The Peloponesian War

I finally found a really good and comprehensive book on the subject of how the war was fought (not so much why or its implictations for today) and I must say it was a remarkeable reading...called "A War Like No Other".

First off, I never would have guessed that a war in the Hellenistic period would have been so bloody. With the majority of the 100,000+ military casualties being in the last few years of the war. Not to mention the 80,000+ civilian casualties from the plague alone...

That and the scale and hardships of Naval war at the time is quite amazing, and well discussed in this book. If anything, it was a war like no other because of the extent of Naval conflict, with some battles killing as many as 30,000 men a battle.

I wonder why they didn't copper their hulls though so that the ships didn't get "watter logged" which caused some significant logistic problems.

copper bottomed biremes and triremes would be brutal to row. That is why copper bottomed hulls didn't become more frequent until the age of sail. Not to mention the sheer number of ships that would need coppering - what would be left for armor, weapons.

My hometown is resposible for inventing copper based paint - eliminating the need for copper bottom hulls -which were heavy and expensive and drastically reduced sailing speed.

A War Like No Other : How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War (Hardcover)
by Victor Davis Hanson

www.victorhanson.com...

The above is the full title of the book and author and the other books he has available from his home page if you are interested. Just in case anyone wants to find out more about this book or him.