The Peace of Nicias

Abstract

Legon sees the Peace of Nicias, generally regarded as a stalemate, as a limited Athenian victory; he analyzes the nature of the victory at some length. He considers the influence of military events, domestic pressures, and relations with allies upon Sparta; the escalation of Athenian war aims in face of a Spartan peace offer; Athens' reasons for later agreeing to a peace; and how the nature of the Athenian "victory" was related to the resumption of the war.