There is another factor that significantly reinforces my belief in the weakness of ancient times. Before the Trojan War, there is no evidence of any unified action throughout Greece, nor was the name ...

The islanders were also notorious pirates. These were Carians and Phoenicians who had colonized most of the islands, a fact proven by later evidence. When Athens purified Delos during this war, all th...

Agamemnon ruled a land-based empire; without naval power, he could not have controlled any islands except those nearest the mainland (which would have been few in number)....

From this expedition we can draw conclusions about earlier military ventures. Now, Mycenae may have been a modest settlement, and many cities from that era might seem relatively insignificant today, b...

As the power of Greece expanded and the pursuit of wealth became increasingly important, state revenues grew substantially. This economic growth led to the establishment of tyrannies nearly everywhere...

The naval forces of the Greeks during the period I have outlined were as I have described them. Despite their relative weakness, these fleets represented the greatest source of power for those who dev...

Eventually, however, the time arrived when Sparta permanently overthrew the tyrannies of Athens and the much older tyrannical regimes throughout Greece—except for those in Sicily. Although Sparta expe...

The Persian Wars, though they represented the greatest accomplishment of earlier times, reached their conclusion swiftly through just two naval battles and two land engagements. In contrast, the Pelop...

The city of Epidamnus lies to the right as one enters the Ionian Gulf. The surrounding region is populated by the Taulantians, an Illyrian tribe. This city was established as a colony by Corcyra, with...

When the Corcyraeans learned of these preparations, they sent a delegation to Corinth, accompanied by envoys from Sparta and Sicyon whom they had convinced to join them. They demanded that Corinth wit...

Following the naval engagement, the Corcyraeans erected a victory monument on Leukimme, a promontory of Corcyra, and executed all their prisoners except the Corinthians, whom they held as prisoners of...

There are numerous compelling reasons why you will have cause to congratulate yourselves if you accept our proposal. First, you will be extending aid to a state that has committed no offense against o...

If Corinth claims that it's improper for you to accept her colony as an ally, she should understand that while colonies honor their mother cities when treated well, they become alienated through unjus...

However, your true policy should be to give us open support and assistance. The benefits of this approach, as we stated at the outset of our address, are numerous. We'll highlight what is perhaps the ...

The Corcyraeans, in the speech we've just heard, don't limit themselves to discussing whether they should be admitted to your alliance. They also accuse us of injustice and claim they're victims of an...

After hearing both delegations speak, the Athenians convened two assemblies. In the first meeting, there was a clear inclination to accept Corinth's arguments. By the second assembly, however, public ...

Meanwhile, the Corinthians had completed their preparations and set sail for Corcyra with one hundred and fifty ships. Elis contributed ten vessels, Megara twelve, Leucas ten, Ambracia twenty-seven, a...

During this time, the Potidaeans dispatched ambassadors to Athens, hoping to persuade the Athenians not to take any hostile action against them. They also sent representatives to Sparta along with the...

During this time, the Potidaeans and the Peloponnesian forces under Aristeus had taken up positions on the isthmus facing Olynthus, awaiting the Athenian attack, and had set up their supply market out...

But the siege of Potidaea ended Corinth's inaction; she had citizens trapped inside the city, and moreover, she feared for its fate. She immediately summoned the allies to Sparta and vehemently accuse...

You are the ones responsible for all of this. You were the ones who first permitted them to fortify their city after the Persian War, and later to build the Long Walls. From that time until now, you h...

We hope none of you will interpret these words of warning as hostile rhetoric. After all, one corrects friends who have gone astray; accusations are reserved for enemies who have inflicted harm. Moreo...

Such is Athens, your adversary. Yet you Spartans continue to hesitate, failing to grasp that lasting peace belongs to those who not only wield their power with justice but also demonstrate their resol...

We did not come here to debate with your allies, but to address the specific matters for which our city sent us. However, the intensity of the accusations we hear leveled against us compels us to spea...

This, then, was how things turned out, and it became abundantly clear that Greece's fate rested entirely on her naval forces. To this outcome, we Athenians contributed three absolutely crucial factors...

