Pentecontaetie

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Pentecontaetia (sometimes pentecontaetia , Greek  πεντηκονταετία pentekontaetía "period of 50 years"; from πεντήκοντα pentḗkonta "fifty" and ἔτος Étos "year") is a term for about 50 years by the end of Xerxes -Zuges with the Battle of Plataea (479 BC) until the beginning of the Peloponnesian War (431 BC). During this time the Persians were finally repulsed and the Ionian cities in Asia Minor were liberated, the efforts of the two main powers, Sparta and Athens, to gain hegemony over all of eastern Greece, the formation of an Attic empire under the leadership of Athens, and finally the development and upswing of Greek culture, especially in the fields of art, literature, philosophy and democracy. The term goes back to the ancient historian Thucydides .

Conquests of the Greeks

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A detailed description of this period has not survived. The brief outline in Thucydides (1, 89–118), who also treats the end of Pausanias and Themistocles (1, 128–138), offers a substitute .

The story of Diodorus in books 11, 38 to 12, 37 is broader . Diodorus draws from Ephorus , who edited the history of this time with almost exclusive use of Thucydides according to rhetorical points of view and in an Athenian-friendly sense. With the exception of a few fixed points, the chronology of the entire section is by all means relative, since Thucydides does not specify times according to civil years and the arrangement in Diodorus is quite arbitrary. We owe some important dates in Attic constitutional history to Aristotle 's state of Athens.

In Plutarch's biography of Cimon are pieces of Theopompus of Chios, the second student of Isocrates on historic area, receive, who was born 376, two works on the history of the years 411-394 and the Age of Philip of Macedon wrote. In the latter, he went back to the history of Athens in the 5th century. He was a passionate enemy of Athens and, like Ephorus, was influenced by rhetoric.

End of the Persian Wars 479

The Greeks had defeated the Persians in the land battle of Plataiai (479) and then in the sea ​​battle on the Mykale Mountains (479) near Miletus. The naval battle was decided by the conversion of the Ionians to the Greeks. After this victory, a conflict arose among the Greeks about the liberation of Ionia. It was finally agreed to include the inhabitants of the islands, especially Samos , Chios and Lesbos , in the Hellenic League . The mainland of Asia Minor was temporarily excluded, and its cities came into closer contact with Athens. The Greek fleet then went to the Hellespont with the intention of destroying the Persian bridges. But when the Greeks saw that the bridges had already been destroyed, the Peloponnesians drove home immediately. Together with their new allies , the Athenians besieged Sestos , who surrendered in the spring of 478, whereupon they also drove home.

Reconstruction of Athens

As soon as the enemy left the country, the Athenians, on the advice of Themistocles, set about rebuilding their city and the walls. The aim was to transform Athens into a strong fortress and thereby make it independent. Their intention met with resistance and misgivings from the Spartans and their allies, but Themistocles was able to cleverly refute them. The main emphasis of the construction work was placed on the fortification of the port. The entire Piraeus peninsula was surrounded by walls along the coastline and on the land side, as the considerable remains that have survived to this day show. The three ports could be closed and contained the ship houses. The completion of the fortification by the long walls, which connected the capital and the port, falls at a later time.

Creation of the Attic League

In the spring of 478 Pausanias was sent out at the head of a federal fleet. First he liberated Cyprus , from there he drove to the Bosporus . By taking Byzantium , the connection between Greece and the Black Sea, which was important for the supply of grain, was secured. During the stay of the Greek fleet on the Bosporus, a momentous change took place in the Hellenic League. Pausanias is said to have entered into treasonable alliance with the Persian king. In any case, he behaved arrogantly towards his allies and like a tyrant. The Ionians and Hellespontiers declared that they would no longer be under his leadership and turned to the Athenians with a request to take the lead in the war against Persia, which they willingly agreed to. This was, so to speak, the foundation of the Delisch-Attische Seebund . From then on the Peloponnesians withdrew from naval warfare, but the alliance between them and the Athenians was not yet broken.

