20 Athenian Victory in Northwest Greece

Although Pericles died in the autumn of 429 B.C., he had ceased to direct Athens for nearly a year. The Athenians were left with able generals but no great democratic leader. In a change of strategy, the Athenians escalated operations in northwest Greece—a region dominated by Corinth and vital to the Peloponnesians. The Athenian general Phormio, based at Naupactus, interdicted merchant vessels from Greek Sicily and won two stunning victories over superior Peloponnesian squadrons. Phormio’s victories raised Athenian spirits but did not deal a significant blow against the Peloponnesian navy. Over the next three years, the general Demosthenes secured the northwest by adroit use of local guides and peltasts (light infantry). By 426 B.C., the major Corinthian colonies Ambracia, Anactorium, and Leucas had fallen into Athenian hands, and Peloponnesian naval and financial resources were compromised. Further, the Athenians learned lessons in the use of open-order tactics and of mercenaries and allies. The fighting in northwest Greece in 428–426 B.C. dictated the later course of Greek warfare. Yet Athenian success in northwest Greece was offset by desultory fighting in the Aegean world and rapid depletion of Athenian finances—the war lasted far longer than Pericles had predicted.