History of the Peloponnesian War - Book 1 by Thucydides

Author: Thucydides

Summary (Slides by nblm)

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Notes

Chapter 1

(The State of Greece from the earliest Times to the Commencement of the Peloponnesian War)

• As per Thucydides, the war between Athens and Sparta broke out because Athens was becoming more powerful. He says that when any new country becomes more powerful than an existing country, it creates conflict and war.
• The more fertile a country, the more immigration into that country. Also in that country some people might hoard more wealth than others. If a country is rocky and generally infertile, there is little immigration, and general peace.
• Athens was a rocky country, so it enjoyed peace for a long time. But as there was conflict in other countries, people started moving to Athens. Since it began to have too many people, eventually people migrated out and created colonies in Ionian cities which in turn increased Athens’ influence.
• All of Greece was not united or claimed common ancestry in the past. Each island or portions of land were managed by tribes. Thucydides says even during the time of Homer, the lands were called by different names. There was no mention of ‘barbarian’ in Homer’s books because there was no such distinction then.
• Hellas and his descendants unified most of the tribes and they collectively began to be called Hellenes (Greeks). Minos was the first person to have established a navy and curbed piracy.
• In the past piracy and plunder were not viewed as deeds of disgrace but of might and strength and people used to glorify it. But in that mode of life, everyone had to carry weapons on them daily to protect themselves. Athens was the first to lay down their weapons and have an easier mode of life.
• As piracy slowed down, big towns with fortified walls, started coming up on shores (when piracy was prevelant, people built towns away from the shores)
• With time, countries built stronger navies. During the Trojan war, Agamemnon had the largest fleet and hence wielded more power. The Trojan war would have ended much sooner if the Greek fleet had all the provisions they needed. Since they didn’t they had to farm or plunder after they reached Troy to sustain themselves.
• With settlement and wealth, more tyrants came up in places. There were wars to consolidate power. Thucydides says that for over 400 years, Athens and Sparta had a form of government without the need for tyrants.
• The first war between the Medes and Athenians took place in Marathon. Ten years later, there was another war, where Athens was burnt and the people became a naval power. They defeated the Persians at Salamis. During this time, the Spartans were united with Athenians. But after the war, there was a division among the Greeks - on one side, people who fought against the Persians and on the other who aided the Persians. After the war, the Spartans were on the side against Athens.
• Thucydides says people believe tradition that is handed over to them without critical thinking. The notion that Spartan kings had two votes is false.
• He says he ensures that there is truth in his history. He either hears the speakers directly or interviews them later to make sure what he is writing down is true. The absence of romance or poetry might make it dull but it is a true account.
• He ends chapter 1 by saying that the real cause of the Peloponnsian war was the rise of Athens.

Chapter 2

(Causes of the War—The Affair of Epidamnus The Affair of Potidaea)

