Betrayal of Nicias

Jordan Leyba

Throughout Athenian Democracy many citizens became corrupt and unjust while they

served their civil duty. These citizens often sided with the people in power or favored vote, while

some believed in going against the popular vote and making Athenian a better place. Nicias was

an Athenian politician who inspired to make the Athenian Empire more admirable, wished to

stay out of the Athenian public, and overall wanted to see the Athenian Empire succeed. Nicias

was the most honorable Athenian politician that contributed to Athens through military and

political involvement, who later experienced resentment from the empire he inspired to improve.

Nicias came from a wealthy family, his father Niceratus owned a silver mine in Laurium,

in which over 1,000 slaves worked. Plutarch states that Nicias was very generous with his wealth

and used his money for charity events such as religious sacrifices in Athens. Having money in

Athens helped you get into government or have a voice in the government. After Nicias' father,

Niceratus death, Nicias inherited his wealth and used that wealth to gain attention as a political

figure in Athens. Nicias' also became very good friends with the tyrant in control during the fifth

century which helped him get attention as a serious political in Athens. Nicias came into politics

when Pericles was in control of the Athenian government in 429 BC. After Pericles' death,

Nicias became an influential factor in Athenian politics.

The aristocrats in Athens were looking for someone to challenge or offset the popular

speaker Cleon. Cleon had a different type of political style which upset many political groups in

Athenian government. It was very uncommon for a man with a un-aristocratic background to be

accepted in such a popular political group, but his wealth and the rising power of Cleon allowed

1
Nicias to become a force in Athenian government. Nicias also had a different political style,

"Nicias was a cautious man and one who in his political style made himself acceptable to the

aristocrats."1 His political style was to use using his money to fund sporting events, religious

sacrifices, and the festival of Delos. This gave Nicias the power of the Athenian people and gave

him the acceptance of the aristocrats.2

From the moment Nicias entered the Athenian court system, he and Cleon were natural

enemies. Nicias and Cleon had very different approaches when it came to earning the assemblies

votes. Cleon was very active in the public, he attended drinking parties and went to dinner with

other high Athenian politicians. Nicias was known a very quiet politician. He was the first and

last to leave the council-chamber. While at home it was said that he never allowed public

business within his home. Many of his friends said it was impossible to reach him unless you

visited him in the council-chamber.3 Cleon was taking over the Athenian court system with his

different type of public speaking, it often involved waving his arms around and shouting. Nicias

knowing that Cleon had gained attention for his different form of public speaking, Nicias became

unsure if he could beat Cleon at attending parties and speaking about the political matters outside

of the council-chamber. Therefore, Nicias provided the Athenian people with religious sacrifices

to gain public attention.4 This gave Nicias some power over Cleon when it came to the court's

decision on who would be one of the ten leading war generals also know as strategos in the

upcoming Peloponnesian War.

1
Aristotle, The Athenian Constitution (London: Penguin Books, 1984), 28.3.
2
Aristotle, 28.5.
3
Plutarch, The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives (London: Penguin Books, 1960), Nicias, Chapter 7.
4
Plutarch, Nicias, Chapter 7.

2
 The Peloponnesian War started in the fifth century between Athens and Sparta. Nicias

lead several battles including Minoa, Melos, and Theban. Nicias failed to conquer Melos, and

this hurt Nicias effectiveness as a war general when he returned to Athens. Cleon criticized

Nicias' over-cautious character during the three battles and declared Athens go to Pylos, a city-

state controlled by Sparta. Cleon mentioned that Athens could take Pylos if they only had more

courageous, fearless war generals. Nicias feeling the pressure from Cleon and the rest of the

assembly, suggested that Cleon lead Athens into Pylos and instead he choose to lead Athens to

Corinth. Nicias told the assembly it would be "a chance (for Cleon) to go out and perform some

real service for his country."5 Cleon led the attack and conquered Pylos while Nicias failed to

defeat the Corinth naval fleet and was forced to return to Athens. This unsuccessful battle hurt

Nicias' image with the assembly. Cleon came back and defeated Pylos, the battle the assembly

thought would lose and Nicias came back defeated after winning previous battles. This helped

the assembly side with Cleon during the rest of the Peloponnesian War.

Cleon was kill in 421 BCE by Brasidas, the Spartan's pro-war general, he also died in the

same battle. With both Cleon and Brasidas, the pro-war generals of both sides dying and both

Sparta and Athens experiencing defeat, Nicias saw an opportunity to achieve peace. Nicias

created a peace treaty called the Peace of Nicias. The war treaty stated that Athens, Sparta, and

their allies would stop fighting with each other, return everything they had conquered, Athens

would release their Spartan prisoners, and remain at peace for at least fifty years. The Peace of

Nicias ended shortly after it was signed and some parts of the treaty did not stand true. Athens

5
Plutarch, Nicias, Chapter 7.

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refused to release Sparta's prisoners and the treaty was said to have lasted only a year and a half.6

The Peace of Nicias was under harsh criticism from an uprising politician named Alcibiades.

