Athenian morality during the Peloponnesian War relied on an element of evidence where, as the position of Athens strengthened, speakers at the Ekklesia were able to easily convince their audience to coerce and punish other peoples by appealing to Athenian power and inherent righteousness. As the power of the Athenians grew, it became harder to argue the righteousness of their fighting because they grew from a city state forced to expand in order to defend itself into a state which was mostly growing out of desire. The imperial pleonexia of the Athenians stood in contrast to the justness they saw in themselves and thus they had to diminish the role of morality in their decision-making to allow for the expansion of their empire.
Athenians believed themselves to be the most remarkable people, which was only affirmed in their eyes due to the victories in the Persian Wars, specifically at Marathon and Salamis. As Athenian envoys in Sparta before the start of the war said, “we produced most of the ships, we provided the most intelligent of the generals, and we displayed the most unflinching courage” (Thuc.
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However, as the tides turned in Sicily, the security of the Athenian Empire, which seemed so certain before, was now dwindling. Just prior to this, but after the first battle of Syracuse, where the Athenians likely realized they may lose in Sicily, Euphemus, a representative from Athens spoke at the Camarinan Debate. A comment he makes to the Syracusans is as follows, “We therefore deserve the empire we have, partly because we supplied to the cause of Hellas the largest fleet and a courage that never looked back.” (Thuc. Hist. 6.83). Euphemus is forced to revert to this form of argument because Athens has been put on the defensive and in that position, the moral argument could be more