Lelantine War
Lelantine War | |||||||||
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Hypothetical alliances of Chalcis (blue) and Eretria (red) during the Lelantine War.[1] | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Eretria and allies | Chalcis and allies |
The Lelantine War was a military conflict between the two ancient Greek city states Chalcis and Eretria in Euboea which took place in the early Archaic period, between c. 710 and 650 BC.[2] The reason for war was, according to tradition, the struggle for the fertile Lelantine Plain on the island of Euboea. Due to the economic importance of the two participating poleis, the conflict spread considerably, with many further city states joining either side, resulting in much of Greece being at war. The historian Thucydides describes the Lelantine War as exceptional, the only war in Greece between the mythical Trojan War and the Persian Wars of the early 5th century BC in which allied cities rather than single ones were involved.[3]
Ancient authors normally refer to the War between Chalcidians and Eretrians (
The war between Chalcis and Eretria was the one in which most cities belonging to the rest of Greece were divided up into alliances with one side or the other.
— Thucydides (I. 15, 3)
The length of the war, as well as the cities involved, and even the historicity of the Lelantine War remain debated among modern historians.[4]
Date of the war
There is no direct information in ancient sources to date this war. Indirect evidence in Thucydides points towards a date ca 700 BC, that situates it halfway between history and legend. At the very same time, the site of
Sources
Since the conflict took place at a very early point in
Written sources
No detailed record of the Lelantine War was produced by a contemporary author (such as Thucydides for the
In the introduction of his work on the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides (460 BC to early 4th century) gives a short summary of earlier Greek history, stating that there were no major collective military actions by Greeks between the Trojan War and the Persian Wars. As an exception, he mentions the War between Chalcidians and Eretrians, during which most of the rest of Hellas joined one of the warring parties:
"There was no union of subject cities round a great state, no spontaneous combination of equals for confederate expeditions; what fighting there was consisted merely of local warfare between rival neighbours. The nearest approach to a coalition took place in the old war between Chalcis and Eretria; this was a quarrel in which the rest of the Hellenic name did to some extent take sides."[3] |
(Crawley translation)
Herodotus (484 BC to 425 BC) mentions the same war as the reason why in 494 BC, after the
"for the Milesians in former times had borne with the Eretrians the burden of all that war which they had with the Chalkidians at the time when the Chalkidians on their side were helped by the Samians against the Eretrians and Milesians."[9] |
An even later author,
"Kleomachos went with the Thessalian force to aid the Chalcidians; at what time it was evident that the Chalcidians were the stronger in foot, but they found it a difficult thing to withstand the force of the enemies' horse. (...) Kleomachos, being surrounded with some few of the flower of the Thessalian horse, he charged into the thickest of the enemy and put them to the rout; which the heavy-armed infantry seeing, they betook themselves also to flight, so that the Chalcidians obtained a noble victory. However, Kleomachos was there slain, and the Chalcidians show his monument erected in the market-place, with a fair pillar standing upon it to this day."[11] |
Elsewhere, Plutarch mentions the tradition of a poetic competition between Homer and Hesiod on the occasion of the funeral games of a Chalcidian nobleman called Amphidamas. Plutarch states that Amphidamas fell in the struggle for the Lelantine Plain, after performing several heroic deeds fighting the Eretrians.
"It has been told us, that the most famous and eminent poets once met at the grave of Amphidamas in Chalcis. This Amphidamas was a leading citizen, one that had perpetual wars with the Eretrians, and at last lost his life in one of the battles fought for the possession of the Lelantine plain."[12] |
Plutarch's source was traditionally attributed to Hesiod himself. Hesiod does mention, in Works and Days, a contest in honour of the late Amphidamas, but without mentioning Homer or linking Amphidamas to the Lelantine War.
"Then I crossed over to Chalkis, to the games of wise Amphidamas where the sons of the great-hearted hero proclaimed and appointed prizes."[13] |
In his
"Now in general these cities were in accord with one another, and when differences arose concerning the Lelantine Plain they did not so completely break off relations as to wage their wars in all respects according to the will of each, but they came to an agreement as to the conditions under which they were to conduct the fight. This fact, among others, is disclosed by a certain pillar in the Amarynthium, which forbids the use of long distance missiles."[14] |
A similar agreement is indirectly referred to by Archilochos (7th century BC), the second contemporary author to refer to the Lelantine War. He tells how the "warlike lords of Euboea" will not use bow or sling, but only swords, in a coming battle.
