Casting Through Ancient Greece

This is a teaser of the bonus episode, Persian Counter Attack found over on Patreon.

After having looked at the reasons for the Ionian revolt breaking out, we now turn to the revolt itself. In the main series we had focused on the revolt in general with a large focus on the Greeks operations. This time around we take a closer look at the Persian response and the campaigns that they would launch against Cyprus, the Hellespont, Caria and Ionia. This will take us up to the final years of the revolt and the decisive naval battle of Lade which will be the focus of our next bonus episode along with the end of the revolt.

If you would like to hear more and support the series click on the Patreon link at the bottom of the page or you can head to my website to discover other ways to support the series, HereI

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With Potidaea now under siege from Athens, Corinth, although unofficial involved, was looking to help save the city and their connection to it before it would fall. To do this, they would work with the surrounding cities on the Chalcidids to mount raids on the Athenians to help relive pressure on the city. However, their primary goal was to try and get Sparta to enter the conflict along with the other Peloponnesian cities. Corinth would convince their current allies to travel to Sparta to put their cases forward, while they would also travel to lead the argument for war.

Sparta would be forced to send out an invitation to members of the Peloponnesian league, inviting those who had been harmed by Athens. An assembly would be held where a number of cities would put their grievance to the Spartans. Corinth would have all their cities speak first to help set the mood before they would then stand and speak providing somewhat of the main event.

Athens had also sent representatives after learning of what was going to take place in Sparta, although they had not been invited. After Corinth had presented their case Athens would ask the Spartans if they could address the assembly. However, Athens was not looking to address the specific charges laid against them, but rather urge Sparta to think long and hard about the decision they would come to. They would highlight the gravity of what war would mean, especially with a city state such as themselves.

To round out the assembly, the Spartans would dismiss all the various representatives so they could discuss the matter between themselves. This would then see speech’s given by King Archidamus, representing the peace part and an ephor from the war party. After they had spoken the Spartans would vote on if they thought Athens had breached the 30 years peace where it quickly became clear Sparta was in the mood for war, a departure from the policies of the peace party that had dominated Spartan politics for most of the past 50 years. 

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Athens support of Corcyra had seen hostilities once again develop with Corinth who had been engaged in a dispute with the island polis. Athens would send ships to support Corcyra, as the Corinthian set sail to impose their will. Out of this affair would see the battle of Sybota take place and with it the first engagement seeing Athenian and Corinthian ships openly fight one another. This would see tension raised further and questions around the official statue between the two.

Once the Athenians had learnt of what had taken place around Corcyra, they saw that war with Corinth was likely. They would now take measures to prepare for this coming conflict, though they would also attempt to not take any action that would breach the 30 years’ peace. Early measures included preparing financially with decrees made on how funds were to be spent, this seeing Athens scale back its building projects for the time being. However other measures would be taken that targeted other regions.

One would be known as the Potidaean affair, where Athens looked to secure their influence over the port city of Potidaea on the Chalcidice in Thrace. Potidaea was originally a Corinthian colony and still had ties to their mother city, Athens seeing Potidaea at risk of going into revolt due to Corinthian incitement. Athens would make demands on the city to take down its walls and expel any Corinthians within. However, Potidaea would resist and obtain Corinthian support along with other allies. This would see Athens having to commit to an ever-growing situation developing around Potidaea where they would end up being forced into laying siege to the city.

The second measure taken by Athens during this period that would also be seen to have a major impact on a future war with Sparta developing, would be that of the Megarian Decree. This would see Athens impose economic sanctions on the polis that sat at the exit of the Corinthian isthmus, leading into Attica. Megara was a member of the Peloponnesian league, with this economic strangle hold having flow on effects to their other trading partners within the league. These actions by Athens plus other would see Corinth put forward a case to Sparta and the other Peloponnesian that action was needed against Athens, less they sit by and watch Athens dominate all of Greece.

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This is a teaser of the bonus episode, Behind the Ionian Revolt found over on Patreon.

For this episode we turn to the Ionian Revolt and look to the causes behind the revolt breaking out.

Our main source, Herodotus points to individual figures driving the revolt. But for them to do this there must have been more at play. We look to the Greeks experience in Ionia under Lydian and then Persian rule to try and understand what factors would see the populations dissatisfied and in a position where rebelling was a viable option. However it would also seem the Greeks themselves would also play their own part in this, with tyrants leading their cities.