The Attic League

The Attic League , founded by Athens, is the most important political creation of the 5th century. The greatest contribution to its creation went to Aristeides , who commanded the Attic ships off Byzantium. He organized it in its fixed forms by concluding the treaties between Athens and the cities. The autonomy of the individual members was preserved. The deliberations on common affairs were entrusted to a synod of deputies based in Delos . The achievements of the Bündner consisted either in the provision of warships or instead in the payment of a federal tribute , Phoros . Most cities preferred to pay the federal tribute when they joined the federal government. The federal treasury formed from the entrances was kept on Delos under the protection of Apollo, its administration was carried out by a newly created Attic authority, Hellenotamiai . The amount of the first federal tribute was 460 talents silver. His disposition and distribution among the allies was entrusted to Aristeides. In the first years of its existence, the federation comprised mainly: Euboea , the Ionian Islands , Lesbos , Chios , Samos and the Ionian and Aeolian cities of Asia Minor up to the Hellespont and the Propontis . In contrast, the division of the federal government into quarters (districts), which initially served to collect the Phoros, is not one of the original institutions. Later there were the following quarters: the Ionian, the Hellespontic, the Thracian, the Carian and the island quarters.

Kimon

In addition to Themistocles and Aristeides , Miltiades' son Kimon now gained recognition. He was a great politician and the continuation of the war against Persia and the covenant friendship with Sparta formed his program, which corresponded to his essentially military talent. The genteel openness of his appearance, his generosity and his diverse expenditures for charitable purposes contributed to his popularity. His first important act of arms was the expulsion of the Persian garrisons still in Europe, whose main place was Eion on the Strymon . The attempt by the Athenians to secure the newly won territory by founding a colony failed. In return, the Greek cities on the Thracian and Macedonian coast joined the League. Kimon earned another merit by freeing the Aegean Sea from the pirates who had their seat on the island of Skyros (soon after 476/5). The bones of the national hero Theseus resting there were brought to Athens and buried.

Pausanias

At the same time Pausanias reappeared. He was recalled but acquitted by the court. Then he settled in Byzantium and Sestus on his own and held his own for a number of years. A party in Sparta seems to have favored his behavior, which expected that Athens' expansion would be paralyzed by him. A democratic movement asserted itself in the Peloponnese which was capable of seriously shaking Sparta's leadership. Perhaps even then Argos went over to democracy. The current seized the neighboring Arcadia and also in Elis there was a democratic reform of the constitution.

At last the Athenians took action against Pausanias (472 or 471). He was expelled from Sestus and Byzantium by Kimon, but remained in the Troas . When it was reported to the Ephors that he had entered into contact with the Persians, they ordered him to return home. He followed the call and was released from prison. He used the freedom to advertise an attachment among the helots . When the ephors heard of this, they proceeded to arrest him. Pausanias fled to a temple and was walled up there so that he starved to death.

Themistocles

Themistocles suffered a similar fate . His fall was the result of the sharp political opposition in which he found himself to Kimon and the powerful families allied with him ( Philaids and Alkmeonids ). The Spartans too will have worked to do away with their most important enemy in Athens. Probably in the spring of 470 Themistocles was expelled from Athens by the ostracism . He went to Argos, from where he visited the rest of the Peloponnese and certainly took part in the anti-Sparta movement. By defeating the Arcadians at Dipaia , Sparta's position in the Peloponnese was restored. The opportunity to induce Athens to intervene against Themistocles arose when the letters found near Pausanias allegedly showed his participation in his treasonous endeavors, whereupon the Spartans reported him to the Athenians. He was absently sentenced to death, and Athens and Sparta sent people to arrest him. But Themistocles was already on the run. From Korkyra he got to Macedonia and from there by ship to Asia Minor. A change of throne had taken place in the Persian Empire at the same time: Xerxes was murdered in the summer of 465 as a result of a palace revolution and his son Artaxerxes Makrocheir was made king. After a year Themistocles appeared at the Persian court. Artaxerxes made him tyrant of the cities of Magnesia am Meander , Lampsakos and Myus . He lived in Magnesia for a few more years.

