Alcibiades Defeat In The Sicilian Expedition

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THE PERFECT ESSAY. THE perfect essay is the Holy Grail for HSC students. The Board of Studies presents a high quality history essay and a guide to why. The question was: Greek World 446-399BC (25 marks). (b) Why were the Athenians defeated in the Sicilian expedition? THE Athenians were defeated in the Sicilian expedition due to a number of factors. Foremost among them was the incompetence of the commanders, also, the over-ambitious nature of the expedition, and the impact of Peloponnesian aid. A combination of each of these was needed to bring about the final total destruction of Athenians. The choice of commander held great influence over the course the expedition would take, and as such is a major cause of its failure. The initial…show more content…
Also, his betrayal of the plan to betray Messina denied the force a valuable base of operation and potential schemes for the taking of other cities. The Sicilian expedition also suffered from the overambitious nature of the campaign itself. Plutarch describes the grand designs of Alcibiades in creating the expedition as ludicrous - the desire to eventually take Carthage and control the Mediterranean. The war in Sicily is described by Thucydides as one of near equal magnitude to the one with the Peloponnese, which already strained Athenian power. The expedition relied on the cooperation of the Ionian cities in Sicily, which was misjudged - even Rhegium, previously an ally, did not join the Athenians. The supply difficulties had a major impact with the defeat of the fleet in the Great Harbour partly due to the loss in efficiency over an extended time without a suitable port. While the expedition may have succeeded under the momentum of Alcibiades, the challenge of Sicily's combined cities was too ambitious when given time to prepare, especially given the tenuous nature of the peace with the Peloponnese. The defeat was largely due to an overreaching of Athenian
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