- 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-grc2:4.60.1-4.60.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
Hermocrates emphasizes that the current assembly concerns the survival of all Sicily, warning that internal strife only serves the ambitions of the Athenians.
‘καίτοι γνῶναι χρὴ ὅτι οὐ περὶ τῶν ἰδίων μόνον, εἰ σωφρονοῦμεν, ἡ ξύνοδος ἔσται, ἀλλ’ εἰ1 ἐπιβουλευομένην τὴν πᾶσαν Σικελίαν, ὡς ἐγὼ κρίνω, ὑπ’ Ἀθηναίων δυνησόμεθα ἔτι διασῶσαι· καὶ διαλλακτὰς πολὺ τῶν ἐμῶν λόγων ἀναγκαιοτέρους περὶ τῶνδε Ἀθηναίους νομίσαι,2 οἳ δύναμιν ἔχοντες μεγίστην τῶν Ἑλλήνων τάς τε ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν τηροῦσιν ὀλίγαις ναυσὶ παρόντες, καὶ ὀνόματι ἐννόμῳ ξυμμαχίας τὸ φύσει πολέμιον εὐπρεπῶς ἐς τὸ ξυμφέρον καθίστανται.
”And yet we must realize that, if we are wise, this assembly will not be only about our private interests, but whether we shall still be able to preserve all Sicily, which in my judgment is being plotted against by the Athenians. We must also regard the Athenians as mediators in these matters who are far more compelling than my words; for, possessing the greatest power among the Greeks, they are present here with a few ships keeping watch on our errors, and under the legal name of alliance, they decently turn what is naturally hostile to their own advantage.
πόλεμον γὰρ αἰρομένων ἡμῶν3 καὶ ἐπαγομένων αὐτούς, ἄνδρας οἳ καὶ τοῖς μὴ ἐπικαλουμένοις αὐτοὶ ἐπιστρατεύουσι, κακῶς τε ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς ποιούντων τέλεσι τοῖς οἰκείοις, καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἅμα προκοπτόντων4 ἐκείνοις, εἰκός, ὅταν γνῶσιν ἡμᾶς τετρυχωμένους, καὶ πλέονί ποτε στόλῳ ἐλθόντας αὐτοὺς τάδε πάντα πειράσασθαι ὑπὸ σφᾶς ποιεῖσθαι.
For while we are undertaking war and bringing them in—men who of their own accord march against even those who do not invite them—and while we are harming ourselves at our own expense and at the same time paving the way for their empire, it is likely that, when they see us worn out, they will one day come with a larger armament and try to bring all these places under their subjection.”
- 4.60.1ἀλλ’ εἰ
In the contrastive structure of οὐ... ἀλλ'..., the indirect question clause introduced by εἰ ('whether') is coordinated with the phrase περὶ τῶν ἰδίων as if governed by the preposition περὶ; thus, 'not about our private interests, but about whether...'
- 4.60.1νομίσαι
The infinitive νομίσαι depends on the impersonal expression χρὴ at the beginning of the sentence (γνῶναι χρὴ), functioning as 'we must regard'. The accusative Ἀθηναίους is its subject (or object) accusative, and διαλλακτὰς is its predicate.
- 4.60.2αἰρομένων ἡμῶν
Part of a genitive absolute construction starting at the beginning of the sentence, where multiple participles (αἰρομένων, ἐπαγομένων, ποιούντων, προкоπτόντων) share the common subject ἡμῶν, establishing the cause or circumstances for the main clause (εἰκός...).
- 4.60.2τῆς ἀρχῆς ἅμα προκοπτόντων
The verb προκόπτω is used here transitively in the sense of 'paving the way' or 'advancing', governing the partitive genitive τῆς ἀρχῆς ('empire/rule'), meaning 'paving the way for/gradually advancing their empire'.