Europe Series - "Peloponnesian War" Athens Expedition to Sicily

In fact, the fifty-year peace treaty between Athens and Sparta was not strictly observed from the beginning, because both sides were reluctant to return the land they had acquired in the war to the other side. Of course, since everyone needs time to recuperate, these small frictions will not lead to new wars. However, everyone knows in their hearts that there is no need to wait another fifty years before the war will rekindle on Greek soil.

This time, it was not Sparta, who had always been strong on land, that provoked the war, but Athens. Compared with the Peloponnesians of Nongben, the Athens of Shangben had to recover faster. In other words, their trade network with the Aegean Sea as the core has the opportunity to bring them more income (the agricultural income is relatively fixed). When Athens felt ready, it was time to choose the direction of the attack.

If the Spartans were to start the war again, they would still choose to cross the Isthmus of Corinth and directly attack the city of Athens. As for the Athenians who were at a disadvantage on land, they naturally would not choose such a strategic direction. What the Athenians needed was still a direction that could give full play to their maritime superiority. Judging from the experience of the previous ten-year war, sending a powerful navy to attack the island again may be an option. However, such an attack will not have much effect when the main force of the Peloponnese has not been released. What's more, doing this again is nothing more than repeating the process of the previous stage, and it will still be a painful tug-of-war in the end. In the end, the Athenians chose to go on an expedition, but the direction of their attack this time was not the Peloponnese, but the "Sicily" on its west side.

The geographical structure of the Mediterranean Sea has a characteristic, that is, there are peninsulas in the northern half that go deep into the hinterland of the ocean, and between the peninsulas and the African coastline, there are islands that are connected to them. The Asia Minor peninsula corresponds to Cyprus, the Greek peninsula corresponds to Crete, and Sicily corresponds to the "Apennine Peninsula" where Italy is today. Geographically, Sicily is a sea connection hub between Europe and Africa. If the European and African continents compete on this front, Sicily must be the focus of contention.

This is indeed the case. When Rome and Carthage became the protagonists of the geopolitical game (Mediterranean), Sicily acted as such a key gentleman. However, in the era we are interpreting now, these two major powers are still only second- and third-rate roles in the Mediterranean. Sicily now acts as the western edge of the Greek world (the eastern edge is the peninsula of Asia Minor). As early as the 8th century BC, when the Greek region returned to civilization, the Greek city-states began to colonize Sicily and the southern part of the Apennine Peninsula. Due to the geographical position, the city-states from the Peloponnesian League played a major role in it.

During the Hippo War and the Peloponnesian War, the Greeks in Crete and Sicily were more neutral, except for areas such as Ionia, where they could not stay outside. Or rather, geographic location enables them to detach themselves from the outside world. However, the Sicily region, which seemed to have the least reason to be involved, became the winner of Athens' opponents during the Peloponnesian War.

The Athenians did this because Sicily, though politically out of the way, was strategically a supply base for the Peloponnesians. We've been saying that war is a disaster for both economies. On the mountain-covered Greek peninsula, food production is already stretched thin. Once a large number of manpower is put into the war, and agricultural production has been destroyed by the opponent, it is obvious that neither side can rely solely on its own output to meet the needs of the war.

When the war makes it impossible for them to carry out normal production activities, the participating countries must rely on their own financial reserves to import materials. For the Athenians who built their trading empires, they had the advantage of being out of self-sufficiency. A well-established trade area allows each participant to carry out economic production according to their own geographical characteristics (without the need for large and comprehensive production). Through the exchange, all parties can get what they want. For example, Athens, relying on its own climate and geographical features, produces a large amount of olive oil and grape products for export. From the Black Sea region, two-thirds of the staple food is imported. This open division of labor and cooperation (agricultural economy focuses more on self-sufficiency) is actually one of the main characteristics of a business-based society.

On the other hand, if the Spartans wanted to use their financial reserves to support their wartime needs, they could rely on Sicily. When it comes to Sicily, it is estimated that the first label that comes to most people's minds is "mafia" (and some may be the heroine of "The Beautiful Legend of Sicily"). Indeed, as the most well-known underworld organization in the world, the "Mafia" from Sicily has left too many stories for everyone.

