Mytilenean Debate
[1] In the immediate aftermath of the revolt, the Athenians had decided to execute all Mytilenean men and enslave the women and children, but gathered the next day to reconsider.
Thucydides reports the revolt and the resultant debate in book three of his History of the Peloponnesian War, and the opposing viewpoints concerning the warranted retributive justice are reflected in two speeches given by prominent Athenians.
The events and speeches serve as an opportunity to explore the political and ideological impact of the war, and provide reflections on democracy and imperial policy.
Mytilene had joined in alliance with Athens as a member of the Delian League, which began as a voluntary coalition of Greek city-states against Persia, during the Greco-Persian Wars.
[4] The Mytileneans took advantage of the hostility between Sparta and Athens as the Pelopponesian War broke out to seek assistance from the Spartans once more in resisting Athenian rule.
According to the informants who supplied the Athenians with intelligence concerning preparations for the revolt, the Mytilenean oligarchs sought to forcibly unify the five city-states of Lesbos under their sovereign leadership.
[10] The Athenians responded to the news by sending an embassy to persuade the Mytileneans to give up their preparations, and when this effort failed, they sent a fleet of ships to the island of Lesbos.
[14] In Olympia, the Mytileneans asked the Spartans for direct help in Mytilene, but also for an invasion of Attica, pointing out that since Athens had recently been devastated by a plague it would have financial difficulties fighting on two fronts.
He assured the Mytileneans that the Peloponnesians planned to invade Attica, in order to distract the Athenians from attacking a fleet of forty ships sent by the Spartans.
[15] As promised, Attica was invaded, but the Peloponnesians were forced to retreat due to lack of provisions,[16] and the fleet sent to Mytilene took too long on its journey.
[17] Salaethus gave up hope that the fleet would arrive and armed the Mytilenean people in a final effort to launch a defensive attack against the Athenians.
The Athenians were furious that the Mytileneans, who had enjoyed the privilege of non-tributary status, had not only revolted against their allies but sought the support from the Peloponnesian enemies.
It was within the context of this reactionary anger that the Assembly that same day voted to sentence all of the male Mytilenean citizens to death, while the women and children would be sold into slavery.
[29] His speech concludes by urging the Athenians to channel their initial anger towards the Mytileneans in order to pay them back for their malicious actions and intentions.
The structure of his speech responded to that of Cleon, as Diodotus began by arguing that "the two things most opposed to good counsel are haste and passion," and defended the process of debating important questions.
[35] With the argument that rebellion is impossible to prevent, even with the death penalty, Diodotus rejected Cleon's appeal to set a precedent with the punishment of the Mytileneans.
[40] The debate as recorded by Thucydides provides important insight into Athenian democracy and imperial policy, and reflections upon their development and role in the Peloponnesian War.
These critiques also provide an opportunity for Diodotus to defend the centrality of rhetoric and sophist discourse within the Athenian Assembly and elevate the importance of orators as political figures.
[41] This imperial policy would develop after the death of Pericles with Cleon, and the more aggressive and offensive approach that he would take is reflected in his argument for punishing all of the people of Mytilene.
