Harms of Severe Punishment and Advocacy of Leniency — Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War Book 3 (3.46.1–3.46.6), Greek & English

§3.46.1

‘οὔκουν χρὴ οὔτε τοῦ θανάτου τῇ ζημίᾳ ὡς ἐχεγγύῳ πιστεύσαντας χεῖρον βουλεύσασθαι οὔτε ἀνέλπιστον καταστῆσαι τοῖς ἀποστᾶσιν ὡς οὐκ ἔσται μεταγνῶναι καὶ ὅτι ἐν βραχυτάτῳ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καταλῦσαι.¹

’Therefore, we must neither make a worse decision by trusting in the penalty of death as a reliable guarantee, nor place those who have revolted in a hopeless position, as if it will not be possible for them to repent and wipe out their offence in the shortest possible time.

§3.46.2

σκέψασθε γὰρ ὅτι νῦν μέν, ἤν τις καὶ ἀποστᾶσα πόλις γνῷ μὴ περιεσομένη, ἔλθοι ἂν ἐς ξύμβασιν δυνατὴ οὖσα ἔτι τὴν δαπάνην ἀποδοῦναι καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ὑποτελεῖν· ἐκείνως δὲ τίνα οἴεσθε ἥντινα οὐκ ἄμεινον μὲν ἢ νῦν παρασκευάσεσθαι, πολιορκίᾳ δὲ παρατενεῖσθαι ἐς τοὔσχατον, εἰ τὸ αὐτὸ δύναται σχολῇ καὶ ταχὺ ξυμβῆναι;²

For consider that now, even if some city has revolted and realizes it will not succeed, it would come to terms while it is still able to pay the expenses and to contribute tribute for the future; but in that other case, which of them do you think would not prepare itself better than now, and hold out to the very last under a siege, if it means the same thing to capitulate slowly or quickly?

§3.46.3

ἡμῖν τε πῶς οὐ βλάβη δαπανᾶν καθημένοις διὰ τὸ ἀξύμβατον καί, ἢν ἕλωμεν, πόλιν ἐφθαρμένην παραλαβεῖν καὶ τῆς προσόδου τὸ λοιπὸν ἀπ’ αὐτῆς στέρεσθαι; ἰσχύομεν δὲ πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους τῷδε.

And how is it not a loss for us to sit down and spend money because of the impossibility of settlement, and, if we take the city, to receive it in ruins and be deprived of its future revenue? Yet it is by this revenue that we are strong against our enemies.

§3.46.4

ὥστε οὐ δικαστὰς ὄντας δεῖ ἡμᾶς μᾶλλον τῶν ἐξαμαρτανόντων ἀκριβεῖς βλάπτεσθαι³ ἢ ὁρᾶν ὅπως ἐς τὸν ἔπειτα χρόνον μετρίως κολάζοντες ταῖς πόλεσιν ἕξομεν ἐς χρημάτων λόγον ἰσχυούσαις χρῆσθαι, καὶ τὴν φυλακὴν μὴ ἀπὸ τῶν νόμων τῆς δεινότητος ἀξιοῦν ποιεῖσθαι, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων τῆς ἐπιμελείας.

So we must not act as strict judges of the offenders to our own greater injury, but rather look to how, by punishing them moderately, we may for the future have cities that are strong in financial resources to make use of, and we should expect to maintain our guard not by the severity of our laws, but by the diligence of our actions.

§3.46.5

οὗ⁴ νῦν τοὐναντίον δρῶντες, ἤν τινα ἐλεύθερον καὶ βίᾳ ἀρχόμενον εἰκότως πρὸς αὐτονομίαν ἀποστάντα χειρωσώμεθα, χαλεπῶς οἰόμεθα χρῆναι τιμωρεῖσθαι.

But now we do the very opposite: if we conquer any city that is free and, being ruled by force, has naturally revolted to gain its independence, we think we must punish them severely.

§3.46.6

χρὴ δὲ τοὺς ἐλευθέρους οὐκ ἀφισταμένους σφόδρα κολάζειν, ἀλλὰ πρὶν ἀποστῆναι σφόδρα φυλάσσειν καὶ προκαταλαμβάνειν ὅπως μηδ’ ἐς ἐπίνοιαν τούτου ἴωσι, κρατήσαντάς τε ὅτι ἐπ’ ἐλάχιστον τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπιφέρειν.

But we ought not to punish free men severely when they revolt, but to guard them strictly before they revolt, and to anticipate them so that they do not even come to the thought of it; and when we have mastered them, we should lay the blame upon as few as possible.’

Syntax notes4 items

3.46.1ὡς οὐκ ἔσται μεταγνῶναι καὶ ὅτι ἐν βραχυτάτῳ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καταλῦσαι
The conjunction ὡς introduces a noun clause governed by the impersonal ἔσται, while ὅτι is used adverbially with the superlative βραχυτάτῳ (ὅτι ἐν βραχυτάτῳ, 'in the shortest possible time') (used in the sense of ἐξέσται, "it is possible") with the infinitives μεταγνῶναι ("to repent") and καταλῦσαι ("to undo/expiate the error"), expanding on the adjective ἀνέλπιστον ("a hopeless thing").
3.46.2εἰ τὸ αὐτὸ δύναται σχολῇ καὶ ταχὺ ξυμβῆναι
The verb δύναται ("means" or "amounts to") expresses the condition where coming to terms slowly (σχολῇ) or quickly (ταχὺ) ultimately leads to "the same result" (τὸ αὐτό, i.e., total destruction).
3.46.4οὐ δικαστὰς ὄντας δεῖ ἡμᾶς μᾶλλον τῶν ἐξαμαρτανόντων ἀκριβεῖς βλάπτεσθαι
The logical subject of the impersonal verb δεῖ is the accusative ἡμᾶς, with which the participle ὄντας agrees. The adjective ἀκριβεῖς ("strict") modifies δικαστάς ("judges"). The construction means "to harm ourselves by acting as strict judges of the offenders (τῶν ἐξαμαρτανόντων)."
3.46.5οὗ
This is the genitive of the relative pronoun referring to the following τοὐναντίον ("the opposite"), functioning as a relative adverbial phrase meaning "the exact opposite of which."

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.46.1-3.46.6