The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides - 7 - Disaster for Athens
Book Seven
Quote
"This was, as they say, 'total annihilation'. Beaten in every way on every front, extreme miseries suffered on an extreme scale, and army, fleet, and everything else destroyed, few out of all those many made their return home."
Notes
Fighting continues in Sicily between the Syracusans and the Athenians. Though now the Corinthians and the Spartans have joined in with Syracuse. Athens is on the backfoot and they send for reinforcements to help them out.
Nicias writes out a message himself to make sure they get the message clearly back home that things are not looking good for them. He writes, "I know the way you are. You like to have matters presented in the most agreeable light, and then find fault later if the outcome fails to match the report. So I thought it safer to reveal the truth." In addition to asking for more men and supplies, he also asks for someone to replace him as commander, since he is ill with a kidney disease.
Athens sends help, and they appoint two new co-commanders, but they do not relieve Nicias of his position. They want him to stay in command.
Sparta, meanwhile, plans for a new invasion in Attica against the Athenians, taking the advice of Alcibiades. They reason that Athens has effectively broken the peace treaty they had with them so it's okay to start fighting again, plus with Athens stretched out in their invasion against Sicily, this is a good time to attack. Athens is holding up okay considering they're fighting two major wars now, but they do start increasing the taxes on their allies since they are losing tons of money and resources.
Fighting continues in Sicily and by now most of the Sicilian cities have united against Athens. In many fights they are evenly matched, but the Sicilians start having major victories even in battles at sea where the Athenians are known to be the strongest. So their confidence and morale is bolstered by these wins.
Meanwhile the Athenians start doubting the expedition and think about returning home. Nicias, however, actually argues they should stay. He has contacts within Syracuse giving him inside information leading him to believe they can still win. He's also afraid what might happen if they do go back to Athens. Better to fight and die here rather than be shamed and potentially hated back home. So they decide to stay.
But they keep losing more battles and finally come to agree that it's time to get out. They plan for a final fight at sea to help them break out and escape. Nicias delivers a speech to try boost their morale since they've been suffering so many losses and this decision to retreat isn't making it any better.
On the flip side, Gyllipus, the Spartan commander, gives his side a speech as well, rousing his men to punish the Athenians and keep them from getting away: "We should remember that the right to satisfy feelings of anger in the punishment of an aggressor is universally accepted, and that revenge on one's enemies, soon to be in our power, is indeed, as the saying goes, the sweetest of all things."
Nicias looks out at the coming battle and is deeply troubled. Things do not look good for them. And sure enough, Syracuse blocks their escape. They're forced back and now have to make their retreat by land. Things are getting dark and very ugly. In their retreat they're forced to leave behind the sick and wounded, who are left screaming and begging them for help.
The Syracusans have set out to block the Athenians' escape. The Athenians break through at certain points but they're stopped at others. They're running out of food and it's starting to look like just a matter of time before they're utterly defeated.
They decide to try an alternate route overnight out of desperation to escape. But the Syracusanss are on to them and able to catch up. They first capture one army, commanded by Demosthenes. They catch up to Nicias' army next and demand surrender. Nicias' army still tries to escape but it only leads to a slaughter by the Syracusans, and they have no choice but to surrender. Nicias and Demosthenes both have their throats slit and the rest are taken prisoner and sold into slavery. It is, as Thucydides says, "total annihilation."
Key Takeaways
Nicias was a great man, amidst even these horrible conditions. Thucydides writes about Nicias: "Of all the Greeks in my time he was the least deserving of this depth of misfortune, since he conducted his whole life as a man of principle." Sparta even saw him as a friend as he had helped ensure the return of the Spartans captured in the battle of Pylos, during the peace negotiations between Athens and Sparta at that time.
The Syracusans were quick to kill him, however, because a few of them had been communicating with him and they wanted to make sure that was kept a secret from the Spartans.
It's quite amazing how Nicias handled himself throughout the expedition against Sicily when he had argued against it. Once Athens had made its decision, even though he disagreed, he still went about it as best as he could right to the very end.
Athens does not look good right now. This was a massively failed invasion which was also completely unnecessary to begin with, and it puts them at a huge disadvantage in the war against Sparta. And, on top of this, a horrific and senseless massacre is committed under their watch. The Thracians had sent an army to support Athens against Sicily, but they arrived too late and Athens was too strained financially so they decided to send them back. But they gave them instructions to do as much damage as they could on their way. The Thracians then, under an Athenian commander, went into the little city of Mycalessus and started slaughtering everyone there, including women and children. They even went after a bunch of students who were in school and butchered everyone there, too.
If nothing else, Athens' reputation is likely being serioulsy questioned right now.