Thrasybulus, Conon and Athenian Imperialism, 396–386 B.C.

Abstract

The London fragment of the Oxyrhynchus historian begins with a narrative of the voyage of Demaenetus to Conon and the reaction which it provoked. This is the last incident with which P deals under the winter of 396/5, and he describes it as approximately contemporaneous with some other incident, not improbably the mission of Timocrates. With one ship Demaenetus sailed off to join Conon, lacking the authorisation of the people, but not before secretly communicating his plan to the boule. The language of the following section gives the impression that the boule was taken aback by the extent and vigour of the outcry, which might indicate that prior anti-Spartan acts had not created such a disturbance. The action of Demaenetus was less trivial than it may at first seem; it was also more concrete, less easy to excuse or minimise than what had gone before. One of the twelve ships which Athens was allowed, and which could easily be counted, was gone, and Sparta would know perfectly well where it had gone. She had recently suffered a serious reverse in her struggle with Persia, the loss of Rhodes, whilst the apparently unconcealed object of Timocrates had been the incitement to war of the cities of Greece. In the circumstances Sparta would perhaps be more likely than before to treat the least unfriendly move by Athens as an act of war, especially if it took the form of assistance to Persia, whilst at Athens meditation on the possibility of war, inspired by Timocrates' appeal, would create an acuter awareness of the likely results of defeat and so promote greater caution and respect for Spartan sensibilities among prudent men.

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