I’m currently reading Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War. I want to quote an excerpt: it’s the scene where the Athenians and Corinthians, two enemies, ask the Spartans for an alliance. So, after hearing both sides, the Spartans had to decide with whom they would enter an alliance. That means whichever one they decide on, the other side would be their enemy. The Spartans gathered for a consultation, and here’s an excerpt from the speech of the Spartan King Archidamus.

“Let no one think that it is cowardice for so many cities not to immediately attack one city. The Athenians also have many allies who even pay tribute. War is waged less with weapons and more with money, which must be spent to make the war effort more effective, especially when a land power is fighting against a naval power.

[…]

If some try to push us into dangerous adventures against our will with praises, we are not swayed by their pleasant words, and if others try to provoke us by accusing us, we do not get angry and do not change our minds. We owe our military virtue and political prudence to our rule of law, and this, because our sense of honor is tightly attached to our prudence, and our bravery to our sense of shame. We have good order because our upbringing is not so refined as to lead us to disregard the laws.”

~History, The Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides~

PS I write this note after I initially posted that prompt. First, I didn’t want to comment further because I wanted people to interpret and draw conclusions. However, I only want to add that thousands of years have passed, and situations keep repeating. We humans blindly and proudly believe in the laws we made ourselves, sure that they won’t be broken. But we witness it’s we, again and again, who break these laws, bringing destruction over humanity.

By the way, the Peloponnesian War, a war between Sparta and Athens, lasted 27 years. It began in 431 BC and ended in 404 BC. Thucydides actively participated in this war and chronicled it.