that might is right proclaimed with cynical frankness by the lips of
an Athenian.

Having heard the complaints of their allies against Athens, and the
reply of the Athenian orator, the Spartans ordered all but those of
their own race to withdraw, and continued the debate with closed
doors. A great majority of the speakers were in favour of declaring
immediate war on Athens. But there was one important exception: the
aged Archidamus, who for the last fourteen years had been reigning as
sole king at Sparta, spoke strongly against the imprudence of assuming
the aggressive, before they had made adequate preparations to cope
with the offending city. It was an opinion generally held by the war-
party that the Athenians would be ready to make any concessions, in
order to save the land of Attica from ravage. This, said Archidamus,
was a great error; and the event proved that he was right. The
Athenians, with their great colonial empire, and complete command of
the sea, were quite independent of the products of their own estates
in Attica. And many years must elapse before the states of
Peloponnesus could train a fleet, and attack them on the sea, where
alone they were assailable. It was folly to suppose that such a
contest could be decided by a single summer campaign, as was commonly
believed by the enemies of Athens. "I fear rather," said the king,
with prophetic foresight, "that we shall leave this war as an
inheritance to our children; such is the power, and such the pride, of
the state with which we have to contend." On the other hand, the
Spartans, as champions of the liberties of Greece, must not allow the
common oppressors of their countrymen to continue their career of
tyranny unchecked. Let them first, however, try what could be effected
by negotiation, and in the meantime prepare for war, by building
ships, and above all by collecting money, without which all their