Just Finished Reading: A War Like No Other – How the Athenians and the Spartans fought the Peloponnesian War by Victor Davis Hanson (FP: 2005)

Not that long after Sparta and Athens joined forces to defeat the Persian invasion they were at each other’s throats. I suppose that it’s the pretty much inevitable outcome of two regional super powers being geographically close to each other. Sooner or later one side will need to know who is better and attack the other. Sparta certainly felt threatened by Athenian expansion. There seemed to be a feeling of ‘now or never’ about the early invasion of Athenian territory but then Athens did something very sensible and very unexpected – they refused to meet Sparta on the field. Instead they stayed behind their high walls and basically ignored Spartan efforts to destroy their farmland. Instead Athens – under the rule of the great Pericles – decided to win (or at least draw) by avoiding hoplite combat all together or at least as much as possible. The hope of thereby shortening any war backfired – big time – by actually prolonging the conflict which eventually last 27 years. Whilst avoiding direct conflict both parties felt that the only way to prosecute the war was to attack their enemies allies, if these proved too hard a nut to crack it fell to those city states attempting to remain neutral to feel the full force of either Athenian or Spartan wrath. No one was allowed to remain neutral and thereby possibly side with the enemy. Resistance was seen as an act of aggression and dealt with accordingly. After years of conflict and hardening attitudes on both sides neither Sparta not Athens held on to the outmoded ideals of war. Both sides killed the innocent in increasing numbers, both sides enslaved whole populations or left their supposed allies or protectorate city states out on a limb (which was subsequently cut off) when the enemy arrived on their door step. Both sides sent in mercenaries to harry, terrify and kill the opposition miles from any front line. After decades of war no one and nowhere was safe – and still the war dragged on, year after year.

Hanson tells a story here in masterful tones. The story of two of the greatest military powers of the age at each other’s throats for a generation, the story of a conflict with few boundaries and fewer rules, the story of a conflict with eventually destroyed Athens and ironically destroyed the victorious Spartans shortly afterwards. This was indeed a war the like of which no one had ever experienced before. Gone were the honourable clashes of hoplite phalanxes replaced by swift and brutal attacks from light troops dropped off hundreds of miles from a battlefront to ravish and destroy coastal settlements. Gone was the idea of democracy versus tyranny replaced by a democracy coercing and brutalising other democracies into line and a military dictatorship preaching freedom. After a generation of war both sides where spent leaving room for the next leader of the unified Greek world – Alexander the Great.

How they fought rather than why is the focus of this book. As the author rightly stated there are enough great histories of the war itself without adding another to the list going over the same old ground. This fascinating volume rather goes into the sweat and blood of hoplite, cavalry and trireme combat with enough visceral detail to leave any attentive reader exhausted, stunned and bloodied. The author has a real talent of bringing things separated by over two thousand years into sharp focus that will remain with you long after you turn the last page. You will feel the impact of the enemies shield wall, hear the whistle of arrows and the strike of spears and stare appalled as the battering ram approaches. A superb work of ancient history and much recommended to anyone interesting in this truly fascinating period.