Thucydides, I.2

Book I Chapter two: Causes of the War - The Affair of Epidamnus - The Affair of Potidaea

Fun fact: Potidaea was the alleged birthplace of Gabriele, gal-pal of Xena, the Warrior Princess.

Map links: Corcyra, Illiria, and Epidamnus can be found on this Bernard Suzanne map. They are on the Western side of the Balkan penninsula, toward the North. For Potidaea and nearby places, consult this map (also by Suzanne). They are East of the Balkan penninsula on the oddly shaped Chalcidician penninsula.

Quick summary: The treaty among the Hellenic states still held. Corcyra, originally a colony of Corinth, has had a dust up with it's colony Epipidamus. Epidamnus has sent to Corinth for aid. This provokes Corcyra, which lays seige to Epidamnus and defeats a Corinthian fleet sent to its aid. The hapless Epidamnians are slaughtered or sold into slavery. Corinth now builds a great fleet, bent on revenge, and Corinth and Corcyra both sent representatives to Athens appealing for allegiance.

The speechs of the representatives to the Athenians are rhetorical masterpieces, at least by the standards of today's political discourse. The representatives appeal to morality, law, historical ties and power politics. Of course, cell phone technology was less advanced in those days, so we only have Thucydides' reconstructions. The Athenians chose to try to walk a sort of middle ground, but naturally this did not work out.

Excerpts from the speech of the Corcyrans:

"If she asserts that for you to receive a colony of hers into alliance
is not right, let her know that every colony that is well treated
honours its parent state, but becomes estranged from it by injustice.
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. And that Corinth was injuring us is clear. Invited
to refer the dispute about Epidamnus to arbitration, they chose to
prosecute their complaints war rather than by a fair trial. And let
their conduct towards us who are their kindred be a warning to you
not to be misled by their deceit, nor to yield to their direct requests;
concessions to adversaries only end in self-reproach, and the more
strictly they are avoided the greater will be the chance of security.

"If it be urged that your reception of us will be a breach of the
treaty existing between you and Lacedaemon, the answer is that we
are a neutral state, and that one of the express provisions of that
treaty is that it shall be competent for any Hellenic state that is
neutral to join whichever side it pleases. And it is intolerable for
Corinth to be allowed to obtain men for her navy not only from her
allies, but also from the rest of Hellas, no small number being furnished
by your own subjects; while we are to be excluded both from the alliance
left open to us by treaty, and from any assistance that we might get
from other quarters, and you are to be accused of political immorality
if you comply with our request. On the other hand, we shall have much
greater cause to complain of you, if you do not comply with it; if
we, who are in peril and are no enemies of yours, meet with a repulse
at your hands, while Corinth, who is the aggressor and your enemy,
not only meets with no hindrance from you, but is even allowed to
draw material for war from your dependencies. This ought not to be,
but you should either forbid her enlisting men in your dominions,
or you should lend us too what help you may think advisable.

"But your real policy is to afford us avowed countenance and support.
The advantages of this course, as we premised in the beginning of
our speech, are many. We mention one that is perhaps the chief. Could
there be a clearer guarantee of our good faith than is offered by
the fact that the power which is at enmity with you is also at enmity
with us, and that that power is fully able to punish defection? And
there is a wide difference between declining the alliance of an inland
and of a maritime power. 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. And
if any of you believe that what we urge is expedient, but fear to
act upon this belief, lest it should lead to a breach of the treaty,
you must remember that on the one hand, whatever your fears, your
strength will be formidable to your antagonists; on the other, whatever
the confidence you derive from refusing to receive us, your weakness
will have no terrors for a strong enemy. You must also remember that
your decision is for Athens no less than Corcyra, and that you are
not making the best provision for her interests, if at a time when
you are anxiously scanning the horizon that you may be in readiness
for the breaking out of the war which is all but upon you, you hesitate
to attach to your side a place whose adhesion or estrangement is alike
pregnant with the most vital consequences. For it lies conveniently
for the coast- navigation in the direction of Italy and Sicily, being
able to bar the passage of naval reinforcements from thence to Peloponnese,
and from Peloponnese thither; and it is in other respects a most desirable
station. To sum up as shortly as possible, embracing both general
and particular considerations, let this show you the folly of sacrificing
us. Remember 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
Peloponnese. But if you receive us, you will have our ships to reinforce
you in the struggle."

If you want to follow the story to the end of the chapter, you will need to switch to this text only version, since the other ends abruptly just as hostilities are commencing.