16. The gendercide of Scione following the Peloponnesian War
The Greek city of Scione had been settled when ships bearing the Achaeans from Troy back to their home were wrecked near Pallene about 700 BCE. By the time of the Peloponnesian War the city was heavily influenced by the Athenians. After the Spartans and the Athenians reached a truce in the year 423 BCE, the Scione attempted to free themselves from the control of Athens, and the Spartans promised to provide military and financial support. The Athenians, as reported by Thucydides, sent a fleet to isolate the city and reduce its defenses, but found the resistance of the Scioneaens to be far stronger than they had expected, in part due to the promises from Sparta that military assistance was forthcoming.
In 421 BCE the Athenians finally succeeded in forcing the city to surrender, and although terms of mercy had been promised they were not carried out. All of the women and most of the children were enslaved, with only the younger male children sent into slavery. Athens awarded the conquered land to the city of Plataea, one of its allies during the war against the Spartans, which had been razed by the Spartans in 427 BCE. The adult men and older male children were gathered together and executed by the victorious Athenians, by the sword, though the exact number of dead as a result of the massacre was not recorded by Thucydides. The city of Scione by the time of the Roman occupation of Greece had all but ceased to exist.