The Military and Political Role of the Allies of Sparta in the Peloponnesian War
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE MILITARY AND POLITICAL ROLE OF THE ALLIES OF SPARTA IN THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR BY PANAYIOTIS KATSIVARDELOS Thesis Presented for the Degree of the Master of Letters GLASGOW 1992 © Panayiotis Katsivardelos 1992 ProQuest Number: 13815419 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 13815419 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 GLASGOW UNIVERSITY LIBRARY PARENTIBUS CARISSIMIS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Knox for his understanding, cooperation, constructive criticism and especially for drawing my attention to numerous points throughout this work. Special thanks to Prof. MacDowell whose influences have helped in various direct and indirect ways. I owe particular debts of gratitude to my family, for their moral support and constant encouragement during all these years. Finally I would like to extend my thanks to my colleagues and friends in Glasgow, for their contribution which aided me in improving parts throughout my work and especially to C. Arvanitis & A. Fragos. I would also like to extend my sincere appreciation to J. Harrisson & A. Dakas for their patience in proofreading and typing the present work. OUTLINE This documentation examines the role of the allies of Sparta, in mainland Greece during the Peloponnesian war. The whole study is divided into six chapters, each one analyzes the contribution of a state or a group of states to the war. The first chapter deals with the relationship of Corinth with Sparta and Athens during the Pentecontaetia, the importance of trade in the west in close connection with her colonies, the Athenian intervention in the region, the role of Corinth just before the eruption of the war, and finally her military, economic and political contribution during the years of the war. The second chapter concerns the Confederacy of Boeotia, her political system, her relations with Athens and Sparta during the years that preceded the war, the role of Thebes in Boeotia during the war, as well as the military and political input of the Confederacy during the conflict. The third chapter discusses the city of Megara, its relations with Athens and Sparta during the Pentecontaetia, the Megarian Decree, and the role and contribution of Megara during the Peloponnesian war. The fourth chapter deals with the cities of Western Greece, which were allies of Sparta during the war, their relations with Sparta and other members of the alliance (e.g Corinth), and their role and policies during the years of the war. Chapter five is about the cities of Arcadia during the war, their attitude towards Sparta before and during the war, and finally their contribution. Chapter six examines the involvement of Argos in the war and the role that it played especially during the years that followed the Peace of Nicias. Although Argos was not a member of the Peloponnesian League, I preferred to include it in the present work, for it gave me the opportunity to make a clearer analysis on the diplomacy that followed the Peace of Nicias, in which many states took part. CONTENTS Page 1 - 2 Preface 3 - 47 Chapter I — Corinth 48 - 77 Chapter II — The Boeotian Federation 78 - 105 Chapter III -- Megara 106 - 129 Chapter IV — Western Greece 130 - 142 Chapter V - The Arcadian States 143 - 155 Chapter VI -- Argos 156 - 159 Conclusions 160 - 166 Bibliography PREFACE The Peloponnesian war (431-404) was a conflict between the two major leagues in Greece, at that time. The Delian league in which Athens was holding the dominant position, and the Peloponnesian alliance in which Sparta was the hegemon. The Delian league consisted © P most of the Aegean islands and many of the coastal cities of Asia minor. Consequently Athens’ power was based on her navy which was necessary for her in order to keep her alliance under control. On the other hand Sparta was the leader of a powerful coalition which was composed o? most of the Peloponnesian states, Boeotia, many of the islands of the Ionian, as well as of many states of the Western Greece. Although Athens had the absolute control over the members of her alliance - who had to pay a tribute to - the Peloponnesian alliance did not work that way. The allies of Sparta were free and independent states and they did not pay any tribute to the dominant city of their coalition, Sparta. This means that the allies of Sparta had the freedom to follow an independent foreign policy. As we can see in many cases the allies of Sparta acted with their own free will without even consulting Sparta, (e.g. The Epidamnian affair or the Potidaean affair for Corinth, the Heracleia affair for Boeotia, etc.). In the Peloponnesian league every member of the alliance had the right to disagree with Sparta, and on the other hand every ally was free to bring an affair to Sparta for discussion, or to ask the alliance - as a whole - to take further measures if it was required. Naturally those states which 1 Preface were more powerful than the others, and consequently more useful allies to Sparta, could have more influence on the Spartan assembly and play an important role for the Peloponnesian alliance as a whole. Such states were Corinth, Boeotia, and in some extend Megara. Those cities were important for Sparta either for their wealth, their military strength, or their geographical position, so we have to assume that Sparta needed them in order to maintain her position in Peloponnesus. All of these cities were at odds with Athens during the years that preceded the war, each one for her own reasons, so consequently they were in favour of war, which could stop the ambitious Athenians from damaging them. On the other hand there were some other members of the Peloponnesian alliance which were in favour of a war^for they could have the opportunity to use their allies in order to fulfil their own plans. The purpose of the present work is to give an analysis of the contribution of the allies of Sparta during the Peloponnesian war. I believe that the allies of Sparta played an important role !*v the Peloponnesian war and that we can have a better understanding of the whole struggle if we examine closer the relations of these states with Athens, during the years that preceded the war, as well as their military, economic, or political contribution during the years of the conflict. Such an examination could help us understand to what extent Sparta was influenced by her allies to move to war against Athens, and on the other hand could give us a clearer comprehension of the reasons that urged some of the allies of Sparta to follow a certain policy towards Athens. I have tried to give a detailed analysis of the military contribution of each state during the years of the war as well as their internal affairs, their political situation, their economy, and in some cases their system of government, and the different problems they were facing in order to explain their role and their contribution during the Peloponnesian war as well as the reasons that forced them to follow their policies. 2 Chapter I CMIMTO I. CORINTH The Naval Power of Peloponnesus Corinth was one of the most important allies of Sparta during the Peloponnesian war. Her wealth, her fleet, and her diplomacy made the Peloponnesian state one of the protagonists of the war. Corinth’s source of power was her navy and commerce. Since the 6th century B.C., Corinth had developed a powerful fleet and acted as a naval power. Sparta’s alliance with Corinth originates during the 6th century and according to Herodotus, (iii. 484 ), Sparta and Corinth cooperated for the first time during the year 525/4 when a Corinthian army joined a Spartan expedition against Polycrates of Samos. Sparta, at the end of the 6th century, was trying to impose her hegemony and her political views not only in Peloponnesus but also outside of the isthmus. These ambitions of Sparta gradually turned to become a threat for the Corinthians, who probably wanted to share with the Lacedaemonians the role of the hegemon over the other Greek city states. At this time Athens had not yet built her powerful fleet and Corinth was one of the few sea powers in Greece. "In the last decade, perhaps the last two decades, of the sixth century Corinth was much exercised over the danger of too great an extension of Spartan influence. When the two states made their original alliance it was an equal one; but Sparta’s numerous allies now gave her a pre-eminence which caused concern at Corinth. The procedure adopted by the Spartans when they proposed the restoration of Hippias demonstrates that Corinth achieved considerable success in limiting Spartan power." (Salmon. Wealthy Corinth, p. 249). The relations between Sparta and Corinth did not change until the end of the Persian wars. After the defeat of the Persians, Greece realised that Athens and 4 Chayter I — Corinth Sparta were going to struggle over the hegemony of all Greece. Corinth’s alternative was to join one of them.