The Fall of the Athenian Empire

The Peloponnesian War #4

by Donald Kagan

In the fourth and final volume of his magisterial history of the Peloponnesian War, Donald Kagan examines the period from the destruction of Athens' Sicilian expedition in September of 413 B.C. to the Athenian surrender to Sparta in the spring of 404 B.C. Through his study of this last decade of the war, Kagan evaluates the performance of the Athenian democracy as it faced its most serious challenge. At the same time, Kagan assesses Thucydides' interpretation of the reasons for Athens' defeat and the destruction of the Athenian Empire.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Greece, Classics, Ancient History, Historical, Military History

455 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Donald Kagan (May 1, 1932 – August 6, 2021) was a Lithuanian-born American historian and classicist at Yale University specializing in ancient Greece. He formerly taught in the Department of History at Cornell University. Kagan was considered among the foremost American scholars of Greek history and is notable for his four-volume history of the Peloponnesian War.

Reviews

[James Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

With The Fall of the Athenian Empire I've finished this year's reread of Donald Kagan's monumental history of the Peloponnesian War. In the 10 years following the disastrous defeat Athens suffered in Sicily, they found themselves checked on land by the Spartan fort at Decelea which threatened all of Attica. Taking advantage of a weakened Athens, Sparta also expanded its naval strength into the eastern Aegean while at the same time forging the diplomatic ties with Persia which brought them financial strength. Meanwhile Athens was plagued by revolts of their colonies in the eastern Aegean which spread homeward to threaten their democracy. Their treasury depleted by the Sicilian campaign and by defections among its allies, they found it increasingly difficult to maintain their fleet, the backbone of Athenian empire. These slow, steady increments of Spartan ascendancy and Athenian decline eventually resulted in Spartan naval victory in the Hellespont in 405 BC. Their navy shattered at the Battle of Aegospotami, their lifeline for grain supplies from the Black Sea region cut and their population besieged and starving in the city, Athens had no recourse but to surrender in 404. The 27-year war was over.

On p111 of this final volume Kagan writes about a decline in the quality of leadership coupled with the heavy financial burdens facing Athens at the time. It's one reason the Peloponnesian War holds such fascination for us: its course so arrestingly mirrors our own times. No doubt those ancient Greeks were very different from us yet were, incredibly, like us. They were motivated by the same political issues that have repeated themselves time after time to the present day. In the Peloponnesian War we can see the ambition, the human striving and political impulses which brought us Stalingrad and the Vietnam War. And one of the things most impressive about Kagan's history is that he can relate history so well that it shows this without his stating it directly. Reading history this grand and comprehensive shows us how the tidal sweep of history we've experienced recently--Napoleon again, Gallipoli and Afghanistan again--had already happened 2400 years ago in the Aegean.

[Brandie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not going to lie, this book isn't exactly a page turner, but as I like history, I did find it fascinating!
And as this was not a subject covered in any history class I took, I learned a lot of new things.
Will I remember much of the details in this book? Honestly, probably not. I'd need to read a few more books on this topic to really learn it, but should I ever pick up another book about this period in history, I'm sure I'll have a few moments of, I've read that before!

Overall, I'm glad I read it. I wouldn't have picked it up had it not been on the Rory Gilmore Reading challenge, but alas it was and so I did get to read it. How lucky am I? ;-)

[Ben Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book in Kagan's saga of the Peloponnesian War, this work is once again proves his sagacity. Anyone interested in this period of history will find this book indispensable. From the fickle mood of the Athenian masses, the shores of Cyzicus, to the campaigns of Lysander, to the negotiation of peace marking the end of the war, Kagan is always insightful and always grants a much greater understanding of what is going on, and why each faction reacted as it did. Having read Thucydides and Xenophon, I found Kagan's volumes especially important in identifying what each of the classical historians got wrong, as he offered a much greater command of external sources and a much closer analysis of the text than I do when reading casually.

I first started reading Thucydides and Kagan's shorter volume on the Peloponnesian War over a year ago, and have spent the past 16 months immersed in the titanic struggle between Sparta and Athens. Finishing this book truly felt like the end of an era, and I leave it with a melancholy feeling not knowing what to study next. But I can fullheartedly recommend this incredible series of books not just for the joy that they are to read, but for the great insight into human nature and the geopolitical world that these pages and events reveal, purely distilled through Kagan's efforts.

[Ivan Soto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donald Kagan's 4th volume on the Peloponnesian War is just as strong and steady in its awesome scholarhip as are the three preceding volumes (The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War; The Archidamian War; The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition). Well done, Professor Kagan!

[Lauren McDonald]

1/5 of these type of books on the Rory list, pumped Hahahha

[Binston Birchill · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I’ve said in reviews of the first 3 books can be copied and pasted here as well. Top notch history and an absolute must read once you’ve been grounded in the Peloponnesian War by reading Thucydides and another general history or two. I don’t even know where to go with the Peloponnesian war from here, reread and the rereread Thucydides I suppose.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome,!

Complete, captivating, thoughtful review addressing all aspects of this historic 30 year war. A must / good read for history buffs.

[gustavo Inacio ferreira assis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A warning to us all.

Donald kagan, with his 4 volume history of the Peloponnesian war has opened up the clouds of my ignorance of these important events of so long ago that can teach us so much about are own current situation. In the last 3/5 months I’ve dedicated to reading his work couldn’t have been better spent. Thank you so much and that god may bless you.

[Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buy.

Absolute masterpiece. A precise and excellent piecing together of the source material. The level of analysis here by the Kagan is well measured, appropriate and appreciated at all times as well - including the "the what if" scenarios in the conclusion. This is surely the most important of the series and it is thoroughly enjoyable. I am reminded that even though this dates to nearly 2500 years ago, we are the same base humans with the same motivations.

[Ian McClintic · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final book of Donald Kagan’s 4 volume study of the Peloponnesian War. This is a definitive log of the final chapter of the war after Athens defeat in Sicily. It is remarkable that the Athens continued to conduct the war for so long after such a total catastrophe. The war shifts to the East including the involvement of Persia. Athens is done in by internal disharmony and an empty treasury. Kagan proposes had Athens only continued to inflict naval defeats on Sparta, they could have dissuaded Persia’s full commitment to Sparta, and ultimate defeat.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The war between the Athenians and Sparta is a very intense war that is put into a very detailed book. This book emphasize the Athenian falling from Sparta in a great bloody war. This book goes out to show how many loses the Athenian lost to Sparta and to how many Sparta lost to the Athenians. This book showed the weaknesses of their empire and why they lost to Sparta. Athenians had some flaws that shattered them and which made them surrender to the Sparta. Through the last years of study Kagan the author of this book has been studying for years about the surrender of the Athenian war and put all of his studies into a book. After reading this book you will know about the Athenian war and how bad their lost was.