§9#1## Ἀρχιδάμῳ
εἰδώς, ὦ Ἀρχίδαμε, πολλοὺς ὡρμημένους ἐγκωμιάζειν σὲ καὶ τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸ γένος ὑμῶν, εἱλόμην τοῦτον μὲν τὸν λόγον, ἐπειδὴ λίαν ῥᾴδιος ἦν, ἐκείνοις παραλιπεῖν, αὐτὸς δέ σε διανοοῦμαι παρακαλεῖν ἐπὶ στρατηγίας καὶ στρατείας οὐδὲν ὁμοίας ταῖς νῦν ἐνεστηκυίαις, ἀλλ’ ἐξ ὧν μεγάλων ἀγαθῶν αἴτιος γενήσει καὶ τῇ πόλει τῇ σαυτοῦ καὶ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἅπασιν.
Knowing, O Archidamus, that many are eager to praise you, your father, and your family, I chose to leave that subject to them, since it was too easy, and I intend instead to urge you to a generalship and an expedition in no way resembling those now on foot, but one which will make you the cause of great benefits both to your own city and to all the Greeks.
ταύτην δ’ ἐποιησάμην τὴν αἵρεσιν, οὐκ ἀγνοῶν τῶν λόγων τὸν εὐμεταχειριστότερον, ἀλλ’ ἀκριβῶς εἰδὼς ὅτι πράξεις μὲν εὑρεῖν καλὰς καὶ μεγάλας καὶ συμφερούσας χαλεπὸν καὶ σπάνιόν ἐστιν, ἐπαινέσαι δὲ τὰς ἀρετὰς τὰς ὑμετέρας ῥᾳδίως οἷός τ’ ἂν ἐγενόμην.
I made this choice, not because I was ignorant of the more manageable of the two lines of discourse, but because I knew well that while it is difficult and rare to find fine, great, and advantageous actions, I could easily have praised your virtues.
οὐ γὰρ ἔδει με παρ’ ἐμαυτοῦ πορίζεσθαι τὰ λεχθησόμενα περὶ αὐτῶν, ἀλλ’ ἐκ τῶν ὑμῖν πεπραγμένων τοσαύτας ἂν καὶ τοιαύτας ἀφορμὰς ἔλαβον ὥστε τὰς περὶ τῶν ἄλλων εὐλογίας μηδὲ κατὰ μικρὸν ἐναμίλλους γενέσθαι τῇ περὶ ὑμᾶς ῥηθείσῃ.
For I should not have had to provide the material for what was to be said about them from my own resources, but from your deeds I should have obtained such great and abundant materials that the eulogies of others would not have compared even in a small degree with what was said about you.
πῶς γὰρ ἄν τις ἢ τὴν εὐγένειαν ὑπερεβάλετο τῶν γεγονότων ἀφ’ Ἡρακλέους καὶ Διὸς ἣν πάντες ἴσασι μόνοις ὑμῖν ὁμολογουμένως ὑπάρχουσαν, ἢ τὴν ἀρετὴν τῶν ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ τὰς Δωρικὰς πόλεις κτισάντων καὶ τὴν χώραν ταύτην κατασχόντων, ἢ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν κινδύνων καὶ τῶν τροπαίων τῶν διὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἡγεμονίαν καὶ βασιλείαν σταθέντων;
For how could anyone surpass the nobility of birth of those descended from Heracles and Zeus, which everyone knows belongs admittedly to you alone, or the virtue of those who founded the Doric cities in the Peloponnese and occupied this land, or the multitude of dangers and trophies erected under your leadership and kingship?
τίς δ’ ἂν ἠπόρησε, διεξιέναι βουληθεὶς τὴν ἀνδρίαν ὅλης τῆς πόλεως καὶ σωφροσύνην καὶ πολιτείαν τὴν ὑπὸ τῶν προγόνων τῶν ὑμετέρων συνταχθεῖσαν;
And who would have been at a loss, wishing to detail the courage of the whole city, its moderation, and the constitution established by your ancestors?
πόσοις δ’ ἂν λόγοις ἐξεγένετο χρήσασθαι περὶ τὴν φρόνησιν τοῦ σοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τὴν ἐν ταῖς συμφοραῖς διοίκησιν καὶ τὴν μάχην τὴν ἐν τῇ πόλει γενομένην ἧς ἡγεμὼν σὺ καταστὰς καὶ μετ’ ὀλίγων πρὸς πολλοὺς κινδυνεύσας καὶ πάντων διενεγκὼν αἴτιος ἐγένου τῇ πόλει τῆς σωτηρίας, οὗ κάλλιον ἔργον οὐδεὶς ἂν ἐπιδείξειεν;
How many arguments would it have been possible to employ concerning the wisdom of your father, his administration in times of misfortune, and that battle in the city of which you became the leader, risking your life with a few against many, and, excelling all, became the cause of safety for the city—a more beautiful deed than which no one could point to?
