78: Potidaea, Plataea & Tragedy

Embark on a riveting exploration of ancient Greece as we delve into the tumultuous events surrounding Pericles, a towering political figure who shaped the destiny of the city-state for nearly four decades. Follow the gripping narrative of Athens' struggle during the siege of Potidaea, where Pericles' efforts faced unexpected challenges, leading to intricate negotiations, strained resources, and even accusations from critics. Inside the city walls, witness the grim realities that unfolded, including the harrowing conditions that drove defenders to resort to cannibalism.

As the historical drama unfolds into the third year of the war, the focus shifts to Plataea, where Spartan king Archidamus spearheads a strategic campaign. Explore the motivations behind this unprecedented move, involving negotiations, Athenian support, and Plataea's resistance against Spartan attempts. The siege evolves into a complex blend of tactical moves, ultimately transitioning into a prolonged blockade, setting the stage for the dramatic events that would unfold in the fourth year of the war.

Venture into the intricacies of Pericles' political legacy, as his influence is tested by the challenges of the second year, marked by the devastating plague that befell Athens. Witness the political ramifications, including Pericles' temporary removal from power, his emotional struggles, and the poignant moment where he seeks an exception to a citizenship law he had once championed. Despite securing his family legacy, the narrative takes a sombre turn as Pericles succumbs to the same plague that gripped Athens, marking the end of an era and the life of one of the most influential political figures in ancient Greece. Join us on this enthralling journey to uncover the untold stories, complex alliances, and enduring legacies that shaped the course of history in classical Greece.

Transcript

Mark Selleck: 0:50

He was indeed a character deserving our high admiration, not only for his equitable and mild temper which, all along, in the many affairs of his life and the great animosities which he incurred, he constantly maintained, but also for the high spirit and feeling which made him regard it the noblest of all honours that, in the exercise of such immense power, he never had gratified his envy or his passion, nor had treated any of his enemies irreconcilably opposed to him. Plutarch on Pericles. Hello, I'm Mark Selleck and welcome back to Casting through Ancient Greece, episode 78, Potodia, plataea and Tragedy. We have now seen the first two years of the Peloponnesian War fought with no peace in sight. Yet the opening of the conflict had seen both Athens and Sparta follow the strategies they had been developing and presented to their citizens. To gather support for the coming war, sparta, leading the Peloponnesian allies, would invade Attica in hopes of drawing the Athenians out from behind their walls to force a hoplite battle on open ground. This was seen to be where Sparta held an advantage militarily, with the reputation of their army still in its height at this stage. However, pericles had convinced the Athenians to remain behind their newly constructed walls that stretched all the way to the Piraeus. In practice, this approach would gain critics due to the frustration of not being able to stop the Peloponnesians ravaging the farmlands and properties of many citizens. Though the invaders' efforts would come to nothing as they would be unable to elicit a response from the Athenians, athens was in a position to effectively defend the land invasion and, if need be, a siege. The long walls and Athens sea connection to the rest of its empire, along with the vast trade networks, would see that the city would stay well supplied.

Mark Selleck: 2:41

Although Athens would stay behind their walls and not take the Spartans bait, they would launch their own operations against the Peloponnes. This would involve raiding various locations along the coastline and plundering towns and villages when the opportunity presented itself. The aim in this action appears to show that the cities of the Peloponnes were also at risk in this war, while it was also an action that Pericles could point to, showing that Athens was taking the fight to the enemy. During these operations, the Athenian fleet would also be able to secure further alliances, which would aid them in the future. Pericles would also finally allow the Athenian army that remained behind the walls to march out and would move into the region around Magara to ravage their territory, this done to intimidate one of Sparta's allies, as well as to lift the morale of the Athenians who had spent all summer watching their own lands being ravaged. Though, of course, this was done once the Peloponnesians had departed Attica, pericles did not want to risk meeting the full force of the Peloponnesian army in the field.

