Athens besieges Potidaea as a Corinthian-colonial revolt
From 432 BCE Athens besieged Potidaea, a Corinthian colony in its alliance-network. The dated siege is not the Corcyra alliance and not the 429 plague death. In the causal graph this event weakens Humanitarian Access, a driver that strengthens People Internally Displaced by Conflict and Violence (IDMC) — an improving welfare path.
Read the full account
From 432 BCE Athens besieged Potidaea, a Corinthian colony in its alliance-network. The dated siege is not the Corcyra alliance and not the 429 plague death. Pericles’s documented role is: Athenian forces besieged Potidaea after it revolted with Corinthian help. Pericles’ city sent the siege; unnamed soldiers starved a town; he did not uniquely invent siege. A Chalcidic siege is not an Ionian-sea alliance. Later editors, printers, and excavators remain named where they appear. Pericles's documented role is: Athenian forces besieged Potidaea after it revolted with Corinthian help.
Context
Tribute, a Corinthian garrison, and unnamed starved townspeople already sit in Thucydides. A siege is not unique authorship of every later Chalcidic war. Sharing with the demos is required. Named others on the file: Unnamed Athenian soldiers, Potidaean townspeople, and Corinthian helpers share the siege. The public setting is the file around -0432-01-01. The instrument stays Athens besieges Potidaea as a Corinthian-colonial revolt. The setting of Athens besieges Potidaea as a Corinthian-colonial revolt is the public file around -0432-01-01. Driver humanitarian-access is attached because the significance names a mechanism from this act, not because a standing list needed coverage.
Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Mixed effects of Athens besieges Potidaea as a Corinthian-colonial revolt are separate paths.
Why it matters
Complex shared demos war. Welfare reading worsening. Lag to any modern indicator is not treated as zero. This path is attached because the mechanism is named from this act, not because a driver list needed coverage. The welfare reading on this path is worsening.
That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Pericles
PersonDirect responsibility
responsibility level 0.4 · verified
Athenian forces besieged Potidaea after it revolted with Corinthian help. Pericles’ city sent the siege; unnamed soldiers starved a town; he did not uniquely invent siege.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactAthens besieges Potidaea as a Corinthian-colonial revolt
- weakensDriverHumanitarian Access
- strengthensIndicatorPeople Internally Displaced by Conflict and Violence (IDMC)
impact weight 0.4 · Effect from 1 January 432 · verified
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.2 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.5)
Observed
69M people (stock, end-of-year) · 28M above the normal line (2025)
Worse than normal3 readings, 2023–2025: rose from 68M people (stock, end-of-year) to 69M people (stock, end-of-year).
Above normal = worse
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.Perseus — Thucydides, HistoryPerseus Digital Library / Tufts · High credibility · verified
- 2.Britannica — PericlesEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish
Britannica and Thucydides independently date the Potidaea siege as a 432 instrument. Official: Britannica — Pericles, Potidaea (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pericles-Athenian-statesman (opens in a new tab); Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent: Perseus — Thucydides, Potidaea (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0200 (opens in a new tab); Perseus Digital Library). The two URLs are different pages. Where the carrier is a later edition or a received narrative, that limit is stated rather than upgraded to an autograph. Official carrier: Britannica — Pericles, Potidaea (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pericles-Athenian-statesman (opens in a new tab); Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent carrier: Perseus — Thucydides, Potidaea (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0200 (opens in a new tab); Perseus Digital Library).
Established: Potidaea siege from 432. Not established: that Corcyra is this same town. Established: a sourced public record of Athens besieges Potidaea as a Corinthian-colonial revolt under -0432-01-01.
Shared responsibility is part of Athens besieges Potidaea as a Corinthian-colonial revolt. Naming Pericles does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from -0432-01-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.
If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.
Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorPericles
- contributed toFactAthens besieges Potidaea as a Corinthian-colonial revolt
- weakensDriverHumanitarian Access
- strengthensIndicatorPeople Internally Displaced by Conflict and Violence (IDMC)
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). Athens besieges Potidaea as a Corinthian-colonial revolt. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/per-potidaea-432
https://factrail.ai/facts/per-potidaea-432
Accessed 16 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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