Coping with Chronic Warfare : The Athenian Experience
Lyttkens, Carl Hampus LU and Gerding, Henrik LU
(2022)
Salamis & democracy – 2,500 years after
p.181-200
- Abstract
- In Classical Athens, being at war was more common than peace. The military expenditures were correspondingly large. The main puzzle, however, is not financial, but where the Athenians found the multitude of rowers needed for their ships. It was not until the end of the Peloponnesian War that there were good reasons to use slaves as rowers. The Spartan occupation of Decelea in 413 BCE had profound effects on Athens by forcing more than 20,000 Athenian households (including slaves) to seek protection behind the city walls. This arguably led to the introduction of social support in Athens and an extended use of slaves as rowers. The manpower losses in connection with the naval conflicts must have had a significant impact on Athenian society... (More)
- In Classical Athens, being at war was more common than peace. The military expenditures were correspondingly large. The main puzzle, however, is not financial, but where the Athenians found the multitude of rowers needed for their ships. It was not until the end of the Peloponnesian War that there were good reasons to use slaves as rowers. The Spartan occupation of Decelea in 413 BCE had profound effects on Athens by forcing more than 20,000 Athenian households (including slaves) to seek protection behind the city walls. This arguably led to the introduction of social support in Athens and an extended use of slaves as rowers. The manpower losses in connection with the naval conflicts must have had a significant impact on Athenian society in several ways. We discuss three cases: the switch from ostracism to the graphe paranomon, the law on citizenship under Pericles, and the decision of the Athenian Assembly to execute the victorious generals after the battle at Arginoussai. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- In Classical Athens, being at war was more common than peace. The military expenditures were correspondingly large. The main puzzle, however, is not
financial, but where the Athenians found the multitude of rowers needed for their ships. It was not until the end of the Peloponnesian War that there were good reasons to use slaves as rowers. The Spartan occupation of Decelea in 413 BCE had profound effects on Athens by forcing more than 20,000 Athenian households (including slaves) to seek protection behind the city walls. This arguably led to the introduction of social support in Athens and an extended use of slaves as rowers. The manpower losses in connection with the naval conflicts must have had a significant impact on Athenian... (More) - In Classical Athens, being at war was more common than peace. The military expenditures were correspondingly large. The main puzzle, however, is not
financial, but where the Athenians found the multitude of rowers needed for their ships. It was not until the end of the Peloponnesian War that there were good reasons to use slaves as rowers. The Spartan occupation of Decelea in 413 BCE had profound effects on Athens by forcing more than 20,000 Athenian households (including slaves) to seek protection behind the city walls. This arguably led to the introduction of social support in Athens and an extended use of slaves as rowers. The manpower losses in connection with the naval conflicts must have had a significant impact on Athenian society in several ways. We discuss three cases: the switch from ostracism to the graphe paranomon, the law on citizenship under Pericles, and the decision of the Athenian Assembly to execute the victorious generals after the battle at Arginoussai. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2b60c0f0-dd2e-4459-8af1-0203cf7983f3
- author
- Lyttkens, Carl Hampus
LU
and Gerding, Henrik
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022-08-05
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Ancient Athens, Slaves, Rowers, War, Demographic change
- host publication
- Democracy and Salamis : 2500 Years After the Battle That Saved Greece and the Western World - 2500 Years After the Battle That Saved Greece and the Western World
- editor
- Economou, Emmanouil M.L. ; Kyriazis, Nicholas C. and Platias, Athanasios
- pages
- 181 - 200
- publisher
- Springer
- conference name
- Salamis & democracy – 2,500 years after
- conference location
- Athens, Greece
- conference dates
- 2020-10-03 - 2020-10-05
- ISBN
- 978-3-030-98431-1
- 978-3-030-98430-4
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-030-98431-1_10
- project
- The Economics of Ancient Greece
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2b60c0f0-dd2e-4459-8af1-0203cf7983f3
- date added to LUP
- 2022-02-08 09:28:57
- date last changed
- 2022-12-19 09:55:33
@inbook{2b60c0f0-dd2e-4459-8af1-0203cf7983f3,
abstract = {{In Classical Athens, being at war was more common than peace. The military expenditures were correspondingly large. The main puzzle, however, is not financial, but where the Athenians found the multitude of rowers needed for their ships. It was not until the end of the Peloponnesian War that there were good reasons to use slaves as rowers. The Spartan occupation of Decelea in 413 BCE had profound effects on Athens by forcing more than 20,000 Athenian households (including slaves) to seek protection behind the city walls. This arguably led to the introduction of social support in Athens and an extended use of slaves as rowers. The manpower losses in connection with the naval conflicts must have had a significant impact on Athenian society in several ways. We discuss three cases: the switch from ostracism to the graphe paranomon, the law on citizenship under Pericles, and the decision of the Athenian Assembly to execute the victorious generals after the battle at Arginoussai.}},
author = {{Lyttkens, Carl Hampus and Gerding, Henrik}},
booktitle = {{Democracy and Salamis : 2500 Years After the Battle That Saved Greece and the Western World}},
editor = {{Economou, Emmanouil M.L. and Kyriazis, Nicholas C. and Platias, Athanasios}},
isbn = {{978-3-030-98431-1}},
keywords = {{Ancient Athens; Slaves; Rowers; War; Demographic change}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{08}},
pages = {{181--200}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
title = {{Coping with Chronic Warfare : The Athenian Experience}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98431-1_10}},
doi = {{10.1007/978-3-030-98431-1_10}},
year = {{2022}},
}