• Epidamnus was a colony of Corcyra which in turn was an offshoot of Corinth.
• Epidamnus becomes populous and wealthy and there is a lot of infighting. At one point, the people drive the nobles out of the city. The nobles join the barbarians to attack the city. Seeing the city in ruins, the people ask Corcyra to help. They refuse.
• People go to Corinth and they accept to help. Corcyra gets alarmed when Corinth steps in to help. They besiege the city and ask Corinth to withdraw.
• In the ensuing battle, Corcyraeans completely defeat the Corinthians and their allies. They also plunder some ally cities.
• Corinthians reach out to Athenians for help. Corcyraeans also do the same.
• Corcyraean Speech
  • They once thought isolationism was wise, but now admit it was folly and weakness.
  • Three benefits - 1. Moral highground - Athens will be helping a victim against an unjust agressor. 2. Gratitude - Helping Corcyra creates a debt of honor that Athens can use in the future. 3. Naval Supremacy - Corcyra has the second largest fleet. If Athens takes them in, Athens becomes the largest force.
  • The war with Sparta or Corinth is inevitable - 1. Sparta is jealous of Athens, 2. Corinth is attacking Corcyra to clear the way to attack Athens later. 3. If Athens waits, they will have to attack the larger combined forces of Corinth and Corcyra later.
  • Moral justification - The treaty between Athens and Sparta allows other states to remain neutral or choose one of them. Though Corinth is their mother city, since it didn’t treat the colony (Corcyra) well, the bond is broken and they are free.
  • Summary - There are only three great navies - Athens, Corcyra, and Corinth. So it is wise for Athens to join forces with Corcyra.
• Corinthian Speech
  • Corcyra stayed neutral and isolated for their own selfish interests so that they could plunder passing ships.
  • They’re asking for negotiation now when they realized that Corinth is gathering allies.
  • Corinth clarifies that Corcyra is their colony and colonies are not meant to be slaves and Corcyra telling everyone that Corinth expects them to be, is false. Corinth only expects proper respect which they get from other colonies.
  • Corinth asks Athens to not interfere given example of Samian rebellion. When Samias rebelled against Athens, Corinth voted against helping the rebels, saying that it is better to not interfere in Athens’ affairs. If Athens breaks this and support Corcyra, then in the future more states could take sides when there is an internal fight between states.
  • Corinth refutes the Corcyraean claim that war is inevitable. They allege that Corcyra is causing the war and Athens joining to help Corcyra will lead to war.
  • Corinth reminds Athens that they had supplied ships to Athens during their war with Aegina.
• (The flaw in the Corinthian argument is that they themselves interfered in Corcyra’s internal affars when Epidamnus which was a Corcyran colony rebelled against it)
• After listening to both sides, Athenians decide to help Corcyra with some conditions. The support would only for defense and not offense. They send 10 ships to Corcyra.
• Corinthians go back and prepare 100+ ships to attack Corcyra.
• Corcyraeans prepare to defend by getting 100+ ships ready.
• During the attack, the right side which had the Athenian ships is able to hold off the Corinthians but the left side is defeated. Though Athenian ships try to come to the rescue, they have to retreat. Later in the night 20 more Athenian ships join. Corinthians withdraw. Both sides claim victory.
• Potidaea was a Corinthian colony but a tributary ally of Athens. Potidaea revolts against Athens under the leadership of Aristeus. Athens defeats them and besiege the city in spite of the city getting support from Corinth. The siege of Potidaea becomes the main cause of the start of war.

Chapter 3

(Congress of the Peloponnesian Confederacy at Lacedaemon)

• Sparta calls for an assembly and in the assembly, many cities denounce Athens for being cruel and authoritarian. The Corinthians speak last -
• The Corinthian Speech
  • The Corinthians give a scathing speech against Lacedaemonian inaction to Athenian aggression. They complain about Athens support of Corcyra and siege of Potidaea.
  • They say Athenians are ambitions and want to keep expanding, but Lacedaemonians are not and want to just hold on to what they have.
  • Athenians are innovative, daring, quick while the Lacedaemonians are not.
  • The Corinthians ask Spartans to stop procrastinating and give up their old fashioned ways. They say that if Spartans don’t standup to their main rival, then Corinth would have to choose other allies.
• The Athenians Envoys’ Speech
  • Hearing the Corinthians, Athenian envoys request permission to talk.
  • They point out how much they sacrificed for the sake of all Greeks in the fights against the Persians first at Marathon with Darius and then the battle at Salamis with Xerxes. The enemy went away because of Athenian bravery. Their city was burnt to ground but they faced the enemy head on.
  • Their empire grew after the war naturally due to others looking up to them for leadership. It grew honorably and peacefully. Many times they stepped in to help due to Spartan inaction.
  • They always acted with justice and moderation than other powers.
  • They remind Sparta that if Sparta were to take up Athens’ position, they would also be hated. In fact they might be hated more because they are stricter. It is the norm for leaders to be hated. Athenians tell Spartans to consider the matter and decide carefully.
• Archidamus (Spartan King)‘s Speech
  • Archidamus speaks with a lot of wisdom. He advises caution.
  • Those who long for war actually lack experience of the brutality of war.
  • Going to war against Athens is not the same as war with their neighbors. Athens has naval supremacy and is financially stronger. War costs money.
  • Archidamus says - let’s use diplomacy first. Send ambassadors who can calm the situation without been too aggressive or too submissive.
  • If you attack and destroy something, there is no leverage, there is no incentive on the other party’s end to yield which in turn makes peace tough to achieve.
  • People criticize Sparta for being slow and procrastinating. But in truth, they are practicing moderation, self-control and discipline.
  • True strength comes from practical discipline, respect for law, and preparing for an opponent based on the assumption that their plans are sound and not on the hope that they will make mistakes.
• Sthenelaidas (the Ephor)‘s Speech
  • He says he doesn’t fully understand Athenians’ speech. He says they did fight well against the Persians but after that they have behaved badly with Sparta’s allies.
  • He says Athens has wealth, ships and horses, but Sparta’s duty is to protect its allies. He says prolonged debate, legal arbitration, etc., are useless, the damage done by real action should be met with swift and decisive counter action.
  • He calls for a vote to preserve honor, prevent further Athenian expansion, protect allies.
• They take a vote and the majority decide in the favor of war against Athens.

