would make them successful in his goal of convincing them that now, was the time to go to war. A close examination of Thucydides historical account of the war clearly shows that Pericles had other options besides war that may have met his political aims, such as revoking the Megara Decree. Many would argue that Pericles call to war was for the purpose of distracting the state from other political and personal issues. Whether the purpose of the speeches was for personal reasons or their assessments were in support of developing strategy is a question for a different debate and will not be part of this argument. This essay will only examine the facts of the speeches, historical interpretations of the assessments and relate them to the historical events as documented in Thucydides, The Landmark Thucydides.
             Clausewitz in describing the importance of the nature of the war stated, "The first, the supreme, the most far-reaching act of judgment that the statesman and commander have to make is to establish by that test the kind of war on which they are embarking; neither mistake it for, nor trying to turn it into, something that is alien to its nature. This is the first of all strategic questions and most comprehensive..." (Clausewitz, On War, pp. 88-89). If the process of net assessment is to help in understanding the nature of the war, it only makes sense that I start the argument by showing that Archidamus had a better understanding of the nature of the war, as described by Clausewitz, than Pericles.
             We begin with a brief description and interpretation of the assessment Archidamus put forth to the assembly in 432 BC. Archidamus was well aware of the strengths of the opposing state and the challenges that these strengths imposed on his own state. Archidamus stated that Athens had a superior navy, was well defended and that the city of Athens was impenetrable by hoplites and ground forces. Archidamus understood that there were...