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

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422 THE FALL OF THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE two occasions, and we have suggested that on at least one occasion, after the battle of Arginusae, the Athenians would have been well advised to accept. Had they done so, they would certainly have averted defeat in 405, and the death of Darius in the next year might well have removed the threat to the Athenian Empire for a very long time. Why, then, did the Athenians reject the opportunity? It is easy enough to point to the influence of demagogues and to denounce the foolishness and volatility of the Athenian democracy, but there were skillful demagogues like Hyperbolus in Athens in 42 I, and the city was no less democratic then; yet the Athenians made peace, swiftly followed by a treaty of alliance with Sparta. Moreover, if we have judged the situations rightly, there was a much better argument for peace in 406 than in 421. It was precisely the failure of that peace and the disappointment and suspicion it caused that may help explain the Athenians' refusal to accept a negotiated peace when it might have been much. more advantageous. In 42 I the Athenians abandoned the war just when circumstances were about to give them great advantages and opportunities. 17 When the Spartans failed to carry out the terms of the peace, the Athenians tried to save it by making an alliance with the Spartans and returning their prisoners, one of Athens' most valuable assets. They did these things because they were tired of war and so eager to maintain the peace that they were persuaded to run some risks and give up tangible advantages for a chance to preserve it. The results were disappointing and infuriating. Sparta did not return Amphipolis, and the Boeotians did not restore Panactum intact." The Athenians were convinced that they had been deliberately deceived by the Spartans and soon made alliances that kept hostilities alive. The memory of these events was burnt into the minds of the Athenians, most of whom were thereafter certain that the Spartans were not to be trusted. That memory played a vital part in leading them to reject Spartan offers of peace later, when acceptance would have been advantageous. The advocates of peace in 42 I allowed their eagerness to achieve it stand in the way of objective assessments of reality and sound policy. Had they insisted on the fulfillment of commitments and on actions rather than words, they might have compelled the Spartans to meet their obligations, thereby establishing the basis for a lasting peace. Failing that, at least they ' 7 See Kagan, Archidamian War, 333-349· 18 Kagao, Peace of Nicias, IJ-Jl.
CONCLUSIONS 413 would not have sacrificed Athenian interests for no return and destroyed the basis for negotiations in the future. At the time, their desperate longing for peace at almost any price disastrously undermined later prospects for peace by negotiation and, still more, for a victorious peace. Also, it seems possible that the Athenians, at one point at least during the long course of the war, had the opportunity to achieve a complete victory that would have made their empire secure by ridding them of the perpetual threat posed by Sparta's suspicion and envy. That point was in 418, in the campaign that concluded with the battle of Mantinea. A Spartan defeat on that occasion was a very real possibility although their army numbered about a thousand hoplites more than the enemy. The Athenians might have made an appropriate effort, and sent the 4,ooo hoplites they used against Epidaurus in 4 30 instead of the 1,ooo who fought at Mantinea, and perhaps, they might have distracted the enemy and forced it to keep greater forces at home by launching simultaneous raids against the Laconian coast with their navy and using their Messenian allies on a raid from Pylos. It seems more than likely, then, that the Spartans would have been beaten and the results of Leuctra anticipated by almost half a century. But they failed to do these things in part because the culmination of the policy of alliance against Sparta came at a time when power was in the hands of its opponents. It is fair to say, however, that a policy of engagement on land and confrontation with the Spartans in a battle of hoplites was not one with which most Athenians felt comfortable. The Peloponnesian War was one of those classic confrontations between a great land power and a great naval power. Each entered the war hoping and expecting to keep to its own element and to win a victory in a way that conformed to its strength at a relatively low cost. Within a few years events showed that victory would not be possible in that way for either side. To win, each had to acquire the capacity to fight and succeed on the other's favorite domain. The Athenian defeat in Sitily gave the Spartans the opportunity to succeed by making an alliance with Persia. After many failures, they won the war by defeating the Athenian fleet. There was no other way to win. To win a true victory rather than a Periclean stand-off, the Athenians would have had to find a way to defeat the Spartans on land. Their own army could never have done that alone, but divisions in the Spartan alliance and the expiration of the Argive treaty in 41 1 offered them the forces that could bring victory. Nicias and the other advocates of
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The Fall of the Athenian Empire DON
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Contents Maps Abbreviations and Sho
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THE WAR IN THE HELLESPONT 227 The s
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Page 442 and 443: 428 BIBUOGRAPHY Bradeen, D. W. "The
Page 444 and 445: 430 BIBLIOGRAPHY ---. "The Phoenici
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Page 448 and 449: 4 34 GENERAL INDEX Alcibiades (cont
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Page 459 and 460: Index of Ancient Authors Aelian 4·
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Page 465 and 466: INDEX OF ANCIENT AUTHORS 45 1 Helle
Page 467 and 468: Index of Modern Authors Adeleye, G.
Page 469: INDEX OF MODERN AUTHORS 455 Pleket,
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The Fall of the Athenian Empire-(A New History of the Peloponnesian War) Donald Kagan - (1987)

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