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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §5.27.1-5.27.3

Corinth Urges Argos to Form a New Alliance

Passage 527 of 917 · Greek

Summary

After the conclusion of the treaty and alliance, the Corinthians went to Argos and urged them to form a new alliance of Peloponnesian cities to counter Spartan domination.

§5.27.1ἐπειδὴ γὰρ αἱ πεντηκοντούτεις σπονδαὶ ἐγένοντο καὶ ὕστερον ἡ ξυμμαχία, καὶ αἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Πελοποννήσου πρεσβεῖαι, αἵπερ παρεκλήθησαν ἐς αὐτά, ἀνεχώρουν ἐκ τῆς Λακεδαίμονος· §5.27.2καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι ἐπ’ οἴκου ἀπῆλθον, Κορίνθιοι δὲ ἐς Ἄργος τραπόμενοι πρῶτον λόγους ποιοῦνται πρός τινας τῶν ἐν τέλει ὄντων Ἀργείων ὡς χρή, ἐπειδὴ Λακεδαιμόνιοι οὐκ ἐπ᾽ ἀγαθῷ, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ καταδουλώσει τῆς Πελοποννήσου σπονδὰς καὶ ξυμμαχίαν πρὸς Ἀθηναίους τοὺς πρὶν ἐχθίστους πεποίηνται, ὁρᾶν τοὺς Ἀργείους ὅπως σωθήσεται ἡ Πελοπόννησος καὶ ψηφίσασθαι τὴν βουλομένην πόλιν τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ἥτις αὐτόνομός τέ ἐστι καὶ δίκας ἴσας καὶ ὁμοίας δίδωσι, πρὸς Ἀργείους ξυμμαχίαν ποιεῖσθαι ὥστε τῇ ἀλλήλων ἐπιμαχεῖν, ἀποδεῖξαι δὲ ἄνδρας ὀλίγους ἀρχὴν αὐτοκράτορας καὶ μὴ πρὸς τὸν δῆμον τοὺς λόγους εἶναι, τοῦ μὴ καταφανεῖς γίγνεσθαι τοὺς μὴ πείσαντας τὸ πλῆθος· ἔφασαν δὲ πολλοὺς προσχωρήσεσθαι μίσει τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων.
For when the fifty years' treaty was made and afterwards the alliance, and the embassies from the Peloponnese, which had been summoned for these very things, were returning from Lacedaemon; and while the others went home, the Corinthians, turning to Argos, first opened negotiations with some of those in authority among the Argives, saying that since the Lacedaemonians had made a treaty and alliance with the Athenians, their former bitterest enemies, not for the good of the Peloponnese but for its enslavement, the Argives must see to it how the Peloponnese should be saved, and pass a decree that any city of the Hellenes that wished—provided it was independent and offered equal and fair justice—might make an alliance with the Argives to defend one another; and they should appoint a small board of men with full powers, and the negotiations should not be held before the assembly, so that those who failed to persuade the multitude should not become conspicuous; and they declared that many would join out of hatred for the Lacedaemonians.
§5.27.3καὶ οἱ μὲν Κορίνθιοι διδάξαντες ταῦτα ἀνεχώρησαν ἐπ’ οἴκου·
The Corinthians, having given these suggestions, then returned home.

Notes

  1. 5.27.1ἐπειδὴ γὰρ αἱ πεντηκοντούτεις σπονδαὶ ἐγένοντο ... ἀνεχώρουν ἐκ τῆς Λακεδαίμονος — This section forms a temporal clause indicating the background circumstances (the treaty, the alliance, and the departure of the embassies), with the main clause beginning at 5.27.2 (`καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι...`).
  2. 5.27.2ὡς χρή — Introduces indirect speech for a recommendation ('that it is necessary to...'). The subsequent infinitives `ὁρᾶν`, `ψηφίσασθαι`, `ἀποδεῖξαι`, and `μὴ ... εἶναι` represent the recommendations made by the Corinthians to the Argives.
  3. 5.27.2δίκας ἴσας καὶ ὁμοίας δίδωσι — A diplomatic term in the Greek world, meaning to offer fair and reciprocal judicial procedures to foreigners in one's own courts, which was a prerequisite for treaty relations on equal terms.
  4. 5.27.2τοῦ μὴ καταφανεῖς γίγνεσθαι τοὺς μὴ πείσαντας τὸ πλῆθος — A genitive infinitive of purpose (`τοῦ` + negative `μή` + infinitive `γίγνεσθαι`). `τοὺς μὴ πείσαντας` is the subject accusative of the infinitive, expressing the purpose: 'in order that those who failed to persuade the multitude should not be exposed.'

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §5.27.1-5.27.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.27.1-5.27.3

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