I don’t have a strong enough model of cultural identity to know how far to take the analogy, but overall I like the attempt. Keep in mind, though:Athens wasn’t actually peaceful, just better than most in use of allies, conquests, and trade to expand their empire. Athens did, in fact, surrender to Sparta.
Often, Wikipedia is insufficiently detailed to cite as a reference, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_War is pretty darned good. I’d forgotten that Athenian trade sanctions were a major factor in the war.
I don’t have a strong enough model of cultural identity to know how far to take the analogy, but overall I like the attempt. Keep in mind, though:Athens wasn’t actually peaceful, just better than most in use of allies, conquests, and trade to expand their empire. Athens did, in fact, surrender to Sparta.
Often, Wikipedia is insufficiently detailed to cite as a reference, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_War is pretty darned good. I’d forgotten that Athenian trade sanctions were a major factor in the war.