"As you all know, eight years ago, the Persian Empire set sail and left a trail of destruction in its wake. Our friend, Eritrea was razed and its people enslaved. They set sail for Athens and landed at Marathon. We stopped them there, 40 kilometres away from Athens. I was among the ten generals to have the honour of serving under Miltiades. The Persians then attempted to sail around and take Athens and we had to march all the way back and prevent their landing. Although we succeeded, it may have been too late. We may have been attacked and conquered. Persian naval supremacy gave them this freedom to move wherever they liked. If we want to prevent another invasion, we need an effective navy to stop them before they come close to our shores. We have discovered new silver deposits. We should use this money to build a fleet of two hundred new triremes." I inform the assembly of the best way to safeguard the future of Athens.
One man close to me is leaning on a marble column. His chiton (tunic) is more decorated than mine, as he is of a higher class. He is a member of the aristocracy and my arch-rival. His name is Aristides. He likes to promote himself as virtuous, honest and incorruptible. We all know that isn't the case, so I haven't a clue why he is still pretending. His friends and followers call him 'the just' that's just a load of rubbish, if you ask me. When I mention investing the money in something other than our pockets, his ears perk up and he suddenly stands up straight, removing his weight from the column.
"My comrade has much to gain from funding the construction of a new fleet," he accuses, "he is being paid by the ship builders to promote their business."
"Really now?" I reply, "It seems like an awful lot of fuss for a few drachmes, doesn't it? Now, how would you propose we spend the money?"
A drachma is a coin of silver with a mass of around 4.3 grammes. There are six obols in a drachma. Drachmes is the plural of drachma.
He folded his arms defensively, "Let the silver be distributed to all Athenian citizens. It may give them some trade leverage when dealing with other city-states."
Time to prove my point and destroy his accusation, "Wouldn't it be easier and indeed more profitable for me to keep the money? It appears you are greedy, not wanting to forfeit a few obols from your pocket. Look, would you rather a less money and freedom or more money that you will have to pay in tax to the Persians - if you survive?"
At this stage, the crowd in the assembly cheered me on.
Aristides was forced to abandon that argument in favour of another. "If the Persians come back, our hoplites will be more than enough to fight them off, there is no need for funding a navy. It's simply too expensive and pointless."
"Not quite. You see, our hoplites can only stop them once they've landed if they cannot be surrounded. In most cases, this is not the case. If not for the mountains, we would have lost at Marathon, we would have been surrounded and cut down. With a navy, however, we can prevent the Persians from even coming close to our shores. We can stop them from landing troops behind us." I argue. He seems finished.
Suddenly, someone calls out from the crowd, "This is nonsense, the Persians will never return, not after the humiliation they suffered last time. You are saying that the Persians, who were defeated and walked back with their tales between their legs would come back only to suffer another defeat? I have no time for this nonsense." With that, he stormed out and so did the large crowd.
Well, that's one opportunity gone. Aristides smirks at me with his arms folded. He walks off with a confident stride. The future of Athens, of the world is in danger. It can be snuffed out by the returning Persians. They will return with a vengeance. Though I can't be sure whether these people really believe the Persians will never come back, or just think it so hopeless when they do that they may as well just give up fighting.
But what if they don't think it's about the Persians? What if there is someone else they are worried about? Who does a Greek hate more than a Persian? The answer, of course, is another Greek. Most people don't fear Persians, but they fear Spartans. Mind you, Sparta is a land power, an army would be pointless. Corinth is also a major naval power whom we hate, perhaps they would appreciate building up against them. No, it has to be someone with whom we are already at war.
I think I my know just the city-state we need. But first, I can't let Aristides stand in my way any longer. Something has to be done about it.