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The Price of Failure: Conceptions of Nicias’ Culpability in Athens’ Sicilian Disaster

Stockhausen, John Matthew
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1218591683

Abstract Details

2008, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, History.
Modern scholarship has long identified Nicias’ failures as general as the principal cause of Athens’ catastrophic defeat in Sicily. Surviving data does not suggest, however, that Nicias, who died in Sicily, suffered any posthumous condemnation for the defeat, nor does any extant source explicitly blame Nicias for the defeat. That Nicias’ contemporaries seem not to have blamed him, contrary to the assumptions of traditional scholarship, demands an explanation. A careful examination of the trials of generals at Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries suggests that generals were tried not for defeat or failure, as is usually asserted, but rather for treason, that is for apparent efforts to undercut or disobey the assembly. Furthermore, no good examples exist of a general clearly punished or blamed for defeat beyond those trials. A further evaluation of classical Greek sources demonstrates a set of criteria according to which fifth and fourth century Greeks in fact evaluated their generals. These criteria appear to enforce a particular set of behaviors as well as keep the generals under rigid control. Given the high social status of most of these generals, the interaction between assembly and general thus defined provides insight into the interaction between assemblies and aristocrats in classical Greek democracies.
Nathan Rosenstein, PhD (Advisor)
Greg Anderson, PhD (Committee Member)
Kristina Sessa, PhD (Committee Member)
190 p.
Ancient Civilizations; Classical Studies; History; Military History
Nicias; Sicilian Expedition; Failure; Athenian Generals

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Stockhausen, J. M. (2008). The Price of Failure: Conceptions of Nicias’ Culpability in Athens’ Sicilian Disaster [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1218591683

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Stockhausen, John. The Price of Failure: Conceptions of Nicias’ Culpability in Athens’ Sicilian Disaster. 2008. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1218591683.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Stockhausen, John. "The Price of Failure: Conceptions of Nicias’ Culpability in Athens’ Sicilian Disaster." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1218591683

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1218591683
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© 2008, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.