If you would like to hear more and support the series click on the Patreon link at the bottom of the page or you can head to my website to discover other ways to support the series, HereI

Athens had now taken the decision to send aide to Corcyra after having swayed from one side of the argument to the other. However, the assistance would be limited, with it being defensive in nature. Athens would send a small force of 10 triremes to Corcyra to lend their support with the commanders being instructed they were to only engage the Corinthians if Corcyrean territory was directly threatened.

This decision taken by Athens did not deter the Corinthians however, they would still set in motion the fleet that had been assembled. This would end up seeing the Corcyrean and Corinthian fleets meeting in a naval engagement known as the battle of Sybota in the waters between Corcyra and the mainland. Athens with its 10 triremes would also line up within the Corcyrean battle line where they would face the Corinthian contingent.

The battle would be joined as the sun rose in an old-fashioned melee at sea, perhaps a little primitive to the tactical manoeuvres Athens had perfected. To begin with Athens would not engage in combat, but would charge at the Corinthian line whenever they saw the Corcyreans were in trouble. They would peel off at the last minute, where their aim was to buy their allies time to recover. However, as the battle wore on Corcyra was now in real trouble of breaking. This would see Athens now charge in more recklessly to where they would be in open combat with Corinthian ships.

Athens intervention would see that the Corcyrean fleet remained intact and both sides were able to withdraw to their camps as night came on. The next day both fleets would be back in the water but battle would not develop. Corinth had a number of factors to consider now, one being their status with Athens. Both sides would claim victory in the engagement with Corinth departing back home, though, Corcyra would remain intact, still in control of their waters. The situation in Greece was now growing more volatile with each passing action, this time with a breach in the 30 years peace.

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The analogy of a powder keg in historical events it often used to describe a volatile situation that is waiting to explode into something larger. The most famous example of this is the events leading up to the breakout of World War 1. A seemingly remote region in the Balkans would see an act of violence take place that would end up embroiling all the empires within Europe in the most destructive war to that time.

A similar powder keg situation would develop in the ancient Greek world just before the breakout of the Peloponnesian War. This would be in a region north of Greece on the Albanian coast line far away from the interests of both Sparta and Athens. What would unfold here would be known as the affaire of Epidamnus, a colony both Corinth and Corcyra would lay claim to and enter into conflict over.

Both Corinth and Corcyra would engage in battle over the developments around Epidamnus, Corinth suffering a defeat at sea. This would not deter them and they would divert more resources towards bringing a renewed offensive against Corcyra. This would see Corcyra, not a part of any alliance, now look for assistance in this growing threat.

Corcyra would look towards Athens for this help and would send a delegation to try and secure this assistance. Corinth would also have an envoy in Athens having learnt of Corcyra’s intentions and both would now present their cases to the Athenians to decide upon. Athens would debate what was presented to them in two separate assemblies before arriving at the fateful decision to assist Corcyra. This decision along with the consequences and developments that would follow would see the situation become more volatile than ever.

Art by https://manu67.artstation.com/ 

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Athens had extinguished another fire in the Aegean when the island of Samos and Miletus, both Delian League members had gone to war with each other. Athens would assist Miletus seeing Samos revolt, though after a couple years Samos was back in the league. However, this had highlighted weaknesses in Athens control around its empire as other areas had also followed Samos’ example, including the important city of Byzantium.

With the major threats dealt with, Athens now turned to securing the edges of its empire to see their interests were better protected. This would see three major areas focused on, the first being that of Caria. Athens would streamline this region, by cutting out of the tribute list many Carian cities that lay inland, while incorporating the rest into the region of Ionia. 

Other regions on the edges of the empire that Athens would focus on were around the Black Sea and Thracian lands. The key to the Black Sea and Athens bread basket in the Ukraine was the city of Byzantium. Athens would launch a campaign of goodwill and deterrence to attempt to secure influence in the city while deterring those hostile regions nearby. While in Thrace important colonies would be established to secure Athenian interest from the inland tribal groups within Thracian and Macedonian lands.

This point would then see Athens at its most secure in the Aegean than it had ever been. Another thing that becomes noticeable from all Athens efforts, was the fact that we can not really talk of them being at the head of a league. They had taken measures that would see that they would now fit the definition of an empire.

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This is a teaser of the bonus episode, Contact n the East, found over on Patreon.

We are now moving on with our bonus episode out of the early development of Athens and Sparta. This will now see us focuing on the theme of the Greek and Persian War. We had covered this period over quite a number of episodes in the series previously, though from a narrative perspective. This time around I want to go back and put certain topics in the spot light, allowing us to explore them a little deeper.

