Athens was not one of the traditional naval forces of Greece. Its fleet around 500 BC was rather insignificant in front of the powerful fleets of triremes and divisions of Corinth, Miletus, Samos, Aegina and other cities, consisting of 50 obsolete pentagons.Its navy is relatively new as it was built thanks to the perseverance of Themistocles, in fact a few years before his majestic victory at Salamis (480 BC) over the Achaemenid fleet. For most of the "golden" 5th century BC, the Athenian fleet consisted of 300 triremes, of which 200 were usually manned, or a maximum of 250. Some of the crews were not Athenians or residents of Attica, but mercenaries and allies from the various naval cities of the Aegean. In addition to this fleet, Athens had under its control all 180 triremes of its naval allies, namely Chios, Lesvos and Samos. So the total number of triremes you had reached 480.
When the city of Pallada was finally defeated in the Peloponnesian War, the Spartans allowed it to maintain only 12 triremes as a coast guard of Attica, against pirates or other threats (404 BC). They may have thought that this was how they neutralized the Athenian navy, but they were wrong. The naval force of Athens was not in the ships of its fleet. As it turned out, even if they lost them by the hundreds, the shipyards of Piraeus could replace them. The naval power of Athens was in the naval and shipbuilding skills of its men, but also in the perseverance of its people. Triple diagrams according to JF Coates.
Athens gradually recovered from the disaster of 404, and around 370 BC. he again had a fleet of 100 triremes. By the middle of the 4th century, it increased this number to 300, thus reaching the size of its "national" fleet during the 5th century. The Athenians of the 4th century are determined to play a leading role in Greek affairs again and they are well aware that the only way to do that is by sea.
Thus, despite their defeat by Philip of Macedon at Chaeronia (338 BC) and their new submission to Alexander the Great (335), the Athenians maintained a high rate of shipbuilding, breaking all their previous "records". This was prompted by Alexander's incredible success in overthrowing the Persian Empire in 330 BC. The Athenians realized that a fleet of 300 warships was no longer enough to be able to compete with the new Macedonia, whose borders now reached the Himalayas (Mount Iamon). The main person responsible for this new Athenian achievement was Lycurgus, the "new Themistocles".
This particular great and largely forgotten Athenian who had essentially controlled the finances of his city for at least 10 years, until his death in 324 BC, implemented an ambitious remedial program aimed primarily at strengthening the economy and fleet. Belonging to the anti-Macedonian faction and knowing that the rupture with Alexander was inevitable, Lycurgus had taken special care to strengthen the military forces of Athens. Among the others that were achieved in those years, was the further strengthening of the fleet not only numerically but also qualitatively.
Thus, two new types of warships were added to the existing triremes, which were soon to dominate the Mediterranean seas: the tetri and mainly the pentiri. The lists of the Athenian fleet for the year 325/4 BC included, according to epigraphic testimonies, 417 vessels: 360 triremes, 50 tetries and 7 fives. This number is confirmed by the 372 settlers that existed in the ports of Piraeus at this time. If we add the newcomers that were in other ports of Attica, then they exceed a total of 400. And if we add the coast guard and mission ships that were at sea, we end up with a number of more than 417 vessels.
Ancient Greek "passengers" (marines) have landed on shore. These are hoplites and peltas. The Athenians were capable marines, due to the naval tradition of their city (representation by the British Historical Society Comitatus)
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This is the pinnacle of the Athenian navy and not only in numerical terms. As mentioned, the new fleet included notebooks and quinces that had not been reused by Athens. Moreover, its citizens did not lag behind in naval and shipbuilding skills, compared to their ancestors of the 5th century BC. Of course again the number of boats that could actually be manned was smaller: there were enough crews for only 200 of the 417 boats. With the addition of mercenary crews, 240-250 ships could be manned, as was the case during the outbreak of the Lamian War when the embezzled money of the Macedonian treasurer Attalos was used to hire crews. In conclusion, the apogee of the Athenian navy did not occur in the 5th century BC, as is widely considered,
The upgrade of the naval weapon did not only concern the ships. A part of the above-mentioned 372 neo-settlements of Piraeus were built during this period, in order to cope with the numerical increase. In addition, during this period, the famous Filonos's Ark was built in the port of Zea, for the safekeeping of the ships' kits.
Lycurgus was to a large extent the one who achieved all this. With the strengthening of the fleet, the great Athenian revived Piraeus as well. Due to these services he can be compared to Themistocles, to whom the creation of the Athenian navy and the port of Piraeus is due. Another wonderful painting by Igor Dzis, about a trireme and its "passengers" (marines) (copyright: Igor Dzis). -
However, during the Lamian War that followed (323/322 BC) the Athenians and their limited naval allies faced the fleet of the Macedonians (of the now deceased Alexander the Great), consisting of warships of Greeks, Phoenicians, Cypriots. and Philistine allies and subjects of Macedonia. The Macedonian fleet included a high percentage of tetris and pentas (coming mainly from the Eastern Mediterranean), which were stronger than the triremes. This element seems to have judged the final outcome of the war.
The Athenians and their allies faced the Macedonian fleet under White Cleitus, in a series of naval battles, most notably the naval battle of Amorgos during which the Athenian fleet crashed (322 BC). After the end of the war, about 200-250 warships of Athens (probably only triremes) were left in the neo-settlements of Attica. But it was a "ghost fleet" since there were no more rowers to move it, after the exile of over 12,000 Athenians (mostly sailors) by the victorious Macedonian general Antipater, and of course due to the heavy losses during the war.
These ships were left to rot and a remarkable fleet was never built again. The reasons for this event were various: 1) the oligarchy that began to plague Athens due to the migration of the Athenians to the East 2) the realization of the impossibility of competition of the colossal Hellenistic kingdoms from the old city-states and 3) the predominance of notebooks and pentagons. If the Athenians wanted to play a leading role in the political affairs of the Greek world, they would have to build a new fleet consisting of these ships, and not the rather obsolete triremes. But the financial burden of such an endeavor would be unbearable for Athens. The Athenians used Scythian archers in their triremes (representation of Scythians by the British Historical Society Comitatus).
Thus in the years 325-322 BC there was the maximum of the Athenian fleet, but also its substantial end since from now on Athens maintained only a small number of triremes and was not involved again in significant naval operations. However, the seamanship of its citizens will survive for centuries to come. Athens took part in the naval wars of Rome together with other naval allies (socii navales), while providing crews for the Roman and later for the Byzantine imperial fleet until the Middle Ages. TABLE: THE NUMERICAL POWER OF THE ATHENS
FLEET DURING THE 5th-4th c .
After the failed campaign in Egypt 200 triremes
Beginning of the Peloponnesian War (431 BC) 300 triremes
Nicene Peace (421 BC) 300 triremes
Sicilian catastrophe (413 BC) 108 triremes
Battle of Arginousa (406 BC) 180 trips 180
BC
After the final defeat of Athens (404 BC) 12 triremes
370 BC 100 triremes
Around 350 BC 300 triremes
325-3 BC 417 wars, which are: triremes (360), tetrires (50) and fives (7).
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Periklis Deligiannis
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
DIODOROS SIKELIOTIS "Historical Library"
PLOUTARCHOS Lives
HAMMOND N. & WALBANK FW "History of Macedonia", volume 3, Thessaloniki 1995
WILCKEN Ulrich "Ancient Greek History", 1976
HISTORY OF THE GREEK NATION, volume D, Ekdotiki Athinon 1970
CAMBRIDGE ANCIENT HISTORY, vol. Cam. 1989 Representation of neo-inhabitants of Piraeus (Naval Museum of
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