Casting Through Ancient Greece
Casting Through Ancient Greece
Teaser: Fracture in the League? (Patreon)
The defeat of the Persian fleet at Salamis didn't end the Greek struggle for survival - it revealed deep fractures within their alliance that nearly surrendered their hard-won victory. Though only 31 Greek city-states had united against Persian invasion, their coalition teetered on collapse shortly after their naval triumph.
When King Xerxes withdrew with most of his forces, leaving General Mardonius in Thessaly to continue the campaign the following spring, the immediate threat seemed to recede. This apparent reprieve accelerated the Peloponnesian desire to retreat behind their defensive wall at the Corinthian isthmus while Athens struggled to rebuild their utterly destroyed city.
The strategic gulf between Athens and Sparta widened as Mardonius cleverly exploited these divisions. Sending Alexander I of Macedon as an envoy, the Persians offered Athens remarkably generous terms: autonomy, additional territory, and assistance rebuilding their temples - if they would abandon the Greek alliance. These diplomatic overtures revealed Persian sophistication in understanding and manipulating Greek interstate politics. The stakes became brutally clear when an Athenian councilman who supported accepting Persian terms was stoned to death alongside his family.
As Mardonius advanced into Attica a second time, Athens evacuated to Salamis again, sending increasingly desperate envoys to Sparta. The Peloponnesians, however, completed their defensive fortifications at the isthmus while celebrating religious festivals - a thinly-veiled excuse for inaction. Athens found themselves abandoned precisely when they needed their allies most.
This moment of crisis illuminates the trajectory of Greek interstate relations that would eventually culminate in the devastating Peloponnesian War decades later. The continental, defensive mindset of Sparta clashed fundamentally with Athens' commitment to a united Greek response. These divergent strategic priorities would develop into competing visions for Greece's future after the Persian threat receded.
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Hello everyone and welcome back to another bonus episode here on Patreon. I appreciate your continued support. Before we get started, I just want to correct an error I made last bonus episode when I referred to Mardonius' retreat from Attica. I had mentioned he withdrew into Boeotia, this is true, but his final destination was in Thessaly, just north of Boeotia. Both these lands were friendly with Persia at this stage, but Thessaly had the better terrain and ability to keep Mardonius' men supplied. So with that out of the way, let's get on with today's bonus episode, where we look if the League had a fracture taking place within it.
Speaker 1:We have now covered the events around the Battle of Salamis, focusing on certain elements a bit more than in the main series, this helping us to understand why the battle was fought where it was and in the manner it was. We have been able to get an appreciation of how fragile the Hellenic League really was, with just a mere 31 Greek city-states looking to hold off the Persian Empire. However, their enemy was only one challenge they had to face. The constant disagreements within the League had almost seen the only thing standing between the conquest of Greece and the remaining three evaporate. However, through determination, heated debates and some good old trickery the Hellenic League would hold to give the Persians a decisive defeat at Salamis. After we covered these events, we had then turned to the question of if Salamis was the turning point in the Persian War and if the credit for the victory was down to the Athenians. Although we were able to highlight the tremendous effect this battle had on the defeated Persian fleet, we saw that the Persian army remained in Greek lands. Salamis provided an important step into defeating the Persian invasion, but more still had to be done. Likewise, although the Athenians had provided the majority of ships, they still only made up around half the fleet. The other half would also prove to be instrumental in adding to the size and strength of the Greek fleet. It's hard to imagine, if Athens were alone, them being able to defeat the Persian fleet by themselves. It would have appeared the Hellenic League remaining united is what was instrumental in seeing the Greeks gain their victory at Salamis.
Speaker 1:Now that we have looked at the events and some of the questions around the Battle of Salamis, we are now going to continue on with the lead up to the Battle of Plataea. However, we are not going to give a blow-by-blow account of the lead up to the battle, as we have already done this over three episodes in the main series. Instead, I want to turn to an interesting question that could be asked now that Salamis had been won, had a fracture in the League now occurred? We had seen on a number of occasions that the league had threatened to disintegrate on a couple of occasions. Now, though, was this taking place, with the Persian fleet destroyed? For this episode, we will turn to look at if this was occurring by looking at the events after Salamis surrounding Athens and Sparta. We will also look at interpreting these through the lens of what had already occurred and what we know to have occurred after the victories of Plataea and Mycale. That could help support this line of thinking.
