Early Archaic Athens at War (c. 630-546 BC)

The role of the Athenian polis (‘city-state’) in war during the early archaic period is much disputed. Some scholars argue that the polis was impotent: its institutions could neither declare war nor raise forces. Instead, wars were initiated by the elite and armies consisted of volunteers, who fought for private gain. Conversely, other scholars have argued that the polis was very much involved in war and had very robust military institutions. Other scholars still have attempted to differentiate between different kinds of warfare with varying degrees of polis-involvement. These range from private raids to communal wars. In this seminar, I will argue that early archaic wars primarily were public affairs resolved with private means. I will first argue that archaic Athens had no military institutions, with armed forces raised privately. Next, I will argue that warfare was, nonetheless, a public matter: victories and defeats were borne by the entire society, not just the participating combatants. In fact, the elite waged war to improve their standing in society. In turn, the polis would attempt to influence military endeavours through legislation. Such polis involvement could turn what had started as private raids into communal wars, which would be fought over multiple generations. War had become a mixture of private and public measures. Lastly, I will demonstrate the presence of this mixture by analysing three major case-studies of early archaic conflicts: the war for Salamis with Megara, the conquest of Sigeion and the enmity with Aigina.