Chapter 4

(From the end of the Persian to the beginning of the Pcloponnesian War —The Progress from Supremacy to Empire)

• After the Persians were defeated, Athens set out to rebuild their city (since it was burnt to the ground by Xerxes) and their navy.
• Seeing the speed at which Athens was getting stronger, Sparta and their allies advice them to not build a wall since fortified city could be used as a base by Persians if they attack in the future. Sparta assures that they will always be there to offer protection on land.
• Themistocles, the famous Athenian general feels otherwise. He wants Athens to be an independent power. Also in the past, Sparta didn’t arrive at the right time to help Athens. He doesn’t say no to Sparta. He says he will go to Sparta and talk through everything. Before he goes he instructs everyone in the city - men, women, and children - to help build a wall with any of the material they could find - burnt material, tomb stones, etc.
• Thucydides mentions that even during his time he could see the unevenness in the wall in places since it was done in a hurry and using different types of materials.
• Themistocles goes over to Sparta and stalls the meeting by making many excuses. When he gets word that the wall is in a good shape, he meets the Spartans and tells them that they have built a wall and should be treated as equal power to Spartans since they can now defend themselves.
• One of the reasons for the shift of leadership from Sparta to Athens was the fall of grace of the famous Spartan leader Pausanias. After the war with Persians, he becomes arrogant, and tyrannical. This alienates many Ionian allies.
• Sparta recalls Pausanias to face charges and don’t appoint another commander and the void is filled by Athens. Athens captures many of the Persian-held cities along Ionia.
• Athens collects financial tribute from the allies that it protects. Most allies preferred to pay money rather than provide ships and soldiers.

• Athens uses the money to build a massive navy and this increases their power. They also make it tough for an ally to leave their league. It was tough for anyone to revolt since Athens had the larger army. If anyone did, it was suppressed. Thucydides says “Athens was severe and exacting”.

Chapter 5

(Second Congress at Lacedaemon—Preparations for War and Diplomatic Skirmishes—Cylon—Pausanias—Themistocles)

Quotes

Chapter 1

(The State of Greece from the earliest Times to the Commencement of the Peloponnesian War)

• The goodness of the land favoured the aggrandizement of particular individuals, and thus created faction which proved a fertile source of ruin. It also invited invasion. (View Highlight)
• For instance, it is evident that the country now called Hellas had in ancient times no settled population; on the contrary, migrations were of frequent occurrence, the several tribes readily abandoning their homes under the pressure of superior numbers. (View Highlight)
• The Athenians were the first to lay aside their weapons, and to adopt an easier and more luxurious mode of life; i (View Highlight)
• a modest style of dressing, more in conformity with modern ideas, was first adopted by the Lacedaemonians, the rich doing their best to assimilate their way of life to that of the common people. (View Highlight)
• as communication by sea became more common, were tempted to turn pirates, under the conduct of their most powerful men; the motives being to serve their own cupidity and to support the needy. (View Highlight)
• For the love of gain would reconcile the weaker to the dominion of the stronger, and the possession of capital enabled the more powerful to reduce the smaller towns to subjection. (View Highlight)
• It is said that the Corinthians were the first to approach the modern style of naval architecture, and that Corinth was the first place in Hellas where galleys were built; (View Highlight)
• If they had brought plenty of supplies with them, and had persevered in the war without scattering for piracy and agriculture, they would have easily defeated the Trojans in the field, since they could hold their own against them with the division on service. (View Highlight)
• For a short time the league held together, till the Lacedaemonians and Athenians quarrelled and made war upon each other with their allies, a duel into which all the Hellenes sooner or later were drawn, (View Highlight)
• Again, wherever there were tyrants, their habit of providing simply for themselves, of looking solely to their personal comfort and family aggrandizement, made safety the great aim of their policy, and prevented anything great proceeding from them; (View Highlight)
• The policy of Lacedaemon was not to exact tribute from her allies, but merely to secure their subservience to her interests by establishing oligarchies among them; Athens, on the contrary, had by degrees deprived hers of their ships, and imposed instead contributions in money on all (View Highlight)
• The way that most men deal with traditions, even traditions of their own country, is to receive them all alike as they are delivered, without applying any critical test whatever. (View Highlight)
• The absence of romance in my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest; but if it be judged useful by those inquirers who desire an exact knowledge of the past as an aid to the interpretation of the future, which in the course of human things must resemble if it does not reflect it, I shall be content. (View Highlight)

