Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §3.65.1-3.65.3

Theban Justification of Their Entry into Plataea by Invitation

Passage 314 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Thebans refute the accusation that their entry into Plataea was an unlawful invasion, arguing that they were voluntarily invited by the leading Plataean citizens to restore the city to its ancestral Boeotian alliance.

§3.65.1ἃ δὲ τελευταῖά φατε ἀδικηθῆναι, παρανόμως γὰρ ἐλθεῖν ἡμᾶς ἐν σπονδαῖς καὶ ἱερομηνίᾳ ἐπὶ τὴν ὑμετέραν πόλιν, οὐ νομίζομεν οὐδ’ ἐν τούτοις ὑμῶν μᾶλλον ἁμαρτεῖν.

And as for the last thing you say you were wronged in, namely, that we came unlawfully against your city during a truce and at a sacred month, we do not think that in this either we erred more than you.

§3.65.2εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἡμεῖς αὐτοὶ πρός τε τὴν πόλιν ἐλθόντες ἐμαχόμεθα καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐδῃοῦμεν ὡς πολέμιοι, ἀδικοῦμεν· εἰ δὲ ἄνδρες ὑμῶν οἱ πρῶτοι καὶ χρήμασι καὶ γένει, βουλόμενοι τῆς μὲν ἔξω ξυμμαχίας ὑμᾶς παῦσαι, ἐς δὲ τὰ κοινὰ τῶν πάντων Βοιωτῶν πάτρια καταστῆσαι, ἐπεκαλέσαντο ἑκόντες, τί ἀδικοῦμεν;

For if we had gone against the city on our own and fought and ravaged the land as enemies, we would be in the wrong; but if the first men of your city, both in wealth and birth, wishing to make you cease from your foreign alliance and to restore you to the common ancestral customs of all Boeotians, invited us voluntarily, what wrong are we doing?

οἱ γὰρ ἄγοντες παρανομοῦσι μᾶλλον τῶν ἑπομένων.

For those who lead are more lawless than those who follow.

§3.65.3ἀλλ’ οὔτ’ ἐκεῖνοι, ὡς ἡμεῖς κρίνομεν, οὔτε ἡμεῖς· πολῖται δὲ ὄντες ὥσπερ ὑμεῖς καὶ πλείω παραβαλλόμενοι, τὸ ἑαυτῶν τεῖχος ἀνοίξαντες καὶ ἐς τὴν αὑτῶν πόλιν φιλίως, οὐ πολεμίως κομίσαντες ἐβούλοντο τούς τε ὑμῶν χείρους μηκέτι μᾶλλον γενέσθαι τούς τε ἀμείνους τὰ ἄξια ἔχειν, σωφρονισταὶ ὄντες τῆς γνώμης καὶ τῶν σωμάτων τὴν πόλιν οὐκ ἀλλοτριοῦντες ἀλλ’ ἐς τὴν ξυγγένειαν οἰκειοῦντες, ἐχθροὺς οὐδενὶ καθιστάντες, ἅπασι δ᾽ ὁμοίως ἐνσπόνδους.

But indeed, as we judge, neither they nor we did so; rather, being citizens like you and risking more, they opened their own gates and introduced us into their own city in a friendly, not a hostile manner, wishing that the worse among you should no longer become even worse, and that the better should have their due, being correctors of your minds and bodies, not alienating the city from its kin but domesticating it into its kinship, making it an enemy to no one, but equally at peace with all.

Notes

3.65.1ὑμῶν μᾶλλον ἁμαρτεῖν — ὑμῶν is a genitive of comparison, construed with the adverb μᾶλλον to mean 'to have erred more than you.' Although ἁμαρτάνειν can take a genitive meaning 'to commit a fault against someone' (thus 'to err more against you'), it is standard to interpret ὑμῶν as the object of comparison here.
3.65.1ἃ δὲ τελευταῖά φατε ἀδικηθῆναι — The relative pronoun ἃ is a neuter plural accusative, serving at the beginning of the sentence as an accusative of respect ('as to the things which...'), or containing its own antecedent ('the last things in which you say you were wronged'). The following γάρ clause explains the specific content of this accusation (the unlawful entry).
3.65.3σωφρονισταὶ ὄντες — Following the main verb ἐβούλοντο, several participles (ὄντες, ἀλλοτριοῦντες, οἰκειοῦντες, καθιστάντες) are coordinated to elaborate on the motives and intentions of the pro-Theban citizens (ἐκεῖνοι). σωφρονισταὶ ὄντες functions as a participial phrase with a predicate noun, meaning 'being correctors' or 'acting as correctors'.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §3.65.1-3.65.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.65.1-3.65.3

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