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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §6.48.1

Alcibiades Proposes Winning Allies Before Attacking

Passage 664 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Alcibiades opposes retreating without any achievements, arguing that they should first win over the other Sicilian cities, the Sicels, and especially the Messenians, before launched an attack on Syracuse and Selinus.

§6.48.1Ἀλκιβιάδης δὲ οὐκ ἔφη χρῆναι τοσαύτῃ δυνάμει ἐκπλεύσαντας αἰσχρῶς καὶ ἀπράκτους ἀπελθεῖν, ἀλλ’ ἔς τε τὰς πόλεις ἐπικηρυκεύεσθαι πλὴν Σελινοῦντος καὶ Συρακουσῶν τὰς ἄλλας, καὶ πειρᾶσθαι καὶ τοὺς Σικελοὺς τοὺς μὲν ἀφιστάναι ἀπὸ τῶν Συρακοσίων, τοὺς δὲ φίλους ποιεῖσθαι, ἵνα σῖτον καὶ στρατιὰν ἔχωσι, πρῶτον δὲ πείθειν Μεσσηνίους (ἐν πόρῳ γὰρ μάλιστα καὶ προσβολῇ εἶναι αὐτοὺς τῆς Σικελίας, καὶ λιμένα καὶ ἐφόρμησιν τῇ στρατιᾷ ἱκανωτάτην ἔσεσθαι)· προσαγαγομένους δὲ τὰς πόλεις, εἰδότας μεθ’ ὧν τις πολεμήσει, οὕτως ἤδη Συρακούσαις καὶ Σελινοῦντι ἐπιχειρεῖν, ἢν μὴ οἱ μὲν Ἐγεσταίοις ξυμβαίνωσιν, οἱ δὲ Λεοντίνους ἐῶσι κατοικίζειν.
But Alcibiades said that they ought not, after having sailed out with so great a force, to depart disgracefully and without having accomplished anything, but rather to send heralds to the other cities except Selinus and Syracuse, and to try to make some of the Sicels revolt from the Syracusans, and to make others their friends, so that they might have grain and troops; and first of all to persuade the Messenians (for they were situated in the very passage and approach to Sicily, and their city would provide a most suitable harbor and base of operations for the army); and having won over the cities, knowing with whom they would wage war, only then to attack Syracuse and Selinus, unless the latter should come to terms with the Egestaeans, and the former allow the Leontines to resettle.

Notes

  1. §6.48.1οὐκ ἔφη χρῆναι — Although the negative οὐκ grammatically negates the main verb ἔφη, it semantically negates the infinitive χρῆναι in the dependent clause (transference of negation). It should be translated as "said that they ought not to".
  2. §6.48.1ἐκπλεύσαντας — Accusative plural masculine participle, agreeing with the implied subject of the impersonal verb χρῆναι (the Athenians, or the generals). The subsequent participles προσαγαγομένους and εἰδότας also stand in the accusative for the same reason, following the accusative-with-infinitive construction.
  3. §6.48.1εἶναι — Despite being in an independent explanatory clause inside the parenthesis (with γάρ), the infinitive is used instead of an indicative verb because the indirect discourse (oratio obliqua) introduced by ἔφη in the main clause continues. The same applies to the subsequent ἔσεσθαι.
  4. §6.48.1οἱ μὲν ... οἱ δὲ — In contrast to the order of "Syracuse and Selinus" mentioned just before, `οἱ μὲν` refers to the Selinuntines (who are to come to terms with the Egestaeans), and `οἱ δὲ` to the Syracusans (who are to allow the Leontines to resettle), forming a chiasmus.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §6.48.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.48.1

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