Certainly, Spartans, we don't deserve the extreme hostility we face from the Greeks—not based on the patriotism we showed during the Persian crisis, nor the wisdom of our policies, and certainly not f...

We believe our restraint would be most clearly proven by observing how others might act in our position; yet paradoxically, our very fairness has earned us criticism rather than praise. When we've wai...

I have not lived this long, Spartans, without experiencing many wars, and I see among you men of my own age who will not make the common mistake of desiring war through inexperience or from believing ...

I would not have you be so callous as to allow them to harm your allies or to ignore their scheming; but neither should you rush immediately to war. Instead, send envoys to protest their actions in la...

The deliberate caution and careful timing that our critics attack most fiercely should not embarrass you. If we rush into war unprepared, our haste to begin will only postpone our victory. Moreover, t...

I cannot claim to understand the lengthy speech delivered by the Athenians. While they spoke extensively in self-praise, they never once denied that they are harming our allies and the Peloponnese. If...

When the Spartans realized what the Athenians intended to do, they dispatched ambassadors to Athens. They themselves would have preferred that neither Athens nor any other city possess fortification w...

The Spartans showed no outward signs of anger toward the Athenians when they heard the news. Their embassy, apparently, had been motivated not by a desire to interfere but rather to offer guidance to ...

During this period, Pausanias, son of Cleombrotus, was dispatched from Sparta to serve as supreme commander of the Greek forces, leading twenty ships from the Peloponnese. The Athenians joined him wit...

After the Athenians had inherited their leadership through the allies' voluntary decision—driven by their hatred of Pausanias—they determined which cities should contribute money and which should prov...

The Athenians first besieged and captured Eion on the Strymon River from the Persians, enslaving its inhabitants under the command of Cimon, son of Miltiades. Next, they conquered Scyros, an island in...

Next we turn to the combined land and naval operations at the Eurymedon River, where the Athenians and their allies faced the Persians. Under Cimon, son of Miltiades, the Athenians achieved victory in...

During this period, Inaros—son of Psammetichus and a Libyan king ruling the Libyans along Egypt's frontier—established his base of operations at Marea, the city situated above Pharos. He orchestrated ...

During this period, the Athenians launched a naval assault on Haliae, where they encountered forces from Corinth and Epidaurus. The Corinthians emerged victorious from this engagement. Later, the Athe...

Around this time, the Athenians began constructing the Long Walls extending to the sea—one toward Phalerum and another toward Piraeus. Meanwhile, the Phocians launched a campaign against Doris, the an...

During this time, the Athenians and their allies remained in Egypt, experiencing the full range of wartime fortunes. Initially, the Athenians controlled Egypt, prompting the Persian King to dispatch M...

Three years later, the Peloponnesians and Athenians agreed to a five-year truce. Free from Greek warfare, the Athenians launched an expedition to Cyprus with two hundred ships from their own fleet and...

Upon receiving this intelligence, the Athenians immediately dispatched sixty warships to Samos. Of these, sixteen vessels were diverted to Caria to monitor the Phoenician fleet's movements, while othe...

After these events, though not many years passed, we finally arrive at the incidents already described—the Corcyraean and Potidaean affairs that provided the immediate pretext for this war. All these ...

To apply these principles to our current situation: if we are now initiating war, it is because we have been wronged and have legitimate grievances. Once we have punished the Athenians, we will cease ...

This was everything the letter revealed, and Xerxes was delighted with its contents. He dispatched Artabazus, son of Pharnaces, to the coast with instructions to replace Megabates, the current governo...

The Spartans possessed no concrete evidence against Pausanias—neither his political opponents nor the state as a whole—of the unequivocal sort necessary to prosecute a member of the royal house, parti...

After examining the letter, the ephors felt more confident in their suspicions. Nevertheless, they wanted to hear Pausanias incriminate himself directly. Following their plan, the messenger went to Ta...

After receiving monetary compensation from him—funds that came partly from his associates in Athens and partly from his secret reserves in Argos—Themistocles traveled inland accompanied by a Persian f...

It is reported that the King approved of Themistocles' proposal and instructed him to proceed accordingly. During the intervening period, Themistocles devoted himself to learning the Persian language ...