Chapter 2

(Causes of the War—The Affair of Epidamnus The Affair of Potidaea)

• The ambassadors seated themselves in the temple of Hera as suppliants, and made the above requests to the Corcyraeans. But the Corcyraeans refused to accept their supplication, (View Highlight)
• your welcome of us under these circumstances will be a proof of goodwill which will ever keep alive the gratitude you will lay up in our hearts. (View Highlight)
• can you conceive a stroke of good fortune more rare in itself, or more disheartening to your enemies, than that the power whose adhesion you would have valued above much material and moral strength should present herself self- invited, should deliver herself into your hands without danger and without expense, (View Highlight)
• what once seemed the wise precaution of re- fusing to involve ourselves in alliances with other powers, lest we should also involve our- selves in risks of their choosing, has now proved to be folly and weakness. (View Highlight)
• For your first endeavour should be to prevent, if possible, the existence of any naval power except your own; failing this, to secure the friendship of the strongest that does exist. A (View Highlight)
• For colonists are not sent forth on the understanding that they are to be the slaves of those that remain behind, but that they are to be their equals. (View Highlight)
• Re- member that there are but three considerable naval powers in Hellas —Athens, Corcyra, and Corinth—and that if you allow two of these three to become one, and Corinth to secure us for herself, you will have to hold the sea against the united fleets of Corcyra and Pelo- ponnese. But if you receive us, you will have our ships to reinforce you in the struggle. (View Highlight)
• At any rate our other colonies honour us, and we are much beloved by our colonists; and clearly, if the majority are satisfied with us, these can have no good reason for a dissatis- faction in which they stand alone, (View Highlight)
• They had observed twenty Athenian ships sail- ing up, which had been sent out afterwards to reinforce the ten vessels by the Athenians, who feared, as it turned out justly, the defeat of the Corcyraeans and the inability of their handful of ships to protect them. (View Highlight)
• Neither are we beginning war, Peloponnesians, nor are we breaking the treaty; but these Corcyraeans are our allies, and we are come to help them. (View Highlight)
• This was the first cause of the war that Corinth had against the Athenians, viz., that they had fought against them with the Corcyraeans in time of treaty. (View Highlight)
• It was feared that they might be persuaded by Per- diccas and the Corinthians to revolt, and might draw the rest of the allies in the direction of Thrace to revolt with them. (View Highlight)
• Not only was Corinth at length openly hostile, but Perdiccas, son of Alexander, king of the Macedonians, had from an old friend and ally been made an enemy. (View Highlight)
• The allies had chosen Aristeus general of all the infantry (View Highlight)
• The plan of Aristeus was to keep his own force on the isthmus, and await the attack of the Athenians; leaving the Chal- cidians and the allies outside the isthmus, and the two hundred cavalry from Perdiccas in Olynthus to act upon the Athenian rear, (View Highlight)

Chapter 3

(Congress of the Peloponnesian Confederacy at Lacedaemon)

