Great Battles of the Ancient World | The Athenian Expedition to Sicily (Lecture 13)

Lecture 13: Greek siege warfare down to the Hellenistic period was remarkably basic. Sieges were restricted to investments, and the only assaults we hear of were abortive. The Athenians’ assault on the heavily fortified city of Syracuse in Sicily while they were already engaged in a major war against the Spartans represents one of the greatest military follies in recorded history. Despite almost total ignorance of what they were getting themselves into and despite an ongoing imminent threat on their doorstep in the Greek mainland in the form of an unbowed Sparta, the Athenians sent the flower of their military forces to conquer Sicily. There, instead of imperial glory, they met with complete destruction. This lecture charts the overall course of the expedition but focuses on the fateful decisions and turning points that crescendoed in disaster. The Athenian failure in Sicily was also a turning point in the wider Peloponnesian War (431–404 B.C.), which now became unwinnable for the Athenians.

Essential Reading:
Plutarch, Life of Nicias and Life of Alcibiades.
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Books 6–7.
Kern, Ancient Siege Warfare, pp. 90–162.

Supplemental Reading:
Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, pp. 251–490.

Lecture 14: https://www.bitchute.com/video/aJByG6vBLnpj/