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The Spartans sending reinforcements to Syracuse really gets me. They did everything in their power to make it difficult for Athens. Corinth helped Syracuse as well..
The Syracusans spared only those Athenians that knew verses from the tragedies of Euripedes. Thucidides says that for years veterans would kiss Euripedes hands on the street because he saved them from the quarries.
The fact that sicily has been so much contested in Europe through the ages is just crazy !! Greeks , Normans , italians , romans , spanish and others .... i Wonder how many people died for sicily !! Love your vidéo as always
Might be the single most strategic island on the planet. Control it, and you will historically control most if not all of the Mediterranean. At least up through WW2. Right now I'd say the Panama/Suez canals and Taiwan are what I'd call the most significant military targets for the 21st century and the US has by far the best foothold on all three with its global navy.
14:07 This lunar eclipse (when "Gaia hid Selene from her brother, Helios") took place on the evening of August 28, 413 BCE. The eclipse was total, with the total phase lasting 43 minutes. As seen from Syracuse, the middle (darkest part) of the eclipse occurred at about 11:00 PM. Depending on the weather, another lunar eclipse would have been visible from Syracuse nearly 6 months earlier - on the evening of March 4. I cannot help but wonder what effect - if any - this almost total eclipse had on the Athenian invasion.
@@Gronk79 Ancient Babylonian astronomers certainly predicted lunar eclipses - we have their cuneiform-inscribed baked clay tablets listing accurately predicted eclipses hundreds of years in their future. Eclipses occur in regular cycles (the "saros"), so predicting the dates of future lunar eclipses isn't difficult if you have records of the dates of past eclipses, as the Babylonians did.
Kings and genrals is my fav history channel. Brilliant as alwys. We always appreciate your hard work and dedication towards these videos. Your fan from Sri Lanka ❤️.
Alcibiades's father had old connections with the Spartan aristocracy. Alcibiades himself was said to have been breastfed by a Spartan wet nurse in his infancy (Spartan girls were highly sought after as wet nurses). This connection may have made it easy for him to defect to Sparta and ingratiate himself into their society and be accepted and adored by the elites of Sparta.
@@circleancopan7748 He seemed to have known that the charges was mostly just a political conspiracy against him anyway. He actually tried to have the trial done prior to leaving which the court refused to do. And the fact that he was convicted in absentia and condemned to death with an entire talent worth of gold offered to whoever managed to kill him might have proved him right....
A really good description of the Epipolae Plateau fortifications particularly the Euralus Fort was in Peter Connelly's excellent Illustrated book Greece and Rome at war. Years ago I lost my extensive library of ancient military history in a house fire and am still working to replace the most important ones.
Alkibiades is one of my favourite historical personalities because he lived one of the most ridiculous political lives. I'd hate his guts when he'd be a politician today, but in retrospective he's a charismatic leader who is actually able to back up his charisma, as he was also a good general which will be noticed a bit later in the war when he keeps Athens alive for a few more years.
I tend to agree on that. Also, I am under the impression that later in his life he had overcome a lot of his earlier character flaws. The fact that his past finally caught up with him when he had actually become a better man, to me gives great depth to his story with an abundance of both glory and tragedy.
@@mikloshoffer282 there is a fine historical novel with the title ''My Master Alkiviades''. It's his life viewed by his personnal servant as this aspect of Alkiviades as you described it. Sadly for most of the readers is in greek.
Many years ago when I first began studying ancient military history I saw a description of the fortifications of the Epipolae Plateau at Syracuse. Have never forgot that and it would be very welcome to see a follow up on it.
One of the best episodes ever released by Kings and Generals imo! (and I have seen all videos regarding ancient/medieval history) Also, I can't wait for your video about the Ten Thousand!
Learning about this is what made think that maybe the Athenians weren't the 'good guys' in the war. >What do you do when you're a democracy fighting an autocracy breathing down your neck? Launch a surprise invasion against a neutral democracy on the other side of the Greek world, of course.< Everything about this was a mess. Athena surely withdrew her favor in the fiasco that followed.
Athens had its share of good guy moments and bad guy moments depending on the leader. It was a time ot strife, it was hard to be the good guy. What the Greeks came to learn, however, was it was better to be ruled by Athenians than it was by Spartans. Of course in the end it was Thebes and Sparta who were essentially completely wiped out, while Athens continued on
Makes you question the infallibility of democracy which the modern politician in America does so without question. If the leaders of your democracy don’t have to follow the will of the people then you basically aren’t a democracy anymore. And who holds the leaders accountable the people are supposed to but you can’t fix the problems quick enough and if they don’t care to listen to the people then what’s the point.