Mark Selleck: 3:41

The second year of the war would open in a similar fashion, with the Peloponnesians invading Attica while the Athenians would launch another naval campaign to raid the Peloponnesian coast. However, athens would have a crisis developed behind their walls just as the Peloponnesians had entered their lands. A new sickness was now beginning to spread, and a gulf much of the population as the year progressed. The plague would be the worst calamity the city had suffered since the Persians sacking of the city some two generations ago. This would go a long way into seeing the Athenians morale and patience for Pericles' policy plummet. Not helping matters would be the failed or aborted campaigns into the Peloponnes, which Pericles would attempt to rectify with a push to resolve the siege upon Adia. However, this second year would not bring any military successes on Athens part, and Pericles would find himself in a precarious position politically. This would see other factions being able to move outside Pericles' policy and by the end of the year it would see Pericles be sidelined from Athenian politics.

Mark Selleck: 4:42

For now, this episode will be continuing on from these events around the second year and see us move into this third year of the war. We will finally see a resolution to the siege of Potidia, north up in the Chalcities, while with the opening of the campaigning season of the third year of the war, we will find the Spartans fix their sights on a target outside of Attica. This would also be the year where Pericles would contract and succumb to the deadly plague that was still affecting Athens. Once again, this will not see us cover all of the events of the third year of the war, so we'll be looking to the other campaigns and events in our next episode. We had seen the Pericles' efforts to try and force a resolution at Potidia towards the end of summer had failed to achieve its aim.

Mark Selleck: 5:26

An additional 4000 hoplites had been committed to the theatre after their early return from raiding the Peloponnese. The Citadis' account indicates that a great effort went to taking the city with its fresh injection of troops, but, as you would write, they neither captured the city nor accomplished anything else that might have been expected from such a force. In the end, around a quarter of the reinforcing troops were lost, with the plague now also taking its toll on the Athenian army well away from Athens. This would have seen morale in the Athenian army around Potidia at probably its lowest point, yet they would have been given hope that the siege would soon be over. With such an influx of fresh forces, though, as time went on, these hopes would start to fade, while the departure of this force would have left those who had already been absent from their home with no end in sight. Not only this, but now they had the plague amongst their ranks, another enemy to deal with.

Mark Selleck: 6:23

If the siege continued on for much longer, one feels the Athenian army would be at a stage where it would need to abandon the siege or its commanders would risk mutiny from its troops. However, it wasn't only the Athenians at Potidia who were suffering. Perhaps doing it much worse, where the defenders of Potidia, conditions inside the city would have been atrocious, with all the supplies not being able to make it into those inside due to the prolonged Athenian blockade. This would have seen starvation become widespread and disease spread, with the onset of malnutrition. Things had become so dire that we hear from Thucydides, that those within the walls of Potidia had started resorting to cannibalism. The only last real hope the city had was for a relieving force to come and break the Athenian siege. But with the Peloponnesians' failure to convince the Thracian king Cytolces to turn against their new Athenian allies, all hope had now been lost. This would see that the defenders of Potidia would now seek terms with Athens so that the siege could be lifted.

Mark Selleck: 7:24

This development came at just the right time for the Athenians outside Potidia. Not only were they on the verge of a breakdown in morale and maybe discipline, the siege was a constant drain on the Athenian treasury, with it so far costing some 2,000 talents. Because of this, the defenders were still able to seek terms that allowed a safe passage. If the Athenian commanders were not in such a tight spot, they may well have rejected the offer to seek a more complete surrender. However, the Athenians would agree to the terms that Thucydides records. The Potidians, with their wives and children and auxiliary forces were to be permitted to leave the town, the men to be allowed to take one garment apiece, the women too. They were also allowed to take with them a fixed sum of money for their journey. This would then see to it that the defenders were able to exit the city and head out to the wider Chalcidides to settle where they could.

