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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §7.15.1-7.15.2

Nicias's Call for Reinforcements or Recall

Passage 736 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Nicias asserts the blamelessness of his forces and urges Athens to decide immediately between recalling the expedition or sending massive reinforcements along with his successor due to his illness, warning them to act quickly before spring.

§7.15.1καὶ νῦν ὡς ἐφ’ ἃ μὲν ἤλθομεν τὸ πρῶτον καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν καὶ τῶν ἡγεμόνων ὑμῖν μὴ μεμπτῶν γεγενημένων, οὕτω τὴν γνώμην ἔχετε· ἐπειδὴ δὲ Σικελία τε ἅπασα ξυνίσταται καὶ ἐκ Πελοποννήσου ἄλλη στρατιὰ προσδόκιμος αὐτοῖς, βουλεύεσθε ἤδη ὡς τῶν γ’ ἐνθάδε μηδὲ τοῖς παροῦσιν ἀνταρκούντων, ἀλλ’ ἢ τούτους μεταπέμπειν δέον ἢ ἄλλην στρατιὰν μὴ ἐλάσσω ἐπιπέμπειν καὶ πεζὴν καὶ ναυτικὴν καὶ χρήματα μὴ ὀλίγα, ἐμοὶ δὲ διάδοχόν τινα, ὡς ἀδύνατός εἰμι διὰ νόσον νεφρῖτιν παραμένειν.
And now, as regards the purposes for which we first came, hold this opinion, that both your soldiers and your generals have proved blameless in your eyes; but since all Sicily is uniting against us, and another army from the Peloponnese is expected by them, deliberate now on the assumption that the forces here are not even a match for their present enemies, but that it is necessary either to recall these men or to send another army not smaller, both land and naval, and no small amount of money, and a successor for me, since I am unable to remain due to a disease of the kidneys.
§7.15.2ἀξιῶ δ’ ὑμῶν ξυγγνώμης τυγχάνειν· καὶ γὰρ ὅτ’ ἐρρώμην πολλὰ ἐν ἡγεμονίαις ὑμᾶς εὖ ἐποίησα.
And I think I deserve to obtain indulgence from you; for indeed, when I was in my strength, I did you many services in my commands.
ὅτι δὲ μέλλετε, ἅμα τῷ ἦρι εὐθὺς καὶ μὴ ἐς ἀναβολὰς πράσσετε, ὡς τῶν πολεμίων τὰ μὲν ἐν Σικελίᾳ δι’ ὀλίγου ποριουμένων, τὰ δ’ ἐκ Πελοποννήσου σχολαίτερον μέν, ὅμως δ᾽, ἢν μὴ προσέχητε τὴν γνώμην, τὰ μὲν λήσουσιν ὑμᾶς, ὥσπερ καὶ πρότερον, τὰ δὲ φθήσονται. ’
And whatever you intend to do, do it immediately at the very beginning of spring and without delays, since the enemy will obtain their resources in Sicily shortly, and those from the Peloponnese, though more slowly, yet nevertheless, if you do not pay attention, they will in some cases elude you, as before, and in others anticipate you.

Notes

  1. §7.15.1ὡς ... οὕτω — The correlation between ὡς and οὕτω means 'hold this opinion, namely that...'. The genitive absolute τῶν στρατιωτῶν καὶ τῶν ἡγεμόνων... γεγενημένων provides the ground or condition for this command, asserting the blamelessness of the soldiers and generals.
  2. §7.15.1δέον — Accusative absolute of the impersonal verb δεῖ. Following the conjunction ἀλλ' ἤ ('except that' or 'but rather'), it replaces the previous genitive absolute ὡς τῶν ... ἀνταρκούντων to express objective necessity ('it being necessary to...').
  3. §7.15.2ὅτι δὲ μέλλετε — Here ὅτι stands for the neuter accusative singular relative pronoun ὅ,τι ('whatever'), serving as the object of the main verb πράσσετε. μέλλετε ('you intend') implies an omitted infinitive such as ποιεῖν or πράσσειν.
  4. §7.15.2λήσουσιν ὑμᾶς ... φθήσονται — Future forms of the verbs λανθάνω ('elude, escape notice') and φθάνω ('anticipate, forestall'). Although these verbs typically govern a participle, here the participle is omitted or the action (of the enemy reaching or securing resources) is implied by the context, functioning to mean 'they will escape your notice' and 'they will forestall you.'

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §7.15.1-7.15.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.15.1-7.15.2

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