@@starbreeze7249but they lost the war and were basically occupied by Sparta and Thebes for years. The Athenians would never gain the power they had pre 400 bc and were eventually forced into joining Alexander.
@@Jaco059it comes down to the break up of the “leagues” following the war and the theban hegemony. Sparta had its back broken after leuctra, losing messenia effectively broke their society. Without the helot slaves, spartans were never able to project power the way they could prior. Hence why they stayed inactive during the rise of macedonia. Athens lost its delian league and suffered for a time, but was still able to capitalise on their economic and naval strength. Their society wasnt dismantled as would happen to sparta. They, along with thebes, we’re constantly checking phillip’s expansionism until he decisively defeated them at chaeronea.
Athens controlling entire Aegean sea and the coast of Anatolia but sending their army to Sicily and dying is like watching a guy with money enough to be set for life gamble away everything on a slot machine.
Athens should have begun preparing their exit strategy as soon as enemy reinforcements began to pour in. Waiting 27 days to withdraw was a fatal mistake.
I like when you include phrases about Greek mythology in your video narration on the minute 12:47, 14:10, and 16:04. Maybe the Athenians didn't have the blessing of Hermes and Ares so their expedition had to totally fail!
The Syracusans were hugh fans of theatre and Athenian plays. Apparently the only way to get out of the quarry was to be able to recite a play in a way that the locals found suitably entertaining.
Basically excessive ambition, lack of adequate preparation, ineffective leadership, Sicilian resistance and adverse conditions all contributed to the Athenian defeat. Lack of resources, coordination, and local support, along with resistance from Sicilian cities, made it impossible for Athens to conquer Sicily. This defeat marked the beginning of the decline of Athens.
the great plan was the unification of the entire Greek world to deal with the Persian danger If Alcibiades had not been hunted by the oligarchs and led the campaign it would have been a complete success Alcibiades was a great strategic mind Nikias did not believe in the campaign and entered into a great adventure
Well done and very descriptive video. Actually Nikias asked from Athens to be relieved of his command and and permission to abandon the campaign.Instead he received reinforcements with Demosthenes. When one of the most heartbreaking moments as described by Thucidides was when during the athenian retreat, the sick and wounded warriors cried and begged their fellow soldiers not to abandon them. Another intersting fact is that some Athenians survived the quarries by reciting verses of Aeschylus and other great poets of Athens.
Excellent video Watched it 3x A great story every expeditionary force commanders should know. Keep your lines of retreat open. Have an exit policy, control the politics (1940, Dunkirk)
The Peloponnesian War, an ever-present reminder of the pitfalls of grand ambitions and hubris, is entrenched in the annals of history. Allured by his own skillful tactics and charismatic charm, Alcibiades led the Athenian fleet into the Sicilian Expedition, embodying the Icarus myth. Herein lies a reverberating warning: empires blinded by their power all too often ignore telling portents. Such was the case for Athens in Sicily - similar to that of Achaemenids in Greece or Soviets in Afghanistan - driven onward despite history's subtle murmurs. Through Syracuse's heroes, Sparta's adversaries, and Alcibiades' own risings and fallings; we read of imperiousness, betrayal and ultimately the downfall of greatness itself. Thucydides repeatedly reminded us that heeding not these warnings invites similar fates: what has been will come around again "not in exactly the same form but following predictable lines."
Its even funnier once you consider one of Pericles' advice was "As long as we don't launch ourselves into the conquest of new lands and focus on our naval dominance, war shall go well for us". Guess Alcibiades wanted glory no matter what
Was thinking about this the other day. We seem to have a lot of movies/series based on ancient Rome than ancient Greece. No idea why. History like the Diadochi wars with its plethora of characters, plots and subplots, betrayals can be made a series with equal standing with GoT.
@@theawesomeman9821 Yes you are right. But the Greeks were a superpower too. Well, maybe superpower is not the word, but they were very very influential in classical history and antiquity and with so many stories and characters, I'm surprised we don't have much film/series production about them.
@@joeltochukwu4199 there was that biopic of Alexander the Great played by Collin Feral, 300, and the movie Troy which starred Brad Pit for Greek content.