Mark Selleck: 8:18

This seeking a terms and the negotiations that would have taken place would have been between the defenders and the generals of the Athenian forces outside Potidia. Athens itself would not have been part of this process. The generals in an Athenian force did have the authority to arrange a truce, but normally the terms apiece would need to be decided in Athens. However, with the state that the Athenian army was in, the generals wanted to end the siege as soon as possible. Sending a proposal back to Athens would have taken too much time and the chance for a favourable outcome may vanish Once word of the situation at Potidia arrived back in Athens. The generals would be put on charges for failing to consult the government.

Mark Selleck: 8:59

Like we pointed out last episode, it appears that the War Party within Athens had grown in influence, with Pericles sidelined for now. They had believed that it was possible that the Athenians should have been able to achieve an unconditional surrender of Potidia. Though they were not there to see the condition of the army around Potidia, and it appears its commanders wanted to get a favourable end to the siege as soon as possible. The downsides to the terms that were agreed to were that many mercenaries were allowed to go free and now would be available to be recruited into the other areas of the Chalcidides that were hostile to Athens. Now this lenient treatment of the enemy may encourage others to rebel against Athens, seeing if they did fail in their bid, the outcome wouldn t be so bad, or at least well worth the risk. As we pointed out, formal charges had been put against the generals who had agreed to the peace terms around Potidia.

Mark Selleck: 9:52

Donald Cagan puts forward the idea that it is possible that this attempt was an attack on Pericles and his moderate policy. The generals who were commanding during the Potidian siege seemed to have all had a connection to Pericles, and it appears he had selected them for the operation. It may be the case that the War Party were trying to push the moderate policy of Pericles out of view, and a good way to help achieve this was to get rid of those figures that had been his supporters. Though this attempt would fail, we are not told why, but it may be possible that, for the most part, the already stretched Thynathenians were glad to be rid of the conflict around Potidia and were prepared to overlook a political technicality, while another factor could be that the moderate view within Athens was still strong or was once again growing after Pericles had been removed from political office. So the siege of Potidia would now have a resolution freeing up much Athenian manpower and resources, though Athens still looked to retain control of Potidia and would send out more colonists to resettle the site and where it would continue to be an important base within the region. We will be returning to the Chalcidides next episode, where Athens would launch a new offensive operation against the wider region. With the siege around Potidia resolved, we would find the second year of the war come to a close, though more political manoeuvring were probably taking place through the winter. Once again, though an end to the greater conflict had not been reached. Both sides would now continue to run their cities and their leagues on a war footing.

Mark Selleck: 11:28

We had seen that it appears that the war party had been able to successfully sideline Pericles towards the end of the second year's campaigning season, though it seems as though this took place through other political manoeuvring rather than the people removing him. We saw he was able to convince the people in an assembly he held towards the end of the year to still stick with his policy. It took his political opponents to lay charges of corruption at him, and even then it seems he had gotten off much lighter than other political figures would have. Further evidence of Pericles and his policy remaining already gaining popularity would be the fact that in the spring of 429 BC, he would once again be voted in as general of Athens. Perhaps he at the people had seen, even though Pericles had been removed from power, the conditions in Athens were much the same. If they allowed the war party to take more control over policy, then their situation could become even worse, with what they could become involved in while still in their precarious state. Maybe the passage of time allowed for cooler heads to prevail and see that the grass was not always greener on the other side of politics.

Mark Selleck: 12:35

With the arrival of spring would also come the beginning of the campaigning season. We have seen that the previous two years of ravaging the lands of Attica had failed to induce a military response that the Spartans were seeking. By this stage, it would appear that the Spartan king, archedamus, was fully aware that this approach was going to see the same outcome once again if carried out, though we had seen he was very skeptical of this strategy from the very beginning. For this third year of the war, archedamus would once again lead the Peloponnesian forces out of the Peloponnes and across the Corinthian isthmus. However, this time around, he would not begin ravaging Attica lands. He would continue to march the army into the territory of Biosha, where his target would be the polis of Plataea. Though why would Attica be avoided this year, and why was it that Plataea would become the target of this campaigning season? We can't look beyond the idea that Archedamus thought that the continued ravaging was not going to see the Athenians come out to meet them in the field.

