Expedition to Disaster: The Athenian Mission to Sicily 415 BC

by Philip Matyszak

Overview

This thrillingly vivid history recounts a pivotal battle of the Peloponnesian War, bringing the drama and personalities of the Sicilian Expedition to life.

The Athenian expedition to conquer Sicily was one of the most significant military events of the classical period. At the time, Athens was locked in a decades-long struggle with Sparta for mastery of the Greek world. The expedition to Sicily was intended to win Athens the extra money and resources needed to crush the Spartans. With the aid of new archaeological discoveries, Expedition to Disaster reconstructs the mission, and the ensuing siege, in greater detail than ever before.

The cast of characters includes Alcibiades, the flamboyant, charismatic young aristocrat; Nicias, the ageing, reluctant commander of the ill-fated expedition, and Gylippus, the grim Spartan general sent to command the defense of Syracuse. It was he who turned the tables on the Athenian invaders. They were surrounded, besieged, and forced to ask for mercy from a man who had none. Philip Matyszak's combination of thorough research and gripping narrative presents an episode of ancient history packed with colorful characters and dramatic tension.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783036271
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	01/24/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

PHILIP ‘MATY’ MATYSZAK holds a doctorate in Ancient History from St John’s College, Oxford University, and has been studying, teaching and writing on the subject for over twenty years. He specializes in the history of Classical Greece and of the Late Republic and Early Imperial periods of Rome. Maty has personal military experience both as a conscript in Rhodesia and with the Territorial Army in Britain. These days he splits his time between writing in his home in Canada’s Monashee Mountains and providing e-learning courses for Cambridge University’s Institute of Continuing Education.

Table of Contents

List of Plates vi

List of Maps vii

Introduction xii

Chapter 1 Events Leading to a Very Warm Cold War 1

Chapter 2 From Melos to Sicily 19

Chapter 3 Travel Plans 35

Chapter 4 The Athenians are Coming! 49

Chapter 5 The Gloves Come Off 63

Chapter 6 The Siege of Syracuse 77

Chapter 7 A Little Local Difficulty 93

Chapter 8 The War Goes to Sea 109

Chapter 9 The Final Phase 123

Chapter 10 The End 141

Conclusion 155

Notes 159

Select Bibliography 163

Index 165

Editorial Reviews

…a riveting account of the conflict, telling of the key players their motivations, their heroism, their failure, providing an educating narrative that does much to bring much understanding to people of the times…is a must for history collections focusing on the Greeks and their military endeavors.

Midwest Book Review