Latest / The History of Greece: Philosophy, Empire, and Endless Reinvention — Fexingo History / Cleon and the War Hawks of Athens
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Pericles and his vision for Athens — the Funeral Oration, the building program, the cautious strategy in the Peloponnesian War. But after Pericles died of the plague in 429 BCE, Athens needed new leadership, and it got someone very different: Cleon. Luna: Cleon — wasn't he the one Thucydides really disliked? Lucas: That's putting it mildly. Thucydides portrays Cleon as a vulgar, bullying demagogue, the first to really tear down the dignified tone of Athenian politics. But we have to be careful — Thucydides was an aristocrat who had been exiled by Cleon's faction, so he had a personal axe to grind. Still, the basic picture is that Cleon came from the merchant class, not the old noble families, and he rose by championing the common people — the dēmos — against the elites. Lucas: He was also the first Athenian leader to openly embrace what we'd call war hawk politics. While Pericles had urged restraint and conservation of resources, Cleon wanted aggressive, total war against Sparta. And his big moment came in 427 BCE, during the Mytilene Debate. Luna: The Mytilene Debate — that's the one where Athens decided to massacre an entire city, then changed their minds? Lucas: Exactly. Mytilene, on the island of Lesbos, had been a tribute-paying ally in the Delian League, but they revolted and sided with Sparta. Athens crushed the revolt, and then the assembly had to decide what to do. Cleon argued that they should execute all the adult men and enslave the women and children — the standard brutal punishment for rebellion. He said that mercy would be seen as weakness and that empire is a tyranny, so you have to rule by fear. Lucas: But then a more moderate speaker, Diodotus, argued that mass slaughter would only make future rebels fight to the death, and that it was more profitable to accept surrender. The assembly voted narrowly — by Thucydides' account — to spare the Mytilenians. They sent a second ship racing to Lesbos to overturn the first order, arriving just in time. Luna: So Cleon lost that debate. But did he lose power? Lucas: Not at all. He remained popular because he promised results. And in 425 BCE, he got a huge stroke of luck. The Athenian general Demosthenes had landed at Pylos on the southwest coast of the Peloponnese and built a fort. The Spartans sent a force to dislodge him, but they got trapped on the island of Sphacteria — 420 Spartan hoplites, including 120 elite Spartiates. That was a massive bargaining chip. Lucas: But the siege dragged on. The Athenians back home grew frustrated. Cleon, in typical fashion, started attacking the generals for incompetence. He boasted that if he were in charge, he'd take the island in twenty days. People called his bluff and voted him commander. So he took the command, sailed to Pylos, and — remarkably — he actually did it. With the help of Demosthenes' tactical planning and a force of light-armed troops who overwhelmed the Spartans with missiles, they forced the Spartans to surrender. Luna: Wait, he actually succeeded? That's unexpected. Lucas: It was. The surrender of Spartan hoplites was almost unheard of — the Spartan myth was that they fought to the death. Cleon returned to Athens a hero. He got the credit, even though Demosthenes probably did the real work. And he used that victory to push for even more aggressive policies, including higher tribute from Athens' allies. Lucas: But his luck ran out in 422 BCE. The Spartan general Brasidas — whom we covered in episode 109 — was operating in Thrace, capturing Athenian allied cities. The most important was Amphipolis, a colony that controlled gold mines and timber. Cleon led an expedition to take it back, but he was overconfident. He didn't wait for reinforcements, his troops got caught in disarray outside the walls, and he was killed in the rout. Luna: So Brasidas and Cleon died around the same time? I remember something about that. Lucas: They did. Brasidas was also killed in the same battle, winning it. Their deaths removed the two leading war advocates from both sides, which opened the door for the Peace of Nicias in 421 BCE — a fragile truce that lasted about six years. But Cleon's legacy is complicated. He's remembered as a warmonger and a demagogue, but he also represented a real shift in Athenian politics: the rise of non-aristocratic leaders who spoke directly to the common people. Luna: That sounds familiar — like a pattern we see in other democracies too. Lucas: Absolutely. Thucydides makes a point of saying that Cleon was the most violent and persuasive man in the assembly, and he used his rhetorical skill to push Athens toward imperialism. But you could argue he was just giving the people what they wanted — the empire was profitable for the poorer citizens who served as rowers in the navy and collected tribute. The debate over Cleon is really a debate over Athenian democracy itself: was it a noble system or a mob rule? Luna: Hmm. And that tension is still with us. Lucas: Yeah. So after Cleon, Athens had a brief peace, but the war resumed, and eventually Athens lost. But the story of Cleon shows how quickly a democracy can turn to hawkish leaders in times of crisis. Lucas: You know, I've been thinking — if today's episode was worth a coffee to you, you could head over to buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That kind of support really helps keep this show ad-free and independent. Luna: And it's a nice way to say you appreciate the deep dives we do. Lucas: Exactly. Anyway, back to Cleon. One thing that often gets overlooked is his domestic policy. He also pushed for increased state pay for jurors, which made it possible for poorer citizens to serve on juries — that was a huge democratic reform. But it also meant more people were dependent on the state, which critics saw as pandering. Luna: So he was both a populist and an imperialist — kind of a package deal. Lucas: Right. And that combination is what made him so successful, at least for a while. He gave the common people both material benefits and a sense of power over the empire. But it also made Athens more aggressive, which eventually led to overreach and disaster. The Sicilian Expedition, which came a few years after his death, was the ultimate example of that hubris. Lucas: So Cleon is a cautionary tale, but also a mirror. Every democracy faces the challenge of balancing popular will with wise strategy. The Athenians didn't solve it, and maybe it's not solvable — but it's worth remembering that the debate itself is ancient. Luna: Thanks for walking us through that. I think I understand Cleon a bit better now — not just as a villain, but as a symptom. Lucas: Exactly. And next time, we might look at what happened after the Peace of Nicias fell apart — the Sicilian disaster and the final act of the war. But for now, I think that's a good place to stop. Luna: Sounds good. Thanks, Lucas. Lucas: Thanks for listening.