Sparta's train to Thessaly

The war against Persia rested for almost a decade. The only foreign action of Sparta during this period is a campaign under Leotychidas to Thessaly (469). But the king accepted a bribe and retreated. He was convicted and died in exile. His grandson Archidamos took his place .

Athens' first conflicts with allies

The Athenians will have spent this time mainly on the organization of the covenant. The fact that most of the cities bought themselves out of the position of the ships by paying the federal tribute strengthened the power of Athens, but reduced the weight of the allies. In addition, the Athenians saw to exact compliance with the obligations. This resulted in litter from federal cities that were subjected to armed violence and punished by the loss of autonomy. The first city to be enslaved was Naxos (about 467).

Continuation of the Persian War

After Themistocles 'fall and Aristeides' death (soon after 470), Kimon was the leading politician in Athens. Now he could resume the Persian War and set about driving the Persians off the south coast of Asia Minor. With 200 ships he went to Caria and Lycia and subjugated both regions. The Persian army and fleet had taken up positions on the coast of Pamphylia at the mouth of the Eurymedon River . Kimon took the ships first, then went ashore and defeated the army (autumn 467 or 466).

With this victory the liberation of the Greek coasts was completed. From now on the Persians limited themselves to defense. The Attic League gained its greatest extent through the addition of the cities of Lycia and Caria. Some Persian garrisons, which were still on the Thracian coast and on the Thracian Chersonese , were driven out by Kimon in 465.

Athens battle for the land league

The antagonism between Athens and Sparta is now open and leads to warlike entanglements. Both states seek leadership. The preliminary result of the struggle is the delimitation of the mutual circles of power.

The third Messenian War and the fall of the Areopagus

The change in the organization of the Attic League resulted in further wastes, initially that of Thasos . The Athenians enclosed the city. At the same time a train of colonists on the Strymon occupied the village of Ennea Hodoi (Nine Ways). As they penetrated further into the interior, they were destroyed by the Thracians. The Spartans promised to vent the Thasians by invading Attica, but were unexpectedly prevented from doing so. An earthquake devastated Sparta in the summer of 464. The helots took advantage of the general confusion and rose. The Ithome mountain fortress was their base . Nevertheless, the Athenians only brought Thasos to surrender in 463. It had to cede its mines on the mainland and was made a tribute subject. Since the Spartans did not succeed in suppressing the Helot uprising so quickly, they had no choice but to turn to Athens for help.

There, on his return from Thasos, Kimon had been accused by the leaders of the democratic party, which had grown stronger in recent years, of breaking with Sparta and the expansion of the Attic League on the mainland in external politics, and of extending the political rights of the lower in the interior Strived for classes and the elimination of the privileged position of the Areopagus . At their head were Ephialtes and Xanthippus' son Perikles , whom his maternal relationship with Kleisthenes pointed out to the democratic traditions. Pericles was the accuser of Kimon, but he was acquitted. The Democratic Party came out most emphatically against aid for Sparta, only Kimon's influence penetrated. He himself was sent to the Peloponnese with a corps. Since the Spartans' hope of being able to take Ithome by storm by the Athenians was not fulfilled, they suspected them and released them home.

The Democratic Party had meanwhile used Kimon's absence to radically transform the state. It directed its attacks against the political powers of the Areopagus . He checked the officials before taking office, checked their conduct of office, accepted complaints against arbitrariness and high treason and was in charge of the financial administration. The Conservatives were defeated and the Areopagus were deprived of these rights. They went partly to the council of 500, partly to the people's assembly and the jury. Kimon's attempt to reverse the reforms after his return home resulted in ostracism being used against him (spring 461). Soon after, Ephialtes was murdered.

