10-31-2009, 01:04 PM
Quote:Paul B. wrote:
Neither Herodotus, Thucydides or Xenophon mention perioikoi serving against fellow peloponnesians until the revolt of the Peloponnesian allies after Leuktra, when Xenophon mentions them in connection with Agesilaos' campaigns against the Arcadians ( who were of course Peloponnesians.)
Maybe, maybe not. Thucydides 5.54 may actually show the perioikoi being used on a campaign in the Peloponnese in 419 or so:
"At about the same time, the Lakedaimonians marched out in full force toward Leuktra on their own borders, near Mt. Lykaion, led by the king Agis son of Archidamos. No one knew where they were marching, not even the cities from which they had been sent."
Since he's talking about a levy of the Lakedaimonioi in full force, "the cities" here are usually interpreted as the perioikic cities. And while we don't know where they were going, the best guess is a campaign in the Peloponnese, since the immediate context is Alcibiades and the Argives mucking around in the Peloponnese.
