Chapter 3: Athens and Sparta
Reading 3A- Thucydides: The Spartan Debate
• Athens and Sparta were the two leading Greek ci6zen-states of the 5th
century B.C.
• Military strength:
◦ Athens' strength lay in its navy and empire
◦ Sparta's strength was its strong standing army and Peloponnesian
alliance
• Sparta's conquest of neighboring Messenia in the 7th century allowed
Spartans to live on the labour of their Messenian helot serfs
◦ To ensure the ongoing subjuga6on of the helots, Spartans became
hard, obedient, disciplined full-6med soldiers
• Spartans became the most effec6ve hoplites and most
powerful state in Archaic Greece
• In 5th century B.C., Athens took over from Sparta the leadership of the
Greek cause against Persia in the aOermath of the second Persian War,
as head of the new Delian League (a naval alliance formed to defend
against Persia) which became the Athenian empire
◦ Athenian leadership became Athenian domina6on
◦ Allied contribu6ons to a league navy became tribute that paid for
an Athenian navy
• Imperial wealth flowed to the Athenian people and paid for
the deepening of their democracy
▪ In turn, the people favoured the expansion of the
empire
• I.e. Democracy at home and empire abroad
• 432 B.C.- Debate in Sparta occurred; Recorded by Thucydides in his
History of the Peloponnesian War
◦ Speeches were given by the ambassadors from Corinth, Athens
and by the Spartan leaders
• Athenian imperialism is a^acked (though jus6fied) and so is
Spartan isola6onism and procras6na6on
, ◦ The debate ended in war
• Thucydides: c. 460-400 B.C.; An Athenian general during the
Peloponnesian War between 431-404 B.C.; As a member in many ba^les
of the war, he got to know many of the people surrounding the war (so,
he has bias toward and against certain people)
◦ Seen as the first scien6fic and objec6ve historian
• Took eye-witness accounts, etc.
◦ His history is seen as a great tragedy, exploring the limits of man's
ability to control his own fate, subject as he is to the great,
impersonal forces of history
• 424 B.C.- Athenian general (a.k.a. Strategos); Sta6oned at Thasos;
Blamed for the capture of Amphipolis; Resulted in Athenians losing
certain allies and their food source; Thucydides then went into exile
◦ Thucydides then leO Athens and traveled into assemblies at
Corinth, etc.; Got perspec6ve from all sides of war
• He intended to chronicle the en6re war but, only got to the end of the
Athenian-Sicilian campaign
• Thucydides' experience in the war caused him to write a certain way:
◦ He a^empts to come to reconcilia6on wit the events of the war
• While most Athenians blame any loss or weakness on the
gods
◦ Tries to show why Athenians lost the war through their own
nature (their greed, etc.)
◦ Apologizes for his failures in a sense
Thucydides describes his project (Histories 1.1)
• Thucydides, an Athenian, wrote of the war between the Peloponnesians
and the Athenians as soon as it begun
◦ At this 6me, both were at their greatest in terms of military power
and all other Greek states sided with one side or the other
• The Peloponnesian War is a worthwhile subject because it:
◦ Polarized the Greek world (i.e. Democracy of Athens and its allies
against the oligarchies of the Peloponnesians and Spartans)
◦ It will be more memorable than any other war due to the
involvement of many, many powers
Reading 3A- Thucydides: The Spartan Debate
• Athens and Sparta were the two leading Greek ci6zen-states of the 5th
century B.C.
• Military strength:
◦ Athens' strength lay in its navy and empire
◦ Sparta's strength was its strong standing army and Peloponnesian
alliance
• Sparta's conquest of neighboring Messenia in the 7th century allowed
Spartans to live on the labour of their Messenian helot serfs
◦ To ensure the ongoing subjuga6on of the helots, Spartans became
hard, obedient, disciplined full-6med soldiers
• Spartans became the most effec6ve hoplites and most
powerful state in Archaic Greece
• In 5th century B.C., Athens took over from Sparta the leadership of the
Greek cause against Persia in the aOermath of the second Persian War,
as head of the new Delian League (a naval alliance formed to defend
against Persia) which became the Athenian empire
◦ Athenian leadership became Athenian domina6on
◦ Allied contribu6ons to a league navy became tribute that paid for
an Athenian navy
• Imperial wealth flowed to the Athenian people and paid for
the deepening of their democracy
▪ In turn, the people favoured the expansion of the
empire
• I.e. Democracy at home and empire abroad
• 432 B.C.- Debate in Sparta occurred; Recorded by Thucydides in his
History of the Peloponnesian War
◦ Speeches were given by the ambassadors from Corinth, Athens
and by the Spartan leaders
• Athenian imperialism is a^acked (though jus6fied) and so is
Spartan isola6onism and procras6na6on
, ◦ The debate ended in war
• Thucydides: c. 460-400 B.C.; An Athenian general during the
Peloponnesian War between 431-404 B.C.; As a member in many ba^les
of the war, he got to know many of the people surrounding the war (so,
he has bias toward and against certain people)
◦ Seen as the first scien6fic and objec6ve historian
• Took eye-witness accounts, etc.
◦ His history is seen as a great tragedy, exploring the limits of man's
ability to control his own fate, subject as he is to the great,
impersonal forces of history
• 424 B.C.- Athenian general (a.k.a. Strategos); Sta6oned at Thasos;
Blamed for the capture of Amphipolis; Resulted in Athenians losing
certain allies and their food source; Thucydides then went into exile
◦ Thucydides then leO Athens and traveled into assemblies at
Corinth, etc.; Got perspec6ve from all sides of war
• He intended to chronicle the en6re war but, only got to the end of the
Athenian-Sicilian campaign
• Thucydides' experience in the war caused him to write a certain way:
◦ He a^empts to come to reconcilia6on wit the events of the war
• While most Athenians blame any loss or weakness on the
gods
◦ Tries to show why Athenians lost the war through their own
nature (their greed, etc.)
◦ Apologizes for his failures in a sense
Thucydides describes his project (Histories 1.1)
• Thucydides, an Athenian, wrote of the war between the Peloponnesians
and the Athenians as soon as it begun
◦ At this 6me, both were at their greatest in terms of military power
and all other Greek states sided with one side or the other
• The Peloponnesian War is a worthwhile subject because it:
◦ Polarized the Greek world (i.e. Democracy of Athens and its allies
against the oligarchies of the Peloponnesians and Spartans)
◦ It will be more memorable than any other war due to the
involvement of many, many powers