Mark Selleck: 13:37

It appears, back in Sparta, this was still the preferred policy in carrying out the war, but there may be a few other factors that may have seen Sparta willing to entertain a slightly different approach this year. As we have seen, the Peloponnesians had ravaged a great deal of Attica over the last two years. The first year saw much focus north of Athens and stretching eastward, while in the second, much of the southern regions of Attica had been ravaged from coast to coast. So at this stage it appears that if the Peloponnesian army wanted to have any sort of impact this season, they would need to focus their efforts around the walls of Athens. However, there was one thing that probably saw them worry about doing this the plague was still present in Athens. If the Peloponnesian army continued operations in Attica and especially closer to areas around Athens, there would be a greater risk that this could see the plague spread to their forces and then potentially brought back into the Peloponnes. So why would this then see the Spartans look to lead the Peloponnesians against Plataea?

Mark Selleck: 14:39

Here, it seems as though they were looking to play to the Thebans. However, here, although Thebes was an ally of Sparta, they were still their own independent polis and would look to act on their own interests. At this stage of the war, sparta saw that it was important to maintain Thebes as a willing ally. Having a large enemy to Athens north was an advantage, as it would have them always having to focus on threats from multiple regions. As we had seen, thebes had always had an eye on Plataea, and the city was a thorn in their side when it came to attempting to create their Björsjön League. Athens had intervened and after the Thebes' last attempt at capturing the city, this being the first hostile action of the Peloponnesian war, still had a small garrison within From a strategic perspective. Although Plataea was on a vital road that would see Peloponnesian and Theban lines of communication running along, it doesn't seem as though the city was in much of a position to threaten this.

Mark Selleck: 15:37

At this point in time, plataea appears to have a defensive stance, prepared for further Theban hostile action. This Peloponnesian march on Plataea seems to be more motivated by keeping Thebes a happy member within the Alliance and hopefully a more active one. So, with that, archedamus would lead the Peloponnesian forces most likely out of the Corinthian Isthmus and on the path they had taken the first year of the Peloponnesian war, when they marched to the border of Attica and Björsjö. From here they then continued north, where they would then find themselves outside the small polis of Plataea, a location that the Spartans fought at some 50 years earlier in the Battle of Plataea, where a combined Greek force would win a decisive victory over the Persians.

Mark Selleck: 16:21

Now, though, the Peloponnesian army was encamped on the outskirts and preparing to lay waste to the lands around the city, though, before these activities could take place, the Plataeans would send out representatives in an attempt to resolve the matter diplomatically. The Plataeans, who gained an audience with Archedamus, would point to the past oaths that had been made by their fathers and grandfathers. Decidities will record the Plataeans pleas as follows there is no justification for this invasion of the land of Plataea. It is indeed an action that does no credit either to you or to the men who were your fathers.

Mark Selleck: 16:58

Remember what was done by the Spartan, borsanius, the son of Clembrotus. Clembrotus had liberated Hellas from the Persians with the help of all the Helene's who came forward to share the risk in the battle that was fought near our city. He made a sacrifice to Zeus the liberator in the marketplace of Plataea and, calling together all the allies, he gave back to the people of Plataea their land and their city to be held by them as an independent state, guaranteed forever against unprovoked attack and against foreign domination. And if our state was ever threatened, he called upon the allies who were present to come to our help according to their power. Here we can see the Plataeans looking to have the Spartans on their oes that had been made after the victory of Plataea in 479 BC. This period had been a celebration of the liberation of Greece, and Sparta had looked to put themselves at the head of this liberation taking place. We had also seen that one of their justifications for going to war with Athens in this current war was to free the Greeks, though with their actions outside Plataea, they now seem to be acting in a contrary manner, for if Plataea were captured, it seems like there would be no doubt that its control would end up in Theban hands, with Plataea losing their independence.

