Financing the Peloponnesian War: the Peloponnesian perspective
By Jennifer Warren
Proceedings of the 13th International Numismatic Congress (2005)
Introduction: 2003 has been a year in which it has been patently clear that money is the sinews of war. But to zoom back to the fifth century BC. Lisa Kallet has shown in two persuasively argued books1 that money (chremata) as the basis of the naval power of Athens is a fundamental theme in Thukydides’ History. On the other hand, what we know about the financial resources of the Peloponnesians is nugatory, and indeed Thukydides’ overall lack of interest in coinage as such as historical evidence has been noted by Gomme and Hornblower.
Of course there are several good reasons for this disparity. First, money was far more pertinent to the situation of Athens, a naval power, than to Sparta, a hoplite power, though by no means exclusively so. The Peloponnesians will have had to build ships, and maintain them, and feed if not also maintain their crews, whether their own citizens or mercenaries. Secondly, as Kallet wrote, one of the hallmarks of Thukydides is ’his ability to eliminate what is extraneous or insignificant to his purpose. In Book 2.13 Thukydides lists Athens’ substantial resources, as well as her manpower, in some detail, but this is not matched by any analysis of the Peloponnesians’ wealth. Thirdly, the Athenians, in addition to their holdings in Athens, and annual tribute from the allies, were blessed with the silver mines at Laurion, – that is, until Sparta occupied Dekeleia in 413 BC. Fourthly, the contrast in volume between the epigraphic records of Athens and the Peloponnesians is notorious, thanks both to Athenian democracy and a plentiful supply of pentelic marble. An inscription listing contributions to the Spartan war chest is the only epigraphic record for their resources.
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