Greece in 5th Century BC - Peace of Nicias

Peace of Nicias

Nonetheless, the period between 421 and 413 BC was not peaceful. Athens allied itself and provided arms to Argos, Elis et Mantineia (in the Northern Peloponnese) against Sparta in order to undermine the cohesion of the Peloponnesian peninsula and to occupy Sparta, opening the way to Thracia and Thessalia. A convincing Spartan victory in 418 BC demonstrated that the Peloponnesian confederation remained solid. Alcibiades then proposed an expedition to Sicily in 415 BC, continuing his strategy of encirclement. The citizens of Athens, attracted by an apparently easily obtainable objective, backed a massive expedition, even though the diplomat Nicias instead recommended the reinforcement of existing gains. After the affair of the sacrilege of Hermes, Alcibiades defected back to Sparta, leaving the expedition he had initiated in the hands of a reluctant Nicias. The expedition, launched in 413, was a disaster: 90% of the Athenian force was either killed or enslaved by the Syracusans.