Mark Selleck: 18:17

Archdemus would then counter the Plataeans with a proposal that he would put forward that enabled them to remain free and independent. He would put forward that the Plataeans should join in the struggle of the Spartans and the other cities who had previously shared the dangers of the past, some of whom are now under Athenian domination. His point here was to suggest that it was Sparta's mission to free the Greeks under Athenian control, and if Plataea wanted to abide by their oes after the Battle of Plataea, they too should be working to free those under Athens's system of empire. However, archdemus would also offer an alternative. If joining the war on Sparta's side should prove impossible, they should remain neutral and not join either side in this conflict. They should allow both sides to enter the city, but not allow either side to make use of it in war. Supposedly, this would satisfy the Spartans and prevent hostilities breaking out against them. The representatives who had gone out to meet Archedamers then took what had been said to them back into the city. They would then present the offer that had me put forward to them to the assembly within the plateia.

Mark Selleck: 20:19

During the assembly it was arrived at that pulling out of the Athenian alliance and becoming neutral in the war would need to be a decision that had to be discussed with the Athenians. They were not prepared to take this action without consulting them. Doing so seemed a risky move, since most of the plateian women and children were within Athens, having gone there after the Theban attack on their city In the mines. This saw that Athens would be holding them as hostages rather than refugees, who plateia were to act against Athens' wishes. They were also very cautious of declaring their polis as an open city, with the fear being anyone could march in and take it by force. Once the Peloponnesians marched away, athens would be able to come and force the city back under their control. All thieves could make another attempt to take it.

Mark Selleck: 21:05

These misgivings that were brought up in the assembly were then taken back out to Archedamers, who then proceeded to calm them over with another proposal that Thucydides records. What you must do is hand over your city and your houses to us Spartans. Show us the boundaries of your land, tell us the number of your fruit trees and everything else about your property that can be reckoned in numbers. Then go away yourselves wherever you like for the duration of the war. Once the war is over, we will give you back everything which we received and until that time comes we will hold it in trust for you seeing that the land is cultivated and paying you a regular allowance to be sufficient for your needs.

Mark Selleck: 21:48

One can't help but be skeptical of this offer. Handing over an entire city to a powerful city state and expecting to get it back. Also, knowing thieves was an ally of Sparta, who the Spartans were looking to keep in favour, what would stop them just handing over this city? That had been a thorn in Thieves' side. But nevertheless, we are told that the Peloponnesians would once again return inside the city to present these terms to the assembly. This time around they had voted that what Archedamus had proposed sounded reasonable. However, before they acted, they wanted to inform the Athenians and only agree if Athens approved.

Mark Selleck: 22:24

It seems that Plotain's motivations in trying to accommodate Archedamus' offer was out of the fear of the city being attacked. It probably seems at this stage that Plotaya was left mostly on their own to defend the city, and they saw themselves between a rock and a hard place. They were a small polis in the middle of the interests of two of the largest powers in Greece. Athens, at this stage, only had a very small presence in the city, with 80 men to assist the Plotain garrison. The Plotains would then inform Archedamus of their decision and sought an armistice. While they consulted the Athenians on the matter, archedamus agreed and provided enough time for the Plotains to conduct this business, where his force would remain encamped outside the city but not touching their lands.

