Greek Expedition Research Paper

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The Sicilian Expedition, better known as the Sicilian Disaster, took place during 415 - 413 BCE. It was an Athenian expedition and its goal was to conquer Sicily. The Sicilian Expedition was part of a large war against the Spartans which was the Peloponnesian War. Though the Athenians thought that conquering Sicily was going to be an easy task, even though it would have led to control of its grains and routes for trade, they were horribly wrong. It would have been a success if they had more knowledge of the land and had been better prepared by using their money wisely and leading the fleet correctly, but unfortunately it is said to be one of the greatest catastrophes in ancient history. The Athenians were led by General Alcibiades,…show more content…
Lamachus and Nicias agreed to Alcibiades plan. After they agreed, they soon became allies with Naxos and Catane. Immediately after, Alcibiades was called to stand trial for the Hermae mutilation scandal. Alcibiades , in fear of being called guilty, flees to Sparta and later in his life will command the Persian fleet and also tell the King of Sparta to send troops to defend Syracuse( which will completely change the expedition). His decision was treacherous to Athens' chances of overruling Sicily, and now things began to get worse for the Athenians. Nicias is now the new leading general of the expedition, and he is leading his fleet to the land Epipolae which was beside Syracuse. Nicias and Lamachus lead their troops against the Syracusans , the Syracusans decide to make a counter wall. The wall was made quickly and poorly, the outcome of that is Lamachus' troops destroying the wall overnight. The Syracusans have no other choice but to make a second wall, and it has the same outcome as the first. Unfortunately , after the successful battle , the Syracusans kill Lamachus . Now, Nicias is the only general left to lead the…show more content…
They needed to have planned earlier and gain more information of Sicily and its allies. Athens needed to train their troops more , and to not depend so much on the amount of troops they had. " Quality over Quantity ". Also, they should have spent their money on the army instead on other things. If they used their money wisely, they could have used more ships allowing them to be a stronger fleet which would have given the a better chance to be victorious in the battle of the Harbour. Plus, the generals needed to make better decisions. For example, when they reached Segesta they should have called off the expedition. Because if they did, the fleet would have gone back to Athens unharmed, the Athenians wouldn't have let Alcibiades flee to Sparta , and they wouldn't have had one of the most catastrophic events in history. If the Athenians would have done the things I stated earlier, they would have had better chances of being successful, instead of having the outcome they had. Even though Athens was said to be one of the most marvelous places in the history of Ancient Greece, it still had the greatest disaster in ancient history. Page
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