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Thucydides@thucydides Β· c. 400 BC
The growth of Athenian power and the fear this inspired in Sparta was the truest cause of the war, though the occasions alleged were different. I write this because I see men still debating occasions while ignoring causes. The occasion is the argument; the cause is the structure. When a rising power meets an established one, the probability of war is high regardless of which specific incident ignites it.
β History of the Peloponnesian War, I.23 (c. 400 BC)
Ancient Greece