Mytilenian debate
The Mytilenian debate in the Athens Assembly concerned reprisals against the city-state of Mytilene , which had unsuccessfully tried to end Athenian hegemony during the Peloponnesian War . The debate took place in 427 BC. Instead of; Thucydides reports on this in book three of his History of the Peloponnesian War and uses the events and speeches as an opportunity to reflect and present his views on the political and ideological effects of the war on the parties involved.
Reasons for the revolt
Mytilene was one of the last non-tributary members of the Attic League who decided to man their own warships and send subjects to fight alongside the Athenian fleet. Mytilene feared a tributary democracy and did not want to be reduced to the status of other Athenian allies. In addition, Mytilene differed from most of its allies because it was ruled by an oligarchy . Mytilene had considered ending the alliance with Athens, but Sparta had declined her call for an alliance, which would have been essential. However, this rejection came before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War , which presented an opportunity for the Mytilenians, who in 428 BC. Sent an envoy to Olympia to seek help from the Peloponnesians. The Mytileans asked for direct help in Mytilene, but also with an invasion of Attica , and indicated that, having recently been ravaged by a plague, Athens would have financial difficulties fighting on two fronts.
Thucydides represents the Mytilenian ambassadors in Olympia on the grounds that Athens exploited the Attic League and used it as a mechanism for "enslavement" and exploitation of other Greeks, so that it was only a matter of time before they targeted Mytilenes' wealthy and autonomous island of Lesbos and forced them into their system of oppression; and that the Mytilenians could not wait and tear themselves away preventively before Athens forced their will on them. The Peloponnesian Federation agreed to help Mytilene.
The Mytilean government endeavored under their leadership to unify the five city-states of Lesbos. Attic policy was aimed at breaking up larger units within the Confederation and would not support any improvement in Mytilenian power.
The Mytilenian Revolt
The Mytilenians prepared for the uprising by filling their ports, erecting fortifications, building additional warships , and importing additional grain. The preparations attracted attention and informants reported details to Athens. Information came from various sources. Three of the other states on the island, Antissa , Eresus, and Pyrrha, had oligarchic governments. Methymna, however, had a democracy and did not support the uprising or the unification of Lesbos. Some Mytilenians, known as Proxenoi, also reported information to Athens. Proxenoi were a small faction of political opponents whose temperaments were compatible with Athenian democracy. Athens selected these officials to strengthen their position internally and to prepare for the eventual elimination of the oligarchies .
The Athenians responded to the news by attempting to intercept the Peloponnesian aid and sending a fleet led by Paches to Lesbos. Upon arrival, Athens issued an ultimatum ordering the Mytilenians to surrender and tear down their fortifications, but they refused and the uprising ensued. The Mytilenians, however, were forced to revolt before they were militarily ready to surrender Athens because the Proxenoi made them aware of Mytilenes' plans. As a result, the Mytilenians lost quickly and had to use bargaining tactics to gamble for time. To gain more time for Sparta, they called for an armistice and sent representatives to Athens to negotiate. The Mytilenian representatives demanded the removal of the Athenian fleet, which the Athenians immediately denied, and the fighting continued. With the exception of Methymna , all of Lesbos took arms against Athens, but Lesbos lost ground as more Athenian troops arrived. Mytilene was surrounded by Athenian fortifications and isolated from land and sea.
Eventually the Spartan Salaethus came and raised morale by assuring the Mytilenians that the Peloponnesians would invade Attica and promising to provide them with a fleet in the spring. Attica was attacked as promised, but it did little to help the captured islanders as the fleet never arrived and the food supplies were exhausted. The final effort was made when Salaethus provided the demos with hoplite poor. However, after the lower class was given guns, they refused to follow instructions and asked the oligarchs to hand over the rest of the food or they would surrender. The oligarchs could not meet the demand of the demos because there was no more food. After realizing the hopelessness of the situation, the oligarchs and the demos began joint negotiations with Athens.
In all respects the negotiating conditions in Athens were not much better than unconditional surrender , and the fate of the Mytilenian people rested on the decision of the Athenian people. The Mytilenians were only given the right to send a delegation to Athens to ask for sympathy. This was backed up by Paches' guarantee that no punitive action would be taken until the Athenians reached a conclusion.
