Athens counseled Sparta to use caution and care, to find arbitration, to find a way to mitigate the circumstances prior to giving into the fear paradigm, and resultant war.

Make your decision with the slow deliberate care due to important matters, and don't bring trouble on yourselves by giving in to other people's opinions and complaints. Before you go to war, you must realize how unpredictable war is. The longer it lasts, the more it is likely to turn on chance. The odds of disaster are the same for both sides, and no one can see where the dangers lie…. So, while it is still possible for both sides to use good judgment, we ask you not to dissolve the treaty or breathe your oaths, but to submit our differences to arbitration according to the agreement. If not, the Gods who heard the oaths are our witnesses, and once you...
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