Citizens of Athens, my name is Lithicles of Scambonidae and I come to you, 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, king of Persia, died just the year before this day. The succession to the throne would pass to his eldest son, Artaxerxes II, but there is a rift in this political progression. Before King Darius II of Persia was declared dead by the god Thanatos, he had appointed his younger son, Cyrus, commander of an army in Ionia. Now, great men of Athens, does this sound like naming his son Cyrus the true successor to the Persian crown? As Cyrus assumed command of the army in Ionia, he extended his military hand to many Greek hoplites, who served as mercenaries in Anatolia and Ionia. Artaxerxes became angry and captured Cyrus. Their mother intervened and stopped any senseless violence between the heirs to the Persian throne. (Anabasis, Book I, Part I) This, however, triggered Persia's current state of turmoil. Cyrus now openly declared the deposition of his older brother and with this Persia was thrown into an internal war after the death of its king. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on the topic "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get an original essay. I trust that you, great men of Athens, and this Assembly will heed my appeal. We seek an alliance between these two opposing parties. Both men possess enough wealth to quickly revive our ailing city. The walls of Athens represent our strength as a nation. (The Threshold of Democracy) After the reign of the Thirty, our walls collapsed under their rule. 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 the gods will give me more children to contribute to the power and stability of these walls and of Athens. As we are proud men of Athens, it is difficult to admit that we are vulnerable as the physical strength of our city has been broken down. But as proud men of Athens, we have within ourselves the strength to fight to make our city great again. The two men fighting for the crown are in a position of vulnerability that Athens can witness. Yes, we have financial needs so they can help us, but they are not aware of these last thirteen months and our difficulties because they have had difficulties too. Let's use it to our advantage. They only see Athens as a friend of the West trying to achieve diplomacy. And as two young men fight for their birthright to rule, they need alliances quickly. They will rush to have friends on their side. But what does Athens have to offer, you ask? As I stated earlier, Cyrus' military hand extended to some Greek hoplites serving as mercenaries in Anatolia and Ionia. These men, like all Greek men, served well. It is ingrained in our blood to work harder than any other man, physically and mentally. Cyrus saw it. If we attempted to invite its hospitable funds into our economy, we could offer more men to its service. Men in power need numbers to back them up, and Cyrus, of all men, understands this. Artaxerxes II, as the eldest son of King Darius II, was educated in the art of being king. His advisors taught him diplomacy from childhood in preparation for his time of need. While soldiers are needed to achieve victory against his younger brother, Artaxerxes II sees more. Artaxerxes.