They had
taken upon themselves the whole burden of a great public duty, and
standing alone, without moral support from their countrymen, they had
gradually fallen away from the pure and lofty virtues of their
ancestors. This decay of public morality proceeds with rapid strides
in the years which follow, and we shall presently hear the doctrine
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.
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