Let me return to the Spartans. I have already described their first embassy—the demands it made and the response it received regarding the expulsion of those under religious curse. A second embassy fo...

There is one principle, Athenians, that I maintain consistently throughout all circumstances: we must make no concessions to the Peloponnesians. I understand that the enthusiasm which drives people to...

The crucial issue is the obstacle they'll face from lack of funds. The slow accumulation of money will create delays, but the critical moments of war don't wait for anyone. Furthermore, we shouldn't w...

In my view, this fairly represents the Peloponnesian position. Athens's situation, by contrast, avoids the weaknesses I've identified in theirs and possesses unique advantages they cannot match. Shoul...

I have numerous other reasons to be optimistic about our success, provided you can agree not to pursue new conquests while conducting this war, and provided you refrain from deliberately creating addi...

The Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, along with their respective allies, now truly commenced. From this point forward, all diplomatic communication ceased except through official heralds, ...

When the Plataeans realized that Theban forces had infiltrated their gates and suddenly occupied the city, they panicked and assumed far more troops had entered than actually had—the darkness conceali...

It was entirely natural that both sides harbored the most ambitious expectations and committed their full strength to the war effort. Enthusiasm invariably reaches its peak at the beginning of any gre...

Fellow Peloponnesians and allies, our forefathers conducted numerous military campaigns both within the Peloponnese and beyond its borders, and the older men among us possess considerable wartime expe...

After this brief address to dismiss the assembly, Archidamus first dispatched Melesippus, son of Diacritus, a Spartan, to Athens, hoping that the Athenians might be more willing to negotiate when they...

While the Peloponnesian forces were still gathering at the Isthmus or marching toward their invasion of Attica, Pericles son of Xanthippus, one of Athens' ten generals, learned that the invasion was i...

Meanwhile, Pericles recognized that the people were consumed by anger and acting irrationally. Confident in his judgment that they should not engage the enemy outside the walls, he refused to convene ...

During this period, the Athenian fleet of one hundred ships operating around the Peloponnese was reinforced by fifty Corcyraean vessels and additional allied ships from the region. They sailed along t...

That same summer, at the beginning of a new lunar month—the only time, incidentally, when such a phenomenon seems possible—a solar eclipse occurred after midday. The sun took on a crescent shape and s...

Furthermore, we provide abundant opportunities for the mind to find respite from work. Throughout the year, we hold festivals and religious ceremonies, while the refinement of our private homes offers...

These are not the only qualities that make our city admirable. We pursue sophistication without falling into luxury, and we value learning without becoming soft. We use wealth for practical purposes r...

In essence, I declare that our city serves as the educational model for all Greece. I doubt whether the world can produce an individual who, relying solely on his own resources, can adapt to so many d...

These men died as true Athenians should. You who survive must resolve to face the enemy with equal determination, though you may hope for a more fortunate outcome. Don't be satisfied with merely heari...

I offer comfort, not sympathy, to those parents present who have lost their sons. You know well that human life is subject to countless uncertainties; but those who have drawn such a glorious death as...

A Dorian war shall come, and with it death. This line sparked debate about whether the original word was "death" (loimos) or "famine" (limos). Predictably, given current circumstances, people insiste...

Of course, for those who have the luxury of choice and whose prosperity is secure, war is the height of folly. But when the only alternatives are submission at the cost of freedom or danger with the h...

If you recoil from the hardships that war demands, fearing that despite all your efforts the outcome may still prove unfortunate, you are well aware of the arguments I have repeatedly used to demonstr...

Furthermore, your country has every right to demand your service in maintaining the glory of its position. This glory is a source of pride shared by all of you, and you cannot refuse the responsibilit...

These were the arguments Pericles used to heal the Athenians' rage against him and to redirect their minds from their current miseries. On the public level, he succeeded in persuading them; they aband...

Around this same time, as summer drew to a close, the Ambraciot forces, together with numerous barbarian allies they had recruited, launched a campaign against Amphilochian Argos and the surrounding r...

The following summer, the Peloponnesians and their allies chose not to invade Attica but instead marched on Plataea. Their commander was Archidamus, son of Zeuxidamus, the Spartan king. After setting ...

