The king of Sparta, Archidamus II, belonged to the Eurypontidae family, and the name of the Archidamic War is due to him.
His friend in Sparta was Pleistoanax, sent into exile in 445 BC. Therefore, Archidamus II was, for some time, the sole king of Sparta.
King Archidamus II besieged Plataea in 429 and invaded Attica in 428 BC. The date of his death is presumed to be the summer of 427 B.C. and his son Agis II reigned in 426 BC
Archidamic War phases and development
The phases of the so-called Archidamic War there were two:
- During the rule of Pericles (April 431-September 429 BC)
- The plague and the successors of Pericles (spring:429-421). It ended with the Peace of Nicias (421 BC).
First Phase
During the rule of Pericles (432-429 BC)
The war was unexpectedly triggered by drunks, who apparently did not belong to either side , but they were on the side of the Spartans and above all, of the Corinthians.
- Beodos (Thebes) (Pro-Spartans. Pro-Corinthians. Hostile to Athens). They attacked the city of Plataea (April 431 BC) an ally of Athens in Beoda since 519 who did not want to belong to the Beodo Koinón.
- The Athenians sent reinforcements to Plataea. Pericles was appointed Strategist Autocrator (chief general) with full powers and in the face of a possible Spartan offensive against his capital, Athens was evacuated to the population that was not necessary to defend it, its supply was secured and an allied army was prepared.
But the response from Athens was. especially by sea. sending his fleet to the coasts of Elis, Acarnania and Messenia and the Argolis and achieving the victory of Sphacteria , in front of Pylos.
This first period of the war was positive for Athens.
This period ended with the plague of Athens, caused above all by the overcrowding of the refugees who had had to leave in Attica and filled the city.
Pericles died in this epidemic and also reached other places in Greece, such as Potidaea and despite the successes of Phormio in Patras and Naupactus, Athens lost part of its military power.
Second Phase
The successors of Pericles. Ninas and Cleon (429-421 BC). Athenian defeats at Delion:Peace of Nicias
After Pericles died, two opposing groups were formed, represented by Nicias , representative of the Aristoi. excessively conservative and Clón , a rich tanner, in favor of keeping the war waiting for the final victory.
After the taking of Plataea by Sparta , which was leased to Thebes, led to the uprising of the cities of the island of Lesbos (428 BC), provoked by the oligarchs of Mytilene, followed by the other cities of the island except Methymna, which notified Athens, which blocked the island and finally reduced it (427 BC)
The first decision of the Athenian demos is famous. reunited in assembly and directed by Cleón decreeing the death of all the adult mitilenios and the slavery for the women and the children. although later they were forgiven but they lost their lands, which began to be distributed among Athenian cleruchs.
Finally, after the civil war in Corcyra (427 BC) the occupation of Pylos, with notable triumphs of Nicias in Cythera and Tirea, in Cinuria, the Athenian army was defeated in Delion, suffering important losses. At this time Athens found a tough opponent in the Spartan Brasidas, who took Acanthus, Stagira, Amphipolis, before whose walls Brasidas himself and Cleon died, who had come to the aid of the city, in the summer of 422 BC.
After these events, the moderates prevailed and the Peace of Nicias was signed. (421 BC), which ended a decade of fighting.