By 433 BCE, the trade network of Athens reached from the Crimea to Egypt and as far west as Marseille. The navy served to protect the trade routes between the colonies and the mētropolis. Corinth was an ally of Sparta. Corcyra (Corfu) was an unwilling colony of Corinth and not part of either the Athenian or the Peloponnesian League. Corcyra operated a fleet of 120 galleys.[1] Figure 1: Gorgon at… Read more
The Battle of Eurymedon After Eion, Skyros, and Naxos, the next mission for the Athenian Stratēgós Kimon came in either 469 or 466 BCE. After the siege of Skyros, he put in at the Piraeus. There he arranged for repairs and general supplies, and added more triremes to his fleet. The existing ships were designed by Themistoklēs with a focus on speed and maneuverability; the new design of Kimon had… Read more
The siege of Eion In 478 BCE, after Pausanias had been recalled from Byzantion, the leadership of the Hellenic League was taken over by the Athenian stratēgós Kimon II.[1] The remaining members of the Hellenic League, assembled in a council [sunédrion] on the holy island of Delos, decided to form an alliance led by Athens, while Sparta and its allies withdrew into the original Peloponnesian League. The objective of this… Read more
Some say that the Phaeacians built ships which moved with the swiftness of a raptor [irēx].[1] Their ships fly over water propelled by well-fitted oars [euēra eretma] that are like wings [ptera] for ships.[2] Some say Odysseus is next in line for breaking speed records with his ships that qualify as fast-sailing [ōkualos nēus].[3] Some say the fastest ships were the Iliadic ships that qualified as “swift” [thoos].[4] These are… Read more
Welcome to the November session of the Book Club! This month we will be reading selections from Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War: Books 1 and 2. You can find the text on Perseus in a translation by Benjamin Jowett (who also provides a helpful Note on the geography of Thucydides), here: Book 1 Book 2 There is also a translation by Thomas Hobbes: Book 1 Book 2 A translation… Read more