Читать книгу A Companion to Greek Warfare - Группа авторов - Страница 26

Sparta’s most recent major campaign before the Persian Wars was the final act in a series of events that had started in 510 with the overthrow of the Athenian tyrant Hippias. A city situated so close to the Isthmus of Corinth, the highway into the Peloponnese, was of primary strategic and political interest. Since a non-oligarchic regime implied substantial political risks, Sparta was eager to establish at Athens a person she could trust. After some setbacks, a campaign to achieve this was prepared by a coalition: the Peloponnesian League from the south, the Boeotians and Euboean Chalcis from the north and the north east. The attack was cancelled when the Peloponnesians learned about Athens entering the Persian Empire (Hdt. 5.73.2ff., following a different version). By doing so, Athens thwarted a new Spartan attempt to establish a pro-Spartan government,⁶⁴ and indeed became unassailable. But she also undertook the first step on the way straight into the Persian Wars.