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...

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...

Athenians! When a state that has never before provided significant aid or support to its neighbors—service for which they might now claim repayment—comes before them as we do today seeking assistance,...

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...

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...

Regarding their claim that they wanted the dispute submitted to arbitration first, it's clear that such an offer from those who hold all the advantages cannot be credited with the same sincerity as on...

This, then, is what we are entitled to demand according to Greek custom and law. But we also have advice to offer and claims upon your gratitude—claims which, since we pose no threat to you as we are ...

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...

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...

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 ...

We possess additional strategies for waging this war—most notably, inciting rebellion among their allies, which remains the most effective means of stripping them of the revenues that constitute their...

Your position, therefore, from whatever perspective you examine it, will fully justify your decision to go to war. We recommend this course of action in the interests of all, remembering that shared i...

During this period, the Spartans sent multiple delegations to Athens with various grievances, aiming to establish the strongest possible justification for war should the Athenians refuse their demands...

This, then, was the curse that the Spartans demanded the Athenians expel from their city. They claimed to be motivated primarily by concern for the gods' honor, but they were well aware that Pericles,...

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...

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...

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...

Following the incident at Plataea, Sparta immediately dispatched orders throughout the Peloponnese and to all allied territories, commanding them to prepare soldiers and supplies necessary for a campa...

That same winter, the Athenians held a public funeral for the first casualties of the war, following their ancestral tradition. The ceremony proceeded thus: Three days beforehand, the remains of the f...

Most of my predecessors who have stood in this place have praised the man who established this speech as part of our tradition, declaring it fitting that words should honor those who died in battle. A...

I will start with our ancestors, for it is both right and fitting that they should receive the honor of being mentioned first on such an occasion. They lived continuously in this land, passing it down...

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...

I have spoken at length about our city's character to demonstrate that we fight for higher stakes than those who lack such advantages, and to ensure that my eulogy for these fallen men rests on concre...

I was fully prepared for your anger toward me, as I understand its causes, and I have convened this assembly to remind you of certain facts and to protest against your unreasonable hostility toward me...

But you must not be swayed by citizens like these, nor should you be angry with me—for if I advocated war, I only did what you yourselves voted to do—even though the enemy has invaded our territory an...

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...

The Plataeans had reached this point in their speech when Archidamus interrupted them: "Plataeans, your words are just—if your actions match them. In accordance with the grant from Pausanias, maintain...

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 (...

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...

Meanwhile, the first members of the scaling party who had climbed up, after seizing both towers and killing the guards, positioned themselves inside to block anyone from coming through to attack them....

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 ...

I stand by my original position and am astonished at those who wish to reopen the Mytilenean debate, thereby creating a delay that benefits only the guilty party. Such postponement dulls the sharp edg...

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...

I have no criticism for those who wish to reopen debate about the Mytileneans, nor do I support those who object to repeated deliberation on crucial matters. In my view, the two greatest enemies of so...

This is not how we operate. Moreover, whenever someone is suspected of offering advice—no matter how sound—for personal gain, we resent him so deeply for the profit he might receive (though we cannot ...

Communities have, of course, established the death penalty for many crimes far less serious than this one. Yet hope drives people to take risks, and no one has ever endangered themselves without belie...

Just think what a terrible mistake you'd be making if you followed Cleon's advice. As things stand now, the common people in every city are on your side. They either refuse to join the oligarchs in re...

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...

The origin of our dispute was as follows. We Thebans established Plataea after settling the rest of Boeotia, along with other territories from which we had expelled the mixed populations. The Plataean...

Let me explain our so-called involuntary collaboration with Persia and your deliberate alliance with Athens. The final charge you bring against us is that we supposedly violated the law by invading yo...