- 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-grc2:1.141.1-1.141.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-23
Pericles asserts that Athens must not yield to any unjust demands from equals, and argues for Athenian superiority by comparing the financial and military resources of Athens and the Peloponnesian League.
αὐτόθεν δὴ διανοήθητε ἢ ὑπακούειν πρίν τι βλαβῆναι, ἢ εἰ πολεμήσομεν, ὥσπερ ἔμοιγε ἄμεινον δοκεῖ εἶναι, καὶ ἐπὶ μεγάλῃ καὶ ἐπὶ βραχείᾳ ὁμοίως προφάσει μὴ εἴξοντες μηδὲ ξὺν φόβῳ ἕξοντες1 ἃ κεκτήμεθα· τὴν γὰρ αὐτὴν δύναται δούλωσιν ἥ τε μεγίστη καὶ ἐλαχίστη δικαίωσις ἀπὸ τῶν ὁμοίων πρὸ δίκης τοῖς πέλας ἐπιτασσομένη.
Decide therefore at once either to obey before you suffer any harm, or, if we go to war—which indeed seems to me to be the better course—with the intention of yielding on no pretext, whether great or small, nor of holding what we possess with fear. For any demand, whether greatest or least, imposed by equals upon their neighbors before an arbitration, has the same force of enslavement.
‘τὰ δὲ τοῦ πολέμου καὶ τῶν ἑκατέροις ὑπαρχόντων ὡς οὐκ ἀσθενέστερα ἕξομεν γνῶτε καθ’ ἕκαστον ἀκούοντες.
’And as for the circumstances of the war and the resources available to each side, understand that we shall not have them in any weaker state, by listening to them in detail.
αὐτουργοί τε γάρ εἰσι Πελοποννήσιοι καὶ οὔτε ἰδίᾳ οὔτ’ ἐν κοινῷ χρήματά ἐστιν αὐτοῖς, ἔπειτα χρονίων πολέμων καὶ διαποντίων ἄπειροι διὰ τὸ βραχέως αὐτοὶ ἐπ’ ἀλλήλους ὑπὸ πενίας ἐπιφέρειν.
For the Peloponnesians are small farmers working their own land, and they have no wealth either in private or in public; furthermore, they are inexperienced in long and transmarine wars, because, owing to their poverty, they only wage war briefly against one another.
καὶ οἱ τοιοῦτοι οὔτε ναῦς πληροῦντες οὔτε πεζὰς στρατιὰς πολλάκις ἐκπέμπειν δύνανται, ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων τε ἅμα ἀπόντες καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν αὑτῶν δαπανῶντες καὶ προσέτι καὶ θαλάσσης εἰργόμενοι·
And such men can neither man ships nor frequently dispatch land armies, since they must be away from their own properties and spend from their own resources, and are moreover excluded from the sea.
αἱ δὲ περιουσίαι τοὺς πολέμους μᾶλλον ἢ αἱ βίαιοι ἐσφοραὶ ἀνέχουσιν. σώμασί τε ἑτοιμότεροι οἱ αὐτουργοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἢ χρήμασι πολεμεῖν, τὸ μὲν πιστὸν ἔχοντες ἐκ τῶν κινδύνων κἂν περιγενέσθαι, τὸ δὲ οὐ βέβαιον μὴ οὐ προαναλώσειν,2 ἄλλως τε κἂν παρὰ δόξαν, ὅπερ εἰκός, ὁ πόλεμος αὐτοῖς μηκύνηται.
Accumulated wealth, rather than forced contributions, supports wars. And farmers are more ready to wage war with their bodies than with their money, having confidence that they will survive the dangers with their bodies, but no certainty that they will not spend all their money beforehand—especially if, as is likely, the war should drag on beyond expectation.
μάχῃ μὲν γὰρ μιᾷ πρὸς ἅπαντας Ἕλληνας δυνατοὶ Πελοποννήσιοι καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι ἀντισχεῖν, πολεμεῖν δὲ μὴ πρὸς ὁμοίαν ἀντιπαρασκευὴν ἀδύνατοι, ὅταν μήτε βουλευτηρίῳ ἑνὶ χρώμενοι παραχρῆμά τι ὀξέως ἐπιτελῶσι πάντες τε ἰσόψηφοι ὄντες καὶ οὐχ ὁμόφυλοι τὸ ἐφ’ ἑαυτὸν ἕκαστος σπεύδῃ· ἐξ ὧν φιλεῖ μηδὲν ἐπιτελὲς γίγνεσθαι.
For in a single battle, the Peloponnesians and their allies are capable of holding out against all the Greeks, but they are unable to wage war against a different kind of preparation, when they do not use a single deliberative assembly to accomplish anything instantly and sharply, and when all have equal votes but are not of the same race, each pursuing his own interest; from which nothing effective is accustomed to result.
καὶ γὰρ οἱ μὲν ὡς μάλιστα τιμωρήσασθαί τινα βούλονται, οἱ δὲ ὡς ἥκιστα τὰ οἰκεῖα φθεῖραι. χρόνιοί τε ξυνιόντες ἐν βραχεῖ μὲν μορίῳ σκοποῦσί τι τῶν κοινῶν, τῷ δὲ πλέονι τὰ οἰκεῖα πράσσουσι, καὶ ἕκαστος οὐ παρὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀμέλειαν οἴεται βλάψειν, μέλειν δέ τινι καὶ ἄλλῳ ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ τι προϊδεῖν, ὥστε τῷ αὐτῷ ὑπὸ ἁπάντων ἰδίᾳ δοξάσματι λανθάνειν τὸ κοινὸν ἁθρόον φθειρόμενον.3
For some wish above all to avenge themselves on someone, while others wish least of all to ruin their private properties. When they do assemble after long intervals, they devote only some brief moment to the common interest, but spend the greater part of the time on their private affairs; and each one thinks that no harm will come from his own neglect, but that it is someone else’s business to look ahead and provide on his behalf; so that, by the very same private opinion held by everyone individually, they fail to notice that the common interest is being ruined collectively.
- 1.141.1μὴ εἴξοντες μηδὲ ξὺν φόβῳ ἕξοντες
The future participles εἴξοντες and ἕξοντες, following the conditional clause εἰ πολεμήσομεν (if we go to war), express the strong intention or resolve of the subject ("with the intention of not yielding... nor holding..."), grammatically subordinate to the main imperative διανοήθητε (decide).
- 1.141.5μὴ οὐ προαναλώσειν
The double negative μὴ οὐ with the infinitive προαναλώσειν is triggered by the preceding phrase οὐ βέβαιον (not certain), which carries a negative implication. It expresses an apprehension or fear that they might spend all their money beforehand ("no certainty that they will not spend...").
- 1.141.7λανθάνειν τὸ κοινὸν ἁθρόον φθειρόμενον
This is a construction where the verb λανθάνω (escape notice) is paired with the participle φθειρόμενον to mean "to do something without noticing/unnoticed." Governed by ὥστε, the accusative τὸ κοινὸν ἁθρόον (the common interest collectively) functions as its subject, meaning "they fail to notice that the common interest is being ruined collectively."