The Sicilian expedition really illustrates the downsides of having a strong reputation as an imperialistic power. Plenty of Sicilian cities disliked Syracuse and might have allied with Athens if it hadn't been so obvious that Athens meant to conquer the entire island. On a different subject, I think we can safely say that the dumbest man in the entire story was the soothsayer who thought it was a good idea to have an army desperate to retreat just sit on its hands for an entire month.
I see a similarity to the war of germany against russia in second world war. In both cases, a land choose to wage another war to get ressources instead of finishing their arch enemy first. In both cases probably the countrys could not win their first war - germany could not invade england and athen could not invade sparta - so they tried a gamble in another war - theater to gain more ressources for the first war.
I, personally, consider the Sicilian Expedition to have been as big of a disaster for Athens as the battle of Stalingrad was for Nazi Germany, if not a bigger disaster.
I think the Nazis made an equally big disaster, but arguably that was Barbarossa, not Stalingrad. Stalingrad was a continuation of the mess that the Nazis got themselves into, Barbarossa was a unmitigated disaster that ended their trade deal with the Soviets that was giving them much needed oil, opened a second front requiring them to dedicate most of their resources where they hadn't to previously, they did almost no intelligence gathering or strategic planning beforehand, assumed their enemy would just collapse in on themselves in several weeks, they ignored their logistics despite going into the biggest land empire in human history, assumed they would capture the railway system intact, and had fewer planes ready for the invasion than at the start of the Battle of Britain, and in 4 months of combat all they had to show for it was losing 75-80% of their panzers and 1 million men, more men than America and Britain lost during the entire war.
I have subscribed to this channel since the beginning. but this channel has changed to prioritize membership. I try to support this channel as much as I can by viewing and not skipping ads, but that doesn't mean anything. When the pacific war series was no longer free it made me a little disappointed, and realized that "you don't support a channel if you don't pay", "you don't support a channel if you are poor". But that's how things are now, thank you for providing information about history so far.
As an Italian-American, I love studying this part of the Peloponnesian War, because the Athenians stupidly brought the war to Italy. And this was when Syracuse was at the height of its power, and would continue to rise under Dionysius I, until the rising might of Rome came on the scene 200 years later.
Athens lost the war from the pandemic at the very beginning half the population died or marched as well as the great figure of Pericles of the experienced Athenian crews of the ships, almost 60% died That's where the war was lost
@@panagiotis7946 not really they still had to lose their whole force at sicily and fight persian gold and kill their best generals after arginuse to get defeated
14:14 this is why you bring the best soothsayers, not some half assed soothsayer wannabes who bullshits you.... could've ran away under the cover of eclipse....
Wise words by Herodotus of Halicarnasus at the very end. Millenia have passed and technology has advanced, but human nature has not changed all that much.
By this time in the war, the Athenians had lost their minds. Sending out three generals each with their own idea of how to engage the enemy, was a bad sign. Especially since one of the three did not even want to be there and another, not trusted by the government. Upon arriving and finding that the promised money did not exist, should have been enough to get the Athenians to reconsider and leave. The Athenian general's letter of gloom and doom sent to Athens, should have been enough for Athens to order everyone off of the island. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
*"Yo K&G"* 👋👋 *Can We Get A Video On The Cushites Of the Horn of Africa* Its truly an ancient and rivh historical region From the Land of Punt, to macrobia to axumites and Would definitely live to see a more in depth description of the horn of africa
This shows the failure of the over decentralization that the Athenians had in their democracy . Various oppinions and no cohesion . The Spartans where more centralized with a group of oligarchs or leaders . And the Persians where totally centralized around their king of kings . But when the Greeks learned to be both centralized and decentralized they overcame themselves then overcame the Persians.
Athens got beat in many reasons: 1) Syracuse was having enough of Athenians aiding their rivals. 2) Peloponnesian League are more than happy to help Syracuse. 3) Athenian commanders were the gloryhound kind. 4) The Athenian naval supremacy were useless.
The was a huge disaster for Athens, and then they would have to recover because of the incoming Persians, the Syracusans also suffered their fair share of losses but this was truly a let down for Athens
lol. if you think that the united states was humbled in vietnam then you dont know much about the vietnam war. the united states wasnt defeated by enemy forces in vietnam. it was defeated in vietnam by its own people, the american public, that became more and more appalled by the rate at which the united states military was killing off enemy combatants. to give an example, in the la drang campaign 545 americans were killed while the enemy lost somewhere around 3500 men. one of the vietnamese forces most effective weapons when fighting american forces were booby traps they left when retreating. over all casualties in the vietnam war for north vietnam/viet cong: 850,000 military dead 200,000-300,000 military missing 600,000 military wounded U.S. casualties: 58,000 dead 304,000 wounded. it was an extremely one-sided fight in favor of american forces.