Speaker 1:Firstly, though, to try and understand this question around the Hellenic League, we need to remember what the Persian army was up to after the defeat of Salamis. Had seen that Xerxes had ordered the fleet to sail back for the Anatolian coast, a portion of the army marched back to the Hellespont, while he would travel back into the empire, leaving one of his generals in command of the forces that would remain in Greece. This would see the general Mardonius left in command of the Persian land forces within Greece. In Herodotus' account. We are given. The reasoning for this appointment was that if the Persians suffered further defeats out. We are given. The reasoning for this appointment was that if the Persians suffered further defeats, this could be blamed on a subordinate, while if victorious, then Xerxes would still claim the victory as his, since this was his most trusted general and chosen by him.
Speaker 1:Initially, the Persian forces were still in Attica and around Athens, though, with the winter coming on, mardonius would withdraw back into Thessaly, where it would be far easier to keep his army fed through the winter, since Thessaly was on friendly terms with the Persians for now. This would see that the Persian army and the immediate threat that they had posed to the Greeks disappear now, leaving the destroyed city of Athens open for the Athenians to occupy. With the departure of the Persians from Attica, the immediate threat that the Hellenic League was contending with was over. The Athenians would cross back over the straits from Salamis into Attica and begin picking up the pieces of their destroyed city. The task of rebuilding now lay before them, and they would waste no time in getting underway. With the Athenians occupied with rebuilding, it appears, the rest of the members of the Hellenic League would sail and march back to their respective home cities, this being the first time since the opening of the war, many would have seen their cities and families.
Speaker 1:For the Peloponnesian contingents, this had been the outcome they had been looking for even before the defeat of the Persians on sea. They had wanted to return to the Peloponnese where a defence on land at the Corinthian Isthmus could be mounted. With the Peloponnesians now returning home and the threat well away from their borders at the Isthmus, it would now take a lot to have them march back into the field. So here it is possible. Both Athens and Sparta thought that the Persian threat might be over. The Persian fleet had withdrawn, a large portion of the army had also returned to Asia Minor, while the King Xerxes had also withdrawn from Greece. For the Greeks, they may have been optimistic. The Persian campaign would melt away, mardonius' withdrawal also feeding into this. However, unfortunately for the Greeks, it would start to become clear that Mardonius and his troops were only going as far as Thessaly. Then it would become apparent initially to the Athenians that Mardonius had no intentions of continuing his withdrawal, but instead looked to continue the campaign into the next year.
Speaker 1:Mardonius would remain in Thessaly for the winter of 480-479, where, it would appear, he was able to keep his forces better supplied. As we said, thessaly was a friendly territory much more suited to resting cavalry. Another factor was to do with the supply lines, which traversed north and then east, back towards the Persian Empire. Although the Persian army could utilise the resources of Thessaly, they still needed more to keep the army in the field. Although the line of supplies traversed all the way back to Persia, important supply centres and hubs had been established. When Xerxes first marched into Greece, the coastal road through Thrace had seen supply dumps built up to help keep the troops supplied, while Macedonia had been established as a major supply hub. This system of supplies had allowed Mardonius to remain in Greece and continue Xerxes' campaign.
Speaker 1:With Mardonius remaining to continue the attempted subjugation of Greece, he would initially turn to diplomacy in an effort to divide and hopefully capture parts of Greece without fighting. In the campaign so far, xerxes had been well aware of the issues that had existed within the Hellenic League and had attempted to exploit these. However, the Greeks had managed to just hold long enough to gain their important victory at Salamis. Now, though, the Greeks had dispersed to their respective cities, so Mardonius saw this as a prime opportunity to target the disunity that existed between the Peloponnesians and others in the League. To target the disunity that existed between the Peloponnesians and others in the League, he would make Athens his initial target, as he knew they were now more isolated from the Peloponnesians geographically as well as diplomatically. Now that they had returned home, while Athens was also dealing with the rebuilding of their city, perhaps they might be in a more vulnerable position and be prepared to make concessions.
Speaker 1:Herodotus also tells us that Athens, if brought over to the Persians, would see that they would once again have a fleet to continue operations in Greece. The Persians knew all too well that the Athenians made up the majority of the fleet and were good sailors, after having encountered them in two engagements already. Mardonius would also have a conduit that he saw as being his best chance of gaining Athenian cooperation. Herodotus, leading into this part of his account, tells us that Mardonius had sought advice from oracles around Greece on how to proceed with his campaign. We don't get the results of what was delivered to him, but after receiving back what the oracles had delivered, he would arrange Alexander I of Macedon to act as an envoy to attempt to gain Athens' friendship. Alexander had a friendly relationship with Athens, while he also had a connection to the Persians through marriage.
