Siege of Melos
Melos is an island in the Aegean Sea roughly 110 kilometres (68 miles) east of mainland Greece.
It is taught as a classic case study in political realism to illustrate that selfish and pragmatic concerns motivate a country at war.
This sum could have paid the wages of a trireme crew for 15 months,[17][18] or bought 540 metric tons of wheat, enough to feed 2,160 men for a year.
The emissaries demanded that Melos join the Delian League and pay tribute to Athens or face destruction.
The Melians made a number of sorties, at one point capturing part of the Athenian line, but failed to break the siege.
[25] In 405 BC, by which time Athens was losing the war, the Spartan general Lysander expelled the Athenian colonists from Melos and restored the survivors of the siege to the island.
The Athenians do not wish to waste time arguing over the morality of the situation, because in practice might makes right—or, in their own words, "the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must".
The Melians argue that an invasion will alarm the other neutral Greek states, who will become hostile to Athens for fear of being invaded themselves.
The Athenians counter that the other Greek states on the mainland are unlikely to act this way, because they are free and independent and thus loath to take up arms against Athens.
What worries Athens is potential rebellions in its empire from disgruntled peoples they have already conquered, including islands that would threaten its dominance of the seas.
The Athenians advise the Melians to swallow their pride because they are not facing a fair fight and defeat will mean annihilation.
The Athenians counter that the Melians should not indulge in hope when their odds of winning are so evidently faint, and the consequences of defeat so terrible.
The Athenians counter that the Spartans don't have enough at stake in Melos to risk an intervention, noting that Athens has the stronger navy.
Thucydides explained that the purpose of conquering Melos was to demonstrate the strength and sternness of Athens so as to discourage its island territories from rebelling.
Just a few years after the conquest of Melos, Athens suffered a devastating defeat in a military expedition to Sicily, after which rebellions happened throughout the empire.
[1] The islands of the Aegean Sea provided valuable tax revenue for Athens, but what was probably more vital was control of their ports.
[47][48] In March 415 BC, the Athenian playwright Euripides premiered a play called The Trojan Women, which explores the suffering of the inhabitants of a conquered city.
A historical speech falsely attributed to the Athenian orator Andocides claims that the statesman Alcibiades advocated the enslavement of the Melian survivors before the government of Athens.