"Not many bows will be drawn, nor will slings be common, whenever battle will be joined in the plain; instead the much-sighing work will belong to the swords, for the warlike lords of Euboea are experienced in that manner of war."[15] |
On the basis of these literary sources, and assisted by a variety of archaeological finds, modern scholarship has reconstructed an outline of the Lelantine War.
Archaeological evidence
Archaeological study has shown that the first warrior burials in the area of the later
Background
Chalcis and Eretria are ports on the west coast of Euboea. Both cities claimed the Lelantine Plain, perhaps originally made fertile by the river Lelas, which traverses the plain from north to south, as a natural border. Although, strictly speaking, Eretria is located outside the plain, it had a historical claim to it. The reason is that Eretria was probably initially the port for a mother town situated further west. That town was located at the mouth of the Lelas, near modern Lefkandi. Its ancient name is unknown, so it is generally called by that of the modern settlement. Lefkandi suffered heavy destructions in c. 825 BC,[19] after which the majority of its population probably moved to Eretria.
Eretria and Chalcis originally had a political union with
In the 8th century BC, Euboea was one of the economically strongest regions of Greece.
Reason for war
According to tradition, the war was caused by a conflict about the Lelantine Plain.[12] This very fertile area had for a long time been used for agriculture, including the cultivation of vines. In Greece, where fertile land is scarce, wars for agriculturally attractive terrain were not uncommon, especially in the Archaic period, e.g. between Megara and Athens.[23] Nevertheless, it remains unclear why Chalcis and Eretria suddenly came to blows over the Lelantine Plain after apparently being in agreement on its use for a long time.
The origin of the conflict could be connected to a natural disaster. At the end of the 8th century BC, Attica, Euboea and other nearby islands suffered from a severe drought.[24] It is likely that the Eretrian establishment on Andros was abandoned as a result.[25] This drought and the attendant famine could have led to both Chalcis and Eretria laying claim on all of the Lelantine Plain.
Course of the war
The war between Chalcis and Eretria probably began around 710 BC. Although both cities must have possessed large fleets, it was waged on land.
Troops
Eretria at its height (a period brought to an end by this war) could field 3,000
Alliances and extent
Primarily, the war would have involved the two conflicting cities and their territories. At the time of the war, the state of Eretria included one quarter of the island of Euboea as well as the nearby Cyclades (
The island state of Aegina was mainly active in the trade with
Most current scholarship is of the opinion that such long-distance alliances cannot have existed in the 8th century BC. Instead, there may have been alliance-like based on personal relationships among the nobility, so that the struggle involved only Eretria, Chalcis and the Thessalian aristocrat Kleomachos of Pharsalos with his own troops.[7] The German historian Detlev Fehling believes that the entire Lelantine War is an invention of later centuries, produced by a chain of Pseudo-Nachrichten (pseudo-reports).[8] This opinion has been generally rejected.[by whom?]
Around 700 BC, the Eretrian mother town at Lefkandi was finally destroyed, probably by Chalcis.[19] This cut Eretria's link with the Lelantine Plain. At about the same time Eretria's ally Miletus ravaged the southern Euboean town of
Effects
After the long war Euboea, once the leading region of Greece, had become a backwater.
References
- ^ Hall, History of the Archaic Greek World, pp. 2, 3.
- ^ 19th-century historians preferred an early dating, in the late 8th century; more recent scholars have gravitated towards later dates: older datings are noted in Donald W. Bradeen, "The Lelantine War and Pheidon of Argo", Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 78 (1947:223-241) p. 223 note 1.: Bradeen links the extension of the war to the rise of Pheidon at Argos.
- ^ a b c Thucydides I. 15.
- ^ Hall, History of the Archaic Greek World, pp. 1–8, writes "In short, we do not know when – or even whether – the Lelantine War occurred."
