- 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-grc2:8.89.1-8.89.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Upon the return of the envoys from Samos, dissident members within the Athenian oligarchy, led by Theramenes, gain strength and demand the actual realization of the 'Five Thousand.' While they advocate for a more equal constitution under a political guise, their movements are driven by personal ambitions in anticipation of the oligarchy's fall.
οἱ δ’ ἐκ τῆς Σάμου ἀπὸ τῶν τετρακοσίων πεμφθέντες πρέσβεις ἐπειδὴ ἀφικόμενοι ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας ἀπήγγειλαν τὰ παρὰ τοῦ Ἀλκιβιάδου, ὡς κελεύει τε ἀντέχειν καὶ μηδὲν ἐνδιδόναι τοῖς πολεμίοις, ἐλπίδας τε ὅτι πολλὰς ἔχει κἀκείνοις τὸ στράτευμα διαλλάξειν καὶ Πελοποννησίων περιέσεσθαι, ἀχθομένους καὶ πρότερον τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν μετεχόντων τῆς ὀλιγαρχίας καὶ ἡδέως ἂν ἀπαλλαγέντας πῃ ἀσφαλῶς τοῦ πράγματος πολλῷ δὴ μᾶλλον ἐπέρρωσαν.1
Meanwhile, the envoys who had been sent to Samos by the Four Hundred, when they arrived at Athens and reported the message from Alcibiades—how he urged them to hold out and yield nothing to the enemy, and how he had great hopes of reconciling the army to them and of prevailing over the Peloponnesians—greatly encouraged many of those who shared in the oligarchy, who even before were dissatisfied and would gladly have got out of the business safely by some means or other.
καὶ ξυνίσταντό τε ἤδη καὶ τὰ πράγματα διεμέμφοντο, ἔχοντες ἡγεμόνας τῶν πάνυ [στρατηγῶν] τῶν ἐν τῇ ὀλιγαρχίᾳ καὶ ἐν ἀρχαῖς ὄντων, οἷον Θηραμένη τε τὸν Ἅγνωνος καὶ Ἀριστοκράτη τὸν Σκελίου καὶ ἄλλους, οἳ μετέσχον μὲν ἐν τοῖς πρῶτοι τῶν πραγμάτων, φοβούμενοι δέ, ὡς ἔφασαν, τό τε ἐν τῇ Σάμῳ στράτευμα καὶ τὸν Ἀλκιβιάδην σπουδῇ πάνυ, τούς τε ἐς τὴν Λακεδαίμονα πρεσβευομένους [ἔπεμπον], μή τι ἄνευ τῶν πλεόνων κακὸν δράσωσι τὴν πόλιν, οὐ τὸ † ἀπαλλαξείειν τοῦ ἄγαν ἐς ὀλίγους ἐλθεῖν,2 ἀλλὰ τοὺς πεντακισχιλίους ἔργῳ καὶ μὴ ὀνόματι χρῆναι ἀποδεικνύναι καὶ τὴν πολιτείαν ἰσαιτέραν καθιστάναι.
And they began to form cabals and criticize the state of affairs, having as their leaders some of the very foremost among the oligarchs who were in office, such as Theramenes the son of Hagnon, Aristocrates the son of Scellias, and others. These had been among the first to take part in the revolution, but, being, as they said, extremely afraid of the army at Samos and of Alcibiades, and also of those who were going on embassies to Lacedaemon, lest they should do some harm to the city without the consent of the majority, they did not maintain that they wished to escape from an oligarchy to the rule of a very few, but that they ought to appoint the Five Thousand in reality and not merely in name, and establish a more equal constitution.
ἦν δὲ τοῦτο μὲν σχῆμα πολιτικὸν τοῦ λόγου αὐτοῖς, κατ’ ἰδίας δὲ φιλοτιμίας οἱ πολλοὶ αὐτῶν τῷ τοιούτῳ προσέκειντο, ἐν ᾧπερ καὶ μάλιστα ὀλιγαρχία ἐκ δημοκρατίας γενομένη ἀπόλλυται· πάντες γὰρ αὐθημερὸν ἀξιοῦσιν οὐχ ὅπως ἴσοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολὺ πρῶτος αὐτὸς ἕκαστος εἶναι· ἐκ δὲ δημοκρατίας αἱρέσεως γιγνομένης ῥᾷον τὰ ἀποβαίνοντα ὡς οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν ὁμοίων ἐλασσούμενός τις φέρει.3
But while this was the political pretext of their speeches, most of them were driven to this course by personal ambitions, which is the very thing that most of all ruins an oligarchy arising from a democracy; for all immediately claim, not merely to be equal, but each to be by far the first himself. Whereas, in a democracy, when a choice is made, a man bears the result more easily, because he feels that he has not been defeated by his peers.
σαφέστατα δ’ αὐτοὺς ἐπῆρε τὰ ἐν τῇ Σάμῳ τοῦ Ἀλκιβιάδου ἰσχυρὰ ὄντα καὶ ὅτι αὐτοῖς οὐκ ἐδόκει μόνιμον τὸ τῆς ὀλιγαρχίας ἔσεσθαι· ἠγωνίζετο οὖν εἷς ἕκαστος αὐτὸς πρῶτος προστάτης τοῦ δήμου γενέσθαι.
But what most clearly urged them on was the fact that Alcibiades’ position at Samos was strong, and that they did not believe the oligarchy would last; everyone, therefore, strove to become himself the foremost champion of the people.
- 8.89.1ἀχθομένους καὶ πρότερον τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν μετεχόντων τῆς ὀλιγαρχίας καὶ ἡδέως ἂν ἀπαλλαγέντας πῃ ἀσφαλῶς τοῦ πράγματος πολλῷ δὴ μᾶλλον ἐπέρρωσαν
This forms a long hyperbaton where οἱ ... πρέσβεις at the beginning is the subject and ἐπέρρωσαν at the end is the main verb. ἀχθομένους (present participle) and ἀπαλλαγέντας ἄν (conditional participle representing an optative with ἄν) modify τοὺς πολλοὺς (direct object of ἐπέρρωσαν), describing the underlying discontent and desire of many oligarchs to escape.
- 8.89.2οὐ τὸ ἀπαλλαξείειν τοῦ ἄγαν ἐς ὀλίγους ἐλθεῖν
A contrastive expression placed before the infinitives χρῆναι and καθιστάναι. ἀπαλλαξείω is a desiderative verb, expressing their stated concern: not wanting to escape from the current state only to fall into a more extreme rule of the very few (τοῦ ἄγαν ἐς ὀλίγους).
- 8.89.3ὡς οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν ὁμοίων ἐλασσούμενός τις φέρει
Explains why a defeat (ἐλασσούμενός...) under a democracy is borne more easily (ῥᾷον φέρει) than under an oligarchy. In a democracy, the decision is not seen as coming from one's social equals or peers (οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν ὁμοίων), but from the sovereign populace, thereby causing less personal humiliation.