Lelantic War
A conflict between the Greek city-states of Chalkis and Eretria is called the Lelantic War , which occurred in early Greek times - around 710 to 650 BC. BC - occurred. According to tradition, the eponymous reason for the war was the dispute over the fertile Lelantic plain on the island of Evia . Due to the economic importance of the two warring poleis , the conflict spread widely; numerous other Greek city-states each joined one of the two parties, so that large parts of Greece were in conflict with one another. The historian Thucydides calls the Lelantine War the most extensive Greek conflict in the period between the mythical conquest of Troy and the Persian Wars . The name Lelantic War is not contemporary, but modern. Ancient authors usually spoke of the war between the Chalcidians and Eretrians ( Greek πόλεμος Χαλκιδέων καὶ Ἐρετριῶν pólemos Chalkidéon kaì Eretriōn ).
Since the conflict was taking place at a very early stage of Greek history, as in particular the history had not developed, there is little written evidence to Lelantine war. On the basis of the few sources and with the help of the much more extensive archaeological finds, however, at least a sketchy picture of the Lelantine War can be drawn. The ambiguity of the few existing written sources, however, led to the fact that the time and extent of the Lelantic War are controversial in the ancient world . Some researchers even went so far as to call the Lelantine War a myth or even a fiction .
Written tradition
No comprehensive historical work by a contemporary author has been written on the Lelantic War - as was the case with Thucydides on the Peloponnesian War - because Greek historiography did not develop until almost 200 years later, beginning with Hecataeus of Miletus . In the late 8th century BC The Greek literary tradition began with Homer in the first place , so the only contemporary evidence of the Lelantine War has come down to us from the early Greek poets Hesiod and Archilochus . The first mentions of the war by historians come from the 5th century BC. BC, a good two centuries after the events, and are accordingly vague and concise.
In the introduction to his work on the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides (~ 460 - early 4th century BC) briefly deals with the ancient Greek times and states that there were no major joint undertakings between the Greeks between the Trojan War and the Persian Wars have given. An exception, however, was the war between the Chalcidians and the Eretrians, in which the rest of Hellas also sided with one of the two Poleis:
| οὐ γὰρ ξυνειστήκεσαν πρὸς τὰς μεγίστας πόλεις ὑπήκοοι, οὐδ 'αὖ αὐτοὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἴσης κοινὰς στρατείας ἐποιοῦντο, κατ' ἀλλήλους δὲ μᾶλλον ὡς ἕκαστοι οἱ ἀστυγείτονες ἐπολέμουν. μάλιστα δὲ ἐς τὸν πάλαι ποτὲ γενόμενον πόλεμον Χαλκιδέων καὶ Ἐρετριῶν καὶ τὸ ἄλλλο ἙρἙληνινωτωτητωτητωητωτητωητωηταητωητωητωητωητωητητωητωητω |
| “Because there were no alliances of smaller cities led by larger ones, nor did they make joint expeditions on the basis of a covenant. Instead, the respective neighbors were waging war against each other. But (sc. There were expeditions out of the country, alliances of smaller cities under the leadership of larger, joint expeditions) most likely during the ancient war of the Chalcis and the Eretrians, when the rest of Greece joined one or the other alliance . " |
From Herodotus (484-425 v. Chr.) Called this war as a reason that the Eretria 494 v. As a result of the Ionian uprising , Miletus, threatened by the Persians , sent military support. Because Miletus once supported Eretria in the war against Chalkis, just as Samos supported the Chalkidians:
| οἱ γὰρ δὴ Μιλήσιοι πρότερον τοῖσι Ἐρετριεῦσι τὸν πρὸς Χαλκιδέας πόλεμον συνδιήνεικαν, ὅτε περ καὶ Χαλκιδεῦσι ἀντία Ἐρετριέων καὶ Μιλησίων Σάμιοι ἐβοήθεον. |
| "Because before that the Milesians had fought the war against the Chalkidians together with the Eretrians, while the Samians also helped the Chalkidians against the Eretrians and the Milesians." |
An even later author, Plutarch (~ 45 to ~ 125), mentions the Lelantic War several times. In the Moralia he writes that the Chalkidians in the war against the Eretrians felt their foot troops were equal to them, but inferior to the cavalry. Therefore they had called the Thessalian Cleomachus of Pharsalus to help, who decided the battle in favor of Chalkis with his horsemen. Cleomachus himself was killed in battle, but was dignified and buried by the grateful Chalkidians and given a pillar of honor on the agora .