In terms of the history of Chinese classical "communities", rooted in agricultural civilization, the region-blood label is also the core link of successful societies. The same is true for the organizational basis of the Mafia. The reason for this is that, to this day, Sicily is also an important agricultural region in Italy. That is to say, despite being in the center of the Mediterranean Sea and having some unique trade advantages, the economy of Sicily has always been dominated by agriculture. The root cause of this geopolitical phenomenon in Sicily lies in two words - volcanoes. Sicily and its surrounding islands are the most concentrated area of ​​volcanoes in Italy and even the entire Mediterranean region. What's more, many of these volcanoes are active volcanoes. In particular, "Etna" in eastern Sicily is not only the highest volcano in Europe, but also the most frequently erupting volcano.

For many people, an erupting volcano is almost synonymous with death. However, in addition to the damage caused by the eruption, the volcano brings more hope to human beings. In agricultural production, in addition to climate and precipitation, the fertility of the land is also an important factor affecting output. The mineral-rich volcanic ash is the best natural fertilizer. This is also the fundamental reason why the "Java Island" (Indonesia), which is only the size of Fujian and is also full of volcanoes, can carry a population of 120 million.

Today, the area around Mount Etna is still the most densely populated area in Sicily. The population density of Sicily is also the largest among the Mediterranean islands. Volcanoes don't erupt every day, although we might think the land is too dangerous from a bystander's point of view. Compared with a volcanic eruption that you may not encounter once in your life, humans are more worried about the dangers that may occur at any time around them. However, although the frequent activities of volcanoes cannot prevent the "succession" of human immigration to Sicily, for the process of civilization, this kind of natural disaster that cannot be improved by human beings (unlike floods, there are ways), the damage is huge. Take the central city southeast of the Etna volcano, for example. The city, originally built by the Greeks, has been buried nine times by volcanic ash.

Now, everyone should understand why the Athenians disregarded the Peloponnese and spent huge manpower and material resources on their expedition to Sicily. If successful, Athens will not only gain a productive overseas colony, but also cut off the strategic supplies of the Peloponnesians. What's more, after success, Athens was able to use Sicily as a base to attack Sparta and his allies from the rear. However, the premise of all this is based on the premise that the "Sicilian expedition" of Athens can be a great success. So, can Athens succeed?

Overall, the Athenian expedition to Sicily was not a fantastical plan from a strategic point of view. Dare to go behind the opponent like this and open up the second battlefield, it is no less difficult than the Persian expedition to Greece. The reason why Athens dared to do this was not that he did not learn the lessons of Persia, but that he believed that he already had the power to control the sea. In other words, Athens did not believe that the Peloponnesian navy could cut off its own sea lines. But since you're trying to occupy a "prepared land" that has been colonized, the factor to consider is not just Sparta.

As we said earlier, before the Athens expedition, the Greeks colonized Sicily for more than 300 years. Among these colonial city-states, "Syracuse" (now translated Syracuse), located on the east coast of Sicily, is the most powerful and the hegemon of the Greek city-states in Sicily. In other words, Syracuse's attitude is crucial to whether Athens can subdue Sicily.

In terms of historical origin, Syracuse is closer to the Peloponnesian League. The city-state was founded by Corinthian immigrants in the 8th century BC. Speaking of which, Corinth is the most ocean-conscious in the entire Peloponnesian League. This is related to the geographical structure facing the sea on both sides and the pivotal position of the isthmus. Because if Corinth wants to monopolize the passage between the Attica Peninsula and the Peloponnesian Peninsula, then his navy, at least, must have strength and have an advantage in the bays on both sides of the isthmus (the Gulf of Corinth on the west, Saroni on the east). Cos Bay). Based on this positioning, the Corinthians have always attached great importance to the development of their own maritime strength, especially when their land expansion space is limited (so in the battle of Salamis, the Corinthian fleet has the strength to be used to defend itself against Egypt. fleet).

The marine consciousness of the Corinthians is also reflected in its overseas colonial consciousness. Today, the southern part of the Apennine Peninsula - Sicily, and the Greek peninsula, this sea area is also known as the "Ionian Sea". In the case of Athens expanding towards the Aegean Sea, the goal of the Corinthians to colonize and establish a trade circle was locked in the Ionian Sea (Syracuse was not the only colonial city on the island of Sicily by the Corinthians).

Although in terms of origin, Syria should naturally have a close relationship with the Peloponnesian Alliance, but in international politics, this kind of kinship does not necessarily prompt the two sides to naturally become an alliance. Just as many friends would wishful thinking that Singapore should be China's ally, but the reality is that Singapore recognizes its identity as a Southeast Asian country. The fundamental factor that determines the final diplomatic orientation is the actual geographical relationship.