The Athenians immediately declared the war alliance with Sparta dissolved in Ithome, out of consideration for the insult they had suffered, and entered into an alliance with Argos , which Thessaly joined. Finally the helots surrendered in Ithome for free. They were settled in Naupaktos by the Athenians , who thereby secured control over the Corinthian Gulf. Soon after, Megara also turned to Athens. So the road to the Peloponnese was in their hands. Before the clash broke out, Athens, which should now have held its forces together, got involved in a foreign enterprise. Egypt had risen under Inaros' leadership after Artaxerxes Macrocheir came to power and successfully turned to Athens for help. The allied Egyptians and Athenians gained control of the Nile and enclosed the Persians in Memphis (459).

First Peloponnesian War

Immediately thereafter, hostilities in Greece were opened by Athens' action against Corinth and its allies. Aegina joined the latter . But Athens retained the upper hand in the battles of 459 and 458.

In a dispute between Phocis and Doris , the Spartans intervened by sending an army into the affairs of central Greece. The Athenians barred them with their fleet way back over the Corinthian Gulf, and as the Spartans for the time being in Viotia stayed and the Thebans helped to gain hegemony over the Boeotian cities, they sent an army at Tanagra a defeat suffered. Kimon, whose ostracism had been abolished , succeeded in concluding an armistice of four months with Sparta, which gave the Athenians the opportunity to take action against Boeotia again. Two months after the Battle of Tanagra, the victory at Oinophyta made Athens head of a great league of mainland states. Boiotia and Phocis were committed to military successes. The Opuntian Lokrians also joined and Aegina had to surrender.

Construction of the long wall

The position after Oinophyta was the height of power for the Athenians. Now it was also possible for them to complete the construction of the Long Wall . This connected both ports with the city and made the latter the largest fortification in Greece at that time. The Spartans had to put up with the fact that Tolmides (455) drove around the Peloponnese and burned the Lacedaemonese sea arsenal in Gytheion .

Athens fails in Egypt

The failure of the Egyptian venture meant a significant loss for Athens. The Persian general Megabyzos succeeded in enclosing the Athenians on the island of Prosopitis , which he conquered in 454. Only a few Greeks saved themselves, a replacement fleet was destroyed. Egypt came under Persian rule again, only the delta remained independent. The loss of men and ships to the Athenians was extraordinary. How much they felt threatened by Persia's victory is shown by the fact that the federal treasury was moved from Delos to Athens in 454 . In the same year, Thessaly was finally lost to the Athenians. In order to consolidate the rule in central Greece again, Pericles brought the Achaeans to the connection through a naval voyage in the Corinthian Gulf.

Last move against the Persians

The general exhaustion led to an interruption of the war in the following three years and in 450/449 to an armistice for five years. Immediately afterwards, Kimon made the last move against the Persians to hold Cyprus. With his fleet he lay down in front of Kition . He died during the siege, and the Athenians had to give it up for lack of food. On the way back they achieved a brilliant double victory at Salamis . Despite this success, Cyprus came back under Persian rule. Soon after this move, the hostilities must have been put to an end by an agreement between Persia and the Attic League. This is the wrongly so-called Kimonic Peace, correctly the Peace of Callias . This contract was already in doubt in antiquity. But since his certificate was actually available according to a reliable witness, its conclusion must be adhered to. Peace was not a great success for Athens. He only determined a borderline over which the Persian fleet was not allowed to go.

