The Melian Dialogue

“The Melian Dialogue” occurs within the context of an expanding Athenian empire, raising questions about how an imperial power exercises its will and whether it is justified in doing so.

Imperialism is a stance in international relations wherein one power imposes its will on foreign communities for economic, military, and political advantage. Multiple states can pursue this policy simultaneously, with the goal of achieving hegemony, or uncontested leadership of a given sphere of influence. The Peloponnesian War was exactly this: a contest between Athens and Sparta for the hegemony of the Greek world. “The Melian Dialogue” as an episode is emblematic imperialist expansion in pursuit of hegemony, wherein a dominant power seeks to subjugate a weaker one in pursuit of its goals.

The clearest example of hegemony in the ancient world came with the Pax Romana, or “Roman peace,” a 200-year period in which the Roman Empire controlled much of Europe and the Middle East. Imperialism as we commonly think of it reached its height in conjunction with colonialism, with European empires expanding globally, projecting their influence, opening markets, and founding outposts on every inhabited continent. Since the mid-20th century, many formerly colonized nations have won political independence, and thus modern imperialism is often thought of in primarily economic, diplomatic, and cultural terms and carries a strongly pejorative