@@rehan3600 again, the united states left of its own choice, not forced to leave by the north vietnamese. winning the war soundly and then deciding to end the war because the american people became horrified by the enemies casualty figures is not a loss, and its far from a humbling.
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@@L17_8i love you, the end!
This expedition is the poster child for "THE WORST CASE" scenario, wrong timing, wrong strategy, wrong tactics, miscommunication, etc.
Plus the general that had the actual plan was MIA due to politics
I think the post mortem of this is one of the most beautiful things written in a history
Don't worry. Someone will top this off within 2,356 years later.
@@MiguelPerez-zx2wg Be prepared for angry Wehraboos.
The Spartans sending reinforcements to Syracuse really gets me. They did everything in their power to make it difficult for Athens. Corinth helped Syracuse as well..
Ah yes, the infamous Sicilian Expedition. Everything that could’ve gone wrong did.
The Syracusans spared only those Athenians that knew verses from the tragedies of Euripedes. Thucidides says that for years veterans would kiss Euripedes hands on the street because he saved them from the quarries.
Why spare those who knew verses from Euripedes?
@@olamideolanrewaju4005 Because he was the superstar poet of the era known to all the Greek world.
I have been following you guy from college-my time being a history teacher. This channel is like my new Saturday morning cartoons, amazing work!
The fact that sicily has been so much contested in Europe through the ages is just crazy !! Greeks , Normans , italians , romans , spanish and others .... i Wonder how many people died for sicily !! Love your vidéo as always
even arabs
Might be the single most strategic island on the planet. Control it, and you will historically control most if not all of the Mediterranean. At least up through WW2. Right now I'd say the Panama/Suez canals and Taiwan are what I'd call the most significant military targets for the 21st century and the US has by far the best foothold on all three with its global navy.
The funny thing is as soon as anyone takes Sicily, they begin ignoring it.
Carthaginians, brits and americans too!
The first punic war was essentially about Sicily.
I find it absolutely incredible that we're able to understand battles fought almost 2500 years ago. It's just wonderful.
14:07 This lunar eclipse (when "Gaia hid Selene from her brother, Helios") took place on the evening of August 28, 413 BCE. The eclipse was total, with the total phase lasting 43 minutes. As seen from Syracuse, the middle (darkest part) of the eclipse occurred at about 11:00 PM.
Depending on the weather, another lunar eclipse would have been visible from Syracuse nearly 6 months earlier - on the evening of March 4. I cannot help but wonder what effect - if any - this almost total eclipse had on the Athenian invasion.
Great comment! Could the ancients, however, even predict a lunar eclipse?
@@Gronk79 Ancient Babylonian astronomers certainly predicted lunar eclipses - we have their cuneiform-inscribed baked clay tablets listing accurately predicted eclipses hundreds of years in their future. Eclipses occur in regular cycles (the "saros"), so predicting the dates of future lunar eclipses isn't difficult if you have records of the dates of past eclipses, as the Babylonians did.
Spartan Diplomat: The Athenians will create a United States of Force!
Americans: Can we use that name?
European Union TODAY: United States of Europe (under the german rule)
Kings and genrals is my fav history channel. Brilliant as alwys. We always appreciate your hard work and dedication towards these videos. Your fan from Sri Lanka ❤️.
Alcibiades's father had old connections with the Spartan aristocracy. Alcibiades himself was said to have been breastfed by a Spartan wet nurse in his infancy (Spartan girls were highly sought after as wet nurses). This connection may have made it easy for him to defect to Sparta and ingratiate himself into their society and be accepted and adored by the elites of Sparta.
While most of his time, he served Athens with all his heart. But what Athenians gave to his loyalty in exchange? Suspicion and utter contempt.
@@cal2127 This is not even close to be uniqe to democracys
@@circleancopan7748 He seemed to have known that the charges was mostly just a political conspiracy against him anyway. He actually tried to have the trial done prior to leaving which the court refused to do. And the fact that he was convicted in absentia and condemned to death with an entire talent worth of gold offered to whoever managed to kill him might have proved him right....
