![]() The Mytilenians asked for direct help in Mytilene, but also for an invasion of Attica, pointing out that since Athens had recently been devastated by a plague it would have financial difficulties fighting on two fronts. However, this rejection had been prior to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, which created an opportunity for the Mytilenians, who sent an envoy to Olympia in 428 BC to seek assistance from the Peloponnesians. Mytilene had contemplated ending its alliance with Athens, but Sparta had rejected its appeal for an alliance to enable this. In addition, Mytilene was different from most allies because it was ruled by an oligarchy. Mytilene feared tributary democracy and did not want to be reduced to the status of other Athenian allies. Mytilene was one of the last non-tributary members of the Delian League which chose to man their own warships and send subjects to fight alongside the Athenian fleet. ![]() The Debate occurred in 427 BC Thucydides reports it in book three of his History of the Peloponnesian War, and uses the events and the speeches as a major opportunity to reflect and to offer his views on the political and ideological impact of the war on the parties involved. The Mytilenean Debate (also spelled "Mytilenaean Debate") was the Athenian Assembly concerning reprisals against the city-state of Mytilene, which had attempted unsuccessfully to shake off Athenian hegemony during the Peloponnesian War. ![]()
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