Speaker 1:I'll now read what Herodotus writes when Alexander attended Athens with Mardonius' message, when he came to Athens from Mardonius, who had sent him, he spoke as follows this, athenians, is what Mardonius says to you. There is a message come to me from the king saying I forgive the Athenians all the offences which they have committed against me. And now, mardonius, I bid you do this, give them back their territory and let them choose more for themselves wherever they will and dwell under their own laws, rebuild all their temples which I have burnt, if they will make a pact with me. This is the message, and I must obey it, says Mardonius, unless you take it upon yourselves to hinder me. This too, I say to you why are you so insane as to wage war against the king? You cannot overcome him, nor can you resist him forever. As for the multitude of Xerxes' army, what it did, you have seen and you have heard of the power that I now have with me. Even if you overcome and conquer us whereof, if you be in your right minds, you have no hopes Yet there will come another host, many times as great as this. Be not then minded to march yourselves against the king and thereby lose your land, and always be yourselves in jeopardy, but make no peace. This you can most honorably do, since the king is that way inclined. Keep your freedom and agree to be our brothers in arms, in all faith and honesty. After delivering this message, alexander would then reinforce his friendship with the Athenians and tell them he was looking out for their best interests. He then proceeded to give his honest opinion on what the Athenians should do, where he says that they should do as what is contained in the message, as it will save them from the inevitable suffering that will be coming down upon them.
Speaker 1:At the same time that Alexander was delivering his message to the Athenians, spartan envoys were also present in Athens. They had heard of Alexander being sent to Athens for the purpose of forming an alliance with the Persians or, more realistically, in the eyes of Xerxes, submitting to Persia. There were a couple of points that made the Spartans nervous that Athens may well side with the Persians. If we remember back to just before the Battle of Salamis, the Mysticles had made a threat of the Athenians abandoning Greece and sailing for Italy, where they would establish a new colony if the Peloponnesians failed to stand and fight, this in effect leaving the Peloponnesians to their fate in the face of the Persians. They would have effectively lost all naval power if Athens had departed, leaving the Peloponnese to be besieged. With the Peloponnesians still in favour of defending the Peloponnese from their homelands and making the Corinthianism the choke point, they would have been worried the Athenians might well make an agreement with the Persians. The second factor that added to their worries was religious in nature, which would have exacerbated the situation for the pious Spartans. They had previously had oracles that spoke of the Persians and Athenians expelling the Dorians from the Peloponnese If they should both become friendly. Then they saw that this prophecy could well be fulfilled.
Speaker 1:We hear that the Athenians had purposely dragged out the talks with Alexander so that the Spartans would arrive while he was still there and would have them be present at the same time for Alexander's message. This points to the idea that Sparta was still pushing their policy of the defence of the Peloponnese and Athens was continuing to engage in talks over convincing the Peloponnesians to come out and fight when the campaigning season began. They were hoping if the Spartans were present then, hearing a representative of the Persians addressing them over matters of peace. This would play on their fears and hopefully encourage them to come back out of the Peloponnese and re-engage in the unity of the Hellenic League.
Speaker 1:The Spartans also had the opportunity to address the Athenians. In response to Alexander's message, they looked to remind Athens of their commitment to Greece and not to alter their policy that they had formed with the Hellenic League in the first place. They also pointed out this was a war that began with Athens, not themselves, this referring to the Ionian revolt and the invasion that resulted in the Battle of Marathon. They were attempting to highlight Athens' obligation to oppose Persia, not leave others to fight what they had started. The Spartans would then turn to discrediting Alexander to attempt to tarnish his smooth talking with them, labelling him a despot who was doing the bidding of another despot. The Athenians would then address both Alexander and the Spartans, berating Alexander for coming to them with such ridiculous proposals. They highlighted Athens' burning desire for freedom and would do anything to keep it. As for the Spartans, athens pointed out they severely underestimated Athens' resolve, but pointed out that it was natural that the Peloponnesians should dread the possibility between Athens and Persia. Here they were showing the Persians they understood their concerns, but were also sending a message that they knew that the Peloponnesians needed them. With this now all laid out in the open, the Athenians would close by telling the Peloponnesians to get their army in the field as soon as possible so that the Persians could be engaged in Boeotia, for they were sure to invade Attica once again.
Speaker 1:Once Mardonius learnt of the Athenians' response, with all having made their addresses and the Athenians responding to the envoys, all returned to their home cities. Once word of the Athenians' refusal had reached Mardonius, he was furious and now saw his only option was to invade Attica once again. Now that the campaigning season had returned, the Thebans, when the Persians had advanced into their lands, advised Mardonius he should halt and establish a camp. They saw the best way to defeat Greece was to divide the different cities through bribes to individuals within the different cities' governments, the different cities through bribes to individuals within the different cities' governments. The Thebans' advice was basically warning Mardonius if he advanced to force an engagement, this would more likely unite the Hellenic League once again. This was basically how the previous year unfolded. The infighting in the League would threaten to tear the League apart, but once they were put on death's ground, as coined in Sun Tzu's Art of War. They had no choice but to come together. The Thebans would have been aware of the rifts that had existed in the Hellenic League in 479. They saw now that the League was split up and did not have an immediate threat to deal with. This was Mardonius' best opportunity to fragment the League and only have to deal with the city-states piecemeal. However, mardonius would ignore this advice and would continue to advance south, back into Attica.
