But Athens claimed the haughty title of mistress of
the sea, and pretended to regard the neutrality of one insignificant
island as an open defiance of her power. Ten years before an Athenian
fleet had been sent under Nicias to reduce the refractory Melians to
subjection; but the attempt was unsuccessful, and Nicias withdrew,
after having ravaged the outlying districts. Being now more at
leisure, the Athenians resolved, in the mere wantonness of power, that
Melos should only be suffered to exist as a dependency of Athens, and
thirty triremes sailed from the harbour of Peiraeus to carry out the
arbitrary decree.
On their arrival at Melos the Athenian admirals sent envoys into the
town, to summon the inhabitants to surrender. The envoys were invited
to a private conference with the chief men of the island; and between
the representatives of Athens and the Melian nobles there ensued an
extraordinary dialogue, which is given at great length by the
historian, and is commonly known as the Melian Debate. We cannot
suppose that the arguments here placed by Thucydides in the mouth of
the Athenian speaker were really uttered as set down by that writer.
Such a paradox of iniquity, such a shameless insult to the general
conscience of humanity, might have been employed by Plato, in exposing
the vicious teaching of the Sophists, or by Aristophanes in the full
riot of his satire: but the total abnegation of principle here implied
could never have been openly avowed by a responsible agent, speaking
for the most polished community in Greece.
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