Table Of ContentThPee aocNfei cainads
thSei cEixlpieadni tion
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
A New Histoyr oft heP cloopnnesiWaanr
TheO utbreoajtk h Pee loponnWeasri an
TheA rchidamWiaarn
TheP eacoejN icias thaSeni dc iltixapne dition
'I'hFea lolj t hAet heniEamnp ire
ThPee aofcN ei-cainads
thSei ciElxipaend ition
DONALD KAGAN
CornUenlilv ePrrseistsy
ITHACA AND LONDON
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I
Preface
This book is the third volume of a projected history of the
Peloponnesian War, which I will complete with a fourth volume
carrying the story down to the surrender of Athens in 404B. C.
The present book deals with the period from the Peace of Nicias
in 42 to the destruction of the Athenian expedition against Sic
I
ily in 41 3.Al though the period is generally divided into two
parts, as it is in this book, I believe that it demonstrates a basic
unity; its tale is of the failure of an unsatisfactory peace. The
Sicilian expedition, though not the inevitable result of the in
adequacies of the peace, arose from those shortcomings. I believe
that the period is further unified by its central character, Nicias,
whose policy dominated its first part, whose leadership domi
nated the second, and whose personality, talents, and flaws were
so important for the shape and outcome of both. My purpose in
this volume, as in the earlier ones, is to illuminate the course of
events by examining the ancient accounts critically in order to
reveal, especially, the close relationship between domestic politics
and foreign policy.
For the reasons give� in my preface to ThAer cidhamiWaanrI ,
have continued to follow Thucydides' annalistic organization. I
again treat later, non-Thucydidean sources such as Plutarch and
Diodorus with respect if not, I hope, with gullibility. This prac
tice has drawn some criticism, but my work persuades me more
than ever that the ancients knew more about the fifth century
than Thucydides chose, or was able, to tell us, and that careful
use of other sources can increase our understanding.
I also continue to treat the speeches in Thucydides as honest
7
8 PREFACE
attempts to produce some semblance of the arguments made in
speeches that were actually given, whatever they may be in addi
tion. I have lately tried to justify this practice in an article called
"The Speeches in Thucydides and the Mytilene Debate" (Yale
ClassiSctauld2 4i [1e97s5] , 71-<)4)' Further arguments in defense
of both practices are found at appropriate places in this volume.
Again I must acknowledge my obvious debt to the fundamen
tal work of Georg Busolt. In this volume more than in the earlier
ones I have benefited much from the perceptive and pioneering
work of George Grote. There are many scholars of our own time
to whom l owe important debts; among them I must give special
mention to Antony Andrewes and K. J. Dover, whose work
on the fourth volume of A. W. Gomme's commentary on
Thucydides is an indispensable aid to historians, and to Russell
Meiggs and David Lewis for their edition of the Greek inscrip
tions.
I am grateful to Heinrich von Staden, Paul Rahe, Barry
Strauss, and Alvin Bernstein for their criticism of parts or all of
the manuscript. I am also indebted to the A. Whitney Griswold
Fund of Yale University for defraying the cost of typing.
DON ALD KAGAN
NewH av,eC nonnecticut
Contents
Abbreviations and Short Titles 13
ParOtn eT.h Uen ragvo eftl hiPene ace 17
J. A Troubled Peace 19
2. The Separate League 33
3. The Alliance of Athens and Argos 60
4. The Challenge of the Separate League 78
5. The Battle of Mantinea 107
6. After Mantinea: Politics and Policy at Sparta and Athens 1 3�
ParTtw. oT hSei ciElxidpaeint ion 157
7. The Decision to Attack Sicily 159
8. Sacrilege and Departure 192
9. Athenian Strategy and the Summer Campaign of 415 210
10. The First Attack on Syracuse 228
1 The Siege of Syracuse 260
I.
12. Athens on the Defensive 288
13. Defeat on Land and Sea 308
14. Retreat and Destruction 329
Conclusions 354
Bibliography 373
General Index 379
Index of Modern Authors 387
Index of Ancient Authors and Inscriptions 389
9
