Geostrategy of the Peloponnesian War 4: Syracuse and the Ionian War

Why did Athens invade Sicily? This is Part 4/5 in a re-examination of the strategies used in the 2nd Peloponnesian War. This video focuses on the strategies in the final 15 years of the war: Athens' culminating gambit at Mantinea, the reasons for the Sicilian Expedition, and Sparta's ultimately-successful effort to destroy the Athenian Empire.

Video 1 on CaspianReport's channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGjjnK15pks

SCRIPT: https://strategosstuff.blogspot.com/2020/05/script-geostrategy-of-peloponnesian-war_95.html

All errors are my own - especially the pronunciation!

▬ CHAPTERS ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00 - Introduction
0:33 - [I] The Peace of Nicias
3:06 - [II] Alcibiades: The Culmination of Athenian Strategy
6:44 - [III] The Sicilian Expedition
13:18 - [IV] Ionian War 1: The Conventional Strategy Reversed
17:38 - [V] Ionian War 2: War Termination
22:51 - [VI] Conclusion

▬ SOURCES ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War [Bks 5, 6, 7, 8]
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_the_Peloponnesian_War
Xenophon, Hellenica [Bks 1, 2]
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1174/1174-h/1174-h.htm

Kagan D. The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition. Cornell University Press 2013.
Kagan D. The Fall of the Athenian Empire. Cornell University Press 2013.
Hanson V. A War Like No Other. Random House 2006.
Henderson B. The Great War Between Athens and Sparta. Hauraki 2015.
Lazenby J. The Peloponnesian War. Routledge 2007.
Rusch S. Sparta at War. Frontline 2011.
Sears M. Understanding Greek Warfare. Routledge 2019.

▬ ATTRIBUTIONS ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Google Maps for the maps and the placement of the towns. Locations corroborated with Wikipedia (i.e. Corinth today is not where ancient Corinth was). Roads follow the route of modern highways, but they seem to match ancient routes well enough.

https://www.livius.org/pictures/a/maps/map-of-sicily/ (Sicily at the time of the Expedition)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Expedition#/media/File:Athenian_Siege_of_Syracuse.png (Siege of Syracuse)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Peloponnesian_War_431_BC-en.svg (Greece during the PW)

Made using Powerpoint 2013, Audacity, WavePad and VideoPad.

Видео Geostrategy of the Peloponnesian War 4: Syracuse and the Ionian War канала Strategy Stuff