The Great War Between Athens And Sparta: A Companion To The Military History Of Thucydides by Henderson Dr. Bernard W.;

Author:Henderson, Dr. Bernard W.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hauraki Publishing
Published: 2015-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER VII—BRASIDAS

§ 1. Chalcidice

IT had been Pericles’ firm conviction and assurance to his people that the Athenian Empire was invulnerable. Its enemies could attack the Empire only by sea, and Athens was Queen of the seas. The utter failure of the revolt of Lesbos had strengthened the proof. Then a Spartan soldier found another way of attack. Brasidas discovered the “Achilles heel” of the Empire in Chalcidice.

This whole “Thraceward” district lying to the north-east of Athens and on the northern coast of the Aegean had for many years been notoriously disaffected, whether Athens tried to conciliate or to repress its many cities. It was the richest of all the districts of the Empire, contributing at least 30 per cent of the total tribute, besides the profits of trade with the natives of the interior. The key to the district was the city Amphipolis on the Strymon, guarding the only passage of that river. This city the Athenians had finally colonised five years before the outbreak of the great war, in 437 B.C., after many previous doleful failures to get a grip of the place. Its grave defects were two. The population was a very mixed one and by no means attached to the Athenian interest. And it lay a few miles upstream from the coast, so that it could be reached by sea only through its port town Eion. It seems likely that Eion was an open roadstead without harbour or docks.{436} If this were so, the nearest station for the Athenian fleet was at the island of Thasos, half a day’s sail away.

The three-pronged promontory of Chalcidice, to the south-west of the Strymon valley, was full of Greek cities. Here Athens had two main anxieties. The first was the disaffection of the chief city Potidaea, due to her Corinthian origin and the Corinthian influence in the town. The second was the great amorphous kingdom of Macedon to the north-west of the district. No Philip had yet arisen to make Macedon the greatest military monarchy of the ancient world. The folk were more than half barbarian, and the monarchy was still feeble. But King Perdiccas had some power of annoyance. And though at the outset of the war he was nominally an ally and friend to Athens, he was treacherous by nature, or at least as naturally disliked the Athenian strangle-grip upon his coasts as any Bulgar. Athens could place no reliance upon him for a moment.

Here was tinder enough to catch fire if there came one to apply the spark and to tend the flame when once the fire was started. Potidaea’s revolt had blazed up furiously in 432 B.C. It was extinguished after many weary months of bitter winter weather and heavy losses to the besiegers in men and money. Potidaea surrendered in the winter of 430 B.C., after two and a half years’ siege. This had cost Athens quite 2000 talents, some twelve to fourteen times the amount of annual tribute received from the whole Thraceward district.{437} The revolt left the whole country disturbed and Perdiccas uneasy.

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