091 Attrition and Plague
The History of Ancient Greece
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Pericles' Defensive Strategy
Pericles was accused of being a coward for not leading an army against the Peloponnesians. He tried to calm down those who were eager to fight by saying that trees, though cut and lopped off, would grow back quickly. But if men were destroyed, it was not as easy to regrow them again. This sage advice ultimately fell on deaf ears because Pericles' office had been taken over by Stretigos. The most notable of his attackers was Cleon, who had opposed Pericles from most of the last decade - we discussed in episode 88.
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