Thucydides and Xenophon

In his account of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides takes the view that the beginning of the end of Athens as a world power (in the known world of the classical period, of course) came about in part as a consequence of the great victory that Athens and Sparta (Lacedaemon, to Thucydides) shared when they beat back the Persian invasion. Scarcely had the Persians been driven back than some political factions in Athens sought to dispose of democracy in Athens and to amplify an already growing Athenian empire. However, a coalition led by Sparta that included some Athenian colonies opposed Athenian expansionism and indeed brought battles to Athens. Athens' response was to suppress the peoples, such as the Aeginetans (Chapter 6), but Athens suffered casualties in battle. That was the occasion for Pericles' famous oration speech, which valorizes democracy but which blithely ignores the fact of rising Athenian imperialism:

Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighbouring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favours the many instead of the few; this is w

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Approximate Word count = 896
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page)

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