.
Athens sent their navy and attacked Macedonia. After a series of land and naval battles, it culminated with Athens besieging Potidaea. It wasn’t until after Sparta declared war that Athens successfully captured Potidaea.
Some Good Quotes
There were a number of quotes in this section that were interesting to me. Quotes about power, war, responsibility to friends and allies, and the like. I don’t have enough to say about any of them to warrant their own sections, so I’ll just put them all here along with my thoughts.
A lot of these quotes come from the speeches, so I hope that they will show you why the speeches make Thucydides’ work so timeless and why the Crawley translation is such a good English translation.
Just a warning though. These quotes remind me of contemporary events and issues, so I will be talking about those in my thoughts. If you’re only interested in the quotes, just read the italicized words and skip the rest.
“Every colony that is well treated honors its parent state, but becomes estranged from it by injustice.”
1.34.1; Richard Crawley translation
This can apply to cities, counties, states, and national governments as well. The failure to do this is why there is so much distrust of governments today and why, for example, a majority has no problem with the current U.S. President gutting the national government.
“Concessions to adversaries only end in self-reproach, and the more strictly they are avoided the greater will be the chance of security.”
1.34.3; Richard Crawley translation
I guess this is a similar sentiment to “Don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
It’s also helpful for a political frame of mind. If politics is about friends and enemies, you don’t want to concede to your enemy as much as possible. This is something conservatives fail to understand and something liberals take full advantage of. I vaguely remember Rush Limbaugh saying something to the effect of: “Bi-partisanship is just conservatives compromising with liberals.” It’s rarely, if ever, the other way around.
It really does make you wonder if conservatives have some form of self-reproach (self-hatred)… or if they are simply controlled opposition.
“Abstinence from all injustice to other first-rate powers is a greater tower of strength than anything that can be gained by the sacrifice of permanent tranquility for an apparent temporary advantage.”
1.42.3; Richard Crawley translation
The Ukraine war comes to mind (among other wars). If the West had just left Russia alone rather than constantly poke it with a stick via NATO and color revolutions and sanctions and the like, maybe our world would be a little more peaceful.
“For the true author of the subjugation of a people is not so much the immediate agent, as the power which permits it having the means to prevent it…”
1.69.1; Richard Crawley translation
I think about the so-called Culture War. The march through the institutions by the Left, the retreat of the Church from the culture, the concession of conservatives to not “legislate morality”, the failure to act as a populace when freedoms and ways of life get taken away in the name of public health or some other nice-sounding excuse…
There was a time when the Right (or, at least, the upholders of our traditions and faith and protectors of our communities) had enough power to prevent these things, to safeguard traditions and ways of life, but it failed. And so, the “immediate agent” called the Left subjected the people and has been for decades.
Hopefully that is changing right now. And if so, once those changes are made, they need to be protected. Or else.
“Men remonstrate with friends who are in error, accusations they reserve for enemies who have wronged them.”
1.69.6; Richard Crawley translation
This is an important distinction to keep in mind—not just in politics, but many other spheres of life.
“It is the law, as in the arts so in politics, that improvements ever prevail; and though fixed usages may be best for undisturbed communities, constant necessities of action must be accompanied by the constant improvement of methods.”
1.71.3; Richard Crawley translation
This is something the Corinthians said to the Spartans when they were contrasting them with the Athenians. The Corinthians accused the Spartans of being slow acting and too set in their ways while the Athenians were always acting and adapting to the changing times (in this case, what was changing was the importance of naval power and its impact on empire making and it’s ability to manipulate the world to one’s benefit).
This has always been the age old question. Adapting to the times is important, but so is not forgetting the traditions that got you to where you are, or your cultural identity, or your ancestors on whose shoulders you stand on.
“Wasn’t that what modern day Progressives were doing?” Maybe some, I suppose. However, most were not adapting tradition and culture, etc. to the times—they were/are actively tearing them down and making something brand new.
“The blame for a breach of a treaty cannot be laid on the people whom desertion compels to seek new relations, but on the power that fails to assist its confederate.”
1.71.5; Richard Crawley translation
“And no one can quarrel with a people for making, in matters of tremendous risk, the best provision that it can for its interest.”
1.75.5; Richard Crawley translation
Again, it reminds me of the Ukraine war. How different would events have played out if Russia had acted in 2014 rather than 2022?
It also reminds me of U.S. foreign policy. How many nations and peoples have the US failed? Nations and people who then had to turn to the US’s enemies for support, safety, etc.
“It follows that it was not a very remarkable action, or contrary to the common practice of mankind, if we did accept an empire that was offered to us, and refused to give it up under the pressure of three of the strongest motives, fear, honor, and interest. And it was not we who set the example, for it has always been the law that the weaker should be subject to the stronger.”
1.76.2; Richard Crawley translation
This is part of Athens’ justification for its empire building. There is a lot to unpack in this statement, but I am not qualified or talented enough to do so.
“Men's indignation, it seems, is more excited by legal wrong than by violent wrong; the first looks like being cheated by an equal, the second like being compelled by a superior.”
1.77.4; Richard Crawley translation
This is an interesting observation about human behavior in relation to the exercise of power.
"As it continues, it generally becomes an affair of chances, chances from which neither of us is exempt, and whose event we must risk in the dark. It is a common mistake in going to war to begin at the wrong end, to act first, and wait for disaster to discuss the matter."
1.78.2-3; Richard Crawley translation
“For let us never be elated by the fatal hope of the war being quickly ended by the devastation of their lands. I fear rather that we may leave it as a legacy to our children…”
1.81.6; Richard Crawley translation
“Complaints, whether of communities or individuals, it is possible to adjust; but war undertaken by a coalition for sectional interests, whose progress there is no means of foreseeing, may not be easily or creditably settled."
1.82.6; Richard Crawley translation
“In practice we always base our preparations against an enemy on the assumption that his plans are good; indeed, it is right to rest our hopes not on a belief in his blunders, but on the soundness of our provisions. Nor ought we to believe that there is much difference between man and man, but to think that the superiority lies with him who is reared in the severest school."
1.84.4; Richard Crawley translation
Cautions about war I wish our political leaders would have taken to heart in the last 25 years.
“And let us not be told that it is fitting for us to deliberate under injustice; long deliberation is rather fitting for those who have injustice in contemplation.”
1.86.4; Richard Crawley translation
Modern democracy. Need I say more?
That's all for The History of the Peloponnesian War, Book 1.24-88.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
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Thumbnail: A map of the major players in the Battle of Sybota. Taken from: https://www.publish0x.com/ancient-greek-and-roman-history/the-battle-of-sybota-433-bc-catalyst-1-of-the-peloponnesian-xrgxvdq (Note: I know nothing about this web page, I am merely using an image from it and am giving credit)