A really good description of the Epipolae Plateau fortifications particularly the Euralus Fort was in Peter Connelly's excellent Illustrated book Greece and Rome at war.
Years ago I lost my extensive library of ancient military history in a house fire and am still working to replace the most important ones.
Alkibiades is one of my favourite historical personalities because he lived one of the most ridiculous political lives. I'd hate his guts when he'd be a politician today, but in retrospective he's a charismatic leader who is actually able to back up his charisma, as he was also a good general which will be noticed a bit later in the war when he keeps Athens alive for a few more years.
He was a mad lad in the purest sense of the term
@@dingusdean1905 but very popular with the ladies as we will see in the future.
I tend to agree on that. Also, I am under the impression that later in his life he had overcome a lot of his earlier character flaws. The fact that his past finally caught up with him when he had actually become a better man, to me gives great depth to his story with an abundance of both glory and tragedy.
@@mikloshoffer282 there is a fine historical novel with the title ''My Master Alkiviades''.
It's his life viewed by his personnal servant as this aspect of Alkiviades as you described it.
Sadly for most of the readers is in greek.
@@Kimmerios-l5u Thank you, I see it in English as well. With a band of mine we did a cycle based on The Rise and Fall of Athens by Plutarch.
Many years ago when I first began studying ancient military history I saw a description of the fortifications of the Epipolae Plateau at Syracuse. Have never forgot that and it would be very welcome to see a follow up on it.
Quality content as usual. According to Plutarch, Syracuse and a few surrounding cities were founded by Greeks from Corinth.
One of the best episodes ever released by Kings and Generals imo! (and I have seen all videos regarding ancient/medieval history)
Also, I can't wait for your video about the Ten Thousand!
17:06 I love how they go into how one of the leaders didn't want to kill the othersides, but his side was too angry.
@@CoreyANeal2000 Yeah, a chivalry move that didn't "move" the Syracusans.
Learning about this is what made think that maybe the Athenians weren't the 'good guys' in the war.
>What do you do when you're a democracy fighting an autocracy breathing down your neck? Launch a surprise invasion against a neutral democracy on the other side of the Greek world, of course.<
Everything about this was a mess. Athena surely withdrew her favor in the fiasco that followed.
Athens had its share of good guy moments and bad guy moments depending on the leader. It was a time ot strife, it was hard to be the good guy. What the Greeks came to learn, however, was it was better to be ruled by Athenians than it was by Spartans. Of course in the end it was Thebes and Sparta who were essentially completely wiped out, while Athens continued on
Makes you question the infallibility of democracy which the modern politician in America does so without question. If the leaders of your democracy don’t have to follow the will of the people then you basically aren’t a democracy anymore. And who holds the leaders accountable the people are supposed to but you can’t fix the problems quick enough and if they don’t care to listen to the people then what’s the point.
@@starbreeze7249but they lost the war and were basically occupied by Sparta and Thebes for years. The Athenians would never gain the power they had pre 400 bc and were eventually forced into joining Alexander.
There was no good guys in this war. Sparta and Athens committed atrocities.
@@Jaco059it comes down to the break up of the “leagues” following the war and the theban hegemony. Sparta had its back broken after leuctra, losing messenia effectively broke their society. Without the helot slaves, spartans were never able to project power the way they could prior. Hence why they stayed inactive during the rise of macedonia. Athens lost its delian league and suffered for a time, but was still able to capitalise on their economic and naval strength. Their society wasnt dismantled as would happen to sparta. They, along with thebes, we’re constantly checking phillip’s expansionism until he decisively defeated them at chaeronea.
Athens controlling entire Aegean sea and the coast of Anatolia but sending their army to Sicily and dying is like watching a guy with money enough to be set for life gamble away everything on a slot machine.
e great plan was the unification of the entire Greek world to deal with the Persian danger
It always gets better every episode!
"Y'know, boys, it occurs to me we might have read that eclipse just a little bit wrong."
Athens should have begun preparing their exit strategy as soon as enemy reinforcements began to pour in. Waiting 27 days to withdraw was a fatal mistake.
This channel continues to feed my interest/passion for history with each and every video, so keep it up!
"...as Gaia hid Selena from her brother, Helios."
That was beautiful K&G. Congrats !
Thanks for sharing these fantastic videos! ⚔🔥🙌
Thanks for watching!
I like when you include phrases about Greek mythology in your video narration on the minute 12:47, 14:10, and 16:04.
