Plague of Athens

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Well,Kagan explains very well how many decisions of the Athenians that just don't seem right,can be explained by the fact they had lost too many soldiers. They didn;t have men to equip their fleet,plus they feared too much if they lost even more. It did influence the Athenian policy in the Archidamian(and not only) war. !/4 or some say close to 1/3 of the citizens is a dreadful number! It influence Athens even financially. It influenced the siege of Potidaea,too,the most costly expedition of the Archidamian war. Jona,I think it is too " shallow" look to say it it didn't influence the war or losing it. Athens wouldn't be able to recover from such loses even in 25 years,when she finally lost the war. And don't forget,war was all about morale.
I admit though,it may have driven back the Spartans from extended sieges because of the fear of carrying the disease into their own army. But it surely made the Athenians think more against Pericles' policy. They may have followed it for the first stage of the war,by although they didn't lose,they surely abandoned it after the Archidamian war. The plague was one of the main reasons.
Khaire
Giannis