Athens' loss of land hegemony

A strange project by Pericles probably belonged to the time after the conclusion of the Peace of Callias. All Greek cities in Europe and Asia Minor were asked to send representatives to a national assembly in Athens to discuss the construction of the temples burned by the Persians, the sacrifices owed to the gods from the wars of freedom and the establishment of a general maritime peace. The plan failed because of Sparta's refusal. Despite the armistice, disputes between Delphi and the Phokers returned to hostilities in Greece . The Spartans intervened by force of arms (so-called " Holy War " of 448). After their departure, Pericles restored Delphi to its previous state. The movement that put an end to Athens' rule over central Greece began in Boeotia , where the exiles sought to desecrate the landscape. Tolmides was sent from Athens with troops and, after initial success, was attacked on the way back at Koroneia and destroyed in the Battle of Koroneia . The Central Greek states regained independence and adopted a policy hostile to the Athenians.

Athens' defeat caused further tremors. The anti-Athenian parties in the federal cities united in a far-reaching survey, for which Sparta's support was won. The sign for this was to give Euboean apostasy from the covenant. As Pericles crossed to the island, he received the news that Megara had risen and killed the Attic garrison. In addition, a Peloponnesian army advanced under King Pleistoanax . Pericles left Evia for the time being and turned against the Peloponnesians, who had already invaded the Eleusinian plain . There was a battle, the enemy army marched back and disbanded. It is generally believed that this was due to Pericles bribing the king and his adviser Kleandridas . Both were taken to court, but fled.

The uprising in Evia was soon put down. The area of Hestiaia received Attic clergy , the other cities were relegated to the position of subjects. After the subjugation of Euboea, a peace for 30 years was concluded between the Spartan League and Athens in the winter of 446/5 , which meant Athens' final renunciation of a continental league. Athens gave up the areas in the Peloponnese that were still under his control. The two leagues were mutually recognized in their present scope. Cities that stood outside were not forbidden to join one of the leagues.

Development of the Attic Empire and Attic Democracy

Since Ephialtes' death, Pericles had headed the ruling democratic party. Coming from a noble family, he had given himself up to the democratic direction with full conviction. He was also close to the representatives of the Enlightenment. Pericles' power over the people was based on excellent eloquence, an unshakable calm and a noble disposition. His unselfishness gave him a reputation similar to that of Aristezides. In this way he succeeded in gaining a position like no one before or after him: “In name Athens was a democracy; in truth it was under the rule of the first man. "(Thucydides)

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The inscriptions are decisive for the development of the Attic federal empire, in particular the lists of tribute quotas, beginning with 454, which were paid to Athena. They give the opportunity to develop the position of the individual federal members and their changes.

From the literary sources to those mentioned above (Thucydides gives a brief overview of the reshuffle of the covenant), Aristotle's information on the progress of democracy and the biography of Pericles of Plutarch , which contains valuable material. Theopomp and the collection of documents of the Macedonian Krateros are particularly worth mentioning from their sources .

Democratic reforms

The democratic reforms continued after Ephialtes' death. Since 457/6 was archonship the zeugitae accessible. In the year 453/2 the re-establishment of the demen judges falls , and in 451/0 it was determined at Perikles' request that only those people who had Athenians as parents may have a share in the civil rights.

Forms of Attic Democracy

The development of the forms characteristic of unlimited democracy also falls under pentecontacty. One of its most important characteristics is that everything that happens in the state is decided by the assembly of the citizens. Citizens meet four times a month, everyone has the right to express their opinion, the majority makes the decision. The Council of Five Hundred , which met daily, had the preparation of the documents for the citizens' meeting and the administration of the day-to-day business . It was divided into ten departments ( Prytania ), each department lasting the corresponding part of the year. The election by lot was extended to almost all civil servants and the term of office was limited to one year. The rule that each elected person had to undergo an examination before taking office and could be rejected was a certain barrier to lottery tickets. The community protected itself against reckless administration by the fact that the civil servant could be removed at any time and had to give an account of the administration at the end of his year.