| {...} ἧκεν [Κλεόμαχος] ἐπίκουρος Χαλκιδεῦσι τοῦ Θεσσαλικοῦ πολέμον πρὸς Ἐρετρεῖς ἀκμάζοντος · καὶ τὸ μὲν πεζὸν ἐδόκει τοῖς Χαλκιδεῦσιν ἐρρῶσθαι, τοὺς δ 'ἱππέας μέγ' ἔργον ἦν ὤσασθαι τῶν πολεμίων * {...} ὁ Κλεόμαχος καὶ τοὺς ἀρίστους τῶν Θεσσαλῶν συναγαγὼν περὶ αὑτὸν ἐξήλασε λαμπρῶς καὶ προσέπεσε τοῖς πολεμίοις, ὥστε συνταράξαι καὶ τρέψασθαι τὸ ἱππικόν · ἐκ δὲ τούτου καὶ τῶν ὁπλιτῶν φυγόντων, ἐνίκησαν κατὰ κράτος οἱ Χαλκιδεῖς. τον μέντοι Κλεόμαχον ἀποθανεῖν συνέτυχε · τάφον δ 'αὐτοῦ δεικνύουσιν ἐν ἀγορᾷ Χαλκιδεῖς, ἐφ' οὗ μέχρι νῦν ὁ μέγας ἐφέστηκε κίων · |
| “[Cleomachus] came to the aid of the Chalcidians when the Thessalian war against the Eretrians had reached its climax. The Chalcis thought their infantry strong enough, but they found it difficult to repel the enemy cavalry. {...} Cleomachus gathered the bravest Thessalians around him, and attacked the enemy with such force that he brought disorder into their cavalry and repulsed them. When the infantry finally fled, the Chalcidians won an overwhelming victory. Unfortunately, however, Cleomachus fell in battle. You can still find his tomb on the market in Chalkis today, with a high column on it. " |
Elsewhere, Plutarch mentions a poetry contest between Homer and Hesiod at the funeral games of a Chalcidian nobleman named Amphidamas . This was said to have fallen in the war for the Lelantische level after he had accomplished numerous heroic deeds in the fight against the Eretrians.
| ἀκούομεν γὰρ ὅτι καὶ πρὸς τὰς Ἀμφιδάμαντος ταφὰς εἰς Χαλκίδα τῶν τότε σοφῶν οἱ δοκιμώτατοι ποιηταὶ συνῆλθον · ἦν δ 'ὁ Ἀμφιδάμας ἀνὴρ πολεμικός, καὶ πολλὰ πράγματα παραχὼν Ἐρετριεῦσιν ἐν ταῖς περὶ Ληλάντου μάχαις ἔπεσεν. |
| “Because we hear that the most respected poets of the sages of the time also came to Chalkis for the funeral of Amphidamas: for Amphidamas was a warlike man, and after causing many difficulties for the Eretrians, he fell in the battles for the Lelantine plain . " |
Hesiod (8th / 7th century BC) himself speaks of this musical competition in honor of the Amphidama - although he does not mention Homer. This is at the same time the oldest written record of the Lelantian War, and one of the two contemporary reports of the war mentioned at the beginning.
