Brasidas

Greek and Roman History

Aristophanes’ Comedy on the Peace of Nicias, Peloponnesian Wars

Bruce Strom 0

Although many people in Athens and Sparta were opposed to the Peace of Nicias, and definitely most Spartan allies opposed the peace, many Athenians and Spartans were weary of war, so the peace did somewhat hold for six years. The play “Peace” by Aristophanes won second prize at the Dionysian Festival just a few days before the ratification of the Peace of Nicias, it celebrates the peace and a return to the idyllic life in the countryside. This play, the Peace, reflects the yearning of many Greeks for peace at last. […]

Greek and Roman History

From the Death of Pericles to the Peace of Nicias, Peloponnesian War, Thucydides and Plutarch

Bruce Strom 0

After the death of Pericles, no popular leader arose that was able to dominate the Assembly like Pericles, which meant that it was impossible to follow a consistently stable wartime policy. Instead, Thucydides described a series of orators call demagogues. Pericles was the last Assembly orator who was also a general, he was elected to be a general for a dozen yearlong terms, in this war generals had to fight long campaigns and we unable to constantly address the Assembly, which led to the rise of the demagogue orators, who were often more interested in promoting polices that were popular with the people, and themselves, rather than promoting policies that would benefit the state. […]