History of the Peloponnesian War

Thucydides

Thucydides, Vol. 1-4. Smith, Charles Foster, translator. London and Cambridge, MA: Heinemann and Harvard University Press, 1919-1923.

Such were the words of the Lacedaemonians. They thought that, since the Athenians had at an earlier period[*](ie. after the plague and the second invasion of Attica, in 430 B.. cf. 2.59.) been eager to end the war and had been prevented by the opposition of Sparta, they would, if peace were offered to them, gladly accept it and give up the men.

But the Athenians believed that, since they held the men on the island, peace could be theirs the moment they cared to make it, and meanwhile they were greedy for more.