|
ἔνθα δ 'ἐγὼν ἐπ' ἅεθλα δαίφρονος Ἀμφιδάμαντος Χαλκίδα τ 'εἴς ἐπέρησα · τὰ δὲ προπλλὰφραδμένα ροελλνς ραδθες ἔποελλὰς ραθενα ποπεφραδμένα πστνε ἔποελλἄς ραδθες πεθενα ποελλὰς παθενα πεθενα προελλ · ς παθενα προελλὰρραδμένα πεθενα πσθενα πεσνε προπεφραδμένα πεθενα πεθενα πεσνε πποελλὰς παθενα |
| "I drove over there once to the brave Amphidama's game in Chalkis, there were prizes announced in abundance, donated by his generous boys." |
That the two Poleis Chalkis and Eretria were once friends is reported by Strabon (~ 63 BC - ~ 23 AD) in his geography . This former friendship led to the two conflicting parties agreeing on contractual terms before the battle. Accordingly, it was agreed not to use long-range weapons in combat.
| τὸ μὲν οὖν πλέον ὡμολόγουν ἀλλήλαις αἱ πόλεις αὗται, περὶ δὲ Ληλάντον διενεχθεῖσαι οὖδ 'οὕτω τελέως ἐπαύσαντο, ὥστε τῷ πολέμῳ κατὰ αὐθάδειαν δρᾷν ἕκαστα, ἀλλὰ συνέθεντο, ἐφ' οἷς συστήσονται τὸν ἀγῶνα. δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἐν τῷ Ἀμαρυνθίῳ στήλη τις, φράζουσα μὴ χρῇσθαι τηλεβόλοις. |
| “Most of the time, these cities lived on good terms with one another and even when they came into conflict over the Lelantic Plain did not give up completely to do everything at their own discretion, but contractually stipulated the conditions under which they would fight would. This is also evident from a stone tablet in the amarynthion, which forbids the use of weapons that hit from a distance. " |
Archilochus (680–645 BC), the second contemporary of the Lelantine War, also indirectly reports such an agreement. He tells how the "warlike lords of Euboea" will not use bows and slings but swords in a (still to come) battle.
|
Οὔ τοι πόλλ 'τόξα τανύσσεται οὐδὲ θαμειαί ἐπὶ σφενδόναι, εὖ' δὴ μῶλον Ἄρης συνάγηι ἄν ἐν πεδίωι · .DELTA..di-elect cons πολύστονον ἔσσεται ἔργον ξιφέων ταύτης γὰρ κεῖνοι δάίμογές εἰσι μάχης δεσπόται Εὐβοίης δουρικλυτοί ... |
“Not many bows will be drawn, nor will the slingshots be frequent whenever a battle is fought on the plain; Instead, the much-groaning work will belong to swords, for the warlike lords of Evia are experienced in this kind of combat. " |
On the basis of this literary evidence and with the help of various archaeological findings, modern science has constructed a shadowy picture of the Lelantian War.
background
Chalkis and Eretria are port cities on the west coast of Evia. Both cities claimed the Lelantic Plain, although the Lelas River , which cuts the plain from north to south, may have been a natural boundary. Strictly speaking, Eretria is outside the Lelantine Plain, but the city had a historical claim to the area. The reason for this was that Eretria originally probably served as the port of a mother city to the west. This was located near the mouth of the Lelas, near the present-day village of Lefkandi . The ancient name of the mother city is not known, it will be called "Lefkandi" in the following. Around 825 BC BC Lefkandi was badly destroyed, whereupon a large part of the residents probably left the city in the direction of Eretria.
In the 8th century BC Euboea was one of the economically strongest regions in Greece. The two leading powers of the island, Chalkis and Eretria, were among the driving forces behind the Greek colonization of the Mediterranean , although for a long time they did not appear in competition but as a community. Around the middle of the 8th century BC They founded a colony in Al Mina to trade with the eastern Mediterranean. At about the same time, the expansion to the west took place. With Kerkyra , Eretria secured access to the western Mediterranean. Since the second quarter of the 8th century BC Euboean traders were present on the island of Pithekussai off the Campanian coast to trade with the Etruscans . A few decades later, Kyme, the first colony on the Italian mainland, was founded. Around 735 BC Chr. Chalkis founded the first Greek colony in Sicily, according to Thucydides the actual beginning of the Greek colonization. A little later, Rhegion and Zankle were founded on both sides of the strategically important Strait of Messina .
