§3.1πόλει μέντοι χρώμενον ἀρετῆς αἰσθανομένῃ καὶ κρείττονα ὄντα τῇ δυνάμει χώραν οὐ δοτέον τοῖς πονηροῖς οὐδʼ ἀρχὴν μὴ ἄρχουσιν οὐδὲ πίστιν ἀπιστουμένοις, ὅπερ ἐποίησεν ὁ Νικίας, τὸν Κλέωνα μηδὲν ὄντα πλέον ἐν τῇ πόλει τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ βήματος ἀναισχυντίας καὶ κραυγῆς αὐτὸς εἰς τὸ στρατηγεῖν καταστήσας.
However, a man who serves a city that appreciates virtue and who is superior in power must not yield ground to the wicked, nor command to those who cannot rule, nor trust to those who are distrusted; which is exactly what Nicias did when he himself appointed to the generalship Cleon, who was nothing more in the city than shamelessness and shouting from the speaker's platform.
§3.2οὐκ ἐπαινῶ μὲν γὰρ ἐγὼ τὸν Κράσσον ἐν τοῖς Σπαρτακείοις ἐπειχθέντα θᾶσσον ἢ ἀσφαλέστερον διαγωνίσασθαι, καίτοι φιλοτιμίας ἦν τὸ δεῖσαι μὴ Πομπήιος ἐλθὼν ἀφέληται τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, καθάπερ ἀφείλετο Μετέλλου Μόμμιος τὴν Κόρινθον τὸ δὲ τοῦ Νικίου παντάπασιν ἄτοπον καὶ δεινόν.
For my part, I do not praise Crassus for having hastened in the Spartacus war to fight more quickly rather than more safely, although it was a mark of ambition to fear lest Pompey should come and rob him of his glory, just as Mummius robbed Metellus of Corinth; but Nicias' conduct was altogether strange and terrible.
οὐ γὰρ ἐλπίδας οὐδὲ ῥᾳστώνην ἐχούσης ἐξέστη τῷ ἐχθρῷ φιλοτιμίας καὶ ἀρχῆς, ἀλλὰ κίνδυνον ὑφορώμενος ἐν τῇ στρατηγίᾳ μέγαν ἠγάπησε, τὸ καθʼ αὑτὸν ἐν ἀσφαλεῖ θέμενος, προέσθαι τὸ κοινόν·
For he did not surrender to his enemy an ambition and command that held hope or ease, but, anticipating great danger in the generalship, he chose to abandon the common interest, provided he placed his own safety secure.
§3.3καίτοι ὅ γε Θεμιστοκλῆς, ἵνα μὴ φαῦλος ἄνθρωπος ἐν τοῖς Περσικοῖς καὶ ἄφρων στρατηγήσας ἀπολέσῃ τὴν πόλιν, ἀργυρίῳ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἀπέστησεν αὐτόν, καὶ Κάτων, ὅτε μάλιστα ἑώρα πράγματα καὶ κινδύνους ἔχουσαν ὑπὲρ τῆς· πόλεως τὴν δημαρχίαν, μετῆλθεν·
And yet, Themistocles, in order that a worthless and foolish man might not ruin the city by serving as general in the Persian War, bribed him to step down from the command; and Cato, at the very time when he saw the tribuneship fraught with the greatest troubles and dangers for the city, went after it.
§3.4ὁ δʼ αὑτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν Μίνῳαν καὶ Κύθηρα καὶ Μηλίους τοὺς ταλαιπώρους φυλάττων στρατηγόν, εἰ δὲ δέοι μάχεσθαι Λακεδαιμονίοις, ἀποδυόμενος τὴν χλανύδα καὶ τῇ Κλέωνος ἀπειρίᾳ καὶ θρασύτητι ναῦς καὶ ἄνδρας καὶ ὅπλα καὶ στρατηγίαν ἐμπειρίας ἄκρας δεομένην παραδιδούς, οὐ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ προΐεται δόξαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν τῆς πατρίδος ἀσφάλειαν καὶ σωτηρίαν.
But he, keeping himself as general for Minoa, Cythera, and the miserable Melians, yet, when it was necessary to fight the Lacedaemonians, stripping off his general's cloak, and surrendering to Cleon's inexperience and boldness ships, men, arms, and a command that required the utmost experience, did not throw away his own reputation, but rather his country's safety and salvation.
§3.5ὅθεν ὕστερον οὐχ ἑκὼν οὐδὲ βουλόμενος Συρακουσίοις πολεμεῖν ἠναγκάζετο, δοκῶν οὐ λογισμῷ τοῦ συμφέροντος, ἀλλὰ ῥᾳστώνῃ καὶ μαλακίᾳ τὸ παρʼ αὑτὸν ἀποστερεῖν Σικελίας τὴν πόλιν.
Therefore, later on, he was forced against his will and desire to make war on the Syracusans, appearing to have deprived the city of Sicily, not by a calculation of its advantage, but by his own ease and softheartedness in failing to do his part.
ἐκεῖνο μέντοι μεγάλης ἐπιεικείας σημεῖον, ὅτι δυσχεραίνοντα τὸ πολεμεῖν ἀεὶ καὶ φεύγοντα τὸ στρατηγεῖν οὐκ ἐπαύοντο χειροτονοῦντες ὡς ἐμπειρότατον καὶ βέλτιστον·
Yet this was a sign of great merit: although he always detested making war and avoided serving as general, they never ceased electing him, regarding him as the most experienced and best leader.
§3.6τῷ δὲ Κράσσῳ παρὰ πάντα τὸν χρόνον ἐφιεμένῳ στρατηγίας οὐχ ὑπῆρξε τυχεῖν, πλὴν ἐπὶ τὸν δουλικὸν πόλεμον ἐξ ἀνάγκης, Πομπηΐου καὶ Μετέλλου καὶ Λουκούλλων ἀμφοτέρων ἀπόντων, καίτοι τότε τιμωμένῳ μάλιστα καὶ δυναμένῳ πλεῖστον, ἀλλʼ, ὡς ἔοικε, καὶ τοῖς σπουδάζουσι περὶ αὑτὸν ἐδόκει κατὰ τὸν κωμικὸν
ἀνὴρ ἄριστος
εἶναι
τἆλλα πλὴν ἐν ἀσπίδι. §3.7καὶ τοῦτο Ῥωμαίους οὐδὲν ὤνησεν ἐκβιασθέντας ὑπὸ τῆς φιλαρχίας αὐτοῦ καὶ φιλοτιμίας.
On the other hand, although Crassus all his life desired a military command, it was never his fortune to obtain one, except by necessity in the Servile War, when Pompey, Metellus, and both Luculli were absent; and yet at that time he was at the height of his honor and power. But, as it seems, even to those who were zealous for him, he appeared, in the words of the comic poet, to be "the best of men in all respects, save only behind a shield." And this did no good to the Romans, who were forced into it by his love of rule and ambition.
Ἀθηναῖοι μὲν γὰρ ἄκοντα Νικίαν ἐξέπεμψαν ἐπὶ τὸν πόλεμον. Ῥωμαίους δὲ Κράσσος ἄκοντας ἐξήγαγεν· καὶ διὰ μὲν τοῦτον ἡ πόλις, ἐκεῖνος δὲ διὰ τὴν πόλιν ἠτύχησεν.
For the Athenians sent Nicias out to war against his will, but Crassus led the Romans out against theirs; and so, through the latter the city, but through the city the former was brought to ruin.