I am the person who can offer you the first-hand authentic information about the significant event in the history of Greece, the Peloponnesian War. In fact, I am the messenger whose mission is to inform, warn, and cast light on the treachery of the Demos of Greece. My mission is to awaken the people of Greece and to inspire them on a military campaign. We must act promptly as the colony of Mytilene in the Aegean Sea has a mean plan to start a revolt from the Great Athenian Empire and to establish control over the whole island of Lesbos. I should state that this revolt is a very shocking, astonishing, and unexpected event, as Lesbos is “one of the two remaining … autonomous members of the empire, that is a member that provide[s] its own ships for the navy rather than being assessed in tribute money” (Pomeroy, 1999, 295).
I know that it is necessary to organize our fleet to put down the rebellion and to start out immediately not to waste our time. So, first of all, I make my way to the Athens, to the most powerful of all cities existing. I see the Athenian agora, it is “a large level space at the foot of the Acropolis on the road from the main city gate” (Pomeroy, 1999, 283). It is the place where the Demos of the Athens is gathered to make their decisions on the basis of democratic power of our state. Now I can see many buildings here, but the one is the most significant, it claims everyone’s attention, it is the Tholos that has got its name because of its round form. Thus, the Tholos is the temple of round form that is so important because is the place that houses the boule, the council of the Ahtenian citizens who rule the life of the city. The Tholos is the part of Boulerion where the boule resides, hence the name of the complex of buildings as you can guess. The boule is elected by Demos for the period of a year and they serve the Athenian people. They will pass the final decision as for the rioters and the Mytilenean revolt. I will inform them firs of all.
However, the people of Athens will be gathered on “the hillside of the Pnyx” (Pomeroy, 1999, 284). The hill is large enough, it will provide all citizen who have a right to vote with the place to listen the awful news. Everyone knows that in the Athens adult male citizens have a right to vote. This is called “ecclesia” or “ekklesia” – the assembly meeting of the Athenian citizens. Their votes are needed to start out the military campaign. Nothing can be deiced without the resolution of the Demos. However, the unanimous acclaim and permission to start out to Mytilene will be given.
As soon as the decision is made to summon our forces, the strategoi (plural from srtategos) will call up the warriors for military service and they will start out to Lesbos. The Athens is famous for its developed and strong fleet. This is why we will rely on our ships, first of all. Led by our generals, the strategoi, we will conquer the willful colony easily. The only precaution we should make is to make sure that the rebels will get no opportunity to call for support of our enemy, Sparta. It is necessary to make sure that there will be no sources of support from the enemy and we will establish peace and democracy on the island of Lesbos. However, those who are responsible for the revolt will pay for that with their mean lives.
Reference List
Pomeroy, Sarah B. 1999. Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. NY: Oxford University Press US.