Reason for war
According to tradition, the reason for the outbreak of war was the dispute over the Lelantic plain . In this very fertile landscape, agriculture has been practiced and wine has been grown since ancient times . Wars for agriculturally usable areas were waged in Greece, where there is very little fertile land, especially in archaic times, for example between Megara and Athens . But why Chalkis and Eretria suddenly quarreled about the Lelantic Plain after they had previously agreed on its use is unclear.
The origin of this conflict may have been a natural disaster. At the end of the 8th century BC A severe drought occurred in Attica , Euboea and the nearby islands. As a result, the Eretrian outpost of Zagora on the island of Andros was probably abandoned. This drought and the famine that accompanied it could have caused both Chalkis and Eretria to lay claim to the entire Lelantine plain.
Course of war
Probably around 710 BC The war between Chalkis and Eretria began. Although both cities certainly had large fleets, it was landed. Since the war took place before the introduction of the hoplite tactics , but at the same time slingshots and bows were forbidden by mutual agreement, it was probably primarily lightly armored swordsmen who met each other. According to another researcher opinion, however, horse armies mainly fought against each other. Based on the quote from Archilochus, it can be assumed that the war was still going on during the poet's lifetime († approx. 645 BC). It is possible and quite likely, however, that the conflict was divided into several phases of armed conflict and the armistice, such as the Peloponnesian War or the Messenian Wars .
Archaeological research has shown that around 710–705 BC. In Eretria the first burials of war heroes took place on the site of the later Heroons . The last of these burials took place around 690 BC. Instead of. In Chalkis, which has hardly been archaeologically investigated, similar funeral ceremonies of war heroes, namely the Amphidama, can at least be found on the basis of the written sources . Around 680 BC A triangular building was finally erected over the warriors' graves in Eretria, in which the Eretrians made sacrifices to the fallen war heroes. This may be related to a renewed flare-up of the conflict for which the Eretrians wanted help from the dead heroes .
The expansion of the conflict to other regions and the number of allies are controversial. In addition to Chalkis and Eretria, only three other combatants are directly attested: Miletus on the side of Eretria, and Samos and Thessaly on the side of Chalkis. In addition, the hostilities and alliances known from the archaic era can be used to assign different poles to one or the other war party, so that some researchers assume up to 40 war participants. However, this would require far-reaching political alliance systems, which the majority of research in the 8th century BC. Does not consider it given. Therefore, most historians (besides those directly named) only accept Aegina , Corinth and Megara , and sometimes also Chios and Erythrai .
The island of Aegina was mainly active in the Egyptian trade, where Samos was its strongest competitor. Samos was an ally of Chalcis, which is why Aegina is counted among the allies of Eretria. Corinth and Megara were in hostility throughout almost the entire archaic period because of the Corinthian conquest of the Perachora peninsula , which originally belonged to Megara. The activities of Chalkis and Corinth in the western colonization of Greece could point to an older alliance or at least a friendship between the two poleis. The Chalcidian colony Leontinoi drove around 730 BC. Megarian settlers who were initially accepted there; shortly before that, the Corinthians had driven Eretrian settlers from Kerkyra . Similarly, a friendship between Megara and Eretria is assumed. Herodotus reports about Chios that it supported Miletus in the Ionian revolt, because Miletus would once have helped the Chiern against Erythrai. An alliance between Chios and Eretria as well as Erythrai and Chalkis can thus be constructed via Miletus.
Current research is predominantly of the opinion that it was in the 8th century BC. BC could not have given such far-reaching alliances at all. Rather, the only alliance-like structures were based on personal relationships among nobles, so that apart from Eretria and Chalkis only the Thessalian nobleman Cleomachus of Pharsalus would have participated in the war with a contingent. Detlev Fehling believes that the entire Lelantic War would be an invention of later centuries that was the product of a "chain of pseudo-messages". However, these opinions are largely rejected.
