Citizens of Athens, my name is Lithicles of Scambonidae, and I come to you, the Assembly, with an urgent matter. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, has instilled in me the words to convince you, great men of Athens, to help this cause. Persia, one of Athens' neighbors, is in the midst of a war of succession. Darius II, the king of Persia, died just a year before this day. Succession to the throne would follow his eldest son, Artaxerxes II, but there is a flaw in this political progression. Before King Darius II of Persia was declared dead by the god Thanatos, he had appointed his youngest son, Cyrus, commander of an army in Ionia. Now, great men of Athens, does this amount to naming his son Cyrus the true successor to the Persian crown? As Cyrus took command of the army in Ionia, he extended his military hand to many Greek hoplites, who served as mercenaries in Anatolia as well as Ionia. Artaxerxes became furious and captured Cyrus. Their mother intervened and stopped all senseless violence between the heirs to the Persian throne. (Anabasis, Book I, Part I) This, however, triggered the current state of unrest in Persia. Cyrus now openly declared his elder brother's deposition and with this Persia was plunged into internal war following the death of their king. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay I hope that you, great men of Athens, and this House will heed my appeal. Let us seek an alliance between these two opposing parties. Both men hold enough wealth to quickly revive our struggling city. The walls of Athens symbolize our strength as a nation. (The Threshold of Democracy) After the reign of the Thirty, our walls collapsed under their domination. I, one of the leaders of the projects to build these walls, understand this ideology more than any other. These walls were built by me, my father and his father. And will the gods give me more sons to contribute to the power and stability of these walls and of Athens. As proud men of Athens, it is difficult to admit that we are vulnerable when the physical strength of our city has been undermined. But as proud men of Athens, we have within us the strength to fight to make our city great again. The two men fighting for the crown are in a vulnerable position that Athens can help. Yes, we have a financial need that they can help us with, but they are not aware of these last thirteen months and our difficulties, as they have had difficulties themselves. Let's use this to our advantage. They see Athens only as a friend of the West who seeks to gain in diplomacy. And as two young men fighting for their right to rule, they quickly need alliances. They will be eager to have friends by their side. But what does Athens have to offer, you ask? As I said previously, Cyrus' military hand extended to some Greek hoplites serving as mercenaries in Anatolia and Ionia. These men, like all Greeks, served well. It is ingrained in our blood to work harder than any other man, physically and mentally. Cyrus saw this. If we try to invite his hospital funds into our economy, we could offer more of our men to his service. Men in power need numbers to support them and Cyrus, of all men, understands this. Artaxerxes II, as the eldest son of King Darius II, was trained in the art of being king. His advisors taught him diplomacy from a young age to prepare him for his difficult times. If the.