Introduction. In this further extract from Thucydides' great work, Sabidius has translated excerpts from the speeches made during the debate in the Athenian assembly about the fate of Mytilene, a city on the island of Lesbos which had rebelled against the Athenian Empire in 428 B.C. Since Mytilene was a long-standing and privileged member of that empire, the Athenians were shaken and angry at this disloyalty, especially since they were now engaged in a life-and-death struggle with Sparta (the Peloponnesian War 431-404 B.C.). The Athenians subjected Mytilene to a...