Why Did Rome Continue To Virtue?

It has been said that without the long walls we will be unable to fend off our enemies in times of war and that we will be impotent, unable to pursue our foreign interests without fear of foreign aggression. Without the walls, we would have been unable to build our once-great empire, let alone to have defended it in the face of Peloponnesian resistance, for with them we were indomitable by land, and the power of our navy and our commercial machine was always available. We would not have withstood the frequent Spartan sieges but would have starved, cut off from our port. Thus, it seems that in order to return to our former excellence we will need new walls.

But I urge you to consider whether that excellence was what its name should imply,
Athenians, we were not healthy. We made war and conquered cities to satisfy a lust for material possessions that exceeded the bounds of healthy need. We needed more of every sort of thing, and to satisfy this need we took money from other Greeks and then took their soldiers to protect us. As our lust grew even larger and our pride became ridiculous, we set out to conquer Sicily, a decision that led to our recent defeat at the hands of the Spartans. Our empire was thus the symptom of a disease, and if we allow that disease to rack our city once more, we will surely meet a fate similar to the one we have just witnessed unfold. People of Athens, if empire is your aim, hold yourselves back and do not rebuild the walls. What use will they be to us if they encourage the foul behavior we were engaged in during the past? If, on the other hand, it is the case that we will be entirely vulnerable without walls, that we find enemies ready to attack from every side, then perhaps consider building new walls. But if these walls will enflame our pride and inspire us to take up conquest once more, then we should avoid rebuilding