Why did the Athenian expedition to Sicily fail?
Upvote:3
It was both. One problem was with Athenian commanders and the way they were treated by the Athens. One of the commanders (Alcibiades) was sent while facing serious criminal charges, with the process postponed until after his return. Upon his arrival to the theater, he was suddenly recalled to face the charges. So he had no choice but to switch to the Spartan side. Another commander (Nicias) was his bitter political opponent. Then the remaining commanders could not decide for some time about the plan of the operation.
When the operation failed, the natural thing was to withdraw, to save the army. But again the commander, Nicias was afraid of how Athens will react on this. (And he had good reasons to afraid. Athens had a long record of executing or exiling even victorious commanders!) To this a bad sign was added (a solar eclipse). As a result the retreat was postponed, which led to the complete annihilation of the army.
Another factor was the Spartan help which was promptly sent to Syracuse.
In fact the whole idea of this expedition was ill-conceived. They counted on their Sicilian allies to pay to the troops. Only when the expedition arrived, it was discovered that the allies have no sufficient funds for this. So it seems clear that it is Athens government which has to be blamed for this disaster. The timing of the eclipse shows that gods were also on Syracusian side.
More post
- 📝 Why was Stalin chosen as the First General Secretary in 1922?
- 📝 Origin of scientific racism?
- 📝 Is there an historical example for the possibility of peaceful resolution of Kashmir conflict?
- 📝 What was the value of the spice trade during the age of exploration?
- 📝 Did Kim Jong-Il wrest away power (rather than inherit it) from Kim Il-Sung in a power struggle?
- 📝 Has there ever been a successful "Anarchy"?
- 📝 Can anyone help identify this French military uniform?
- 📝 At the end of WW2, multiple German leaders either committed suicide or made preparations to do so -- was this unprecedented?
- 📝 Where is the sword used to execute Queen Anne Boleyn?
- 📝 WWI trench tactics using shields?
- 📝 During WW1, did any Irish join Kitchener’s Army?
- 📝 Was Vox In Rama a factor of the quick spread of the Black Plague?
- 📝 Easter ornaments question
- 📝 Was Russia the only country in WWII that succeeded in expansionist war aims?
- 📝 Why was Goguryeo able to expand rapidly under Gwanggaeto's rule?
- 📝 What was the dominant government system in the 1600s~1800s?
- 📝 Will we ever be able to understand history with 100% accuracy
- 📝 What was the basis for valuating large territorial purchases by USA?
- 📝 Why did the United States under the Articles of Confederation have a hard time getting funding?
- 📝 What is the oldest excavated/discovered piece of silk textile made for clothing or writing?
- 📝 When was the tactic of chaining ships together last used in a major naval battle?
- 📝 Nationalisation during wartime in the West: With or without compensation?
- 📝 How was Pre-Samurai Japan structured ? What part did solders and warriors play in the yayoi culture and how did the Yamato state wage war ?
- 📝 When did the last Terra Nullius vanish from the earth?
- 📝 Which arresting wire did Japanese carrier pilots aim for?
- 📝 Is there a database of ancient/current names of cities?
- 📝 Why did Ancient Greek city-states fight each other and how did they morally justify it?
- 📝 Has old masonry been found with the bodies of slaves inside?
- 📝 Was Plato present at Socrates' trial?
- 📝 What is the layout of Ancient Egyptian pyramid shafts?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why did the Athenian expedition to Sicily fail?
- 📝 Why did the Sassanid and the Eastern Roman Empire fail to make a lasting peace?
- 📝 Why did the Social Gospel movement of the early 1900's fail to reach the working class?
- 📝 Why did the Indian National Congress fail to convince Indian minorities to support united India
- 📝 Why did the Allied attack at Gallipoli fail during WWI?
- 📝 Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union when he was still busy fighting the United Kingdom?
- 📝 Why did Native Americans die from European diseases while Europeans didn't catch serious diseases from the New World?
- 📝 Why did the Confederacy think they could win the American Civil War?
- 📝 Why did archery not make a comeback when armor was phased out in the 18th century?
- 📝 Why did the British scuttle the u-boats surrendered after WWII?
- 📝 Why did Canada not join the American Revolution?
- 📝 Why did Churchill order the destruction of the bombes?
- 📝 Why did the USSR give Crimea to Ukraine?
- 📝 Why did the Western Roman Empire collapse but not the Eastern Roman Empire?
- 📝 Why did stock brokers go bankrupt after the crash of 1929?
- 📝 Why did the Germans spare Allied troops trapped at Dunkirk?
- 📝 Why did Britain and France not declare war against the Soviet Union when it invaded Poland in WW2?
- 📝 Why did Columbus cross the mid-Atlantic instead of exploring from Greenland?
- 📝 Why did LBJ, a staunch segregationist, champion and sign the 1964 Civil Rights Bill?
- 📝 Why did the Roman military start to favour swords over the spear phalanx?
- 📝 Why did Hitler declare war on the USA?
- 📝 Why did Germany officially acknowledge the contents of the Zimmerman telegram?
- 📝 Why did Europe not see Roman-era numbers of men participating in battles until the 17th century?
- 📝 Why did the Germans use the Enigma machine rather than the far superior "Lorenz" cipher machine?
- 📝 Why did the Soviet Union have multiple airplane manufacturers?
- 📝 Why did the Soviet Union name their strongest bomb Tsar Bomba?
- 📝 Why did Lincoln wait to issue the Emancipation Proclamation?
- 📝 Why did the United States not resort to nuclear weapons in Vietnam?
- 📝 Why did China shut itself out of the world in the 15th century?
- 📝 Why did Hitler not order the use of poison gas in combat?