Si Athènes était une île...

Abstract

Nothing in Thucydides excludes Diodorus’ view that after Coronea in 447, the revolt spread largely into the Athenian Empire. After the peace of 446, the city renounced meddling on the mainland. The evidence for a new policy lies in the conciliatory assessment of 446/5 and Pericles’ sponsorship of a middle Long Wall. Pericles understood that it was more profitable for the Athenians to keep their sea-power than to engage in costly adventures by land. When did Pericles elaborate his policy of evacuation of Attica? The improvisation of the whole operation invites to think that this strategy, though implicit in the construction of the Long Walls, was decided just before the outbreak of the war.