- 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-grc2:1.80.1-1.80.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-25
Archidamus warns that a war against the Athenians will be no small matter, pointing to their immense resources (naval power, wealth, and population) and highlighting Sparta's lack of preparation.
‘καὶ αὐτὸς πολλῶν ἤδη πολέμων ἔμπειρός εἰμι, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, καὶ ὑμῶν τοὺς ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ ἡλικίᾳ ὁρῶ, ὥστε μήτε ἀπειρίᾳ ἐπιθυμῆσαί τινα τοῦ ἔργου, ὅπερ ἂν οἱ πολλοὶ πάθοιεν, μήτε ἀγαθὸν καὶ ἀσφαλὲς νομίσαντα.1
”Lacedaemonians, I myself am already experienced in many wars, and I see those among you of the same age, so that no one would desire the enterprise out of inexperience, as the multitude might do, nor consider it to be a good and safe thing.
εὕροιτε δ’ ἂν τόνδε περὶ οὗ νῦν βουλεύεσθε οὐκ ἂν ἐλάχιστον γενόμενον,2 εἰ σωφρόνως τις αὐτὸν ἐκλογίζοιτο.
And you would find that this war which you are now deliberating about would be no small one, if anyone should estimate it soberly.
πρὸς μὲν γὰρ Πελοποννησίους καὶ τοὺς ἀστυγείτονας παρόμοιος ἡμῶν ἡ ἀλκή, καὶ διὰ ταχέων οἷόν τε ἐφ’ ἕκαστα ἐλθεῖν· πρὸς δὲ ἄνδρας οἳ γῆν τε ἑκὰς ἔχουσι καὶ προσέτι θαλάσσης ἐμπειρότατοί εἰσι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν ἄριστα ἐξήρτυνται, πλούτῳ τε ἰδίῳ καὶ δημοσίῳ καὶ ναυσὶ καὶ ἵπποις καὶ ὅπλοις καὶ ὄχλῳ ὅσος οὐκ ἐν ἄλλῳ ἑνί γε χωρίῳ Ἑλληνικῷ ἐστίν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ ξυμμάχους πολλοὺς φόρου ὑποτελεῖς ἔχουσι, πῶς χρὴ πρὸς τούτους ῥᾳδίως πόλεμον ἄρασθαι καὶ τίνι πιστεύσαντας ἀπαρασκεύους ἐπειχθῆναι;
For against the Peloponnesians and our immediate neighbors, our strength is of a similar kind, and it is possible to reach each point quickly; but against men who hold land far away, and who moreover are most experienced in the sea and are excellently equipped in all other respects—with wealth both private and public, with ships, horses, arms, and a population larger than in any other single Grecian territory, and who furthermore have many tribute-paying allies—how can we lightly undertake a war against them, and on what can we rely that we should rush in unprepared?
πότερον ταῖς ναυσίν; ἀλλ’ ἥσσους ἐσμέν· εἰ δὲ μελετήσομεν καὶ ἀντιπαρασκευασόμεθα, χρόνος ἐνέσται. ἀλλὰ τοῖς χρήμασιν; ἀλλὰ πολλῷ πλέον ἔτι τούτου ἐλλείπομεν3 καὶ οὔτε ἐν κοινῷ ἔχομεν οὔτε ἑτοίμως ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων φέρομεν.
Is it in our ships? But we are inferior; and if we practice and prepare to rival them, time will be required. Or is it in money? But in this we are still far more deficient, and we neither have it in a common treasury nor do we readily contribute it from our private funds.”
- 1.80.1μήτε ἀπειρίᾳ ἐπιθυμῆσαί τινα τοῦ ἔργου, ὅπερ ἂν οἱ πολλοὶ πάθοιεν, μήτε ἀγαθὸν καὶ ἀσφαλὲς νομίσαντα
The accusative participle νομίσαντα agrees with the indefinite pronoun τινα (accusative), which is the subject accusative of the infinitive ἐπιθυμῆσαι in the ὥστε clause, expressing a natural or intended consequence.
- 1.80.2οὐκ ἂν ἐλάχιστον γενόμενον
A supplementary participle in indirect discourse after the verb εὕροιτε. The use of ἄν with the participle γενόμενον corresponds to ὅτι οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο in a potential optative construction in the apodosis of a conditional sentence.
- 1.80.4τούτου ἐλλείπομεν
The verb ἐλλείπω ('to fall short of', 'lack') governs the genitive. Here, τούτου (neuter genitive) refers back to τοῖς χρήμασιν (money) mentioned in the preceding question.