Alastair Blanshard

They are. So we've got a fantastic set of inscriptions, and those are really, really very helpful for us and often can be a corrective to Thucydides. So they're really helpful in that respect. We also have a number of literary sources produced at this time. The comedies of Aristophanes, the tragedies of Euripides, particularly from this period, are all part of the mix as well.

That's right, yes. Athenian drama is always set in a mythological period, but often the themes it's touching on are extraordinarily contemporary. Take a tragedy like Trojan Women, for example, which there is no better tragedy to explore what it's like to deal with the consequences of warfare and the tragedy of subject populations at the hands of their captors.

That's right, yes. Athenian drama is always set in a mythological period, but often the themes it's touching on are extraordinarily contemporary. Take a tragedy like Trojan Women, for example, which there is no better tragedy to explore what it's like to deal with the consequences of warfare and the tragedy of subject populations at the hands of their captors.

That's right, yes. Athenian drama is always set in a mythological period, but often the themes it's touching on are extraordinarily contemporary. Take a tragedy like Trojan Women, for example, which there is no better tragedy to explore what it's like to deal with the consequences of warfare and the tragedy of subject populations at the hands of their captors.

It's a really powerful indictment of war, and strikingly produced by the Athenians as the Peloponnesian War is ongoing. You have to think there's something really wonderful about this culture that is prepared during times of warfare to actually interrogate warfare so strongly. These days, the expectation would be that you'd put on something a bit more patriotic.

It's a really powerful indictment of war, and strikingly produced by the Athenians as the Peloponnesian War is ongoing. You have to think there's something really wonderful about this culture that is prepared during times of warfare to actually interrogate warfare so strongly. These days, the expectation would be that you'd put on something a bit more patriotic.

It's a really powerful indictment of war, and strikingly produced by the Athenians as the Peloponnesian War is ongoing. You have to think there's something really wonderful about this culture that is prepared during times of warfare to actually interrogate warfare so strongly. These days, the expectation would be that you'd put on something a bit more patriotic.

But they don't go for sort of patriotic drama or jingoistic drama. They go for quite hard-hitting drama that confronts the realities of the kind of lived experience that they're dealing with.

But they don't go for sort of patriotic drama or jingoistic drama. They go for quite hard-hitting drama that confronts the realities of the kind of lived experience that they're dealing with.

But they don't go for sort of patriotic drama or jingoistic drama. They go for quite hard-hitting drama that confronts the realities of the kind of lived experience that they're dealing with.

Yes, look, it's under stress. And it's under stress because Athens' great problem is always the challenge of feeding itself. Although it dominates the surrounding countryside, the area we know as Attica, the grain production of Attica is probably not sufficient to maintain the large urban population. So they're always hugely dependent on grain supply. And this is a real issue for Athens.

Yes, look, it's under stress. And it's under stress because Athens' great problem is always the challenge of feeding itself. Although it dominates the surrounding countryside, the area we know as Attica, the grain production of Attica is probably not sufficient to maintain the large urban population. So they're always hugely dependent on grain supply. And this is a real issue for Athens.

Yes, look, it's under stress. And it's under stress because Athens' great problem is always the challenge of feeding itself. Although it dominates the surrounding countryside, the area we know as Attica, the grain production of Attica is probably not sufficient to maintain the large urban population. So they're always hugely dependent on grain supply. And this is a real issue for Athens.

And it's very reliant on grain supplies from the Black Sea. And they have to come through the whole Hellespont. And that's its kind of Achilles heel, as it were. In addition to this, I mean, after the failure of the Sicilian expedition, we also see Sparta establishing a permanent military encampment nearby Athens on a place called Decelea.

And it's very reliant on grain supplies from the Black Sea. And they have to come through the whole Hellespont. And that's its kind of Achilles heel, as it were. In addition to this, I mean, after the failure of the Sicilian expedition, we also see Sparta establishing a permanent military encampment nearby Athens on a place called Decelea.

And it's very reliant on grain supplies from the Black Sea. And they have to come through the whole Hellespont. And that's its kind of Achilles heel, as it were. In addition to this, I mean, after the failure of the Sicilian expedition, we also see Sparta establishing a permanent military encampment nearby Athens on a place called Decelea.

In fact, the Decalayan War is often a phrase that's used for these final phases of the war. It's also a city that's really increasingly under siege. They can see in the distance, up on the hills of Decalaya, the campfires of the Spartans, Slaves, for example, start to revolt and escape to the Spartan encampment for the first time we've ever seen slaves fleeing Athens.

In fact, the Decalayan War is often a phrase that's used for these final phases of the war. It's also a city that's really increasingly under siege. They can see in the distance, up on the hills of Decalaya, the campfires of the Spartans, Slaves, for example, start to revolt and escape to the Spartan encampment for the first time we've ever seen slaves fleeing Athens.

In fact, the Decalayan War is often a phrase that's used for these final phases of the war. It's also a city that's really increasingly under siege. They can see in the distance, up on the hills of Decalaya, the campfires of the Spartans, Slaves, for example, start to revolt and escape to the Spartan encampment for the first time we've ever seen slaves fleeing Athens.

Up to 20,000 or so slaves flee. The countryside is no longer as safe as it used to be. Spartan raiding parties come out. So there's a lot of that. There's also, I think, an increasing dissatisfaction with things like the military capacity of their soldiers. So we start to see the rise of use of mercenaries. In fact, for the Sicilian expedition, they bring in a whole lot of mercenaries.