Why Did Athens Lose the Peloponnesian Wars? What Impact Did the Wars Have on Greece?
Why did Athens lose the Peloponnesian Wars? What impact did the wars have on Greece?
A good portion of blame for Athens losing the Peloponnesian Wars can be laid at the feet of two men: Alcibiades and the Spartan king, Lysander. Alcibiades was the nephew of Pericles. He was very charismatic and the young people of Athens loved him. But he had a glaring flaw; he lost his parents at a young age and became something of a sociopath, not caring what his deeds resulted in. As stated before, he enjoyed the backing of the young of Athens, but this had a polarizing effect. The older generation did not approve of Alcibiades. He would have raucous parties that furthered the rift between Alcibiades and the older generation of Athens.
At one of these parties Alcibiades and his cronies concocted an ill-advised plan. They would sail to Syracuse, in Sicily, which was over 500 miles away, with a huge army of over 30,000 men. Syracuse was supposedly easy pickings and an ally of Sparta. The main opponent to this plan was a man named Nicias. When Nicias voiced his concerns over the invasion plan, Alcibiades turned the tables against him and Nicias ended up becoming a co-commander of the invasion.
The night before the fleet set sail, there was a rash of vandalism in Athens. Statues of Hermes were destroyed and defaced. This was seen as a horrible sign because Hermes was the god of travel. However, the fleet left anyway. The aged assembly soon blamed Alcibiades for the attacks and recalled him from the attack fleet. Alcibiades convinced the retrieval group to allow him to take his own ship back to Athens. As they neared Athens, he kept sailing and ended up in Sparta. He quickly rose in prominence and soon had the king’s ear.
Meanwhile, the Athenians were making strides against Syracuse. But Alcibiades gave the Spartans all of the information on the invasion force, and they sent a commander to help Syracuse. He restructured the army using
A good portion of blame for Athens losing the Peloponnesian Wars can be laid at the feet of two men: Alcibiades and the Spartan king, Lysander. Alcibiades was the nephew of Pericles. He was very charismatic and the young people of Athens loved him. But he had a glaring flaw; he lost his parents at a young age and became something of a sociopath, not caring what his deeds resulted in. As stated before, he enjoyed the backing of the young of Athens, but this had a polarizing effect. The older generation did not approve of Alcibiades. He would have raucous parties that furthered the rift between Alcibiades and the older generation of Athens.
At one of these parties Alcibiades and his cronies concocted an ill-advised plan. They would sail to Syracuse, in Sicily, which was over 500 miles away, with a huge army of over 30,000 men. Syracuse was supposedly easy pickings and an ally of Sparta. The main opponent to this plan was a man named Nicias. When Nicias voiced his concerns over the invasion plan, Alcibiades turned the tables against him and Nicias ended up becoming a co-commander of the invasion.
The night before the fleet set sail, there was a rash of vandalism in Athens. Statues of Hermes were destroyed and defaced. This was seen as a horrible sign because Hermes was the god of travel. However, the fleet left anyway. The aged assembly soon blamed Alcibiades for the attacks and recalled him from the attack fleet. Alcibiades convinced the retrieval group to allow him to take his own ship back to Athens. As they neared Athens, he kept sailing and ended up in Sparta. He quickly rose in prominence and soon had the king’s ear.
Meanwhile, the Athenians were making strides against Syracuse. But Alcibiades gave the Spartans all of the information on the invasion force, and they sent a commander to help Syracuse. He restructured the army using