With the death of Cleon, Nicias thought he was enemy free in Athens and he could

stabilize the Athenian government during this time of the peace treaty. When a younger

politician named Alcibiades found his way into the Athenian government system. Alcibiades,

much like Cleon, strongly disagreed and strongly disliked Nicias. Alcibiades also strongly

opposed the Peace of Nicias and believed that Athens should remain at war with Sparta and its

allies. Alcibiades met with many of the Athenian court members while Nicias was away

negotiating the treaty and urged them to let him represent them in Athenian politics, and this

caused Nicias' supporters to follow Alcibiades as well.7 Alcibiades continued to attack the Peace

of Nicias and say that neither side had done what the treaty agreed to and that the Spartans were

not going to keep their word. While Nicias had no rebuttal for Alcibiades, Nicias soon became

appointed to General, his old role in the Athenian government. It was clear at this point that

neither Nicias or Alcibiades could both remain in Athens due to political feuding. The city was

to hold an ostracism to cast either one out of Athens for ten years giving the other full control

over where Athenian politics would go.8 Before the vote, Alcibiades and Nicias put their

differences aside and got their supporters to vote for the demagogue Hyperbolus.9 This was the

last ostracism held making Hyperbolus the last man to be ostracized in Athens.

Nicias and Alcibiades were safe from being ostracized, but their disagreements for what

was best for the Athenian Empire's future still continued. The next expedition in the

6
Donald, Kagan, The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 1981),
Chapter 5.
7
Plutarch, Nicias, Chapter 7.
8
Plutarch, Nicias, Chapter 7.
9
Plutarch, Nicias, Chapter 7.

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Peloponnesian War was the exhibition to Sicily. When the expedition was brought into the

Athenian courts, Alcibiades strongly supported it while Nicias strongly opposed it. Nicias'

argument was that the expedition would be too expensive and Alcibiades' argument was that the

expedition would bring prosperity and new land to the empire. Before Nicias could come up with

a great speech against the expedition, Alcibiades was persuading every young and old Athenian

politician to side with him in the assembly. Nicias heard of this and went into the assembly

asking for their vote against the expedition and to not make him one of the war generals. 10 The

assembly was still undecided so Nicias spole for a second time. He protested the Sicilian

expedition again in front of the assembly, he spoke harshly about the whole expedition and

Alcibiades himself. When Alcibiades spoke the second time about the Sicilian expedition, he

used an approach everyone thought Nicias would use. He spoke about how the Oracle told him

that Sicily was weak and Athens was due for a victory in Sicily.11 Since Athens was so highly in

favor of the gods, the assembly took Alcibiades side and decided to declare war on Sicily in 415

BCE.

Despite all of Nicias' pleas to the assembly, he was appointed war general along with

Alcibiades and Lamachus. Before setting sail to Syracuse, Alcibiades was being accused of

mutilating the head of the god Hermes and wanted to have the trial before leaving to Syracuse.

Many modern scholars believe that this accusation distracted Alcibiades during the expedition

and during the first battle, which forced him to leave the expedition early.12 When it was time to

set sail, all three war generals arrived at Syracuse safely. Alcibiades and Lamachus landed on the

beaches of Syracuse while Nicias took a more cautious approach. Nicias sailed around the shores

10
Plutarch, Nicias, Chapter 7.
11
Plutarch, Nicias, Chapter 7.
12
Donald, Kagan, The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 1981), Chapter
8.

5
of Sicily to scout the land and eventually decided to land in Dascon near Syracuse.13 Alcibiades

was rumored to be helping the Spartans after he left Syracuse and Lamachus was planning his

own attack on Syracuse. Nicias was hoping his knowledge and courage would help Athens be

victorious during the expedition and restore his political image back in Athens.

Throughout the many battles in Syracuse, the Athenian soldiers fell weak including their

commander Nicias. Nicias could see the Athenian soldiers suffering and their numbers

dwindling. Nicias himself had fallen ill during the expedition so he wrote letters home asking for

reinforcements or for his relief from duty as commander.14 When Nicias never heard back from

Athens, Sicily was rumored with signs of peace. Nicias had offered to pay all the money the

Sicilian's had lost in the war in return for their safe return home to Athens, Sicily refused this

offer and continued to attach Athenian camps.15 Athens had sent reinforcements and Nicias still

refused to attack Sicily. While back in Athens, Nicias' character was being questioned for

wanting to abandon the battle and for not attacking when he had reinforcements. Nicias had

gotten word about the questioning of his character and his refusal to retreat back to Athens.