Speaker 1:Athens, when getting word of the Persians' advance, had sent for the Peloponnesians to come back and challenge the Persian advance, but they would fail to march across the Isthmus. It was looking like the policy that the Peloponnesians had argued for before the Battle of Salamis was now becoming their new strategy and, as we will see, the Peloponnesians would start enacting it. So with the Peloponnesians would start enacting it. So with the Peloponnesians failing to show, athens waited for the last possible moment and, for the second time in two years, the Athenians abandoned the city and made their way back over to the island of Salamis. Mardonius, after having occupied Athens, would send over the same offer he had sent with Alexander previously, now that the Athenians were no longer in control of their city. When the message was read out in front of the council, one member would argue that Athens should take the offer and join with the Persians. It's possible here that Mardonius had taken the advice of the Thebans and bribed a member within the Athenian council, somewhat hedging his bets. What would happen next would be extremely brutal on the part of the Athenians, but also points to the height of emotions within the Athenian population. At this stage, the council member would be stoned to death by those around him and, in the same fate, would come to pass on his wife and children.
Speaker 1:When the mob descended on where they were staying, the Athenians were now growing furious of the Spartans' inaction and, when abandoning Athens, sent off envoys to seek the march of the Peloponnesians. These envoys were armed with some pretty harsh words and threats matching the high tensions amongst the Athenians. On Salamis, the envoys would discover that the Spartans were celebrating a festival within their city this had been an excuse for their inaction at Marathon ten years earlier While they also notice, when crossing over the Corinthianismis, that the defensive walls there were receiving their finishing touches, this also feeding into the idea that the Peloponnesian policy towards the Persian invasion had changed. When the Athenian envoys addressed the Spartans, they would reproach them for allowing Attica to be invaded once again and for allowing their biggest partner in the league to lose their city once again. They would then start laying down not-so-subtle threats, highlighting what the Persians had offered the Athenians to switch sides, and if Athens was not helped, then they would be forced to take whatever action they saw best for saving their city. Then they would be forced to take whatever action they saw best for saving their city. I'm going to end the episode here, with the Athenians having just abandoned Athens once again and the Spartans failing to respond to the Athenian pleas for help.
Speaker 1:I think this period after the Battle of Salamis showed that the fracture within the League over policy had now taken place. The previous year, we had seen that it wasn't a secret that the Peloponnesians were in favour of a defence of Greece to take place at the Corinthian Isthmus. However, this would leave all those north of this position vulnerable to the Persian advance. However, it was also argued, this policy would only buy them time for a short while. The combined Persian navy and army would end up making their way to the Peloponnese. Eventually, we saw that the League would only just hold for the Battle of Salamis to take place where the Persian fleet, basically, would no longer be a factor in the campaign. A great deal of the Persian army, along with Xerxes, would make their way back into the Persian Empire, though a still sizable force under Mardonius would remain in Greece. However, with the approach of winter, this would be forced back into Thessaly.
Speaker 1:I think with these events taking place on the Persian side, the Peloponnesians now saw that their Corinthian policy more favourable. The Persian fleet was now defeated, no longer providing the threat of amphibious landings around the Peloponnese. Perhaps they saw the Athenians' role as a main naval power was not so important as it once was. Added to this, many of the Persian land forces had departed and only a fraction remained under a subordinate commander To the Peloponnesians. They thought that they would be able to hold up an indefinite defence at the chokepoint of the Isthmus, seeing their forces remaining in their home territories and also not costing them nearly as much in resources to maintain their armies in the field. We also have hindsight to show us that this was the Peloponnesians ideal policy, as it is what they would resort to after the final victory over the Persians later that year, and where we would see the two distinctive policies of Athens and Sparta develop as they headed towards their monumental clash in the Peloponnesian War nearly 50 years later.
Speaker 1:However, as I have said, the Greeks would ultimately defeat the Persians, and would do so united. So it's this change in affairs that we will turn to. Next bonus episode, we will try and look at what was happening behind the scenes that would end up leading to the largest gathering of Greek forces. I say try here, as it is very difficult to know for certain what was happening politically and diplomatically from the sources we have to work with, but we will do our best. Thank you everyone for your continued support here on Patreon. I greatly appreciate it and hope you are all gaining a great deal of information and enjoyment out of the series. I look forward to seeing you next month, where we will look at how and why the situation in Greece would change in 479.