Page 116 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo I

116 XXXIX Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

cess. The Athenians repeated the expedition the following year, assigning its leadership
to Pericles. After he carried out landings in the north shores of Peloponnese, he expanded
Athens influence further to the west.
The Samos Insurgency (440 BC) : In the conflict that burst out between Samos and
10
Miletus, Athens intervened in favor of Miletus, a weaker member of the alliance having as
goal to reinforce its leader role in the alliance. Until then, the Samians were loyal allies of
Athens. They possessed a strong fleet and had been distinguished in jointly fought wars.
In the spring of 440 B.C., the Athenians sent a part of their fleet under the leadership of
Pericles against the Samians. They took the island’s oligarchy by surprise forcing them to
take refuge in Asia Minor. From there, they organized a hasty counterattack. The Atheni-
ans were fast to react by sending a new squadron of their fleet. In a fierce naval battle, the
Athenians managed to achieve a great victory, dissuading any other city from defecting.
That victory though was not decisive, as it did not brought up the enemy’s complete crash.
After the battle, the Samians sailed to their island, having still a strong fleet. The Atheni-
ans, after receiving reinforcements, landed on the island.
The Samians were aware that they lacked in infantry, thus did not risk a battle in the
open field. The Athenians besieged the city from the sea and the land. The news that Phoe-
nician ships had sailed off in support of the Samians, forced Pericles to detach sixty ships
from the fleet and sail to encounter the Phoenicians. Taking advantage of his absence, the
Samians launched a hasty attack against the weakened Athenian fleet. They won in the
naval battle and they gained control of the harbor and the surrounding sea region, strength-
ening significantly their defense by securing an abundance of supplies. That operation
changed temporarily the balance.
The island’s resistance was prolonged and a greater effort was required by the Atheni-
ans to ultimately assert their domination on the island. Pericles returned and he prevailed
in a swift naval battle against the Samians. He landed a force on the island and he laid a
tight siege of the city in August of that year. He refrained from attacking the city walls
to avoid having any more casualties. He decided to prolong the siege, disregarding the
time and the financial cost. Especially in the last months, he used for the first time siege
engines, the “rams” and “turtles” that were loaded on ship decks and they were employed
to breach the city’s walls. Following the surrender of their fleet and the destruction of the
walls, the Samians were forced to sign a treaty.

The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC)
In the Peloponnesian War the Spartans prevailed when they finally succeeded in the
balanced development of the infantry and navy, since during the several years of that
war they maintained their superiority in the infantry while, in collaboration with their al-
lies, they developed a navy capable to face the Athenian fleet. In contrast, the Athenians
remained committed to their initial strategy, believing that the dominance at sea would

10 “Under the command of Pericles they encountered into a naval battle…, and after landing they besieged the
surrounded by three walls city, by infantry as well as by the sea.”, Ibid., I, 116