Maybe the Athenians didn't have the blessing of Hermes and Ares so their expedition had to totally fail!
Do you want to talk about kurdistan?☺️
Do you want to talk about kurdistan?☺️
Yeah i really like that line about Gaia hiding Selene from Helios. It sound just like something the ancient Greek scholar would say😂😂
The Syracusans were hugh fans of theatre and Athenian plays. Apparently the only way to get out of the quarry was to be able to recite a play in a way that the locals found suitably entertaining.
You guys have the best youtube channels by far! Wizards and warriors is just as awesome!
Basically excessive ambition, lack of adequate preparation, ineffective leadership, Sicilian resistance and adverse conditions all contributed to the Athenian defeat. Lack of resources, coordination, and local support, along with resistance from Sicilian cities, made it impossible for Athens to conquer Sicily. This defeat marked the beginning of the decline of Athens.
Do you want to about kurdistan?☺️
You said the same thing twice there lol
Sounds like Ruzzia in Ukraine. 😹
the great plan was the unification of the entire Greek world to deal with the Persian danger
If Alcibiades had not been hunted by the oligarchs and led the campaign it would have been a complete success
Alcibiades was a great strategic mind
Nikias did not believe in the campaign and entered into a great adventure
Thank you!
At last, I was waiting for this for so long!
Well done and very descriptive video.
Actually Nikias asked from Athens to be relieved of his command and and permission to abandon the campaign.Instead he received reinforcements with Demosthenes.
When one of the most heartbreaking moments as described by Thucidides was when during the athenian retreat, the sick and wounded warriors cried and begged their fellow soldiers not to abandon them.
Another intersting fact is that some Athenians survived the quarries by reciting verses of Aeschylus and other great poets of Athens.
WHY IZ YOU WHISPERIN YA GIT
@@Hadrexus
Excellent video
Watched it 3x
A great story every expeditionary force commanders should know.
Keep your lines of retreat open.
Have an exit policy, control the politics
(1940, Dunkirk)
Thank you for the quality information in this video
Thanks for watching!
@@KingsandGenerals of course
This Peloponnesian War is one of your best series!
Good documentary, i was somehow surprised by the expression : heavely armoured light troops
The Peloponnesian War, an ever-present reminder of the pitfalls of grand ambitions and hubris, is entrenched in the annals of history. Allured by his own skillful tactics and charismatic charm, Alcibiades led the Athenian fleet into the Sicilian Expedition, embodying the Icarus myth. Herein lies a reverberating warning: empires blinded by their power all too often ignore telling portents. Such was the case for Athens in Sicily - similar to that of Achaemenids in Greece or Soviets in Afghanistan - driven onward despite history's subtle murmurs. Through Syracuse's heroes, Sparta's adversaries, and Alcibiades' own risings and fallings; we read of imperiousness, betrayal and ultimately the downfall of greatness itself. Thucydides repeatedly reminded us that heeding not these warnings invites similar fates: what has been will come around again "not in exactly the same form but following predictable lines."
athena did not have an empire what athena tried was the union of the greek cities for better protection of the greek world from the persian danger
Interesting as per usual from this channel.
Your aerial visuals during the lecture masterly inable understanding !!!!
Well Age Of Empires didn't have it entirely wrong with the incessent wall building.
Many years ago I read a book by Peter Green about Alcibiades and the Sicilian Expedition. It was a good book that taught me a lot.
Its even funnier once you consider one of Pericles' advice was "As long as we don't launch ourselves into the conquest of new lands and focus on our naval dominance, war shall go well for us".
Guess Alcibiades wanted glory no matter what
Alcebiades is a character in Plato's Symposium. Handsome and talented man, but he crushed on the ugly yet intelligent Socrates.
Do you want to talk about kurdistan?☺️
We need a Total War from this period.
Wrath of Sparta DLC does a good job
Thanks, will check it out! @@KingsandGenerals
Delian League: “We suffered the greatest defeat in Antiquity.”
Gaius Terentius Varro: “Hold my wine.”
This was a pleasant surprise this morning, now I can have a good 👍
I see you there, little guy. Tiny little Rome all tucked away, bet he must be amazed at all these big fish swimming around him.
Excellent video!
Fascinating the Syracuse flag is same as Isle of Man. And it’s not a coincidence but direct connection
HBO should make a historical drama series for the Greek states like it did for Rome.