For our first episode around the Greco-Persian War theme I want to look at where the Greeks and Persians first made contact. This will take us back some 50 years before the Ionian Revolt where the Anatolian Greeks would first encounter the Persian Empire. We will look at this period before then looking at the first reported contacts with the Persians by the Spartans and Athenians.

If you would like to hear more and support the series click on the Patreon link at the bottom of the page or you can head to my website to discover other ways to support the series, HereI

Links:

https://www.odysseus-unbound.org/ 

Faceook 

YouTube 

Book: Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer's Ithaca 

In the series we have look at some elements within Greek history that have connections to traditional tales and mythology. Some big examples of these were when we looked at the Trojan War, Mycenae and the Minoans. Well once again we are looking at historical connections to what can be found within the ancient writings of Homer, this time with a focus on the Odyssey. This episode will be focused around the idea of locating the island of Ithaca that Homer describes within the Odyssey. For a long time, controversy has surrounded the actual location of Homers Ithaca, with many since ancient times questioning whether the Island we know today as Ithaki was actually the Ithaca of the Odyssey.

In our modern time, one such man also questioned this idea. Robert Bittlestone with a Classics, Science and economics background, would return from the business world to his love of Classics to delve into the mystery around the home island of Odysseus. Robert would develop a working theory that would be eventually presented to an audience at Cambridge University. This is where Prof. James Diggle would become involved, seeing great merit in what Robert presented. Prof. Diggle would go on to contribute to Robert Bittlestone’s book, Odysseus Unbound. The search for Homer’s Ithaca. Unfortunately, Robert would pass away in 2015, however his legacy and work would continue on with the creation of the Odysseus Unbound foundation, with a number of professionals and academics making up its members, including Roberts son’s Simon and Mathew.

The Odysseus unbound Foundation is an educational charity dedicated to advancing knowledge of the ancient world. Specifically, we conduct and promote scientific and historical research to discover the actual locations of historical sites that have been described in ancient literature such as Homer’s Odyssey.

They are committed to publishing widely all their results so our understanding of the ancient world and the origins of our civilization today is enhanced to everyone’s benefit.

The Foundation was formed in 2017. It is built upon the inspiration of the late Robert Bittlestone whose ground-breaking ideas about the location of Ithaca, the homeland of Odysseus described by Homer in the Odyssey, are showing significant promise.

Prof. James Diggle, Trustee of the Odysseus Unbound foundation is Emeritus Professor of Greek and Latin at Cambridge University and a Life Fellow of Queens’ College.

His publications include The Cambridge Greek Lexicon (Editor-in-Chief, Cambridge, 2021), The Oxford Classical Text of Euripides (Oxford, 1981-94), Euripidea: Collected Essays (Oxford, 1994) and Theophrastus: Characters (Cambridge, 2004).

He was University Orator at Cambridge for eleven years and has published a selection of his speeches in Cambridge Orations (Cambridge, 1994). He is a Fellow of the British Academy and a Corresponding Member of the Academy of Athens.

He was awarded his CBE in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to classical scholarship.

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We continue our look at the development of Corinth in the series. Last episode we ended with the period of tyranny that had lasted two generations and ended with the assassination of the third. However, Corinth would continue to flourish, with cultural and economic advances taking place. Corinth would end up hosting one of the Pan Hellenic games, being one of the first mainland cities to mint their own coins, while large public building would begin to dot the Acropolis.

The mid-6th century would also see Corinth become part of a larger collection of city states, through the establishment of the Peloponnesian league. This league was headed by Sparta and it seems Corinth sought security from other city states growing in power that were close by. We would also find that Corinth would have a level of influence within the league that others did not, coming down to them possessing one of the largest navy’s within the league.

Once we reach the Greco-Persian War in Herodotus’ account we start to see Corinth portrayed in a negative light. This would be through the Corinthian commander supposedly putting up opposition to how the Athenians wanted to conduct the campaign. While also giving accounts of the Corinthian army and navy being unreliable in battle. However, as we look at, the times these histories were being written in would have an impact of how they were presented.

After the Persian Wars Corinth would continue to hold influence within the Peloponnesian league. They would be one of the main players of the First Peloponnesian War while also influencing Sparta’s decision on conducting campaigns across the Aegean. As we continue forward in the series, we will continue to see Corinth involved in inter-city state diplomacy, where they would be embroiled in the spark that would ignite the Peloponnesian War.

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