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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §4.114.1-4.114.5

Brasidas Grants a Truce and Addresses the Toronaeans

Passage 479 of 917 · Greek

Summary

After securing Torone, Brasidas proclaimed safety for returning citizens and granted a two-day truce to the Athenians. He then addressed the Toronaeans, assuring them of his just intentions but demanding that they become steadfast allies henceforth.

§4.114.1γεγενημένης δὲ ἡμέρας ἤδη καὶ βεβαίως τῆς πόλεως ἐχομένης ὁ Βρασίδας τοῖς μὲν μετὰ τῶν Ἀθηναίων Τορωναίοις καταπεφευγόσι κήρυγμα ἐποιήσατο τὸν βουλόμενον ἐπὶ τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ἐξελθόντα ἀδεῶς πολιτεύειν, τοῖς δὲ Ἀθηναίοις κήρυκα προσπέμψας ἐξιέναι ἐκέλευεν ἐκ τῆς Ληκύθου ὑποσπόνδους καὶ τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἔχοντας ὡς οὔσης Χαλκιδέων.
When day had now dawned and the city was securely held, Brasidas made a proclamation to those Toronaeans who had fled with the Athenians, that anyone who wished might return to his own property and live as a citizen without fear; to the Athenians he sent a herald and ordered them to depart from Lekythos under truce and with their own property, on the ground that the place belonged to the Chalcidians.
§4.114.2οἱ δὲ ἐκλείψειν μὲν οὐκ ἔφασαν, σπείσασθαι δὲ σφίσιν ἐκέλευον ἡμέραν τοὺς νεκροὺς ἀνελέσθαι.
But they said they would not abandon it, and requested him to make a truce for one day so that they could take up their dead.
ὁ δὲ ἐσπείσατο δύο.
And he made a truce for two days.
ἐν ταύταις δὲ αὐτός τε τὰς ἐγγὺς οἰκίας ἐκρατύνατο καὶ Ἀθηναῖοι τὰ σφέτερα.
During this time, he himself fortified the houses near by, and the Athenians strengthened their own positions.
§4.114.3καὶ ξύλλογον τῶν Τορωναίων ποιήσας ἔλεξε τοῖς ἐν τῇ Ἀκάνθῳ παραπλήσια, ὅτι οὐ δίκαιον εἴη οὔτε τοὺς πράξαντας πρὸς αὐτὸν τὴν λῆψιν τῆς πόλεως χείρους οὐδὲ προδότας ἡγεῖσθαι (οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ δουλείᾳ οὐδὲ χρήμασι πεισθέντας δρᾶσαι τοῦτο, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ ἀγαθῷ καὶ ἐλευθερίᾳ τῆς πόλεως) οὔτε τοὺς μὴ μετασχόντας οἴεσθαι μὴ τῶν αὐτῶν τεύξεσθαι· ἀφῖχθαι γὰρ οὐ διαφθερῶν οὔτε πόλιν οὔτε ἰδιώτην οὐδένα.
And having called an assembly of the Toronaeans, he spoke to them in terms similar to those he used at Akanthos, saying that it was not right to consider those who had negotiated with him for the capture of the city as worse or as traitors—for they had done this not to bring about slavery or because they were bribed with money, but for the welfare and freedom of the city—nor should those who had not taken part think that they would not obtain the same benefits; for he had not come to destroy either the city or any private individual.
§4.114.4τὸ δὲ κήρυγμα ποιήσασθαι τούτου ἕνεκα τοῖς παρ’ Ἀθηναίους καταπεφευγόσιν, ὡς ἡγούμενος οὐδὲν χείρους τῇ ἐκείνων φιλία· οὐδ’ ἂν σφῶν πειρασαμένους αὐτοὺς [τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων] δοκεῖν ἧσσον, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ μᾶλλον, ὅσῳ δικαιότερα πράσσουσιν, εὔνους ἂν σφίσι γενέσθαι, ἀπειρίᾳ δὲ νῦν πεφοβῆσθαι.
He had made the proclamation to those who had fled to the Athenians for this reason, because he believed that they were in no way worse for their friendship with them; and he thought that if they made trial of the Lacedaemonians, they would not think less of them, but much more, inasmuch as they acted more justly, and would become well-disposed to them, but that they were now afraid through lack of experience.
§4.114.5τούς τε πάντας παρασκευάζεσθαι ἐκέλευεν ὡς βεβαίους τε ἐσομένους ξυμμάχους καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦδε ἤδη ὅτι ἂν ἁμαρτάνωσιν αἰτίαν ἕξοντας· τὰ δὲ πρότερα οὐ σφεῖς ἀδικεῖσθαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκείνους μᾶλλον ὑπ’ ἄλλων κρεισσόνων, καὶ ξυγγνώμην εἶναι εἴ τι ἠναντιοῦντο.
And he bade them all prepare themselves to be faithful allies, and to expect that from now on they would be held responsible for whatever wrongs they might commit; but as for their past conduct, it was not they who had done wrong, but rather they had suffered wrong from others who were stronger, and it was pardonable if they had opposed him in any way.

Notes

  1. 4.114.1ὡς οὔσης Χαλκιδέων — Genitive absolute. The subject of the feminine singular participle οὔσης is the preceding feminine noun Ληκύθου (Lekythos). The conjunction ὡς expresses the subjective ground or pretext of the demanding party ("on the ground that Lekythos belonged to the Chalcidians").
  2. 4.114.4οὐδ’ ἂν σφῶν πειρασαμένους αὐτοὺς [τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων] δοκεῖν ἧσσον, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ μᾶλλον, ὅσῳ δικαιότερα πράσσουσιν, εὔνους ἂν σφίσι γενέσθαι — A highly complex structure in indirect discourse. The infinitive δοκεῖν (he, i.e., Brasidas, thought) continues the indirect discourse governed by ἡγούμενος. The particle ἂν goes with the subsequent infinitive γενέσθαι, representing a potential optative (ἂν γένοιντο) in direct discourse. The participle πειρασαμένους functions as a conditional clause ("if they should make trial of..."), and its object σφῶν, glossed by [τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων], refers to the Lacedaemonians.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §4.114.1-4.114.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.114.1-4.114.5

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