- 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-grc2:5.69.1-5.69.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
Just before the battle, the generals of the Argive coalition exhorted their troops to fight for their homeland and hegemony, whereas the Lacedaemonians encouraged one another by recalling their long-standing practical training.
ἐπεὶ δὲ ξυνιέναι ἔμελλον ἤδη, ἐνταῦθα καὶ παραινέσεις καθ’ ἑκάστους ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκείων στρατηγῶν τοιαίδε ἐγίγνοντο, Μαντινεῦσι μὲν ὅτι ὑπέρ τε πατρίδος ἡ μάχη ἔσται καὶ ὑπὲρ ἀρχῆς ἅμα καὶ δουλείας, τὴν μὲν μὴ πειρασαμένοις ἀφαιρεθῆναι,1 τῆς δὲ μὴ αὖθις πειρᾶσθαι· Ἀργείοις δὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς τε παλαιᾶς ἡγεμονίας καὶ τῆς ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ ποτὲ ἰσομοιρίας μὴ διὰ παντὸς στερισκομένους ἀνέχεσθαι, καὶ ἄνδρας ἅμα ἐχθροὺς καὶ ἀστυγείτονας ὑπὲρ πολλῶν ἀδικημάτων ἀμύνασθαι· τοῖς δὲ Ἀθηναίοις καλὸν εἶναι μετὰ πολλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν ξυμμάχων ἀγωνιζομένους μηδενὸς λείπεσθαι, καὶ ὅτι ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ Λακεδαιμονίους νικήσαντες τήν τε ἀρχὴν βεβαιοτέραν καὶ μείζω ἕξουσι καὶ οὐ μή ποτέ τις αὐτοῖς ἄλλος ἐς τὴν γῆν ἔλθῃ.2
When they were now on the point of engaging, the following exhortations were addressed to each division by their own generals. To the Mantineans, it was said that the battle would be for their country and at the same time for dominion and servitude—that they might not be deprived of the former, which they had never experienced, and that they might not experience the latter again. To the Argives, that they should not endure to be permanently deprived of their ancient hegemony and of their former equal share of power in the Peloponnese, and at the same time that they should avenge themselves on men who were both enemies and neighbors for many wrongs. To the Athenians, that it was a glorious thing, fighting along with many brave allies, to be second to none, and that by defeating the Lacedaemonians in the Peloponnese they would make their own empire more secure and larger, and no one else would ever invade their land.
τοῖς μὲν Ἀργείοις καὶ ξυμμάχοις τοιαῦτα παρῃνέθη, Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ καθ’ ἑκάστους τε καὶ μετὰ τῶν πολεμικῶν νόμων ἐν σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ὧν ἠπίσταντο3 τὴν παρακέλευσιν τῆς μνήμης ἀγαθοῖς οὖσιν ἐποιοῦντο, εἰδότες ἔργων ἐκ πολλοῦ μελέτην πλείω σῴζουσαν ἢ λόγων δι’ ὀλίγου καλῶς ῥηθεῖσαν παραίνεσιν.
Such were the exhortations addressed to the Argives and their allies. But the Lacedaemonians, both individually and in accordance with their war-songs, made among themselves an exhortation by recalling the things they knew, being already brave men, since they knew that a long-continued practice in deeds was of more service for safety than an exhortation finely spoken in words on the spur of the moment.
- 5.69.1πειρασαμένοις ἀφαιρεθῆναι
The dative participle πειρασαμένοις agrees with Μαντινεῦσι in the preceding clause. It modifies the infinitive ἀφαιρεθῆναι and refers to τὴν μὲν (dominion/hegemony), meaning 'not to be deprived of [dominion], which they had not yet experienced.'
- 5.69.1οὐ μή ... ἔλθῃ
The combination of the negative particles οὐ μή with the aorist subjunctive ἔλθῃ expresses a strong denial of a future possibility ('never indeed shall anyone else invade').
- 5.69.2ὧν ἠπίσταντο
The relative pronoun ὧν is attracted to the genitive case of its omitted antecedent τούτων (which would depend on μνήμης). Originally, it would have been the accusative object ἃ of the verb ἠπίσταντο.