Deeper causes of the war
The disputes over Athenian action against Megara and Potidaea reflected the larger
issues of power motivating the hostility between Athens and Sparta. The Spartan
leaders feared that the Athenians would use their superiority in long-distance
offensive weaponry—the naval forces of the Delian League—to
destroy Spartan control over the members of the Peloponnesian League. The majority
in the Athenian assembly, for their part, resented Spartan interference in their
freedom of action. For example,
Thucydides portrays Pericles as making the
following arguments in a speech1 to convince his fellow
male citizens to reject the Spartan demands even if that means war: “If we
do go to war, harbor no thought that you went to war over a trivial affair. For you
this trifling matter is the assurance and the proof of your determination. If you
yield to their demands, they will immediately confront you with some larger demand,
since they will think that you only gave way on the first point out of fear. But if
you stand firm, you will show them that they have to deal with you as equals ...
When our equals, without agreeing to arbitration of the matter under dispute, make
claims on us as neighbors and state those claims as commands, it would be no better
than slavery to give in to them, no matter how large or how small the claim may
be.”
