§8.76.1ἐς φιλονικίαν τε καθέστασαν τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον οἱ μὲν τὴν πόλιν ἀναγκάζοντες δημοκρατεῖσθαι, οἱ δὲ τὸ στρατόπεδον ὀλιγαρχεῖσθαι.
At this time they entered into a state of rivalry, the one party compelling the city to maintain a democracy, and the other trying to force an oligarchy upon the army.
§8.76.2ἐποίησαν δὲ καὶ ἐκκλησίαν εὐθὺς οἱ στρατιῶται, ἐν ᾗ τοὺς μὲν προτέρους στρατηγούς, καὶ εἴ τινα τῶν τριηράρχων ὑπώπτευον, ἔπαυσαν, ἄλλους δὲ ἀνθείλοντο καὶ τριηράρχους καὶ στρατηγούς, ὧν Θρασύβουλός τε καὶ Θράσυλος ὑπῆρχον.
The soldiers also immediately held an assembly, in which they deposed their former generals and any of the trierarchs whom they suspected, and chose others in their place, both trierarchs and generals, among whom Thrasybulus and Thrasylus were included.
§8.76.3καὶ παραινέσεις ἄλλας τε ἐποιοῦντο ἐν σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἀνιστάμενοι καὶ ὡς οὐ δεῖ ἀθυμεῖν ὅτι ἡ πόλις αὐτῶν ἀφέστηκεν· τοὺς γὰρ ἐλάσσους ἀπὸ σφῶν τῶν πλεόνων καὶ ἐς πάντα ποριμωτέρων μεθεστάναι.
And rising up in their midst, they made various speeches of encouragement to one another, arguing that they ought not to be discouraged because their city had revolted from them; for it was the minority (the citizens at home) who had seceded from them, who were the majority and in every way better supplied.
§8.76.4ἐχόντων γὰρ σφῶν τὸ πᾶν ναυτικόν, τάς τε ἄλλας πόλεις ὧν ἄρχουσιν ἀναγκάσειν τὰ χρήματα ὁμοίως διδόναι καὶ εἰ ἐκεῖθεν ὡρμῶντο (πόλιν τε γὰρ σφίσιν ὑπάρχειν Σάμον οὐκ ἀσθενῆ, ἀλλ’ ἣ παρ’ ἐλάχιστον δὴ ἦλθε τὸ Ἀθηναίων κράτος τῆς θαλάσσης, ὅτε ἐπολέμησεν, ἀφελέσθαι, τούς τε πολεμίους ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ χωρίου ἀμυνεῖσθαι οὗπερ καὶ πρότερον), καὶ δυνατώτεροι εἶναι σφεῖς ἔχοντες τὰς ναῦς πορίζεσθαι τὰ ἐπιτήδεια τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει.
For, since they possessed the entire fleet, they would compel the other cities under their rule to pay tribute just as if they were operating from Athens itself (for Samos, a city of no small strength, was on their side, which indeed when it went to war came within a very little of depriving the Athenians of the empire of the sea, and they could defend themselves against the enemy from the same base as before), and they themselves, possessing the ships, were more capable of procuring provisions than those in the city.
§8.76.5καὶ δι’ ἑαυτοὺς δὲ ἐν τῇ Σάμῳ προκαθημένους καὶ πρότερον αὐτοὺς κρατεῖν τοῦ ἐς τὸν Πειραιᾶ ἔσπλου, καὶ νῦν ἐς τοιοῦτον καταστήσονται μὴ βουλομένων σφίσι πάλιν τὴν πολιτείαν ἀποδοῦναι, ὥστε αὐτοὶ δυνατώτεροι εἶναι εἴργειν ἐκείνους τῆς θαλάσσης ἢ ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνων εἴργεσθαι.
Indeed, it was because of themselves stationed beforehand in Samos that the Athenians at home had previously commanded the entrance to the Piraeus, and now, if the citizens refused to restore the constitution to them, they would place themselves in such a position that they would be more powerful to exclude the others from the sea than to be excluded by them.
§8.76.6βραχύ τέ τι εἶναι καὶ οὐδενὸς ἄξιον ὃ πρὸς τὸ περιγίγνεσθαι τῶν πολεμίων ἡ πόλις σφίσι χρήσιμος ἦν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἀπολωλεκέναι, οἵ γε μήτε ἀργύριον εἶχον ἔτι πέμπειν, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτοὶ ἐπορίζοντο οἱ στρατιῶται, μήτε βούλευμα χρηστόν, οὗπερ ἕνεκα πόλις στρατοπέδων κρατεῖ· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τούτοις τοὺς μὲν ἡμαρτηκέναι τοὺς πατρίους νόμους καταλύσαντας, αὐτοὶ δὲ σῴζειν καὶ ἐκείνους πειράσεσθαι προσαναγκάζειν, ὥστε οὐδὲ τούτους, οἵπερ ἂν βουλεύοιέν τι χρηστόν, παρὰ σφίσι χείρους εἶναι.
Moreover, the help which the city was useful in affording them towards overcoming the enemy was small and worth nothing, and they had lost nothing, since the citizens were no longer able to send money (the soldiers procuring it for themselves), nor yet any sound counsel, which is the reason why a city has authority over armies; on the contrary, even in this respect the others had erred by abolishing the laws of their ancestors, while they themselves preserved them and would try to compel the others to do so, so that those among them who could give sound counsel were in no way inferior.
§8.76.7Ἀλκιβιάδην τε, ἢν αὐτῷ ἄδειάν τε καὶ κάθοδον ποιήσωσιν, ἄσμενον τὴν παρὰ βασιλέως ξυμμαχίαν παρέξειν.
Furthermore, Alcibiades, if they would secure him safety and a return, would gladly provide them with the alliance of the King.
τό τε μέγιστον, ἢν ἁπάντων σφάλλωνται, εἶναι αὐτοῖς τοσοῦτον ἔχουσι ναυτικὸν πολλὰς τὰς ἀποχωρήσεις ἐν αἷς καὶ πόλεις καὶ γῆν εὑρήσουσιν.
And, most important of all, if they should fail in everything, they had, with so large a fleet, many places of refuge in which they would find both cities and land.