Nicias refused to return to Athens where he feared trials would arise due to his refusal to attack

Syracuse. Plutarch quotes Nicias saying he would be "killed by the enemy, rather than being

killed at the hands of the Athenians, who would condemn him if they were defeated."16 Shortly

after the Athenian camp was overtaken and Nicias was captured by the Syracuse army.

13
Plutarch, Nicias, Chapter 7.
14
Thucydides, Rex Warner, and M. I. Finley. History of the Peloponnesian War. (Harmondsworth, Eng: Penguin
Books, 1972). Chapter 9.
15
Thucydides, Rex Warner, and M. I. Finley. History of the Peloponnesian War. (Harmondsworth, Eng: Penguin
Books, 1972). Chapter 5.
16
Plutarch, Nicias, Chapter 7.

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 Not long after the word of Nicias and the rest of the Athenian soldiers being captured, the

word of their deaths had spread as well. Nicias was shortly executed after the Athenians had

heard about the defeat in Syracuse. The Athenian people were so worried about how a man such

as Nicias, who believed so heavily in the gods and was said to give religious sacrifices every day

could be put to such a horrible death.

A religious man such as Nicias, who had spared nothing in his observances and devotion
to heaven, was confronted with a fate no better than that of the meanest and most humble
wretch in the whole army, they were forced to despair of help from the gods.17
The Athenian people took a great loss in the battle of Sicily and the people also took a great loss

of a respected Athenian politician. With all of the contributions Nicias did for the Athenian

Empire, his death was fairly quiet. The Athens remorsed over all of the deaths during the

Peloponnesian War and then quickly went back to making their empire superior again.

Modern scholars have analyzed the topic of how Nicias got placed on the Sicilian

expedition when he gave two great speeches to the assembly talking about how he disapproved

of the expedition. Nicias had several great arguments including the cost of the expedition, Athens

was already having rebellions within the city walls, and they would be overstepping his own

treaty, the Treaty of Nicias. One scholar, Joseph Spisak suspects that Nicias knew Athenians

would deteriorate during the expedition but understood he could no longer challenge new

politicians in Athens.18 That Nicias was ready to be done with Athens but did not know where

else he could live so he settled for being a war general and being killed by Athens enemies.19

Spisak also argues that Nicias interactions with Cleon in the early stages of the war damaged his

17
Plutarch, Nicias, Chapter 7.
18
Joseph, Spisak. Just Win, Baby: Nicias, Alcibiades and the Sicilian Expedition. (National Great Books
Curriculum: Academic Community) Accessed Nov. 9th, 2016.
19
Joseph, Spisak.

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trust and confidence with the assembly, which affected their decision when choosing whether or

not to pursue the Sicilian expedition. Another scholar, Donald Kagan suggest that the Peace of

Nicias may have never been constructed if Cleon would have survived his last battle. "Cleon

might have chosen such an aggressive policy, as he had in 425, and he would have had the

persuasive ability and stature to challenge Nicias. But Cleon was dead, and he had no successor

of equal ability."20

The battle of Sicily was the last great expedition of Nicias, but his contribution to the

Athen's military and political system was much greater. Nicias was an un-aristocratic man who

rose through the ranks in Athenian government. He valued his character within the eyes of

Athenian people and the Athenian gods. Nicias became a very successful war general until he

was faced with opponents that revealed weakness to his character. Such as Cleon and Alcibiades

who rivaled with him in the Athenian courts. Nicias was an honorable Athenian politician that

contributed to Athens through military and political involvement, who later experienced

resentment from the empire he inspired to improve.

20
Donald, Kagan, The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 1981), Chapter
4.

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 Bibliography

Aristotle. The Athenian Constitution. London: Penguin Books, 1984.

Kagan, D., The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, Cornell University Press, Ithaca,
1981. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt1xx4j6 Accessed Nov. 30th, 2016.
Plutarch. The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives. London: Penguin Books, 1960.

Spisak, Joseph. Just Win, Baby: Nicias, Alcibiades and the Sicilian Expedition. National Great
Books Curriculum: Academic Community. Journal Article:
http://www.nationalgreatbooks.com/symposium/issue1/Spisak.asp Accessed Nov. 9th,
2016.
Thucydides, Rex Warner, and M. I. Finley. History of the Peloponnesian War. Harmondsworth,
Eng: Penguin Books, 1972.