The Fall of the Athenian Empire-(A New History of the Peloponnesian War) Donald Kagan - (1987)

SPARTA'S RIPOSTE 99
belong to the King; and about his own territory the King may decide
whatever he wishes. " 123 The first statement is clearly a concession to
the Spartans and a concession to the complaints of Lichas. There is
no mention of the Great King's father or ancestors and the territory
they once held. Darius limits his practical claims to Asia. The second
statement has given rise to speculation about possible rejection of
clauses limiting the Great King's freedom of action contained in the
Peace of Callias, made with Athens at mid-century, or to some Spartan
proposals, unknown to us, about the status of the Greek cities in Asia.
But once again, Lewis' suggestion seems most persuasive: "it may
simply reflect an angry outburst of the King when faced with the
difficulty about the definition of his empire. If he is going to accept
an explicit limitation to Asia ... there is to be no quibbling about his
rights there. ""'" 4
The most important change is in the plan for waging the war implied
in the new agreement. Until now the only forces referred to have been
the Peloponnesian ones summoned and maintained by the king. The
implicit assumption has been that they will do the fighting and the
Great King only the paying. It is only later that there is even a suggestion
about bringing in significant royal forces, namely, the Phoenician
fleet. us The new agreement, however, introduces a complete
change of perspective. The Great King's ships are the center of attention
and the focal point of expectations for military success. Tissaphemes,
who remains in charge of the Persian conduct of the war in
spite of the presence of Pharnabazus and Hieramenes in the preamble,
will maintain the Peloponnesian forces on the basis of the specific
financial agreement only until the Great King's ships come. After that
they may stay on at their own expense or receive money from Tissaphernes,
not as a grant but as a loan to be repaid at the end of the
war, and war is to be waged by both sides in common "when the
King's ships shall have come.""'
We cannot be sure whether the Persians had really decided that the
war must and could be won by bringing a large Phoenician fleet into
action. The sorry record of Phoenician warships against Greeks, the
doubts ofThucydides, and the fact that the fleet never appeared compel
m8.58.2.
124
Sparta and Persia, 106.
ms. 37·4; 46. I.
ll6s.ss. s-7.