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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §1.79.1-1.79.2

Spartan Private Debate and the Rising of King Archidamus

Passage 79 of 917 · Greek

Summary

After the Athenian speech, the Lacedaemonians deliberate in private, with the majority leaning toward immediate war, at which point King Archidamus comes forward to speak.

§1.79.1τοιαῦτα δὲ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι εἶπον.
The Athenians spoke thus.
ἐπειδὴ δὲ τῶν τε ξυμμάχων ἤκουσαν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τὰ ἐγκλήματα τὰ ἐς τοὺς Ἀθηναίους καὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἃ ἔλεξαν, μεταστησάμενοι πάντας ἐβουλεύοντο κατὰ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς περὶ τῶν παρόντων.
When the Lacedaemonians had heard both the charges of the allies against the Athenians and what the Athenians had said in reply, they made everyone else withdraw and deliberated among themselves on the present situation.
§1.79.2καὶ τῶν μὲν πλεόνων ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ αἱ γνῶμαι ἔφερον, ἀδικεῖν τε τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἤδη καὶ πολεμητέα εἶναι ἐν τάχει·
And the opinions of the majority inclined to the same point, namely that the Athenians were already in the wrong and that they must go to war without delay.
παρελθὼν δὲ Ἀρχίδαμος ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐτῶν, ἀνὴρ καὶ ξυνετὸς δοκῶν εἶναι καὶ σώφρων, ἔλεξε τοιάδε.
But Archidamus, their king, a man who had the reputation of being both wise and prudent, came forward and spoke as follows.

Notes

  1. §1.79.1μεταστησάμενοι — The aorist middle participle of μεθίστημι. It means 'having made everyone else withdraw' (referring to the allies and Athenian envoys) so that the Lacedaemonians could deliberate in private. The middle voice carries a causative or self-beneficial sense ('for themselves').
  2. §1.79.2πολεμητέα εἶναι — The neuter plural form of the verbal adjective πολεμητέος used impersonally with εἶναι in an accusative-with-infinitive construction, depending on the sense of opinion or decision in αἱ γνῶμαι ἔφερον. The dative of agent (the Lacedaemonians) is omitted, expressing the obligation 'that they must go to war.'

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §1.79.1-1.79.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.79.1-1.79.2

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