The Empire Goes to War
Atlantis grows greedy, conquers lands across the Mediterranean, and tries to enslave Athens and Egypt, but Athens stands and wins.
9,000 years before Solon (about 9600 BCE)
What the text says
they appeared glorious and blessed at the very time when they were full of avarice and unrighteous power.
Critias 121b
the men of Atlantis had subjected the parts of Libya within the columns of Heracles as far as Egypt, and of Europe as far as Tyrrhenia.
Timaeus 25a-b
This vast power, gathered into one, endeavoured to subdue at a blow our country and yours and the whole of the region within the straits
Timaeus 25b
she defeated and triumphed over the invaders, and preserved from slavery those who were not yet subjugated
Timaeus 25c
The story
For many generations, the kings of Atlantis are wise and gentle. They care more about being good than about gold. But slowly the godly part of them fades. They become greedy and hungry for power, even though to ordinary eyes they look more glorious than ever.
Their empire reaches into the Mediterranean. They rule North Africa as far as Egypt and Europe as far as Tyrrhenia, the land of the Etruscans in Italy. Then they gather all their strength to conquer Athens, Egypt and every land inside the straits in one blow.
Athens leads the Greeks. When the other Greeks fall away, Athens fights on alone, faces the worst danger, and wins. It frees the peoples Atlantis had conquered and saves the rest from slavery.
Plato does not describe a single battle, a general, or a date for the fighting. The Timaeus gives the war in a few lines, and the Critias stops before it reaches the war at all.
No historical record or archaeology shows an Atlantic empire attacking the Mediterranean around 9600 BCE. Many scholars read the war as a lesson: a proud sea empire, a bit like the powers of Plato's own day, is beaten by an ideal Athens built like the perfect city of his Republic. Jowett read it the same way, as Plato's invention.