- 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-grc2:1.87.1-1.87.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-25
Sthenelaidas, an ephor, put the vote to the Lacedaemonian assembly by division rather than acclaim, resulting in a large majority declaring the treaty broken. The Spartans then informed their allies of the decision, paving the way for war in the fourteenth year of the Thirty Years' Peace.
τοιαῦτα λέξας ἐπεψήφιζεν αὐτὸς ἔφορος ὢν ἐς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων.
Having spoken thus, he himself, being an ephor, put the question to the assembly of the Lacedaemonians.
ὁ δέ (κρίνουσι γὰρ βοῇ καὶ οὐ ψήφῳ) οὐκ ἔφη1 διαγιγνώσκειν τὴν βοὴν ὁποτέρα μείζων, ἀλλὰ βουλόμενος αὐτοὺς φανερῶς ἀποδεικνυμένους τὴν γνώμην ἐς τὸ πολεμεῖν μᾶλλον ὁρμῆσαι ἔλεξεν ‘ὅτῳ μὲν ὑμῶν, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, δοκοῦσι λελύσθαι αἱ σπονδαὶ καὶ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἀδικεῖν, ἀναστήτω ἐς ἐκεῖνο τὸ χωρίον,’ δείξας τι χωρίον αὐτοῖς, ‘ὅτῳ δὲ μὴ δοκοῦσιν, ἐς τὰ ἐπὶ θάτερα.’ ἀναστάντες δὲ διέστησαν, καὶ πολλῷ πλείους ἐγένοντο οἷς ἐδόκουν2 αἱ σπονδαὶ λελύσθαι.
But he (for they decide by acclaim and not by vote) said he could not distinguish which acclaim was the louder, but wishing them to show their opinion openly and so be more eager for war, he said: ‘Lacedaemonians, whoever among you thinks that the treaty has been broken and that the Athenians are doing wrong, let him rise and go to that place,’ pointing out a certain place to them, ‘and whoever does not think so, to the other side.’ And they rose and divided, and those who thought the treaty had been broken became by far the majority.
προσκαλέσαντές τε τοὺς ξυμμάχους εἶπον ὅτι σφίσι μὲν δοκοῖεν ἀδικεῖν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι, βούλεσθαι δὲ καὶ τοὺς πάντας ξυμμάχους παρακαλέσαντες3 ψῆφον ἐπαγαγεῖν, ὅπως κοινῇ βουλευσάμενοι τὸν πόλεμον ποιῶνται, ἢν δοκῇ.
And having called in the allies, they told them that they themselves thought the Athenians were doing wrong, but they wished to summon all the allies as well and put it to a vote, so that, after deliberating in common, they might make war, if it should be so decided.
καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀπεχώρησαν ἐπ’ οἴκου διαπραξάμενοι ταῦτα, καὶ οἱ Ἀθηναίων πρέσβεις ὕστερον ἐφ’ ἅπερ ἦλθον χρηματίσαντες·4
And they, having settled these matters, departed for home, and the Athenian envoys also, having later transacted the business for which they had come, departed.
ἡ δὲ διαγνώμη αὕτη τῆς ἐκκλησίας, τοῦ τὰς σπονδὰς λελύσθαι, ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ καὶ δεκάτῳ ἔτει τῶν τριακοντουτίδων σπονδῶν προκεχωρηκυιῶν, αἳ ἐγένοντο μετὰ τὰ Εὐβοϊκά.
This decision of the assembly, that the treaty had been broken, was made in the fourteenth year of the Thirty Years’ Peace, which had been concluded after the Euboean war.
- 1.87.2οὐκ ἔφη
The verb οὔ φημι is idiomatic, meaning 'to say that... not' or 'to deny'. Here, οὐκ ἔφη διαγιγνώσκειν means 'he said he could not distinguish,' rather than 'he did not say he distinguished.'
- 1.87.3οἷς ἐδόκουν
The antecedent of the relative pronoun οἷς (dative), which would be the subject of the main verb ἐγένοντο (such as οὗτοι), is omitted. The entire relative clause functions as the subject of the main clause. The verb ἐδόκουν is plural because its subject is the plural noun αἱ σπονδαί.
- 1.87.4παρακαλέσαντες
The subject of the infinitive ἐπαγαγεῖν (to put [to a vote]) is the same as the subject of the governing verb βούλεσθαι. When the subject of an infinitive is identical to that of the governing verb, any modifying participle (here παρακαλέσαντες) stands in the nominative case instead of the accusative.
- 1.87.5χρηματίσαντες
The participle χρηματίσαντες (having transacted business) is nominative plural, modifying 'the Athenian envoys' (οἱ Ἀθηναίων πρέσβεις). By ellipsis, it shares the main verb ἀπεχώρησαν (departed) from the first part of the sentence.