Was thinking about this the other day. We seem to have a lot of movies/series based on ancient Rome than ancient Greece. No idea why. History like the Diadochi wars with its plethora of characters, plots and subplots, betrayals can be made a series with equal standing with GoT.
@@joeltochukwu4199 I think people are just more aware about Rome because it was an ancient super power
@@theawesomeman9821 Yes you are right. But the Greeks were a superpower too. Well, maybe superpower is not the word, but they were very very influential in classical history and antiquity and with so many stories and characters, I'm surprised we don't have much film/series production about them.
@@joeltochukwu4199 there was that biopic of Alexander the Great played by Collin Feral, 300, and the movie Troy which starred Brad Pit for Greek content.
The Sicilian expedition really illustrates the downsides of having a strong reputation as an imperialistic power. Plenty of Sicilian cities disliked Syracuse and might have allied with Athens if it hadn't been so obvious that Athens meant to conquer the entire island.
On a different subject, I think we can safely say that the dumbest man in the entire story was the soothsayer who thought it was a good idea to have an army desperate to retreat just sit on its hands for an entire month.
I see a similarity to the war of germany against russia in second world war. In both cases, a land choose to wage another war to get ressources instead of finishing their arch enemy first. In both cases probably the countrys could not win their first war - germany could not invade england and athen could not invade sparta - so they tried a gamble in another war - theater to gain more ressources for the first war.
Please more videos. I love these
I, personally, consider the Sicilian Expedition to have been as big of a disaster for Athens as the battle of Stalingrad was for Nazi Germany, if not a bigger disaster.
I think the Nazis made an equally big disaster, but arguably that was Barbarossa, not Stalingrad.
Stalingrad was a continuation of the mess that the Nazis got themselves into,
Barbarossa was a unmitigated disaster that ended their trade deal with the Soviets that was giving them much needed oil, opened a second front requiring them to dedicate most of their resources where they hadn't to previously, they did almost no intelligence gathering or strategic planning beforehand, assumed their enemy would just collapse in on themselves in several weeks, they ignored their logistics despite going into the biggest land empire in human history, assumed they would capture the railway system intact, and had fewer planes ready for the invasion than at the start of the Battle of Britain,
and in 4 months of combat all they had to show for it was losing 75-80% of their panzers and 1 million men, more men than America and Britain lost during the entire war.
'There is nothing so terrible as a battle lost, except a battle won.' - Sir Arthur Wellesly.
There is a saying in swahili that says.....mtaka yote hukosa yote.Athenians were a perfect example
I have subscribed to this channel since the beginning. but this channel has changed to prioritize membership. I try to support this channel as much as I can by viewing and not skipping ads, but that doesn't mean anything.
When the pacific war series was no longer free it made me a little disappointed, and realized that "you don't support a channel if you don't pay", "you don't support a channel if you are poor".
But that's how things are now, thank you for providing information about history so far.
We never said anything like that. The goal is to keep the production going. Everyone still gets at least 3 free videos per week.
@@KingsandGenerals the thing is it’s early access tell your subs that they think they never gonna watch them
As an Italian-American, I love studying this part of the Peloponnesian War, because the Athenians stupidly brought the war to Italy. And this was when Syracuse was at the height of its power, and would continue to rise under Dionysius I, until the rising might of Rome came on the scene 200 years later.
Athens lost the war from the pandemic at the very beginning
half the population died or marched as well as the great figure of Pericles
of the experienced Athenian crews of the ships, almost 60% died
That's where the war was lost
@@panagiotis7946 not really they still had to lose their whole force at sicily and fight persian gold and kill their best generals after arginuse to get defeated
Thank you
This was a case of “everything that could go wrong, DID go wrong.”
What a clusterf***.
Bruh all these walls make Caesars' wall game look weak.
Mad Punic wars is exclusive for members and it was me who asked 😢
Awesome 👏
14:14 this is why you bring the best soothsayers, not some half assed soothsayer wannabes who bullshits you.... could've ran away under the cover of eclipse....
Wow that’s crazy to imagine athens controlling Sicily and Carthage and eventually clashing with rome
I still think they need to make a movie on Alcibiades' life. Maybe get Armando Iannucci to direct it.
Imagine being in the last trireme out of Syracuse listening to "Fortunate Son"
9:21 Heavily armored light troops. Also known as bipolar army.
HAve to feel sorry for Nikius, he really didn't deserve that.