The Mytilenian Debate
When the Mytilenians arrived in Athens, Salaethus was immediately executed and the assembly met to assess the situation and vote on the punitive measures that would be taken. The Athens assembly, fearful of another uprising, hastily sentenced all male citizens of Mytilene to death while the women and children were being sold into slavery. According to Thucydides , after the decision, a trireme was sent to Mytilene to carry out the orders, and the Athenians, angry at the premeditated rebellion, slaughtered all the prisoners, who were around a thousand.
The next day, the Athenians realized the unprecedented brutality of their actions and some hesitated in making a hasty decision to kill and enslave the citizens of Mytilene. A second debate, which Thucydides referred to as the "Mytilenian Debate", was held to reconsider the course of action that should be taken. The debate was shaped by different opinions, the first of which was presented by Cleon of Athens. Cleon, a prominent member of Athenian society, spoke out in favor of defending the previous decision against doubts, claiming that the guilty received the punishment he deserved. Cleon's reputation was violent and ruthless. Indeed, Thucydides describes him as "the most violent man in Athens".
Cleon first questioned the value of a democracy: “Personally, I have had enough opportunities to notice that a democracy is incapable of governing others, and I am all the more convinced of it when I see you now yours Mytilenians change minds. "He also implied that the Athenians were exhausted from a sophistic oratorio and questioned the value of free speech. He described the Athenians as" victims of their own joy in listening and more like an audience at their feet of a professional lecturer sits like a parliament debating state affairs. ”He ends his speech by urging the population not to“ be traitors to themselves. ”
After Cleon's speech, Diodot spoke in defense of his previous opposition to the death sentence. He stated that "haste and anger ... are the two greatest obstacles to wise advice ..." Diodot argued that the problem was not a question of Mytilenes' fault and whether Athens should seek vengeance; Rather, it was about what is in Athens' best interests. Relying on one of Cleon's main arguments for his position, Diodot asked whether the death penalty was really a means of deterring revolt or just the opposite. In conclusion, he asked the Athenians to fundamentally question what is right and fair and to use moderation rather than aggressive punishment. Instead, he urged the Athenians to spare the Mytilenians in order to form an alliance.
After Diodotus' speech, the congregation rewrote its votes. Diodotus' rational argument prevailed and led the congregation not to massacre the Mytilenians. The Athenians, initially passionate about the total annihilation of the Mytilenians, hesitated. As a result, the originally unanimous votes were narrowly cast in favor of Diodotus.
Results of the debate
Ultimately, the Athenians were influenced by Diodotos ' reasoning and decided to spare the lives of the Mytilenians and only execute the leaders of the revolt: Another trireme, which was doubly manned overnight, was dispatched immediately and followed just in time in a dramatic scene Lesvos to prevent the previous decisions from being carried out. The Mytilene oligarchy was removed and democracy installed. The Athenians destroyed the city walls and divided most of the lesbian land that was distributed to the Athenians.
Thucydides' treatment of events highlights some of the relative merits of oligarchy and democracy as perceived at the time. He raises questions about Athens' treatment of its allies in the League . James Boyd White suggests that power was already corrupting the Athenians, even though they still had the capacity for pity and compassion. This is in contrast to the later Melian Dialogue, in which Athens killed all men and sold the women and children into slavery. Alternatively, turning to Diodotus' rational interest in Cleon's call for just vengeance could mark the beginning of the decline in appeals to justice and the decline of the culture of argument in Athens .
See also
literature
- Warner, Rex . The Peloponnesian War (Penguin Books, 1972).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ronald P. Legon, “Megara and Mytilene,” Phoenix 22, no. 3 (Autumn 1968): 201.
- ↑ The Mytilenian Debate and Us .
- ^ Legon, 201.
- ^ Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War . Trans. Rex Warner (New York: Penguin Group, 1972), 212-222.
- ^ DM Lewis, ed., The Cambridge Ancient History (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1970), 402-406.
- ^ Legon, 201.
- ^ Lewis, 402.
- ↑ Thucyd., 194.
- ^ Legon, 203
- ^ Legon, 203.
- ↑ TJ Quinn, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 20, No. 4 (3rd Qtr., 1971), pp. 405-417.
- ^ Legon, 204.
- ↑ Thucyd. 195.
- ↑ a b c Legon, 205.
- ↑ Thucyd., 207.
- ↑ Thucyd., 208.
- ^ Legon, 207.
- ↑ Thucyd., 212-222.
- ↑ Thucydides, 3.36.
- ↑ a b Thucyd., 214.
- ↑ Thucydides, 3.42.1
- ^ Legon, 222.
- ↑ James Boyd White, When Words Lose Their Meaning