Mytilene Revolt: Athenian Retribution and Peloponnesian War Debate

The island of Lesbos, off the coast of Asia Minor, was settled by the Aeolians during the Dark Ages, with five major towns emerging. The most important of these was Mytilene, which dominated but did not control the island until the Classical Age. The location was originally on an island, but over time, silt and accretions joined it to the mainland, and the city continued to grow up and around the region’s bay, which allowed for two good harbors on the trade routes with the East and the West. The city had a part of the trade consortium for Naucratis in Egypt. Originally, Mytilene was governed by monarchs said to have been descendants of Orestes, the son of Agamemnon. The monarchy’s clan then formed an oligarchic aristocratic government that ruled until about 650, when it was overthrown and a period of violence ensued.

The city was led by the tyrant Melanchrus, who was slain by the leading families and replaced by Pittacus, who led the city against Athens for control of the region of the Hellespont at Sigeum. Mytilene seems to have had three factions: the aristocrats, a group led by the house of the Cleanactidae, and a larger group (although probably not the demos) led by Myrsilus and then Melanchrus. When the latter died, he was replaced by Pittacus, who was elected for a ten-year term as a tyrant in 590 and was praised for his deeds and general goodwill toward the state. He banished the aristocratic group and reconciled with the other factions, or at least treated them with respect. After his ten-year rule, he resigned and retired. After his rule, Pisistratus of Athens forced the Mytileneans out of Sigeum; and then Polycrates of Samos defeated Mytilene since Mytilene had helped Miletus in its struggles against Samos and Polycrates desired to punish them. When Darius I attacked Scythia in 513, a Mytilenean named Coes helped him and was rewarded by being elevated to a tyrant. His rule, however, must not have been welcome, given that he was stoned to death by his countrymen when the Ionian revolt occurred in 499.

After the Persian Wars, Mytilene joined the Delian League as an independent state with an oligarchic government. As a large city with extensive resources, Mytilene contributed ships. This provided it with a certain amount of latitude and allowed it to remain relatively independent. As the league turned into an empire, Athens demanded more and more from all of its members, including that they give up their ability to engage in independent foreign relations. When the Peloponnesian War broke out, Mytilene had no particular grudge against Sparta, but it probably supported Athens, or at least did not try to interfere. When the plague hit Athens and devastated the city, including killing Pericles, the Athenians were hard pressed. In addition, the Spartans invaded Attica each year. In 428, the fourth year of the war, Mytilene and Lesbos, except for the town of Methymna, rebelled. There does not seem to have been a particular reason for the uprising, unlike other cities that had resources that Athens wanted or political demands to change their government; Mytilene and its oligarchy had always been well treated by Athens. The revolt, then, was a shock to Athens. It appears that Mytilene may have objected to Athens continuing to exert control of the subject allies’ foreign relations, and their ships were being used for Athenian gains and not their own. With nearby Samos reduced from an independent state to a subject, Mytilene may have believed that the same situation would occur for them.

The revolt was not well planned, with Athens learning about it before Mytilene could close off the harbor with a mole and chain, an artificial pier stretching into the harbor with a chain attached and when raised could prevent ships from entering the harbor. The Mytileneans did learn that the Athenians had sent a fleet to subdue them. Mytilene made a plea to Sparta for help, which agreed to but never followed through, other than sending an envoy, Salaethus, to reassure the Mytileneans. The towns of Pyrrha, Eresus, and Antissa joined with Mytilene into a single political unit, a process called synoecism, with Methymna independent. This was similar to Athens and Attica.

The Athenians realized that if Mytilene succeeded, then all of Asia Minor might break out in rebellion. The Athenians, hard pressed from the ravages of the plague, were forced to institute a war tax on property to raise funds for a new fleet. Ultimately, with no Spartan help for Mytilene, the Athenians took Mytilene in 427. The leaders of the rebellion and Salaethus were taken to Athens, with the latter immediately executed. In the Assembly, the people of Athens took the extraordinary step of condemning all of Mytilene, ordering all the men to be executed and the women and children enslaved. This was a unique and harsh punishment, showing how the Athenians felt that Mytilene had completely betrayed Athens in its darkest hour. After the sentence was passed, a warship was dispatched to the island with the order for execution. When the Assembly broke up, there was an immediate second-guessing among many Athenians.

The leader of the war party, Cleon, had stirred up the Athenian indignation against its ally, to punish them and teach them a lesson. With the change, the envoys from Mytilene successfully got some Athenians to reopen the case the next day. Cleon again spoke in favor of the death sentence, stating that Athens must instill fear and punish without mercy their allies that break the rules. Opposed to Cleon was Diodotus, who countered that unabashed imperialism and hard line. He did not say that the original sentence was invalid and in fact stated that the Mytileneans deserved death; but he said it was not good policy. It did not matter what Mytilene deserves but rather what Athens deserves. He indicated that the sentence of death would not deter its allies from rebelling; further, if a city knows that it will suffer this kind of punishment for rebellion, it will hold out as long as it could before surrendering, which would cost Athens more, and when the city did surrender it would be a complete wasteland. In addition, the oligarchs started the rebellion, not the popular party; if everyone was executed, then other popular parties will see how Athens treats their allies and rebel as well.

The vote was close, but Diodotus convinced the Athenians of the wisdom of the new sentence to spare the citizens from execution. A new warship set out, but it was not clear that they would arrive in time to forestall the executions. The envoys from Mytilene gave supplies and promised awards for them if they arrived in time, and the second ship sailed without stopping. The first ship, which took its time due to the crew’s apprehension about the sentence, arrived only a short time before the second, so it managed to cancel the death sentence. Instead, Mytilene would lose its walls, ships, while its land was given to the Athenian cleruchs, but the Mytileneans would still live there and work the land. In 412, when the general rebellion in Asia Minor against Athens began, Mytilene and the rest of Lesbos joined the Spartans. Although Athens would win back Mytilene, it was again lost after the disaster at Arginusae when the Athenian fleet was scattered. Lysander and his Spartans ultimately took over the region.

After the Peloponnesian War, Mytilene joined the Second Athenian Empire as one of its early members. With the downfall of Athens, Mytilene remained independent. Alexander the Great’s invasion of Asia Minor caused the Persians to attempt to take over some of the islands in hope of fomenting rebellion. Memnon of Rhodes, a Persian admiral, besieged Mytilene, and although he died in the fighting, the city surrendered to Persia. This was the last time that Persia would control the city, for after Alexander’s victory over Darius III at Issus in 333, Mytilene became free again.