Victor Guan 4/25/14

630 SocialStudies
Athenian/Spartan Speech
I am glad to see all the Assembly has joined together for this debate. I am here today to
discuss my idea of not going to war with Sparta.
I am aware of what happened in 462 B.C., but it was probably a mistake. The Spartans
probably thought we were enemies or at least city-state they were unfamiliar of, a common
mistake. It is also foolish for us to bring war to innocent people and bring harm to the poor.
I have heard the other side of this and I do believe there are problems to my plan. A
possible concern is that the Spartans might attack us instead of us attacking them. Another
possible concern is that Spartans might change our city into an oligarchy or at least change the
poor into slaves. However these concerns are just minor and arent likely to happen at all. The
concern of Spartans attacking us back is slim. It wouldn't make sense for a lion to attack a tiger
would it?! Though we different from the Spartans, we are still friendly and we should maintain
our friendship toward them instead of raiding them. Also the Spartans wouldnt attack us at all;
they are still allies with us and wont have opinions of attacking us. Even if they did our navy
and our alliances would help we and they would be defeated.
We shouldnt go to war because it would hurt many civilians. Many would die because of
this, innocent lives would be wasted. Spartans arent expecting war and the innocent would be
killed, proving this is non-sense. Some of these people may agree will our ways, so if we kill
them it wouldnt change anything. In addition, it might even make matters worse. Farmers might
lose their crops and could die as well. Our food supply would decline and we would probably
have to wait without a surpluss of food. This proves that it wouldn't be worth to fight Spartans in
the first place.
Also, causing this war is pointless. The Spartans might have dishonored us in 462 B.C.,
but we shouldnt even get angry just because of that. We are Athenians; we should use our wits,
not our strengths. We should be friendly and maintain peace instead of rushing to war like idiots.
We shouldnt be mad at Spartans just for that. Sure, they may have dishonored us, but they dont
deserve to be killed just because of that.There is no cause of major harm done by the Spartans.
Have they tricked us? Have they hurt one of us? Have they even killed one of us?!
If we went to war, even with help, Athenians probably wouldnt defeat Spartans. We are
a very powerful group, but Spartans are super soldiers! They train all their lives in camps and
they would quickly overpower us. Even with the navy at hand to support, many lives would be
mercilessly destroyed. All who died in the war would bring grief, not to mention low chance of
Athenians being the victor. Let us not forget that the Spartans have trained to be soliders since
the age of 7.
I believe that going to war with the Spartans is foolish because we are going to lose
many lives for no reason and being angry at them is ignorance! If you were angry at the Spartans
in 462 B.C. you can be mad. If you hate the Spartans, you can hate. If you were displeased with
the Spartan way you can have those feelings. But my opinions are to solve this peacefully and
not rushing into conclusions that the Spartans are our enimies. As a Athenian believe we should
use your wits, dont be ignorant to attack. So I shall allow you all to decide your choices and I
hope it is for the greater good of our lives.