June 11

Ep. 0288: ‘The Mad Dream of Conquest,’ Pt. II

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Here it is — the 2nd installment of CJ’s already-epic mini-series, ‘The Mad Dream of Conquest,’ set in the Peloponnesian War in 5th-century BC Greece.

Join CJ as he shares an overview of some of the events of the first half of the Peloponnesian War, including:

  • Spartan-led Peloponnesian invasions of Attica (the countryside around Athens), which used the traditional Greek tactic of ‘ravaging’ farms in order to try to provoke the Athenians to confront them in a decisive hoplite battle
  • Athens’ refusal to do so, as they followed Pericles’ strategy of being purely defensive on land while waging naval & amphibious warfare against the coastal strongholds of the Peloponnesian League
  • The horrific plague that afflicted Athens for the first few years of the war, which likely killed 20-30% of Athens, including, eventually, Pericles himself
  • The leadership void left by Pericles, which was filled by men of much less competence, none of whom ever enjoyed the supermajority support that Pericles had
  • The ‘Peace of Nicias,’ concluded in 421 BC, which was never fully adhered to & wouldn’t last long
  • The growing political feud between Nicias & the Athenian doves vs. Alcibiades & the Athenian hawks
  • The appeal for Athenian assistance from a few Sicilian poleis against Syracuse, the most powerful polis on that island, & the Athenian debates over the wisdom of intervening there, dominated by debates between Nicias & Alcibiades
  • The decision of a majority of the Athenian Assembly to intervene on a massive scale
  • Religious/political scandals that created serious potential problems for the Athenian expedition to Sicily on the eve of its departure
  • The departure, to great fanfare, of a massive Athenian & allied force to Sicily

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Posted June 11, 2026 by profcj in category "Ancient History", "Military History", "Podcasts