Jonathan Julius Dobkin wrote:

>
>Huh?! Rome, maybe, but as anyone who knows anything about Athenian
>history could tell you, the exact opposite is true of ancient Athens.
>It was at the height of power, commanding an alliance (read: empire)
>far richer and more powerful than any before in Greek history, when it
>went to war with the second-greatest Greek alliance, headed by Sparta.
>It took a quarter century of the most devastating war Greece had ever
>seen before Sparta won in 404 BCE, putting an end for all time to
>Athens' power. Hardly a case where "very little outside force" was
>needed to topple it!

Point taken, I apologise for the excessive generalisation. Its always
getting me into trouble.

Bill Bartlett
Bracknell tas