- ^ Not all agree: "Theognis 891-4 certainly does not refer to the war: the verses imply social stasis," observes Robin Lane Fox (Travelling Heroes in the Epic Age of Homer, 2008:158 note 16).
- ^ Fox 2008, eo. loc..
- ^ a b c Klaus Tausend: „Der Lelantische Krieg – ein Mythos?", in: Klio 69, 1987, p. 499–514, esp. p. 513f.
- ^ a b Detlev Fehling: „Zwei Lehrstücke über Pseudo-Nachrichten", in: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 122, 1979, p. 199–210, esp. p. 204f.
- ^ a b c Herodotus V 99.
- ^ Plutarch, Amatorius 17, in Moralia 760E—761B.
- ^ a b c Plutarch, Amatorius 17 (= Moralia 760e–761b).
- ^ a b c Plutarch, Septem sapientium convivium X 153f. (= Moralia 153f–154a).
- ^ Hesiod, Érga kaì hêmérai (Works and Days), 654–656.
- ^ a b Strabon X 1,11–12.
- ^ Archilochos, Anthologia Lyrica Graeca 12, 3 (Diehl) = Plutarch, Theseus V 2–3.
- ^ a b A.M. Ainian: "Geometric Eretria" in: Antike Kunst 30, 1987, p. 3–24.
- ^ C. Bérard: L'Hérôon á la porte de l'ouest (= Eretria 3), Bern 1970.
- ^ M. R. Popham, and L. H. Sackett, Excavations at Lefkandi, Euboea, 1964/1966. A Preliminary Report, Thames and Hudson, London 1968.
- ^ a b M.R. Popham & L.H. Sackett: Lefkandi 1: The Iron Age, London 1980.
- ^ a b V. Parker: Untersuchungen zum Lelantischen Krieg, Stuttgart 1997, p. 167.
- S2CID 130254092.
- ^ Thukydides VI 4,5–6.
- ^ Plutarch, Solon 7–10.
- JSTOR 147843.
- ^ Cambitoglou, A. & Coulton, J. J. (1970). "Ἀνασκαφαὶ Ζαγορᾶς Ἄνδρον". Ephemeris: 154ff.
- Kerkyrain 664 BC.
- ^ a b V. Parker: Untersuchungen zum Lelantischen Krieg, Stuttgart 1997.
- S2CID 161942838.
- ^ E. Will: Korinthiaka, Paris 1955, p. 398–404.
- Cambridge Ancient HistoryIII, 1929, S. 622f.
- ^ JSTOR 283496.
- ^ W.G. Forrest, A History of Sparta 950-192 BC, (Hutchinson University Library, London, 1968), ch. 4, pp. 35, 36
- ^ Herodotus, The Histories, (Penguin Books, Suffolk, England, 1983), III., p. 223
- ^ Forrest, p. 36
- ^ Pausanias I 44.1.
- ^ Thucydides VI 4.
- ^ Plutarch Quaestiones Graecae XI.
- ^ Herodot I 18.
- S2CID 163969696.
Bibliography
- Boardman, John (1957). "Early Euboean Pottery and History". Annual of the British School at Athens. 52: 1–29. S2CID 162393980.
- Bradeen, D.W. (1947). "The Lelantine War and Pheidon of Argos". Transactions of the American Philological Association. 78: 223–241. JSTOR 283496.
- Burns, A.R. (1929). "The so-called 'Trade-Leagues' in Early Greek History and the Lelantine War". S2CID 161942838.
- Donlan, Walter (1970). "Archilochus, Strabo and the Lelantine War". Transactions of the American Philological Association. 101: 131–142. JSTOR 2936044.
- ISBN 978-1-118-30127-2
- Lambert, S.D. (1982). "A Thucydidean Scholium on the 'Lelantine War'" (PDF). Journal of Hellenic Studies. 102: 216–220. S2CID 161821152.
- Murray, Oswyn (1993). Early Greece. London: Fontana. ISBN 0-00-686249-7.
- Parker, Victor (1997). Untersuchungen zum Lelantischen Krieg und verwandten Problemen der frühgriechischen Geschichte. ISBN 3-515-06970-4.)
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