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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Les expéditions athéniennes en Sicile, ou la difficulté pour une marine de garder sa supériorité

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This contribution analyses the reasons for and the consequences of the failure of the famous Sicilian expedition of 415-413 BC, a great armada launched by the Classical Athenians against Syracuse in the midst of the bitter conflict against the Spartans known as the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B C). Following the ancient Athenian historian Thucydides, the authors conclude that the similarity between Athens and Syracuse in terms of political structures and military resources nullified the Athenians' usual tactics of bringing other Greek city-states under their control through either a popular regime change, or the deployment of overwhelming force. Because the Syracusan's victory was primarily a naval one, it marked a decisive turning point in the course of the war, which effectively ended with the capture of the last Athenian fleet in 405 BC. This is one of the best examples from Antiquity of the use of the sea profoundly affecting the history of particular states.