- Source
- Thucydides. Historiae, Vol 1-2. Jones, Henry Stuart, editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1910. (1942 printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.14.1-1.14.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
The author points out that even the earliest powerful Greek navies had few triremes and relied on fifty-oared ships, and explains how significant trireme fleets were only established shortly before the Persian War in Sicily, Corcyra, and Athens under the persuasion of Themistocles.
δυνατώτατα γὰρ ταῦτα τῶν ναυτικῶν ἦν. φαίνεται δὲ καὶ ταῦτα πολλαῖς γενεαῖς ὕστερα γενόμενα1 τῶν Τρωικῶν τριήρεσι μὲν ὀλίγαις χρώμενα, πεντηκοντόροις δ’ ἔτι καὶ πλοίοις μακροῖς ἐξηρτυμένα ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνα.
For these were the most powerful of the navies. Yet even these, appearing many generations after the Trojan war, are shown to have used but few triremes, and to have been still equipped with fifty-oared galleys and long boats, just like those of that earlier time.
ὀλίγον τε πρὸ τῶν Μηδικῶν καὶ τοῦ Δαρείου θανάτου, ὃς μετὰ Καμβύσην Περσῶν ἐβασίλευσε, τριήρεις περί τε Σικελίαν τοῖς τυράννοις ἐς πλῆθος ἐγένοντο καὶ Κερκυραίοις· ταῦτα γὰρ τελευταῖα πρὸ τῆς Ξέρξου στρατείας ναυτικὰ ἀξιόλογα ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι κατέστη.
And only a little before the Persian war and the death of Darius, who reigned over the Persians after Cambyses, triremes came to be possessed in large numbers by the tyrants in Sicily and by the Corcyraeans; for these were the last noteworthy navies established in Greece before the expedition of Xerxes.
Αἰγινῆται γὰρ καὶ Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ εἴ τινες ἄλλοι, βραχέα ἐκέκτηντο, καὶ τούτων τὰ πολλὰ πεντηκοντόρους· ὀψέ τε ἀφ’ οὗ2 Ἀθηναίους Θεμιστοκλῆς ἔπεισεν Αἰγινήταις πολεμοῦντας, καὶ ἅμα τοῦ βαρβάρου προσδοκίμου ὄντος,3 τὰς ναῦς ποιήσασθαι αἷσπερ καὶ ἐναυμάχησαν· καὶ αὗται οὔπω εἶχον διὰ πάσης καταστρώματα.
For the Aeginetans and the Athenians, and if there were any others, possessed only small fleets, and of these the greater part were fifty-oared galleys. It was only late, when Themistocles persuaded the Athenians, who were at war with the Aeginetans and at the same time expecting the barbarian, to build the very ships with which they fought; and even these did not yet have decks throughout.
- 1.14.1φαίνεται δὲ καὶ ταῦτα ... γενόμενα
The verb φαίνεται is constructed here with participles (γενόμενα and the subsequent χρώμενα, ἐξηρτυμένα) rather than an infinitive, denoting an objective fact ('it is shown that...' or 'it is clear that...') instead of mere appearance.
- 1.14.3ὀψέ τε ἀφ’ οὗ
The prepositional phrase ἀφ’ οὗ ('since') combined with the adverb ὀψέ ('late') functions as an emphatic construction to stress the lateness of the event: 'it was only late that...' or 'it was a long time after... before...'.
- 1.14.3τοῦ βαρβάρου προσδοκίμου ὄντος
Genitive absolute construction. The noun τοῦ βαρβάρου ('the barbarian', i.e., the Persian) serves as the subject, and the participle ὄντος with the adjective προσδόκιμος ('expected') serves as the predicate, circumstantially explaining the pressing situation that motivated the Athenians to build their ships.