| Issue No. |
No. 74 |
| Title |
The Dilemma of Secondary Poleis in the Peloponnesian War: Five Case Studies |
| Author |
Ng, Chun-liong |
| Page |
1-56 |
| Abstract |
This paper examines the domestic and diplomatic dilemmas of secondary poleis in the Peloponnesian War. Previous studies mainly focused on Athens and Sparta and have seldom offered a sympathetic understanding of secondary poleis. This paper argues that secondary poleis were crucial actors in the war due to the interdependent nature of interstate relations in the ancient Greek world. Paradoxically, the smaller a polis was, the greater the leverage it could exert. Yet this power often led to internal conflict, civil war, and ultimately, destruction. Secondary poleis could neither bear the consequences of participating in international affairs nor completely avoid entanglement by adopting neutrality. This constituted their central dilemma. They were continually debating their identity and purpose within the Greek world, and their struggle for survival only drew them more deeply into this predicament. |
| Keyword |
Thucydides, the Peloponnesian war, Secondary poleis, Corcyra, Mytilene, Plataea, Chalcidice, Melos, Thucydides’s trap |
| Attached File |
File download |