Mark Selleck: 23:10

It would be interesting to know if the Plotains were fully aware of the policy Pericles had been operating the war under. If so, their hope in receiving Athenian military aid would appear to be hopeless, since sending an army outside to protect Plotaya would run counter to this policy. If Athens did, it would see them falling into the trap that Sparta wanted, with a great hoplite battle developing on the open field, though Plotaya would travel to Athens, where they would seek approval in accepting Sparta's offer. However, the Athenians would call upon the Plotains to keep true to their oaths they had made with them, with the following reply, appearing to give the Plotains confidence that they still had support from Athens and could defy Sparta. They would then return to Plotaya and address the assembly with what they had received Men of Plotaya, the Athenians say that in all the time that we have been their allies, they have never once abandoned you to an aggressor. Nor will they desert you now. Instead, they will give you all the help they can and they solemnly appeal to you, in the name of the oaths which your father swore, not to make any changes in the existing alliance. This response by Athens seems to be at a stage when the war party had held more influence within the government. It is hard to believe Pericles would be able to make such a promise when it flew in the face of how he was running Athens strategy for the last two years. How genuine the leaders were in this statement to the Plotains is hard to know for sure. Were they just telling them what they wanted to hear to prevent them handing the city over to Sparta, or did they sincerely feel a duty towards a small city state that had come to their aid that marathon? One thing was clear, though Athens was not in a position to march out and engage the Peloponnesians in a decisive hoplite battle.

Mark Selleck: 24:59

With the back and forward negotiations with Sparta and Athens, plataea was now in a position where they had to reject Archdemus' offer, remembering here, the Plataean women and children were still in Athens. Athens had now made it clear how they expected the Plataeans to act, and if this was not followed, this could risk seeing Athens become hostile towards them. With the rejection delivered to Archdemus, he would now make preparations to attack the city. First of all, he would appeal to the Divine, showing that Sparta had acted in a reasonable and fair manner. It was the Plataeans who were now in the wrong, since they had rejected all offers to them, so it would be they who were in breach of the previous oaths that had been made. With an appeal to the Divine, complete Archdemus would now see to it that the army were put to work.

Mark Selleck: 25:46

Instead of turning to a slow, drawn out process of starving the Plataeans into submission, the Peloponnesians would attempt to assault the city. For this to take place, a series of siege works would need to be completed, which involved constructing a palisade around the entire city of Plataea, this making it difficult for the defenders to leave the area, and even sally out. The Peloponnesians would also need to construct earthen mounds against the defensive walls of Plataea if they were to attempt to breach these walls. These mounds would have the function of providing an elevated platform to scale the defensive wall, while it would also have the effect of weakening the structural integrity of the wall it was built against. To also aid in this construction, many trees from the Scytheron Mountains, where Plataea stood at the foot of, would be felled so that the system of scaffolding could be built around these mounds to reinforce them.

Mark Selleck: 26:37

All this work began in very short order, and it was hoped, due to the size of the Peloponnesian army, that they would be able to scale the walls and quickly overwhelm the defenders. However, work would continue on for 70 days, and during this time, the Plataeans would observe the works being carried out and could see how the Peloponnesians intended to take the city. The Plataeans would also begin works that would attempt to counter what the Peloponnesians were doing on the outer walls. They would build structures against the walls opposite where the mounds were located, to help strengthen these points that were now under large amounts of pressure. These constructions would also allow the defenders to increase the height of the walls, and a race was now in progress between the two sides. The Plataeans would also turn to removing sections of their wall and then begin removing earth from the mounds in an attempt to inhibit their progress.

Mark Selleck: 27:28

What was now developing between the two sides was a series of moves and counter moves. The Peloponnesians would discover what the Plataeans were up to and would take measures to prevent their activities. This would then see the Plataeans try and achieve the same outcome by instead undermining the mounds, digging tunnels from within the city out under the walls. However, after a period of the mounds' progress slowing and halting, this tactic by the defenders was also discovered and countered. The Plataeans would also make preparations should the wall finally be breached. They would construct a crescent shaped wall on the inside of the existing wall that bowed in towards the city. This would act as a fresh defensive feature that would require a new series of mounds before the city could be breached. In addition, the shape of this new wall would mean that the attackers would be subject to missile fire not only from the front, but their flanks would also be vulnerable. This precarious dance between the attackers and defenders would continue on as the Peloponnesians began to bring up siege engines to affect their assault. Though the Plataeans' efforts throughout this tense period would be enough to counter all Peloponnesian attempts on their walls being countered at every turn.