You should cover xenophon and the March of the ten thousand
It’s on patreon
Wise words by Herodotus of Halicarnasus at the very end. Millenia have passed and technology has advanced, but human nature has not changed all that much.
"I said, you wouldn't have had much fun In Sicily, mr. Alcibiades"
Will there ever be a 1st Punic War series or a serious on the Punic Sicilian wars with this level of detail?
Whod've'thunk that ancient Sicily would have a Japanese sword.
Katana
wtf.
Hey Athens: the strong do what they can, and the weak endure what they must. 🤷♂️
I am just so confused as to why both sides would leave the harbor that open!! How could both sides move that freely thru there
Lol we get early access for a video we alr have access to in members only vids
Do you want to talk about kurdistan?☺️
By this time in the war, the Athenians had lost their minds. Sending out three generals each with their own idea of how to engage the enemy, was a bad sign. Especially since one of the three did not even want to be there and another, not trusted by the government. Upon arriving and finding that the promised money did not exist, should have been enough to get the Athenians to reconsider and leave. The Athenian general's letter of gloom and doom sent to Athens, should have been enough for Athens to order everyone off of the island. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
This expedition was the embodiment of Murphy's Law. 😢
*"Yo K&G"* 👋👋
*Can We Get A Video On The Cushites Of the Horn of Africa*
Its truly an ancient and rivh historical region
From the Land of Punt, to macrobia to axumites and
Would definitely live to see a more in depth description of the horn of africa
Is the horn the bottom or top?
@@mauriceetal1426its in the north east
Next door to arabia
I wrote a screenplay on Alcibiades
O wisdom-loving Athens! Why let clumsy Alcibiades fool you!? 🦉
When will the HBO version come out
With every character black and gay?
@@BigBossXCV Jo every character is trans with 3 b holes
The similarities between this battle and the Battle of Dyracchium are too obvious to ignore.....
alcibiades was a little two faced in his deals with boths sides..the supreme politican perhaps? [winks] but loving the series :)
RELEASE THE PUNIC WARS SERIES TO NON MEMBERS PLEASE🙏
Ancient military strats: Walling. AoE2 was accurate all this time...
This shows the failure of the over decentralization that the Athenians had in their democracy . Various oppinions and no cohesion . The Spartans where more centralized with a group of oligarchs or leaders . And the Persians where totally centralized around their king of kings .
But when the Greeks learned to be both centralized and decentralized they overcame themselves then overcame the Persians.
The Athenians got democracy and went to war, after war, war to the end.
Athens got beat in many reasons:
1) Syracuse was having enough of Athenians aiding their rivals.
2) Peloponnesian League are more than happy to help Syracuse.
3) Athenian commanders were the gloryhound kind.
4) The Athenian naval supremacy were useless.
Imagine if the United States of force was actually established
I think Fortnite took some inspiration from the constant walls being built to block other walls from being built.
I hope you talk about kurdistan❤☀️💚
Bot
Let me send you guys my screenplay on Alcibiades. The first season is already written.
"while his counterpart ATHENAgorus considered fear of the ATHENians to be unsound" SUS
The was a huge disaster for Athens, and then they would have to recover because of the incoming Persians, the Syracusans also suffered their fair share of losses but this was truly a let down for Athens
Syracusan celebrated with an opera invented for the occasion: " Etnee ", but unfortunately it has been lost.
How they didn't name that expedition "The Walling Contest" is beyond me.
Quick animation mistake at 7:11, someone’s foot is sticking through their shield
Lamachus definitely had the best plan of attack.
lol. if you think that the united states was humbled in vietnam then you dont know much about the vietnam war. the united states wasnt defeated by enemy forces in vietnam. it was defeated in vietnam by its own people, the american public, that became more and more appalled by the rate at which the united states military was killing off enemy combatants. to give an example, in the la drang campaign 545 americans were killed while the enemy lost somewhere around 3500 men. one of the vietnamese forces most effective weapons when fighting american forces were booby traps they left when retreating. over all casualties in the vietnam war for north vietnam/viet cong: 850,000 military dead 200,000-300,000 military missing 600,000 military wounded U.S. casualties: 58,000 dead 304,000 wounded. it was an extremely one-sided fight in favor of american forces.
Objective was lost = U.S. lost.
@@rehan3600 again, the united states left of its own choice, not forced to leave by the north vietnamese. winning the war soundly and then deciding to end the war because the american people became horrified by the enemies casualty figures is not a loss, and its far from a humbling.
The cope is real