The unlikely alliance between Athens and Sparta against Persia eventually ended in a likely war which was forever etched in the whole Hellas’ history. Mirroring USA and Russia in the cold war, Athens and Sparta were two fighters who were always at each other’s throats. Thucydides was right in calling the Peloponnesian war as a great war because of the brutality, the mind games and the very impact it had on the structure of the country. From an internal conflict in a colony to the expedition to Sicily, this war was indeed a “great war”.
A clash between the naval power of Athens and the land power of Sparta affected the whole nation and brought long and unprecedented suffering. That brutal era, where a mother told her son either to come back walking or carried on a shield, had seen a lot of battles but not to this extent. People argue that this war was just like any other war with the normal political agendas and conquest of power being the main reasons. But Thucydides’ introduction of the book perfectly counters this argument. Thucydides stated that never had been so many exiles, deaths, cities devastated, and natural disasters occurring during the war (Thucydides 48). This war was between a new democracy and an oligarchy; We can also call this a clash of two competing ideologies.
From the issue of epidamnus, the situation went downhill fast. Miscommunication between Corinth and Corcyra led to Athens and Sparta getting involved. A full war was on when Athens refused to lower its walls and refused to revoke the Megarian decree. The continuous effects of the natural calamities and the plague in Athens didn’t help the death count. The plague eliminated a large portion of Athens weakening its army; the very well-known Pericles who advocated for the war died because of the plague. The very structure of the nation broke down; Even Sparta, the last one to ever declare war, had to go to the battleground. This was the very nature of the situation.
The great plague in Athens played a key role in the initial outcome of the war. In the city surrounded by walls, the disease killed an estimated one third to two thirds of the population. People in perfectly good health started having burning sensations, stomach aches and started vomiting. The disturbing site of a heap of bodies in a church as they could not be removed from the fear of the plague makes me sick to this day. From people not caring about honor and law to people losing faith in gods, things were not looking good; Athens was from no standard in a winning position. A plague happening right in the midst of a war makes it a unique and a “great war”. In a war, this situation drains the city both physically and mentally.
“Men who are capable of real action first make their plans and then go forward without hesitation while their enemies have still not made up their minds.” (Thucydides) The war was also a battle of minds; from well thought strategies to acting on impulses, war had everything in store for us. What makes a battle epic is not necessarily the bloodshed, but are the mind games which are played between the opponents to keep each other on their toes. We see both Corinth and Corcyra asking Athens for help after the epidamnus, both not being necessarily allies of Athens. With Athens being a democracy, one can spot a contradiction behind Athens supporting Corcyra -which was most probably an oligarchy. The role of ideologies took a backseat and protecting the empire’s mutual interests took a front seat. Athens wanted to protect its sea route and its command over the colonies whereas Sparta was hesitant in entering into a war as it knew that the naval forces of Athens were far too strong; through debates representing both sides, Sparta stalled and eventually entered into a war. One can see now that this war was not a normal one.
The example of the Mytilenian Debate gives us an idea on how brutal the war was. People argue that the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki make World War II much more brutal. One must consider the fact that for that specific era, Mytilene debate and its consequences were really brutal. Mytilene was a non-tributary colony of Athens and did not want to be just like other dominated colonies. Mytilene was an oligarchy but was always denied support from Sparta. When the war started, Mytilene did its best to gain support from Sparta by exposing Athens’ weaknesses. Unfortunately, Athens took control of Mytilene after limited support from Sparta. The population of Mytilene was spared in the end after the tactful appeal of Diodotus. The future of a whole city was under Athens’ palm with the city being unable to do anything. The wait for their impending doom is much more horrifying than the immediate consequences of the nuclear bombs. This issue was no match to the Melian Dialogue where the whole population in the end was either killed or sold into slavery. One can see the brutality in Athens’ ultimatum- surrender and pay tribute to Athens, or be destroyed.
The Peloponnesian war was small compared to the recent world wars, but the tactical blunders in this war rivaled the greatest of wars. We have seen the great blunder of Germany in the WWII; Hitler made a grave mistake by sending his troops to
Russia in the deadly winters. The outcome was the eventual humiliation and defeat of Germany in the war. Napoleon also did the same mistake by invading Russia and eventually losing the Waterloo War. In the Peloponnesian War, one can make an analogy of Sicily and Russia. Athens got an opportunity to go to Sicily after the attack by Syracuse. Another debate took place between Nicias and Alcibiades regarding the legitimacy of the expedition. One could easily see the big problem in undertaking this expedition; the main leaders were about to set sail from the main city which was already under attack previously, leaving it exposed to attacks. Unfortunately, The Athenian expedition was a failure as the naval fleet of Athens was blocked by the enemies from all sides. The expeditionary force was destroyed and all of the men were either executed or sold into slavery. Alcibiades excessive hubris and Nicias’ superstitions were the key elements in the Athenian defeat. These examples show the side effects of making impulsive and rash decisions. These “side effects’ make a particular war stand out from the rest.