The dilemma

It is 427 BC, and Plataea has fallen. You hold 50 Plataean prisoners in the camp below the ruined walls. Your Theban allies are demanding they be executed by dawn as a message to Athens. Meanwhile, an Athenian envoy has arrived under truce, offering 40 of your captured Spartans in exchange for the 50 prisoners. Your men can see the envoy's ship from the hill. They know their brothers might come home. The Theban commander is watching you. He wants an answer before sundown.

Your options

1. Accept the exchange. Your duty is to bring your soldiers home.
2. Execute the prisoners at dawn. The alliance must hold, and strength must be shown.
3. Stall the Thebans. Tell them you need one more day to interrogate the prisoners for intelligence.