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

THE WAR IN THE AEGEAN
4 I
undertaking in the Ionian war they no longer thought of sending out
their ships but even wanted to recall those that had already put out
to sea. " 57
This sharp change of mood would have passed in time, and the
Spartans could not have failed to make another attempt at spreading
and supporting rebellion in the Aegean. Any other policy would have
meant conceding victory to Athens at a time when the chances for
defeating the Athenians were greater than ever. We may assume that
Agis, hearing of the discouragement of his countrymen, would have
used his considerable influence to restore their purpose and determination.
But that would take time and probably lose the opportunity
of gaining Chios as a solid base of operations and its fleet as a large
nucleus of the force needed to overthrow Athens. Thucydides, therefore,
is probably right to emphasize the important role played by
Alcibiades in moving Sparta to action again. He went to the ephors
(more easily since his friend Endius was one of them) and urged them
to send out the five ships under Chalcideus not, as originally planned,
to join the other Peloponnesian ships coming from Corinth but to sail
directly to Ionia with himself on board. He argued that if this fleet
sailed at once, it would arrive before the news of the defeat suffered
by the Peloponnesian fleet. Alcibiades would tell the Ionians of Athens'
weakness and Spartan eagerness, and he would be believed more than
others because of his uniquely intimate knowledge of both Athens and
Sparta and because of his influence with leading Ionians. 58
To Endius he privately indicated a more personal motive: "It would
be good (kalon), through the agency of Alcibiades, for him to cause
Ionia to revolt and to make the King an ally of the Spartans and not
to allow this to become an exploit (agonisma) of Agis." 59 He did not
57
8.I1.3. This is the only place where Thucydides speaks of an "Ionian War," a
name some scholars have given to the entire period between 4I3 and 404. That is an
inappropriate usage, as H. D. Westlake makes admirably clear: "Thucydides uses Tou
'IwvLKoU 1TOAEfLOl! (8. I I. 3) but only in a local sense for 'the war in Ionia' and not
distinguishing it from other wars. The less appropriate 'Decelean war' soon established
itself as the conventional term, presumably representing the viewpoint of contemporaries
resident in Athens" (CQ N.S. XXIX [I979], 9).
'"8.I2.I; Andrewes, HCT V, 25-26.
59 8.I2.2. Thucydides is widely and plausibly thought to have used Alcibiades as a
source of information. If so, this may be a quotation of Alcibiades' argument to Endius.
The language, in any case, is interesting. It is the language of aristocratic contest,
whether in Homeric military combat or Pindaric athletic competition. The words used
to translate kalon and agonisma are inadequate to represent the full range of meaning
they evoke. Kalon connotes beautiful, good, right, noble; agonisma's most basic meaning