- 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-grc2:1.84.1-1.84.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-25
Archidamus defends the Spartans' reputation for slowness, explaining it as a wise form of self-control that ensures thorough preparation, strict adherence to laws, and a realistic assessment of the enemy.
καὶ τὸ βραδὺ καὶ μέλλον, ὃ μέμφονται μάλιστα ἡμῶν, μὴ αἰσχύνεσθε. σπεύδοντές1 τε γὰρ σχολαίτερον ἂν παύσαισθε διὰ τὸ ἀπαράσκευοι ἐγχειρεῖν, καὶ ἅμα ἐλευθέραν καὶ εὐδοξοτάτην πόλιν διὰ παντὸς νεμόμεθα.
And do not be ashamed of that ‘slowness’ and ‘delay’ which they especially blame in us. For if you hurry, you would finish more slowly because of undertaking the task unprepared, and at the same time we have always possessed a city that is free and most illustrious.
καὶ δύναται μάλιστα σωφροσύνη ἔμφρων τοῦτ’ εἶναι· μόνοι γὰρ δι’ αὐτὸ εὐπραγίαις τε οὐκ ἐξυβρίζομεν καὶ ξυμφοραῖς ἧσσον ἑτέρων εἴκομεν· τῶν τε ξὺν ἐπαίνῳ ἐξοτρυνόντων ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὰ δεινὰ παρὰ τὸ δοκοῦν ἡμῖν οὐκ ἐπαιρόμεθα ἡδονῇ, καὶ ἤν τις ἄρα ξὺν κατηγορίᾳ παροξύνῃ, οὐδὲν δὴ μᾶλλον ἀχθεσθέντες ἀνεπείσθημεν.2
And this can be especially a wise self-control; for because of this, we alone do not grow insolent in prosperity and yield less than others in adversity. Even when people excite us to dangerous exploits with praise contrary to our judgment, we are not stirred by pleasure, and if anyone provokes us with blame, we are not at all the more annoyed into being persuaded.
πολεμικοί τε καὶ εὔβουλοι διὰ τὸ εὔκοσμον γιγνόμεθα, τὸ μὲν ὅτι αἰδὼς σωφροσύνης πλεῖστον μετέχει, αἰσχύνης δὲ εὐψυχία, εὔβουλοι δὲ ἀμαθέστερον τῶν νόμων τῆς ὑπεροψίας3 παιδευόμενοι καὶ ξὺν χαλεπότητι σωφρονέστερον ἢ ὥστε αὐτῶν ἀνηκουστεῖν, καὶ μὴ τὰ ἀχρεῖα ξυνετοὶ ἄγαν ὄντες τὰς τῶν πολεμίων παρασκευὰς λόγῳ καλῶς μεμφόμενοι ἀνομοίως ἔργῳ ἐπεξιέναι, νομίζειν δὲ τάς τε διανοίας τῶν πέλας παραπλησίους εἶναι καὶ τὰς προσπιπτούσας τύχας οὐ λόγῳ διαιρετάς.
And we become both warlike and wise because of our orderly discipline; warlike, because reverence partakes most of self-control, and a sense of shame produces bravery; and wise, because we are educated too simply to look down upon the laws, and with a severity that makes us too self-controlled to disobey them, and not to be so excessively clever in useless matters that we eloquently criticize the enemy’s preparations in speech but fail to meet them with corresponding action, but rather to believe that the minds of our neighbors are very similar to our own and that the chances of fortune that befall us cannot be distinguished by speech.
αἰεὶ δὲ ὡς πρὸς εὖ βουλευομένους τοὺς ἐναντίους ἔργῳ παρασκευαζόμεθα· καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἐκείνων ὡς ἁμαρτησομένων ἔχειν δεῖ τὰς ἐλπίδας, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἀσφαλῶς προνοουμένων. πολύ τε διαφέρειν οὐ δεῖ νομίζειν ἄνθρωπον ἀνθρώπου, κράτιστον δὲ εἶναι ὅστις ἐν τοῖς ἀναγκαιοτάτοις παιδεύεται.
We always prepare in action against our adversaries as against those who are planning well; and we must not base our hopes on the expectation that they will make mistakes, but on our own secure foresight. We should not believe that one man differs much from another, but that he is best who is trained in the most necessary disciplines.
- 1.84.1σπεύδοντες
A participle expressing condition ('if you hurry'), functioning as the protasis to the potential optative (ἂν παύσαισθε) in the main clause.
- 1.84.2ἀνεπείσθημεν
A gnomic aorist expressing a general truth or habitual action rather than a specific past event; it is translated here in the present tense.
- 1.84.3τῶν νόμων τῆς ὑπεροψίας
τῆς ὑπεροψίας represents 'contempt of the laws' with τῶν νόμων as its objective genitive. The whole phrase means 'being educated too simply to look down upon the laws.'