Mark Selleck: 28:42

Archedamus now saw that taking the city through assault was not going to happen. This shows how well Plataea was situated in their region and how strong their defensive walls must have been. Such a small garrison was able to prevent the entire strength of the Peloponnesian forces being able to breach their walls. A change in tact would now be adopted by the Peloponnesians, where they would attempt to use fire to burn the city. A great inferno would eventually be realised, and the Plataeans were in great danger of being overcome by it. However, although parts of the city became uninhabitable, this attempt would also fail in defeating the defenders. Thucydides does mention in passing here that there is a story of a storm with heavy rain coming on that would extinguish the fire and save the city. In the ancient Greek world, this sort of thing would be seen as an act of divine intervention, though Thucydides, in how he relates this account, appears to be somewhat skeptical of a story, or at least to its connections to the divine.

Mark Selleck: 29:44

With his final act in attempting to capture Plataea failing, archidamus would now order that a state of siege would remain, though now with the attention of starving out the defenders For this, works were conducted to ensure that no one would leave or enter Plataea, cutting off the city from any aid. By the time this work was complete, it was now approaching the end of the campaigning season. Sometime around late September, a great deal of the Peloponnesian army would march back to their cities on the Peloponnes, while a small force would remain that would man half the walls around the city, while the Biosians, allied with Sparta, would man the rest. This would now see the siege of Plataea remain in effect, with 400 Plataeans and 80 Athenians left to defend the city, while 110 women were also inside supporting the garrison. This would be the situation Plataea would find itself in by the end of the third year of the war, though will be coming back to Plataea in the future, as the siege would carry on into the fourth year, where Plataea would meet its tragic end.

Mark Selleck: 30:50

I want to point out here that, on the military front, there was much more also taking place outside of the Fall of Potadia and the Siege of Plataea. These are our main focuses this episode, but we will also be looking in detail at Athens New Campaign that they would launch up in the Chalcidides, designed to take the offensive in the region. Here we will also see further diplomatic manoeuvring with Thrace and Macedon, while to the west there would also be a great deal of activity taking place in the Corinthian Gulf and to some of the western areas we have been seeing featured so far. Once again, there is just too much going on through this year for us to cover all of it in a single episode, so these areas will form the focus of our next episode. I hope the way I have been dealing with the opening years of the Peloponnesian War have been easy enough to follow, but, based on how events overlap, I sometimes need to deal with them in separate episodes so that we can follow one thread instead of jumping back and forward between different areas.

Mark Selleck: 31:46

Now, though, to close out this episode today, I want to look at Pericles's departure from Greek history. Pericles had enjoyed great influence amongst his fellow Athenians for the good part of his political career. He was able to drive Athenian policy in the direction he saw most fitting for the success of Athens. His political career would run for some 40 years, where he would find himself at its head at around 460 BC. Pericles was instrumental in seeing the growth of the Athenian Empire and therefore the wealth and influence the city would hold into the mid and later 5th century.

Mark Selleck: 32:23

Some have also sought to point to his policies around Athens' growth as being a major cause to the Peloponnesian War coming to break out. Though on this point, hindsight is a wonderful thing when viewing cause and effect, though I think we must give him the benefit of the doubt that he was his intent to make Athens as powerful and as influential as possible, this helping secure the city in the Greek world, it's very possible that, had other policies that were competing with Pericles' own been successful, they could have also led to other unintended outcomes and equally disastrous results, though it does appear the men and their passions behind the political outlook for Athens were built on the love of their city. However, gaining the best possible outcome for oneself and their supporters was also closely aligned with the politics they pushed. However, with the break out of the Peloponnesian War, the pressures on the people would be greatly increased. This seen, the policies of Pericles tested, we saw he was able to convince most to stay the path, with the combination of a sense Athens was fighting back and his ability to convince the population they were following the right strategy through his speeches.