Another characteristic is the duplication of administrative branches. By dividing and thus limiting their powers, the risk of a single civil service becoming overweight was prevented. Therefore, the individual authorities never had a single sponsor, but were colleges (mostly of ten), whose members acted together and shared responsibility. Only the strategists had an exceptional position: they were elected by vote, and their office could be held repeatedly without restriction. Even before Pericles, the reform that the jury courts ( Heliaia ) received direct jurisdiction. Every year 6,000 citizens were drawn to the jury. Divorced into ten departments, they exercised their office. Another important measure of this time is the establishment of public pay. According to an exaggerated statement, at that time there were 20,000 pay recipients in Athens. Apart from the standing military contingent, a large part of the authorities received pay, including the council and the jury.

Conversion of the covenant into an empire

In connection with the progress of democracy stands the transformation of the Attic League into an empire, a rule of the Athenians. The allies had lost their ability to defend themselves, and the frequent defections had caused many to become subjects. In time, the payment of the federal tribute became the hallmark of submission. In connection with the relocation of the federal treasury, the federal synod must have been received. Its powers were transferred to the Athenian Citizens' Assembly. From now on, the federal estimate, ie the determination of the level of the tax, fell to the Athenians every four years. If the Graubünden people were in arrears with the payment of the tributes, they were stopped on the way of compulsion by Attic officials, accompanied by warships. The citizens' assembly had the federal funds, which were no longer used solely for federal purposes, but also for the needs of the Attic state.

The Bündner were obliged to serve in the army on land. The city regulations did not remain untouched either. In a number of towns there were permanent Attic garrisons, and in certain cases individual officials or commissions were sent to investigate the situation of the Grisons on the spot. The most sensitive limitation of autonomy concerned the judiciary. In serious criminal cases, the local judges were allowed to appeal to the Attic jury, and the latter were also the forum for disputes arising from contracts between Athenians and Graubünden.

Also to be mentioned are the so-called clergy , ie Attic citizen colonies, which were selected from the two lowest classes. They had the dual purpose of securing militarily important points and supplying the poorer citizens. Mention should be made of: the Thracian Chersonese , Naxos , Andros , places on Euboea and Brea in Thrace.

Attic buildings

The tributes were also used to secure and beautify Athens with magnificent buildings. The fortifications of the city and the port were supplemented by a third, inner wall. This was followed by the expansion of the Piraeus city . In addition there were the magnificent buildings in Athens. The construction of the temple of Athena Parthenos , which was interrupted by Xerxes' invasion, began in the time before the Persian Wars . From 447 onwards, a new Parthenon was built and a radical redesign of the Acropolis , which lost its character as a fortress, was connected with it. The temple of consecration of the goddesses in Eleusis , which was burned by the Persians, was also made in huge quantities . At the east foot of the castle, the Odeion was built for musical performances .

Thucydides' Ostracism

Under the influence of the failures in foreign policy, the oligarchic party regained its strength, all the more so when a skilled leader, Thucydides , son of Melisias, took its lead. When Athens withdrew in peace in 446/5, the tension was increased to the highest, and ostracism arose. The majority of the population alone was decidedly on Pericles' side, and Thucydides was ostracized (spring 445 or 444). Pericles' reign remained unshaken almost until his death. He was elected strategist every year for 15 years. Thucydides' ostracism gave space for a reform of the federation, which from 443/2 onwards is divided into quarters: the Ionic, the Hellespontic, the Thracian, the Carian and island quarters. This was the keystone for its transformation into an empire.

Sybaris and Thurioi

In the year 453/2 the reestablishment of the destroyed Sybaris falls by the descendants of the displaced residents. Croton's old enmity revived and the sybarites were driven out again. They asked Sparta and Athens to support their return and participate in the re-establishment. Sparta behaved negatively, but the Athenians agreed. In the summer of 445 Sybaris was repopulated by the Athenians and the Peloponnesians, but soon there was fighting between the old Sybarites and the other settlers, in which the latter triumphed. This gave Pericles an opportunity to expand the company into a Panhellenic colony. An invitation has now been issued throughout Greece to take part in the colonization. In the spring of 443 a new colonist train set out under the leadership of the Athenians and on Attic ships and founded Thurioi near the old Sybaris . The city suffered from internal disputes and fights with its neighbors. With the mixed population it was not possible to keep them dependent on Athens.

