- 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-grc2:3.66.1-3.66.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
The Thebans present proof of their non-hostile intentions and accuse the Plataeans of breaking the agreement, refusing peaceful means, and committing three injustices, including the unlawful execution of surrendered captives.
τεκμήριον δὲ ὡς οὐ πολεμίως ἐπράσσομεν· οὔτε γὰρ ἠδικήσαμεν οὐδένα, προείπομέν τε τὸν βουλόμενον κατὰ τὰ τῶν πάντων Βοιωτῶν πάτρια πολιτεύειν ἰέναι πρὸς ἡμᾶς.
And here is the proof that we were not acting in a hostile manner: we did no wrong to anyone, and we proclaimed beforehand that whoever wished to live as a citizen according to the ancestral customs of all Boeotians should come to us.
καὶ ὑμεῖς ἄσμενοι χωρήσαντες καὶ ξύμβασιν ποιησάμενοι τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἡσυχάζετε, ὕστερον δὲ κατανοήσαντες ἡμᾶς ὀλίγους ὄντας, εἰ ἄρα καὶ ἐδοκοῦμέν τι ἀνεπιεικέστερον πρᾶξαι οὐ μετὰ τοῦ πλήθους ὑμῶν ἐσελθόντες, τὰ μὲν ὁμοῖα οὐκ ἀνταπέδοτε ἡμῖν, μήτε νεωτερίσαι1 ἔργῳ λόγοις τε πείθειν ὥστε ἐξελθεῖν, ἐπιθέμενοι δὲ παρὰ τὴν ξύμβασιν, οὓς μὲν ἐν χερσὶν ἀπεκτείνατε, οὐχ ὁμοίως ἀλγοῦμεν (κατὰ νόμον γὰρ δή τινα2 ἔπασχον), οὓς δὲ χεῖρας προϊσχομένους καὶ ζωγρήσαντες ὑποσχόμενοί τε ἡμῖν ὕστερον μὴ κτενεῖν παρανόμως διεφθείρατε, πῶς οὐ δεινὰ εἴργασθε;
And you gladly came and, having made an agreement, at first remained quiet; but later, having perceived that we were few (even if we did indeed seem to have acted somewhat unfairly by entering without the consent of your multitude), you did not return the like to us, failing to refrain from violent revolution and to persuade us by words to depart, but instead attacked us in violation of the agreement. Of those whom you killed in hand-to-hand combat we do not complain in the same way (for they suffered, to be sure, under a kind of law of war); but as for those whom you destroyed unlawfully, when they were holding out their hands for mercy and you had taken them alive and later promised us not to kill them, how have you not committed a monstrous deed?
καὶ ταῦτα τρεῖς ἀδικίας ἐν ὀλίγῳ πράξαντες, τήν τε λυθεῖσαν ὁμολογίαν καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τὸν ὕστερον θάνατον καὶ τὴν περὶ αὐτῶν ἡμῖν μὴ κτενεῖν ψευσθεῖσαν ὑπόσχεσιν, ἢν τὰ ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς ὑμῖν μὴ ἀδικῶμεν,3 ὅμως φατὲ ἡμᾶς παρανομῆσαι καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀξιοῦτε μὴ ἀντιδοῦναι δίκην. οὔκ, ἤν γε οὗτοι τὰ ὀρθὰ γιγνώσκωσιν· πάντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἕνεκα κολασθήσεσθε.
And having committed these three injustices in a short space—the broken agreement, the subsequent death of the men, and the lied-to promise made to us not to kill them if we did no harm to your property in the fields—you nevertheless say that we have broken the law, and you yourselves claim to escape paying the penalty. Not so, if indeed these judges judge what is right; rather, for all these things you shall be punished.
- 3.66.2μήτε νεωτερίσαι
The infinitives νεωτερίσαι and πείθειν function in apposition to explain the content of the preceding phrase τὰ μὲν ὁμοῖα (similar peaceful treatment), meaning that they failed to return the like, namely, refraining from revolution and persuading them to leave by words.
- 3.66.2κατὰ νόμον γὰρ δή τινα
The expression 'under a kind of law' refers to those who died in actual combat within the city, suggesting that their deaths fell under the accepted rules or customs of war, and thus do not cause the same level of resentment as the unlawful execution of captives.
- 3.66.3ἢν τὰ ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς ὑμῖν μὴ ἀδικῶμεν
The conditional clause ἢν... modifies the preceding infinitive μὴ κτενεῖν (not to kill). It refers to the historical circumstance where the Plataeans held hostages and promised not to kill them on the condition that the Thebans did not ravage their property in the fields.