The Greco-Persian Wars by Green Peter

Author:Green, Peter [Green, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: History
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 1996-11-03T16:00:00+00:00

Two important points emerge from this passage. In the first place, the atmosphere is one of profound defeatism. Strategical considerations are based on the lacklustre belief that any battle is more likely to be lost than not: this initial premiss granted, they make very good sense. Themistocles, as we shall see, was the only commander at Salamis who worked from the unquestioning assumption of a Greek victory: the distinction is based on something more than mere Athenian propaganda, and explains the risks he was always willing to take in pursuit of his goal. He had gained an initial advantage by getting the whole fleet where he wanted it, in defiance of the League; but there were bound to be some commanders, even now, who would argue that, strategically speaking, the League knew its own business best. Shortsighted self-interest — that endemic plague of Greek city-state politics — was undoubtedly the driving motive here: this is the second point which Herodotus’s narrative brings out. The meeting split between Athens, Aegina and Megara on the one hand — all with excellent reasons for wanting to hold Salamis — and on the other the Peloponnesian bloc, ever prone to embrace an isolationist policy at the expense of allies beyond the Isthmus [cf. Hdt. 8.49.2]. If the Peloponnesians controlled a majority of the votes, Athens and her supporters contributed something like three-quarters of the fleet: it is only too easy to see how a complete deadlock might arise. Appeals to patriotism fell on deaf ears; the most promising line would be one where patriotism and self-interest appeared to coincide. For this, patience and diplomacy were essential. Yet time, the Greeks’ most precious commodity, was running perilously short. Themistocles had an unenviable task to perform: small wonder if, on occasion, his temper in debate got the better of him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.