If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.
You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

Battle of Miletus, 412 BCE

Page history last edited by Don Gammill 10 years, 5 months ago

Battle of Miletus, 412 BCE

Entry by Don Gammill, Fall, 2013

Overview/Introduction

Part of the greater Peloponnesian War (431 BCE – 404 BCE), the Battle of Miletus occurred during the first half of the year 412 BCE between Athenian and Spartan forces outside the walls of the culturally- and economically-important Athenian port city of Miletus. The battle, though relatively minor in the larger scope of the war, is significant for a number of reasons, among these being the fact that it represented the first fruit of Sparta’s new tactic of encouraging revolution within Athenian cities, the fact that this revolution was fomented by Athenian dissident Alcibiades, and because it was on the heels of this battle that Athenian forces at Samos began to seriously entertain the revolutionary ideas that would soon lead to the internal overthrow of the Athenian democracy by way of the Oligarchic Revolution of 411 BCE.

City of Miletus

A city on the west coast of Anatolia, Miletus backs up to mountains on the “S” side of the opening of the Latmian Gulf, its natural harbors given some protection by the proximity of the island of Lade to the west.

Given this geographical and topographical positioning, it makes sense that the city’s economy was a solely-seafaring concern. Over time, this economy was stifled and eventually crushed when silt from the Maeander River built up, closing the gulf to maritime traffic and eventually adding so much land that the city now lies 10 kilometers inland.

The first settlers, who according to tradition arrived on the site at some point prior to 1,400 BCE, were likely colonists from the Cretan city of Milatos who set up a trading post. Controlled early on by the Mycenaeans, the Carians took hold of the city by the end of the Late Bronze Age as evidenced by Homer’s reference of the Miletians fighting the Greeks at Troy. The city was re-founded (and the Carians conquered) in the early Iron Age by the son of King Kodros of Athens, Neleus.

From this point forward, Miletus – due to its central location and multiple natural, protected harbors – thrived as a trading center, the constant coming and going of people from different places imbuing it with a diverse, cosmopolitan ethos which established it as an important center for Greek science and philosophy.

Though destroyed by the Persians in 494 BCE, Miletus was back in Greek hands within two decades and again prospering as a leading economic and cultural powerhouse in the region. While control of the city was often in upheaval (it went from Greek, to Persian, to Greek, to Persian, and finally, to Roman control over its last few centuries), ultimately, the only thing that brought an end to this city’s dominance was the aforementioned silting of the harbor by the Maeander River, thus ending the trade which had always been the city’s primary cultural and economic driver.

Battle

In 413 BCE, the year before the battle of Miletus, the Spartans had defeated the Athenians at Syracuse. Encouraged by this victory, the Spartans began to employ a fresh tactic: they would encourage various Athenian cities to revolt, and when this happened, they would establish a military presence at these locations.

The Athenian city of Miletus, already on the brink of insurrection due to the encouragement of the exiled Athenian, Alcibiades, represented one of the most essential first fruits of this new Spartan strategy, its rebellion providing just the opportunity the Spartans desired. In the summer of 412 BCE, the Spartans made their move.

Spartan commander Chalcideus and a token force of five ships were sent to Miletus; however, the Athenians had blockaded the port city with a larger force of twenty ships. This resulted in a nominal victory for the Athenians (as the Spartan force was defeated and Chalcideus killed). Nonetheless, a larger battle was looming.

By the end of the summer, no less than 48 Athenians ships had traveled across the Ageanan to Samos, and then directly to Miletus. These vessels carried what Rickard describes as “1,000 Athenian hoplites, 1,500 Argives, of whom 1,000 were hoplites and 500 light troops who had been given heavy army in Athens, and 1,000 hoplites from the Athenian Empire...commanded by…generals Phrynichus, Onomacles and Scironides.”

Miletus had lost no love for its former empire, supplementing by 800 hoplites the Spartan force (those which had originally accompanied Chalcideus) and the forces which the Persians had contributed to be used against the Athenians (consisting of both its own cavalry commanded by local satrap Tissaphernes, along with a group of hired mercenaries).