Mark Selleck: 33:33

However, the second year of the war brought with it the plague, an event unforeseen by Pericles. This had brought the city to a level of suffering not experienced since the Persian invasion, while also having to deal with the continuation of the war. Pericles had attempted to follow the same path to help keep the Athenians favour, though they were looking for someone to blame for the hardships of the year. Although he was able to soothe feelings towards himself to a degree, he had been weakened enough politically for his rivals to find him and remove him from power. As we had seen, this was only temporary, with Pericles being re-elected general for the next year, though it seems by this stage Pericles' life was collapsing around him.

Mark Selleck: 34:15

We don't get much of a sense from looking at the history of the Peloponnesian War and understanding it from the perspective of decisions and events, but if we turn to Plutarch, we get a much more in depth look at who Pericles was, not just his place in history. For the most part, I have treated my look at Pericles in the context of this bigger picture, but I think I would also like to focus more in depth on the man at some stage, this probably fitting in well with the format of my bonus episodes. Nevertheless, pericles had also suffered great personal loss during the plague years. Many of his associates had succumbed to the plague, which would have affected him politically as well as personally, though, on top of this, his sister and his two legitimate sons, zanphippus and Paralus, had also died of the plague. This loss would have been enough to shake anyone to their core, though Plutarch would tell us that he supposedly continued on his duties with an outward stoic determination, though his true feelings would all come rushing out when finally attending the funeral of his last remaining legitimate son. This not only would have affected him emotionally, but it also saw he feared the survival of his family line. This would see him look to seek special treatment on a law he had put in place a couple of decades earlier.

Mark Selleck: 35:34

Pericles had enacted a law that saw only offspring from parents who were both Athenian could ever be classed as Athenian and therefore eligible for political office and rights. Pericles also had another son, but not to his wife, but to a Mylesian woman by the name of Aspasia. Curiously, his illegitimate son's name was also Pericles, and he was still alive and well, unaffected by the plague. It would hear that he would make passionate pleas in an assembly where Plutarch would say His sufferings deserved they thought their pity and even ignoing nation and his request was such as became a man to ask and men to grant. They gave him permission to enroll his son in the register of his fraternity, giving him his own name. So Pericles would be allowed this exception to the law he helped put in place in the 450s, though what is not entirely clear is if this was a special decree made to Pericles or, as some have argued, an amendment to the law as a whole, with it being argued that a clause was made that allowed a father to adopt his illegitimate son if he had no surviving legitimate sons.

Mark Selleck: 36:47

This argument does make some sense when viewing the current situation of Athens. Many of its citizens were dying of the plague. To ensure Athens' citizen population could recover, relaxing their requirements around citizenship would allow this to take place faster while also preserving many Athenian family lines threatened to end due to the plague. Pericles had now secured his family line and his legacy with it, but around the same time that the Peloponnesians had placed Plataea in a status siege and marched the major part of their army home, pericles would also fall victim to the plague that tormented the city.

Mark Selleck: 37:25

To close out this episode today, I will recount what Plutarch says in his life of Pericles. At this time, it would seem, the plague laid hold of Pericles not with a violent attack as in the case of others, nor acute, but one which, with a kind of sluggish distemper that prolonged itself through varying changes, used up his body slowly and undermined the loftiness of his spirit. Plutarch, then, continues on being, now near his end, the best of the citizens, and those of his friends who survived were sitting around him holding discourse of his excellence and power, how great they had been, and estimating all his achievements and the number of his trophies there were nine of these which he had set up as the city's victorious general. This discourse they were holding with one another, supposing that he had no longer understood them but had lost all consciousness. He had been attending to it all and, speaking out among them, said he was amazed at their praising and commemoration that in him which was due as much to fortune as to himself and which had fallen to the lot of many generals besides, instead of mentioning his fairest and greatest title to their admiration, four, said he, no living Athenian ever put on mourning because of me.

Mark Selleck: 38:51

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