99.
The causes which led to the defections of the allies were of different kinds, the
principal1 being their neglect to pay the tribute or to furnish ships, and, in some cases,
failure of military service.
For the Athenians were exacting
and oppressive, using coercive measures towards men who
were neither willing nor accustomed to work hard.
[2]
And for various reasons they soon began to prove less agreeable leaders than at first.
They no longer fought upon an equality with the rest of the confederates,
and they had
no difficulty in reducing them when they revolted.
[3]
Now the allies brought all this upon themselves;
for the majority of them disliked
military service and absence from home, and so they agreed to contribute their share of
the expense instead of ships.
Whereby the Athenian navy was proportionally increased,
while they themselves were
always untrained and unprepared for war when they revolted.
1 Most of the allies contribute money instead of ships. As they grow weaker the Athenians become more oppressive.
Thucydides translated into English; with introduction, marginal analysis, notes, and indices. Volume 1. Thucydides. Benjamin Jowett. translator. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1881.
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