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,...

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 ...

Shortly after the Athenians returned from Euboea, they concluded a thirty-year peace treaty with Sparta and her allies, surrendering their strongholds in the Peloponnese—Nisaea, Pegae, Troezen, and Ac...

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,...

The Athenians had long lived dispersed throughout Attica in autonomous communities. Even after Theseus unified them, ancient customs persisted; and from earliest times until this present war, most Ath...

The nature of this plague defied all attempts at description, and its assaults on the human body were almost beyond endurance. Yet there was one particular aspect that most clearly distinguished it fr...

During that same summer, the Spartans and their allies launched a naval expedition with one hundred ships against Zakynthos, an island off the coast of Elis. The island was inhabited by Achaean coloni...

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 ...

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...

When the Plataeans had completed their preparations for escaping the blockade wall, they waited for the perfect conditions: a stormy night with driving wind and rain, and no moon. Then they set out, l...

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...

These were the arguments presented by Diodotus. The two speeches represented the most sharply opposing viewpoints in the debate. Despite their recent change of heart, the Athenians now called for a vo...

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...

Let this be sufficient to justify our collaboration with the Persians. We will now attempt to demonstrate that you have harmed the Greeks more than we have, and deserve far greater punishment. You cla...