The Melian War

According to Aquinas, in order to justify the just war, the war has to meet various principles of jus ad bellum.(Aquinas,p.240) In this paper, I will go through those principles and determine whether the war in The Melian Dialogue is just or not on the Melian’s side. Although some people may argue that the war in The Melian Dialogue meets various principles in the just war framework, I will introduce those arguments and rebut those arguments to justify that it was an unjust war.

The Melian Dialogue described a pre-contextual situation of a war between Athenians and Melians. The Athenian historian Thucydides depicted the negotiations between the emissaries from Athenians invaders and the leaders of Melos in “History of the Peloponnesian War”.
Considering that the Melians had a good relationship with Spartan, Athens wanted Melos not to remain neutral but to join the ally, but the Melians refused their proposal. (Thucydides,p.1) In the beginning, the Athenians asked about the Melians not opening the discussion to the public.(Thucydides,p.1) They also assumed that the Melians intentionally conceal the discussion to escape the conflict on the nation’s security.(Thucydides,p.1) The Melians answered that the Athenians brought an army with the emissaries, so it is impossible to have the discussion in that the Athenians came to the Melos to judge the Melian’s status.(Thucydides,p.1)

In the negotiation, they were not able to reach to an agreement.(Thucydides,p.5) The Athenians kept emphasizing the necessity of changing Melian’s status in the circumstances of imminent war with Spartan.(Thucydides,p.3) Moreover, the Athenians brought up the right of the strongest in the negotiations in order to persuade the Melos forcefully.(Thucydides,p.4) However, the Melos had a strong belief and hope in their god and Spartan.(Thucydides,p.3) Despite of the understanding of the power that the Athenians had, the Melos decided to fight against the Athenians and was defeated by the Athenians.(Thucydides,p.5) After all, the Athenians killed all Melian males and enslaved Melian females and children.(Thucydides,p.5)

Prior to my arguments, I would like to explain the principles of jus ad bellum, the criteria that determine the just and unjust war.
According to Aquinas, “Just cause”, meets when the enemy violates the rights of one’s people or community and “Right Intention” must purpose to promote goodness or avoid evilness.(Aquinas,p.241) Both principles focus on the justification in order to bring and accompany the just peace.(Aquinas,p.241) “The principle of Last Resort” suggested by Erasmus is that the good authority should start a war after considering all possible
actions.(Erasmus,p.234)

Melos had two choices: Surrender or War. The Melians believed that the surrender with withdrawing the neutral status was not the feasible choice because the Melians regarded the withdrawal of the neutrality as an attempt to harm the security of the empire.(Thucydides,p.3) Moreover, the Athenians threatened the Melians that they would invade and have a war unless the Melos abolishes the neutrality and becomes an ally with the Athens.(Thucydides,p.2) Therefore, the Melians decided to have a war as a means of the last resort to protect themselves. Considering the situations, it seems that the Melian’s decision meets “The Principle of Last Resort”. However, there are some aspects that the Melians misjudged in the situation. Firstly, the Melians eliminated the choice to surrender without the alternative choice even though they knew that they will lose in the war. For instance, they described that they won’t be able to win with their troops unless the god or Spartan helps. Having been aware of consequences, they decided to fight against the Athenians. Erasmus would not agree to have a war because all feasible non-violent options are not considered in this situation. Secondly, the Melians actually does not meet the conditions of the principle. According to Erasmus, the good authority would not begin a war without considering any feasible options in the consideration of the just war.(Erasmus,p.234) Then if the leader had considered all the options and decided to have a war, then his or her first consideration should be the sake of the subjects, the people and the city.(Erasmus,p.234) However, the Melians knew that they would not be able to win with their sole power. Therefore, the Melians chose to rely on the unproven hope and led their people to death. Consequently, Erasmus would regard that the principle of last resort actually does not meet in Melian’s case.

According to Aquinas, a decision made by legitimate authority is one of the conditions to be a just war.(Aquinas,p.240) In “The Melian Dialogue”, the leaders of Melians decided to have a war after the negotiations with the Athenians.(Thucydides, p.5) This case seems to meet the condition of the criterion.
Even though they are the legitimate authority, the principle lacks the considerations of the common people and the common good. The decision may fulfill the condition “Legitimate Authority”, but it does not reflect the war as the just war. For instance, considering that Athenians already pinpointed that the Melians had the negotiations within the closed room without people, the legitimate authorities may lose their positions as the leaders of the society.(Thucydides,p.1) According to Aquinas, 
“legitimate authority” is not the private people to declare war because of their superior status.(Aquinas,p.240) Therefore the protection of the public can be the only justification for the use of violence.(Aquinas,p.240) However, in this case, the Melos decided to have a war that does not accompany the protection of the public and the city. They may argue that once the city is insecure with sovereignty, the protection of the people is not guaranteed. However, the concealment of the conversation eventually brought the consequence of people killed and enslaved. The principle definitely would not meet in this case because of the circumstances and
consequences.

In summary, there are some possibilities that the war might be determined as the just war based on the criteria of some philosophers. However, considering their circumstances, the leaders of the Melians needed to make a better decision in terms of “the last resort” as “legitimate authorities”.