The Attic Silver Mines during the Athens Sparta Wars

[Timotheus]

The attempts by Sparta to ravage the Attic countryside were pretty much a failure. The area was too large, the grape vines and olive trees too strong and resilient to make the ravaging feasible.

Basically the Spartans and allies could never do more than cup down a very small percentage of the regions agriculture and even this was like to grow back on its own in a couple years.

This led to me a thought. Can anyone think of any reason why the Spartans and allies did not burn down the supports and collapse the Athens silver mines in Attica? These would have been much more vulnerable to attack for several reasons.

The are concentrated where agriculture is spread out. They are based on wooden support structures that are exposed and much easier to burn. Finally the mines represented a huge portion of the wealth of Athens.

So does anyone know why this didnt happen, or if the Spartans did try and failed for some reason?

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I am guessing the mines are in hilly, rough terain, unsuiatable for the type of warfare the Spartans excelled in...?

But I have often wondered that too. Perhaps they were exposing themselves too much to entrapment due to the location of the mine...
Being cut off and vulnerable to attack from land and sea.

Just speculation though..

[Timotheus]

At least for the initial assault they had an army of 60,000 Spartans and allied troops. They could have dominated the region and leasurely taken down the mines.

Mines also have the advantage of being concentrated assets. Taking out agriculture requires sending out small raiding parties to damage regions which are vulnerable to Athenian mounted patrols.

[hoplite14gr]

The easy access to modern Lavrion is misleadindg.

Olive groves with sone fences, streams, gullies were psiloi missilemen could strike with impunity give sobering thoughts.

Lavrio was a port and fort. It could withstand siege and be supplied by sea.
Enemy encamped there would be left to the tender mercies of the guerillas and divert his efforts away from Athens.

Plus the the fleet would bring scores of slaves from the Athenian coastal raids that could be worked to death to repair the damages.

Kind regards

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

That makes the most sense to me Stefanos...they would be trapped between a rock and a hard place.....no pun intended.

[hoplite14gr]

Spartan Army started a war beliving in the Arcaic Ethos of the hero fighter.
The Archaic ethos though had already drown in the bloody waves of Syvota.
Athenians fought a murderer's war but they were too pre-occupied eith preventing good generals becoming tyrrants and that proved their undoing.

Spartan after the bloody manuvers of Sfacteria and Arginousae learned their lesson and proved it at Aegos Potamoi

Kind regards

[Timotheus]

I guess the other question would be considering how non-inovative the Spartans were would it have even occured to them to go after the Attic silver mines even if they had been in a convenient location.

[hoplite14gr]

Spartans would have allowed their allies to plunder the mines.

Best.