Sami war

The fall of Samos caused a dangerous shock to the empire . Until then, the island had been a loyal supporter of Athens and had therefore retained its freedom from tribute and its oligarchical constitution. As a result of a dispute between her and Miletus , Pericles intervened, replaced the previous constitution with democracy and put an occupation into the city. After his departure, Sami refugees connected with the Persians seized the island. At the same time Byzantium fell . Pericles enclosed Samos by sea and land, and in the ninth month of the siege, Samos had to surrender to superiority. It lost its independent position and had over 1,500 talents to pay war costs. Byzantium also withdrew into the relationship of subjects.

Samos' apostasy was accompanied by insubordination in other areas. Part of the Carian district was lost forever. A new division of the federal quarters was therefore introduced in 439, the rest of the Carian quarters were combined with the Ionian and the order (from now on: Ionia, Islands, Hellespont, Thrace) was changed. Another company belongs to the time soon after the Sami War. Pericles appeared in the Pontus with a large fleet to pull him into the sphere of control of Athens. Some of the Pontic cities joined the League, Sinope received Athenians as settlers. Around the same time (in the year 437/6), under the direction of Perikles' friend Hagnon, the later important colony of Amphipolis on the Strymon was established to secure Thrace .

Opposition to Pericles

Even now it was probably the foreign failures that encouraged Pericles' internal enemies. The buildings on the Acropolis were nearing completion. Pericles was one of their heads, the brilliant sculptor Phidias his technical adviser - he and his students adorned the Parthenon with magnificent works of sculpture. The rise of the visual arts was accompanied by a similar one in poetry and historiography. Pericles formed the center of a spiritual circle to which, besides Phidias, also belonged the tragedian Sophocles , the philosopher Anaxagoras , and the historian Herodotus . The opposition initially found expression in the anti-democratic comedy, which relentlessly ridiculed Pericles and his private life, especially since he was the second wife to bring home a beautiful and spirited Milesian , Aspasia , whose past was not free from prejudice. Not strong enough to take action against Pericles himself, the opposition tried to meet him in his followers. 438/7 was the chryselephantine statue of the Parthenos , the work of Phidias, situated in the unfinished temple of the goddess. Upon denunciation by an assistant, the artist was imprisoned for embezzlement, but he escaped and went to Elis . The Parthenon was completed in 434/3. In 437/6 construction began on the magnificent Propylaea gate . After five years they were done.

End of pentecontacty

The end of this epoch is determined by the economic and political conflict of interests between Athens and Corinth , Sparta's most important ally. In Epidamnos , a joint founding of Corinth and Korkyra , a bloody party dispute broke out, in which the opponents called on and received the support of the two mother cities. In the war that was now beginning, Korkyra was able to assert herself against Corinth through the support of Athens. Corinth had no choice but to ask the Peloponnesian League for help. This draws Sparta into the dispute and begins a new chapter in the history of wars. It already belongs to the prehistory of the Peloponnesian War . Look there.

Sicilian history

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What was said above in Chapter 1.1 applies here. Pindar and Bakchylides addressed some odes to Hieron . The main source is Diodorus , books 11 and 12.

Hieron

After Gelon's death, his brother Hieron soon seized sole rule (478/7) and maintained it unchallenged until his death. His regiment, shining outwardly through military successes, through splendid court holding and drawing poets, through victories in competitions, found its best support in a mercenary army and a trained police system. In terms of violence, Hieron outdid Gelon. Under him, entire cities were transplanted. By founding [Catania | Katana], which was henceforth called "Aitna", he gained solid support. For lasting fame it is enough that he appeared outside Sicily as the protector of the Greeks. Kyme was threatened by the Etruscans. Hieron sent a fleet for protection, which in 474 BC. Won in a sea ​​battle . On the whole, Hieron's reign was favored by peace, and the arts of peace, especially poetry, were promoted by him. The most outstanding poets of the motherland stayed temporarily at his court: Aeschylus , who glorified Aitna's foundation in a drama, Pindar , who extolled the tyrant's car victories in song. The poet Simonides von Keos and his nephew Bakchylides found a permanent place in Sicily . The local poetry also flourished with Epicharmos , the inventor of the Sicilian Comedy .

