- 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-grc2:4.27.1-4.27.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
At Athens, anxiety over the prolonged siege and the approaching winter leads to regret over rejecting the peace. Cleon, suspected of obstructing the agreement, challenges the reports and is appointed as a commissioner; finding himself in a corner, he urges an immediate expedition and blames General Nicias.
ἐν δὲ ταῖς Ἀθήναις πυνθανόμενοι περὶ τῆς στρατιᾶς ὅτι1 ταλαιπωρεῖται καὶ σῖτος τοῖς ἐν τῇ νήσῳ ὅτι ἐσπλεῖ, ἠπόρουν καὶ ἐδεδοίκεσαν μὴ σφῶν χειμὼν τὴν φυλακὴν ἐπιλάβοι, ὁρῶντες τῶν τε ἐπιτηδείων τὴν περὶ τὴν Πελοπόννησον κομιδὴν ἀδύνατον ἐσομένην, ἅμα ἐν χωρίῳ ἐρήμῳ καὶ οὐδ’ ἐν θέρει οἷοί τε ὄντες ἱκανὰ περιπέμπειν, τόν τε ἔφορμον χωρίων ἀλιμένων ὄντων οὐκ ἐσόμενον, ἀλλ’ ἢ2 σφῶν ἀνέντων τὴν φυλακὴν περιγενήσεσθαι τοὺς ἄνδρας ἢ τοῖς πλοίοις ἃ τὸν σῖτον αὐτοῖς ἦγε χειμῶνα τηρήσαντας ἐκπλεύσεσθαι.
At Athens, when they heard that the army was in distress and that food was being smuggled in to those on the island, they were at a loss and feared lest winter should overtake their blockade. For they saw that the transport of provisions around the Peloponnese would become impossible, since they were unable to send sufficient supplies even in summer to a desert place; and at the same time they saw that the blockade would be impossible because the places had no harbors, so that the result would be either that the men on the island would survive by the Athenians relaxing their guard, or that they would sail out, having waited for stormy weather, in the boats which brought them food.
πάντων τε ἐφοβοῦντο μάλιστα τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους, ὅτι ἔχοντάς τι ἰσχυρὸν αὐτοὺς ἐνόμιζον3 οὐκέτι σφίσιν ἐπικηρυκεύεσθαι· καὶ μετεμέλοντο τὰς σπονδὰς οὐ δεξάμενοι.
And they were most of all afraid of the Lacedaemonians, because they thought that, since they were in some strong position, they no longer sent heralds to them; and they regretted not having accepted the treaty.
Κλέων δὲ γνοὺς αὐτῶν τὴν ἐς αὑτὸν ὑποψίαν περὶ τῆς κωλύμης τῆς ξυμβάσεως οὐ τἀληθῆ ἔφη λέγειν τοὺς ἐξαγγέλλοντας. παραινούντων δὲ τῶν ἀφιγμένων, εἰ μὴ σφίσι πιστεύουσι, κατασκόπους τινὰς πέμψαι, ᾑρέθη κατάσκοπος αὐτὸς μετὰ Θεαγένους ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων.
Cleon, knowing their suspicion against him regarding the obstruction of the agreement, said that those who brought the reports were not speaking the truth. But when those who had arrived advised that, if they did not believe them, they should send some commissioners, Cleon himself was chosen by the Athenians as a commissioner along with Theagenes.
καὶ γνοὺς ὅτι ἀναγκασθήσεται ἢ ταὐτὰ λέγειν οἷς διέβαλλεν ἢ τἀναντία εἰπὼν ψευδὴς φανήσεσθαι, παρῄνει τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, ὁρῶν αὐτοὺς καὶ ὡρμημένους τι τὸ πλέον τῇ γνώμῃ στρατεύειν, ὡς χρὴ κατασκόπους μὲν μὴ πέμπειν μηδὲ διαμέλλειν καιρὸν παριέντας, εἰ δὲ δοκεῖ αὐτοῖς ἀληθῆ εἶναι τὰ ἀγγελλόμενα, πλεῖν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας.
And realizing that he would be forced either to say the same as those whom he had slandered, or, by saying the opposite, to be shown up as a liar, he advised the Athenians—seeing that they were already somewhat more eager in their minds for an expedition—that they should not send commissioners nor waste time letting the opportunity slip, but if they believed the reports to be true, they should sail against the men.
καὶ ἐς Νικίαν τὸν Νικηράτου στρατηγὸν ὄντα ἀπεσήμαινεν, ἐχθρὸς ὢν καὶ ἐπιτιμῶν, ῥᾴδιον εἶναι παρασκευῇ, εἰ ἄνδρες εἶεν οἱ στρατηγοί, πλεύσαντας λαβεῖν τοὺς ἐν τῇ νήσῳ, καὶ αὐτός γ’ ἄν, εἰ ἦρχε, ποιῆσαι4 τοῦτο.
And he pointedly referred to Nicias the son of Niceratus, who was general, being his enemy and censorious of him, saying that it was easy, if the generals were men, to sail with a force and take those on the island, and that he himself, if he were in command, would have done this.
- 4.27.1περὶ τῆς στρατιᾶς ὅτι
This is an instance of anticipation (prolepsis), where the subject of the dependent clause (τῆς στρατιᾶς) is pulled forward with the preposition περί as the object of the main participle πυνθανόμενοι.
- 4.27.1ἀλλ’ ἢ
Meaning 'except that' or 'other than that'. Under the influence of the preceding participle ὁρῶντες (implying anticipation), it introduces the infinitives περιγενήσεσθαι and ἐκπλεύσεσθαι, whose subject is τοὺς ἄνδρας, with a genitive absolute (σφῶν ἀνέντων τὴν φυλακὴν) inserted between them.
- 4.27.2ἔχοντάς τι ἰσχυρὸν αὐτοὺς ἐνόμιζον
αὐτούς is the object of ἐνόμιζον and serves as the subject of the participle ἔχοντας, referring to the Lacedaemonians. The whole clause means 'because they (the Athenians) thought that they (the Lacedaemonians) held some strong position.'
- 4.27.5αὐτός γ’ ἄν, εἰ ἦρχε, ποιῆσαι
In indirect discourse, this represents the direct statement 'αὐτός γ’ ἂν ἐποίησα, εἰ ἦρχον' (unreal past condition: 'I myself would have done this, if I were in command'), where the indicative with ἄν changes to the infinitive ποιῆσαι with ἄν under the influence of the verb of saying/pointing ἀπεσήμαινεν.