The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides - 3 - Justice and Human Nature
Book Three
Quote
"It happened then and will for ever continue to happen, as long as human nature remains the same... In peace and prosperous times both states and individuals observe a higher morality, when there is no forced descent into hardship: but war, which removes the comforts of daily life, runs a violent school and in most men brings out passions that reflect their condition."
Notes
Mytilene and other cities on Lesbos revolt from Athens. They send messengers to Sparta to explain why they are seceding from Athens and that they want to join Sparta. Sparta hears their case and accepts them in.
Things ultimately do not go well for Mytilene, however. Athens successfully takes back control and quickly decides to enact severe punishment on all the Mytilenaeans. But the next day they reconsider, believing that maybe their decision to punish Mytilene was too harsh and too rash. So they have a debate to discuss the issue.
The first speaker, Cleon, is mad that they're having this debate at all. Mytilene needs to be punished for what they did, or else what signal does that send to others? He says that "democracy is incapable of running an empire, and the present change of mind over Mytilene is a prime example." Instead of taking action on what needs to be done, they hold these debates and give fancy intellectuals the opportunity to "appear wiser than the laws" and fool people into their way of thinking.
Next is Diodotus who supports taking the time for the discussion. He says that "the two greatest impediments to good decision-making are haste and anger." He continues taking apart Cleon's argument and underlines the vital importance of discussion and debate. He says that most people who are against debate take that position because they know there's no good argument to support what they want. It's important to protect the decision-making process from corruption: "The good citizen should not seek to intimidate the opposition but to prove himself the more convincing speaker in fair debate."
As for the issue at hand, Diodotus says that to punish everyone in Mytilene for the sake of those who rebelled makes no sense, and would in fact only create more enemies and disloyalty towards the Athenians. Also the death penalty may not be as good a deterrent as people think. If the rebels know that if they fail they'll be killed anyway, they are more likely to keep fighting to the very end, as opposed to surrendering on more merciful terms. It's better overall, Diodotus says, to prevent rebellion by being fair with their allies, as opposed to ruling with strict force. The majority comes down in favour of Diodotus and they moderate the punishment against Mytilene.
Meanwhile, the city of Plataea, which has been under siege by the Spartans, is pushed to the brink and forced to surrender. Sparta gives the Plataeans the opportunity to speak in their defense before Sparta decides what to do with them. This is a bit awkward for the Plataeans, since they were only just fighting the Spartans, but they do their best. They say they acted justly in light of the circumstances they were in. They invoke the memory of the war with the Persians where they contributed to the Greek forces. And they warn the Spartans to be careful to consider what it will do to their reputation in Greece if they punish the Plataeans unjustly.
Thebes, whose attack on Plataea back in Book Two was one of the triggers that started the greater Peloponnesian War, speaks next. They say Plataea needs to be punished for their actions. And, similar to Cleon, they are suspicious of all these fancy speeches. They say, "Honourable actions need only a brief report," whereas "crimes have elaborate speeches draped over them as a veil." Sparta needs to show that they will not be swayed by fancy speeches, so that "people will be less inclined to seek fair words to clothe foul deeds."
In the end, Sparta doesn't seem to take either side much into consideration. They reason that they offered Plataea neutrality in the beginning, which they refused. So that's on them. Sparta proceeds to kill many Plataeans and destroy their city.
Fighting continues all throughout Greece, and the city of Corcyra breaks out in brutal civil war. It is a war of neighbours against neighbours and fathers against their sons. As the city puts those they consider traitors on trial, anyone with a grievance finds an excuse to kill their own personal enemies. "Death took every imaginable form," says Thucydides, "and, as happens at such times, anything went."
This civil war in Corcyra, Thucydides says, is only the first of many civil wars to break out all over Greece as a result of the war: "everywhere there were internal divisions such that the democratic leaders called in the Athenians and the oligarchs called in the Spartans. In peacetime they would have had neither the excuse nor the will to invite this intervention: but in time of war, when alliances were available to either party..., there were ready opportunities for revolutionaries to call in one side or the other."
All this, plus there are earthquakes, tidal waves, volcano eruptions, and more plague.
Key Takeaways
Are all these debates and discussions merely sophistry? Twice in this section there are people arguing that long, fancy speeches are nothing more than tools for manipulation and deceit. Sophists became famous for cynically creating their arguments for whichever side paid them more, and we see those accusations effectively being made here, too. Charisma and the ability to persuade can be hugely powerful, it's a necessary skill for any leader. But a persuasive argument isn't necessarily a true one.
Diodotus gives a strong defense for the need to discuss and debate. He says it's important to remove any perverse incentives that would drive people to lie for personal gain or otherwise corrupt the process. Even if someone is trying to use his/her speech to deceive others, the best defense against that is not to shut down the debate but to meet their argument with a still better one.
War is horrible and reveals the monsters within our human nature. The war in Greece strips away the veneer of civilized order. People commit horrific crimes "in pursuit of power driven by greed." And in the midst of the divisive fighting, "the citizens who remained neutral fell victim to both parties." Thucydides writes this damning summary: "With all life thrown into chaos at this time of crisis for the city, human nature triumphed over law: it had always been inclined to criminal breaking of the laws, but now it revelled in showing itself the slave of passion, a stronger force than justice, and the enemy of anything higher."
People might dispute if passion is "a greater force than justice," but the reports of what happened here seem enough to at least provoke the argument. And it shows just how much is at stake when humans go to war.