Being a democracy we often think of Athens as the good guys of ancient Greece. And in some ways they were - if such a label can be applied to a two and a half thousand year old civilization. But in other ways they were absolutely evil. Such as when they decided that their voluntary organization to help defend Greece now had mandatory membership, and defiance meant total destruction. This is the story of the Siege of Melos and the Melian Dialogue.

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Sources

https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/readings/thucydides8.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Melos

Image: By ZDE - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abandoned_sulfur_mines,_Milos,_153059.jpg

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