• For the true author of the subjugation of a people is not so much the immediate agent, as the power which permits it having the means to prevent it; particularly if that power aspires to the glory of being the liberator of Hellas. (View Highlight)
• Last of all the Corinthi- ans came forward, and having let those who preceded them inflame the Lacedaemonians (View Highlight)
• Further, there is promptitude on their side against procrastination on yours; they are never at home, you are never from it: (View Highlight)
• They are swift to follow up a success, and slow to recoil from a reverse. (View Highlight)
• You, Lacedaemonians, of all the Hellenes are alone inactive, and defend yourselves not by doing anything but by look- ing as if you would do something; you alone wait till the power of an enemy is becoming twice its original size, instead of crushing it in its infancy. (View Highlight)
• their only idea of a holiday is to do what the occasion demands, and to them laborious occupation is less of a misfortune than the peace of a quiet life. (View Highlight)
• they were born into the world to take no rest themselves and to give none to others. (View Highlight)
• men remonstrate with friends who are in error, accusations they re- serve for enemies who have wronged them. (View Highlight)
• but in the present in- stance, as we have just shown, your habits are old-fashioned as compared with theirs. It is the law as in art, so in politics, that improve- ments ever prevail; and though fixed usages may be best for undisturbed communities, constant necessities of action must be accom- panied by the constant improvement of meth- ods. Thus it happens that the vast experience of Athens has carried her further than you on the path of innovation. (View Highlight)
• The Athenians are addicted to innovation, and their designs are characterized by swiftness alike in conception and execution; you have a genius for keeping what you have got, ac- companied by a total want of invention, and when forced to act you never go far enough. (View Highlight)
• We assert that at Marathon we were at the front, and faced the barbarian single-handed. (View Highlight)
• Receiving no reinforcements from behind, seeing everything in front of us already subjugated, we had the spirit, after abandoning our city, after sacrificing our prop- erty (instead of deserting the remainder of the league or depriving them of our services by dispersing), to throw ourselves into our ships and meet the danger, without a thought of re- senting your neglect to assist us. (View Highlight)
• That empire we acquired by no violent means, but because you were unwilling to prosecute to its conclusion the war against the barbarian, and because the allies attached themselves to us and spontaneously asked us to assume the command. (View Highlight)
• Men’s indignation, it seems, is more excited by legal wrong than by violent wrong; the first looks like being cheated by an equal, the second like being compelled by a superior. (View Highlight)
• This at least is certain. If you were to succeed in overthrow- ing us and in taking our place, you would speedily lose the popularity with which fear of us has invested you, if your policy of to-day is at all to tally with the sample that you gave of it during the brief period of your command against the Mede. (View Highlight)
• Not only is your life at home regulated by rules and institutions incompat- ible with those of others, but your citizens abroad act neither on these rules nor on those which are recognized by the rest of Hellas. (View Highlight)
• for it has always been the law that the weaker should be subject to the stronger. (View Highlight)
• Take time then in forming your reso- lution, as the matter is of great importance; and do not be persuaded by the opinions and complaints of others to bring trouble (View Highlight)
• but to have our differences settled by arbitration according to our agreement. (View Highlight)
• For let us never be elated by the fatal hope of the war being quickly ended by the devastation of their lands. (View Highlight)
• I see those among you of the same age as myself, who will not fall into the common misfortune of longing for war from inexperience or from a belief in its advantage and its safety. (View Highlight)
• war is a matter not so much of arms as of money, which makes arms of use. And this is more than ever true in a struggle between a continental and a maritime power. (View Highlight)
• We are both warlike and wise, and it is our sense of order that makes us so. We are warlike, be- cause self-control contains honour as a chief constituent, and honour bravery. And we are wise, because we are educated with too little learning to despise the laws, and with too se- vere a self-control to disobey them, and are brought up not to be too knowing in useless matters (View Highlight)
• And let us not be told that it is fitting for us to deliberate under injustice; long deliberation is rather fitting for those who have injustice in contemplation. (View Highlight)
• the Athenian people, after the departure of the barbarian from their country, at once proceed- ed to carry over their children and wives, and such property as they had left, from the places where they had deposited them, and prepared to rebuild their city and their walls. For only isolated portions of the circumference had been left standing, and most of the houses were in ruins; (View Highlight)

Chapter 4

(From the end of the Persian to the beginning of the Pcloponnesian War —The Progress from Supremacy to Empire)