After the envoys delivered this message, the Plataeans decided to remain loyal to Athens. They would endure watching their lands devastated and face whatever other hardships might come, rather than be...

That same summer, at the very time of the assault on Plataea, the Athenians launched a campaign against the Chalcidians in the Thracian region and the Bottiaeans. They deployed two thousand hoplites a...

I can see, men, that the enemy's numbers have frightened you, and that's why I've called this assembly—I won't have you intimidated by something that isn't truly fearsome. First, consider this: the Pe...

Emboldened by this turn of events, the Athenians raised a unified battle cry and charged at the enemy. The Peloponnesians, thrown into confusion by their own tactical errors and the chaos that had ove...

Fire signals were raised to warn Athens, triggering one of the most severe panics of the entire war. Those in the city believed the enemy had already entered the Piraeus harbor, while those in Piraeus...

Starting with the Odrysians, he summoned the Thracian tribes under his rule between the Haemus and Rhodope mountains and the Black Sea and Hellespont. Next came the Getae living beyond Haemus, along w...

The Odrysian empire stretched along the coast from Abdera to where the Danube meets the Black Sea. A merchant vessel sailing this coastline by the most direct route would need four days and four night...

Gathering at Doberus, they prepared to descend from the mountains into Lower Macedonia, which belonged to Perdiccas. The Lyncestians, Elimiots, and other inland tribes, though ethnically Macedonian an...

During this time, Sitalces began negotiations with Perdiccas regarding the goals of his campaign. When he discovered that the Athenians—doubting he would actually come—had failed to send their fleet (...

The following summer, just as the grain was ripening, the Peloponnesians and their allies invaded Attica under Archidamus, son of Zeuxidamus, the Spartan king. They established their position and laid...

After a perilous voyage across the open sea, the envoys finally reached Sparta to negotiate for military assistance. Meanwhile, the Athenian ambassadors returned home empty-handed, and hostilities imm...

During this time, the ambassadors from Mytilene who had been sent on the first ship were instructed by the Spartans to proceed to Olympia. The purpose was for the other allied states to hear their cas...

If we had all remained independent states, we could have placed greater trust in Athens not attempting to alter the existing order. But with most states now subject to Athens while they continued to t...

These, Spartans and allies, are the grounds and justifications for our rebellion—clear enough to demonstrate to our audience that we have acted fairly, and serious enough to alarm us into seeking some...

This was the substance of the Mytilenean appeal. After listening to their arguments, the Spartans and their allies accepted their proposal and formally admitted the Lesbians into their alliance. They ...

As that same winter drew to a close, the Spartans dispatched Salaethus, a Lacedaemonian officer, by ship to Mytilene. He sailed to Pyrrha, then proceeded overland, following a dry streambed where the ...

On his voyage back along the coast, Paches stopped at various places, including Notium, the harbor of Colophon. The Colophonians had relocated there after Itamenes and his barbarian allies captured th...

When the prisoners arrived with Salaethus, the Athenians immediately executed him, despite his offers—including a promise to secure the Peloponnesian withdrawal from Plataea, which remained besieged. ...

Time and again I have become convinced that democracy is incompatible with maintaining an empire, and your current reversal regarding Mytilene proves this point more clearly than ever. Because you liv...

To prevent you from being swayed by such arguments, I will demonstrate that no state has ever wronged you as severely as Mytilene. I can understand and forgive those who revolt because they find our r...

Let no one harbor the illusion that eloquent speeches or financial bribes can secure mercy for the Mitylenians on grounds of human weakness. Their crime was not accidental but calculated and deliberat...

During the same summer, following the subjugation of Lesbos, the Athenians launched an expedition under Nicias, son of Niceratus, against the island of Minoa. This island lay just off Megara and serve...

Spartans, when we surrendered our city to you, we placed our trust in your hands, expecting a trial conducted according to proper legal procedures rather than this proceeding, which we never anticipat...

Consider this as well: at present, all Greeks look to you as models of excellence and honor. If you render an unjust verdict against us in this case—which is far from insignificant, given that you jud...