When the two sides clashed outside the city walls, the results were initially surprising. The Athenian charge was led by the 1,500 Argives, whose overconfidence in their ability as Dorian Greeks to overrun the Ionian Milesians saw them advance too quickly, become disorganized, and suffer 20% casualties. However, action on another flank of the battlefield saw the Athenians drive through the late Chalcideus’ remaining Spartan forces and then concentrate their aggression on the now-obviously-overmatched Milesians. Grasping the reality of the situation, the Milesians retreated to safety within the city’s walls, thus effectively ending the battle and handing the win to the Athenians.

Having fought to a decisive victory, many of the Athenians wanted to stay and build a blockading wall around the isthmus which linked the city to the mainland, but then word of the Spartans’ larger Peloponnesian naval fleet reached them and a decision had to be made – should they stay and fight, or should they retreat in the force of such formidable Spartan opposition. Though many wanted to stay and meet the approaching Spartan fleet, Phrynichus ordered a retreat to Samos, fearing that Athens’ last major effective fighting group should be preserved for more strategic contingencies which might later occur.

Notable Figures

Alcibiades – Once-exiled Athenian general and statesman (and one-time attendant of Socrates) who formed and ruined numerous political alliances throughout his life. Notable in that, as a dissident working with the Persians during the Peloponnesian War, he encouraged Miletus to rebel against Athenian rule, and secretly plotted to replace Athens’ democracy with an elite, oligarchical system which he thought would be more efficient and effective (especially in a time of war) than the non-expert government administration which demos embodied.

Chalcideus – Spartan military commander (of less rank than a “high admiral”) who commanded small, initial force that sailed for Miletus after its revolt. Killed in the battle with the Athenians 20-ship blockade of Miletus

Phrynichus – Effective yet unethical Athenian general who led the forces which were victorious at Miletus. His distrust of Alcibiades caused him to secretly communicate with the Spartans about whether or not Alcibiades might exert a destabilizing influence on Spartan ally Tissaphernes. Additionally, he was strongly on record as being against the talk of recalling Alcibiades to Athens and the notion of the imminent overthrow of Athenian democracy.

Tissaphernes – Persian satrap (governor) instrumental in helping Sparta capture a number of Ionian cities during the Peloponnesian War. Eventually came to believe that Athens’ total defeat at the hands of Sparta would be counter to Persian interests, but fell out of favor with the Persian government when its leaders disagreed.

References

"Alcibiades." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (2013): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

http://ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=39042918&site=eds-live

Harris, Edward M. "How To Address The Athenian Assembly: Rhetoric And Political Tactics In The Debate About Mytilene (Thuc. 3.37–50)." Classical Quarterly 63.1 (2013): 94. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

http://ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=87363379&site=eds-live

Kagan, Donald. "The Student Of Political Behavior." New Criterion 28.1 (2009): 10-17. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

http://ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=44058713&site=eds-live

“Miletus (Site).” Perseus Digital Library. Ed. Gregory R. Crane (2013): Tufts University. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/artifact?name=Miletus&object=site

Alcibiades

"Peloponnesian War". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 16 Nov. 2013

<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/449362/Peloponnesian-War>.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/449362/Peloponnesian-War

Rickard, J. “Battle of Miletus, 412 BC.” HistoryofWar.org (2011): Web. 16 Nov. 2013. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_miletus_412.html

“The Oligarchic Coup of 411 BC.” An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander. Ed. Thomas R. Martin (2013): Tufts University. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0009%3Achapter%3D12%3Asection%3D1%3Asubsection%3D17

Thucydides, Richard Crawley Translator. The History of the Peloponnesian War. MobileReference, 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2013

http://classics.mit.edu/Thucydides/pelopwar.html

Trzaskoma, Stephen M. "Why Miletus? Chariton's Choice Of Setting And Xenophon's Anabasis." Mnemosyne 65.2 (2012): 300. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

http://ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aqh&AN=73162284&site=eds-live

Walling, Karl. "Thucydides On Policy, Strategy, And War Termination." Naval War College Review 66.4 (2013): 47. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

http://ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aqh&AN=90602745&site=eds-live

Williams, Mary Frances. Ethics In Thucydides: The Ancient Simplicity n.p.: Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1998., GEORGIA STATE UNIV's Catalog. Print.

Photo Credits