- 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-grc2:1.81.1-1.81.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-25
Archidamus warns that ravaging Attic land is futile against the Athenians who have other territories and command of the sea, and cautions that the war could be prolonged for generations.
τάχ’ ἄν τις θαρσοίη1 ὅτι τοῖς ὅπλοις αὐτῶν καὶ τῷ πλήθει ὑπερφέρομεν, ὥστε τὴν γῆν δῃοῦν ἐπιφοιτῶντες.
Perhaps someone might take courage in the fact that we surpass them in arms and numbers, so that we can invade and ravage their land.
τοῖς δὲ ἄλλη γῆ ἐστὶ πολλὴ ἧς ἄρχουσι, καὶ ἐκ θαλάσσης ὧν δέονται ἐπάξονται.
But they have much other land which they rule, and they will import what they need from the sea.
εἰ δ’ αὖ τοὺς ξυμμάχους ἀφιστάναι πειρασόμεθα, δεήσει καὶ τούτοις ναυσὶ βοηθεῖν τὸ πλέον οὖσι νησιώταις.2
And if, on the other hand, we try to make their allies revolt, we shall also have to aid them with ships, since they are mostly islanders.
τίς οὖν ἔσται ἡμῶν ὁ πόλεμος; εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἢ ναυσὶ κρατήσομεν ἢ τὰς προσόδους ἀφαιρήσομεν ἀφ’ ὧν τὸ ναυτικὸν τρέφουσι, βλαψόμεθα τὰ πλείω.
What then will our war be? For unless we either master them with our ships or deprive them of the revenues from which they maintain their navy, we shall suffer the greater damage.
κἀν τούτῳ οὐδὲ καταλύεσθαι ἔτι καλόν, ἄλλως τε καὶ εἰ δόξομεν ἄρξαι μᾶλλον τῆς διαφορᾶς.
And in this situation it would no longer even be honorable to make peace, especially if we are thought to have begun the quarrel rather than they.
μὴ γὰρ δὴ ἐκείνῃ γε τῇ ἐλπίδι ἐπαιρώμεθα ὡς ταχὺ παυσθήσεται ὁ πόλεμος, ἢν τὴν γῆν αὐτῶν τέμωμεν. δέδοικα δὲ μᾶλλον μὴ καὶ τοῖς παισὶν αὐτὸν ὑπολίπωμεν·3 οὕτως εἰκὸς Ἀθηναίους φρονήματι μήτε τῇ γῇ δουλεῦσαι4 μήτε ὥσπερ ἀπείρους καταπλαγῆναι τῷ πολέμῳ.
For let us not be buoyed up by that hope, at least, that the war will quickly end if we ravage their land. Indeed, I fear rather that we may leave it as a legacy even to our children; so likely is it that the Athenians, with their high spirit, will neither be enslaved to their land nor be terrified by the war like inexperienced men.
- 1.81.1τάχ’ ἄν τις θαρσοίη
The combination of τάχα ἄν with the optative θαρσοίη expresses a potential optative ('perhaps someone might take courage').
- 1.81.3τὸ πλέον οὖσι νησιώταις
The participle οὖσι (dative plural of the present participle of εἰμί) agrees with the preceding pronoun τούτοις and has a causal force ('since they are'). τὸ πλέον is an adverbial accusative meaning 'mostly' or 'for the most part'.
- 1.81.6δέδοικα ... μὴ ... ὑπολίπωμεν
The verb of fearing δέδοικα is followed by μὴ and the subjunctive ὑπολίπωμεν to express a positive fear ('I fear that we may leave').
- 1.81.6οὕτως εἰκὸς Ἀθηναίους ... μήτε τῇ γῇ δουλεῦσαι
The impersonal expression εἰκός (εἰκός ἐστι, 'it is likely/natural') governs an accusative and infinitive (A.c.I.) construction, where Ἀθηναίους is the subject accusative and δουλεῦσαι (and later καταπλαγῆναι) is the infinitive.