• Meanwhile the whole population in the city was to labour at the wall, the Athenians, their wives, and their children, sparing no edifice, private or public, which might be of any use to the work, but throwing all down. (View Highlight)
• In this way the Athenians walled their city in a little while. To this day the building shows signs of the haste of its execution; the foundations are laid of stones of all kinds, and in some places not wrought or fitted, but placed just in the order in which they were brought by the different hands; (View Highlight)
• My excuse for relating these events, and for venturing on this digression, is that this passage of history has been omitted by all my predecessors, who have confined themselves either to Hellenic history before the Median War, or the Median War itself. (View Highlight)
• Of all the causes of defection, that connected with arrears of tribute and vessels, and with failure of service, was the chief; for the Athenians were very severe and exacting, and made themselves offensive by applying the screw of necessity to men who were not used to and in fact not disposed for any continuous labour. I (View Highlight)
• The first open quarrel between the Lacedaemonians and Athenians arose out of this expedition. (View Highlight)
• Thus while Athens was increasing her navy with the funds which they contributed, a revolt always found them without resources or experience for war. (View Highlight)
• The Athenians received another addition to their confederacy in the Megarians; who left the Lacedaemonian alliance, annoyed by a war about boundaries forced on them by Corinth. The Athenians occupied Megara and Pegae, and built the Megarians their long walls from the city to Nisaea, in which they placed an Athenian garrison. This was the principal cause of the Corinthians conceiving such a deadly hatred against Athens. (View Highlight)
• Secret encouragement had been given them by a party in Athens, who hoped to put an end to the reign of democracy and the building of the Long Walls. (View Highlight)
• After heavy loss on both sides, victory declared for the Lacedaemonians and their allies. (View Highlight)
• Three years afterwards a truce was made between the Peloponnesians and Athenians for five years. (View Highlight)
• Thus the enterprise of the Hellenes came to ruin after six years of war. (View Highlight)
• Inaros, the Libyan king, the sole author of the Egyptian revolt, was betrayed, taken, and crucified. (View Highlight)
• The Athenians evacuated all Boeotia by a treaty providing for the recovery of the men; and the exiled Boeotians returned, and with all the rest regained their independence. (View Highlight)

Chapter 5

(Second Congress at Lacedaemon—Preparations for War and Diplomatic Skirmishes—Cylon—Pausanias—Themistocles)

• Besides equitably administering private interests, leaders are required to show a special care for the common welfare in return for the special honours accorded to them by all in other ways. (View Highlight)
• All these actions of the Hellenes against each other and the barbarian occurred in the fifty years’ interval between the retreat of Xerxes and the beginning of the present war. (View Highlight)
• The Lacedaemonians, though fully aware of it, opposed it only for a little while, but remained inactive during most of the period, being of old slow to go to war except under the pressure of necessity, and in the present instance being hampered by wars at home; until the growth of the Athenian power could be no longer ignored, and their own confederacy became the object of its encroachments. (View Highlight)
• If wise men remain quiet, while they are not injured, brave men abandon peace for war when they are injured, returning to an understanding on a favourable opportunity: in fact, they are neither intoxicated by their success in war, nor disposed to take an injury for the sake of the delightful tranquillity of peace. (View Highlight)
• And though the Lacedaemonians had made up their own minds on the fact of the breach of the treaty and the guilt of the Athenians, yet they sent to Delphi and inquired of the God whether it would be well with them if they went to war; and, as it is reported, received from him the answer that if they put their whole strength into the war, victory would be theirs, and the promise that he himself would be with them, whether invoked or uninvoked. (View Highlight)
• We have many reasons to expect success — first, superiority in numbers and in military experience, and secondly our general and unvarying obedience in the execution of orders. (View Highlight)
• For the power of Athens is more mercenary than national; while ours will not be exposed to the same risk, as its strength lies more in men than in money. (View Highlight)
• And we do not know how this conduct can be held free from three of the gravest failings, want of sense, of courage, or of vigilance. (View Highlight)
• For the future we must provide by maintaining what the present gives us and redoubling our efforts; it is hereditary to us to win virtue as the fruit of labour, and you must not change the habit, even though you should have a slight advantage in wealth and resources; (View Highlight)
• for it is not right that what was won in want should be lost in plenty; (View Highlight)
• For war of all things proceeds least upon definite rules, but draws principally upon itself for contrivances to meet an emergency; and in such cases the party who faces the struggle and keeps his temper best meets with most security, and he who loses his temper about it with correspondent disaster. (View Highlight)
• unless as a body and as individual nationalities and individual cities we make an unanimous stand against her, she will easily conquer us divided and in detail. (View Highlight)
• Out of war peace gains (View Highlight)
• fresh stability, but to refuse to abandon repose for war is not so sure a method of avoiding danger. (View Highlight)
• Pericles, son of Xanthippus, was connected with the curse on his mother’s side, and they thought that his banishment would materially advance their de- signs on Athens. (View Highlight)
• Pausanias, the general of Sparta, anxious to do you a favour, sends you these his prisoners of war. I propose also, with your approval, to marry your daughter, and to make Sparta and the rest of Hellas subject to you. (View Highlight)