Around 700 BC Chr. The Eretrian Mutterstadt Lefkandi was finally destroyed presumably by Chalkis. With that, Eretria's connection to the Lelantic plain was extinguished. Around the same time, the Eretrian ally Miletus devastated Karystos in southern Evia. During this phase, Miletus rose to dominance in the east of the Aegean Sea. The war lasted (possibly interrupted by "periods of calm") until the middle of the 7th century BC. Chr. The decisive factor in favor of Chalkis was finally a Thessalian cavalry army under the leadership of Cleomachus of Pharsalus.
consequences
After the long war, Evia, once the leading region of Greece, had become a backward area. Not only Eretria, but also the victor of the conflict, Chalkis, had lost its former economic and political importance. Instead of Euboean vase painting, Corinthian vase painting dominated the Mediterranean market for ceramics. The pioneering role in Greek colonization was taken over by the Poleis of Asia Minor such as Miletus (east) and Phocea (west). Chalkis remained until 506 BC. In possession of the Lelantic Plain when the Athenians established a clergy in the plain.
literature
- Oswyn Murray: The early Greece , Munich 1982, pp. 101-105, ISBN 3-423-04400-4
- Victor Parker: Investigations into the Lelantic War and related problems of early Greek history (= Historia individual writings 109), Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-515-06970-4
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Thucydides I 15.
- ↑ a b c Klaus Tausend: The Lelantic War - a Myth? In: Klio . Volume 69, 1987, pp. 499-514, especially pp. 513f. ( PDF ).
- ↑ a b Detlev Fehling: Two didactic pieces about pseudo-news . In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie . Vol. 122, 1979, pp. 199-210, especially pp. 204f.
- ↑ a b c Herodotus V 99.
- ↑ 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 654–656.
- ↑ a b Strabo X 1.11-12.
- ^ A b Archilochus, Anthologia Lyrica Graeca 1 2 , 3 (Diehl) = Plutarch, Theseus V 2–3.
- ↑ a b M.R. Popham & LH Sackett: Lefkandi 1: The Iron Age . London 1980.
- ^ A b V. Parker: Investigations into the Lelantic War . Stuttgart 1997, p. 167.
- ^ MR Popham et al .: Euboean Exports to Al Mina, Cyprus, and Crete: A Reassessment . In: The Annual of the British School at Athens . Volume 78, 1983, pp. 281-290.
- ↑ Thucydides VI 4.5-6.
- ↑ Plutarch, Solon 7-10.
- ↑ J. McK. Camp: A Drought in the Late Eight Century BC . In: Hesperia . Volume 48, 1979, pp. 397-411.
- ↑ Alexander Cambitoglou and James J. Coulton: Ἀνασκαφαὶ Ζαγορᾶς Ἄνδρον . In: Ephemeris . 1970, p. 154ff.
- ↑ According to Thucydides I 3, the first Greek naval battle did not take place until 664 BC. Between Corinth and Kerkyra.
- ^ A b V. Parker: Investigations into the Lelantic War . Stuttgart 1997.
- ↑ a b A.M. Ainian: Geometric Eretria . In: Ancient Art . Volume 30, 1987, pp. 3-24.
- ↑ C. Bérard: L'Heroon à la porte de l'ouest (= Eretria 3). Bern 1970.
- ^ AR Burn: The so-called “Trade Leagues” in Early Greek History and the Lelantine War . In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies . Volume 49, 1929, pp. 14-37.
- ^ E. Will: Korinthiaka , Paris 1955, pp. 398-404.
- ^ M. Cary: Cambridge Ancient History III, 1929, pp. 622f.
- ↑ a b D. W. Bradeen: The Lelantine War and Pheidon of Argos . In: Transactions of the American Philological Association . Volume 78, 1947, pp. 223-241.
- ↑ Pausanias I 44.1.
- ↑ Thucydides VI 4th
- ↑ Plutarch Quaestiones Graecae XI. According to Strabo VI 2 4, the Corinthian settlement of Kerkyra falls in the year 734 BC. Chr .; but he mentions no previous settlement by Eretria.
- ↑ Herodotus I 18.
- ^ HB Mattingly: Athens and Euboia . In: Journal of Hellenic Studies . Volume 81, 1961, pp. 124-132.