From the perspective of geographical relations, Syracuse also had reasons to choose to stand on the side of the Peloponnesian League. At the very least, the Peloponnese has a closer trade relationship with it, which can bring huge commercial benefits to it. As for Athens, even if they did not want to conquer Syracuse, but started anew in Sicily, they were direct competitors for the maritime interests of Syracuse. In fact, ideologically, Syracuse converged with Athens. It also established a country based on the "sea". In the year Xerxes personally conquered Greece (480 BC), just like Athens, it implemented a "democratic" politics of citizen participation in politics ("democratic" politics itself is a product of maritime civilization). It's just that the choice of ideology is also not the decisive factor in the choice of diplomacy.

In 415 BC, the largest and furthest expedition in the history of Athens began after intense discussions. The Expeditionary Force consisted of more than 7,000 soldiers and 26,000 rowers (and many auxiliary personnel, as well as Greek "volunteers" who made money from the war). If Syracuse was able to escape the Peloponnesian War and did not clearly choose to take sides, then they must be tied to the fate of the Spartans today.

For the Spartans, of course, they never wanted to see their backyard set on fire. Therefore, when Athens and Syracuse were fighting on the island of Sicily, Sparta and Syracuse's mother country "Corinth" also organized reinforcements to land in support (414 BC). In fact, if the Peloponnesians wanted to support Syracuse, the best tactic would have been to fight Athens at sea. If they can win, the Greek expeditionary force will be defeated, just like Persia after the sea battle of Salamis. However, the reality is that the Athenian navy has an absolute advantage, so the Peloponnesians are temporarily unable to do so.

Since Sparta had no way to fight Athens at sea, they naturally had no way to cut off the supplies of the Athens Expeditionary Force. When the foreign aid from Syria came, the reinforcements and supplies organized by Athens continued to be delivered to Sicily. In order to prevent the Peloponnesians from continuing to reinforce Sicily, Athens even split the fleet to circumnavigate the Peloponnesian Peninsula.

Although the Athenians had the advantage of sea, which allowed them to continuously deliver personnel and supplies to Sicily, such a long-distance expedition cost a lot of manpower and material resources. For all the guest armies, quick battles are what they look forward to. The problem is that the Syracuses have been operating in Sicily for a long time, and the size of the ancient city of Syracuse is comparable to the city of Athens. It's hard for Athens to win fast unless there is a traitor. If Athens must insist on conquering Sicily, they will probably face another "Trojan War".

However, the reason why the Mycenaeans were able to fight a protracted "Trojan War" and eventually consume Troy was because no one threatened their rear at that time. As for the Athenians, their geographical security is much more fragile. Because Athens' eternal enemy may attack Athens again from the land at any time.

When Athens used tens of thousands of people to expedition to Sicily, Sparta was indeed nervous for a while, and quickly organized reinforcements to land to help the Syracuses defend against the enemy. The strategy adopted by Athens was to isolate Syracuse by monitoring the Peloponnesian ports with its fleet. However, after the initial tug of war, the Spartans finally figured out that there was no need to use their own shortcomings (navy) to attack the Greeks' maritime defenses. It is only necessary to resume the war at Attica, as in the past, and the Athenians will take care of one thing and another.

In the spring of 413 BC, more than a year after the Athenian expedition to Sicily, Sparta led an army to the north of Athens. According to the definition of Chinese-style strategy, this is a typical strategy of "surrounding Wei and saving Zhao". It is not that the Athenians did not think of this layer, but from the routine of the "Ten Years War" period, the Spartan attack could not last. In the face of the solid defense system of the city of Athens, the Spartans would have to return to the Peloponnesus after the rations were exhausted. And the peasants who hid in the city of Athens could also go back to continue agricultural production. In other words, the Spartan attack could not cause fatal damage to Athens' war potential.

However, the tactics of the Spartans this time were completely different from the previous stage. After ravaging the countryside outside the city, the Spartan army did not rush to attack the city. "The (Dekelia) Heights were stationed. Whenever the Athenians wanted to get out of the city to resume production, the Spartan armies were quick to come out to destroy. This approach not only made Athens completely unable to obtain harvests, but also unable to receive supplies from the northern allies from the land. In this case, Athens can only rely more on the marine economy. The most direct way is to impose tariffs on incoming and outgoing merchant ships.