A conflict with Akragas belongs to the second half of Hieron's reign . Theron died in 472. His son Thrasydaios started war with Syracuse, was defeated, expelled from Akragas, and a popular constitution was introduced there. Soon afterwards Hieron died (467/6). The rule was taken over by his youngest son Thrasybul , whose violence led to the apostasy of the citizenry. Democracy was established in Syracuse (466/5).

Democratic upheavals and civil wars

The result of the introduction of democracy in Syracuse was that there were also democratic upheavals in the rest of Sicily, a movement that favored Syracuse, although the cities previously under his rule became independent. The transition to the new form of government caused significant shocks. Tyranny had eliminated the old class differences and, by transplanting cities and accepting foreigners into citizenship, brought about a complete mixing of the population. When the tyrants were overthrown, they worked together in harmony. But a few years later there was an uprising of the locals in Syracuse against the new citizens, mostly former mercenaries, some not even of Greek origin. The civil war ended with the defeat of the latter. In other cities too, there were movements against the new citizens and the return of the displaced. Finally an agreement was reached to settle the new citizens of all towns in the Zankle area together to form a new community. A time of high material and spiritual prosperity began, which lasted undisturbed for almost forty years.

Duketios

A movement that emanated from the Sikelern is significant . Its bearer Duketios had the goal of creating a great Sicilian empire in mind. Gradually he succeeded in uniting all the Sicilian cities on the island into a whole. In 453 the work was completed. The center of the new state was the newly laid out city of Palike . Until then, Duketios had not experienced any interference from the Greeks. But when he advanced to attack Greek cities, Akragas and Syracuse united against him. Initially victorious, he was later defeated, and with that the Sicilian state fell apart. Duketios himself had to flee to Syracuse as a supplicant. He was magnanimously spared and sent to Corinth. Around 446 he again drove to Sicily at the head of Greek emigrants and founded the city of Kaleakte on the north coast . This led to the war between Akragas and Syracuse. A few years later, Duketios died.

Cultural achievement

In the spiritual field, Sicily produced a number of remarkable phenomena: above all the philosopher Empedocles of Akragas, whose life is embellished by the legend like that of Pythagoras and who intervened in the fortunes of his native city as a reformer of the constitution. Rhetoric was first practiced and taught as an art in Sicily. Korax , Tisias and Gorgias were considered to be their founders . The latter is at the same time a representative of that tendency that is called sophists , that is, of the school which claimed to be able to teach all branches of intellectual and practical activity. It has made a significant contribution to intellectual progress, and on the other hand has had a damaging effect, particularly in political terms, through its corrosive criticism of the existing conditions.

literature

Pentecontaety is discussed in every general history of classical times.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thucydides 1, 118, 2: " ταῦτα .DELTA..di-elect cons ξύμπαντα ὅσα ἔπραξαν οἱ Ἕλληνες πρός τε ἀλλήλους καὶ τὸν βάρβαρον ἐγένετο ἐν ἔτεσι πεντήκοντα μάλιστα μεταξὺ τῆς τε Ξέρξου ἀναχωρήσεως καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦδε τοῦ πολέμου " = "All this together what the Greeks against each other and against the barbarians happened in the nearly fifty years between the retreat of Xerxes and the beginning of the (Peloponnesian) War. ”The word Pentecontaetie is only circumscribed in Thucydides, but is literally 1, 89, 1 in the Scholia ; 97, 2 and 118, 2 used.