οὔτε γὰρ πόλεις ἑλεῖν οὔτε πολλοὺς ἀποκτεῖναι τῶν πολεμίων οὕτω μέγα καὶ σεμνόν ἐστιν ὡς ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων κινδύνων σῶσαι τὴν πατρίδα, μὴ τὴν τυχοῦσαν ἀλλὰ τὴν τοσοῦτον ἐπ’ ἀρετῇ διενεγκοῦσαν.
For neither capturing cities nor killing many of the enemy is so great and noble as saving one's homeland from such dangers, and not just any homeland, but one that has so far excelled in virtue.
περὶ ὧν μὴ κομψῶς, ἀλλ’ ἁπλῶς διελθών, μηδὲ τῇ λέξει κοσμήσας, ἀλλ’ ἐξαριθμήσας μόνον καὶ χύδην εἰπὼν οὐδεὶς ὅστις οὐκ ἂν εὐδοκιμήσειεν.
Speaking of these things, not elegantly but simply, not adorning them with style but merely enumerating them and speaking in plain terms, there is no one who would not win high esteem.
ἐγὼ τοίνυν δυνηθεὶς ἂν καὶ περὶ τούτων ἐξαρκούντως διαλεχθῆναι, κἀκεῖνο γιγνώσκων, πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι ῥᾷόν ἐστι περὶ τῶν γεγενημένων εὐπόρως ἐπιδραμεῖν ἢ περὶ τῶν μελλόντων νουνεχόντως εἰπεῖν, ἔπειθ’ ὅτι πάντες ἄνθρωποι πλείω χάριν ἔχουσι τοῖς ἐπαινοῦσιν ἢ τοῖς συμβουλεύουσι, τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ὡς εὔνους ὄντας ἀποδέχονται, τοὺς δ’ ἂν μὴ κελευσθέντες παραινῶσιν, ἐνοχλεῖν νομίζουσιν, ἀλλ’ ὅμως ἅπαντα ταῦτα προειδὼς τῶν μὲν πρὸς χάριν ἂν ῥηθέντων ἀπεσχόμην, περὶ δὲ τοιούτων μέλλω λέγειν, περὶ ὧν οὐδεὶς ἂν ἄλλος τολμήσειεν, ἡγούμενος δεῖν τοὺς ἐπιεικείας καὶ φρονήσεως ἀμφισβητοῦντας μὴ τοὺς ῥᾴστους προαιρεῖσθαι τῶν λόγων, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἐργωδεστάτους, μηδὲ τοὺς ἡδίστους τοῖς ἀκούουσιν, ἀλλ’ ἐξ ὧν ὠφελήσουσι καὶ τὰς πόλεις τὰς αὑτῶν τοὺς ἄλλους Ἕλληνας· ἐφ’ οἷσπερ ἐγὼ τυγχάνω νῦν ἐφεστηκώς.
I, then, although I could have spoken adequately about these things as well, and knowing that—firstly, it is easier to run smoothly over past events than to speak wisely about the future; and secondly, that all men are more grateful to those who praise them than to those who advise them (for they accept the former as well-disposed, but if men advise them unasked, they think them troublesome)—nevertheless, foreseeing all this, I have abstained from words spoken for favor, and I am about to speak of things that no one else would dare to, believing that those who claim virtue and wisdom should not choose the easiest of discourses, but the most laborious, nor those most pleasant to the hearers, but those from which they will benefit both their own cities and the other Greeks; which is precisely what I am now engaged in.
θαυμάζω δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν πράττειν ἢ λέγειν δυναμένων, εἰ μηδὲ πώποτ’ αὐτοῖς ἐπῆλθεν ἐνθυμηθῆναι περὶ τῶν κοινῶν πραγμάτων, μηδ’ ἐλεῆσαι τὰς τῆς Ἑλλάδος δυσπραξίας οὕτως αἰσχρῶς καὶ δεινῶς διατιθεμένης, ἧς οὐδεὶς παραλέλειπται τόπος, ὃς οὐ γέμει καὶ μεστός ἐστι πολέμου καὶ στάσεων καὶ σφαγῶν καὶ κακῶν ἀναριθμήτων·
And I wonder at the others who have power to act or speak, that it has never occurred to them to think about our common affairs, nor to pity the misfortunes of Greece, which is being treated so shamefully and dreadfully, no place of which is left untouched, but is full of war, faction, slaughter, and countless evils.
ὧν πλεῖστον μέρος μετειλήφασιν οἱ τῆς Ἀσίας τὴν παραλίαν οἰκοῦντες, οὓς ἐν τοῖς συνθήκαις ἅπαντας ἐκδεδώκαμεν οὐ μόνον τοῖς βαρβάροις ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων τοῖς τῆς μὲν φωνῆς τῆς ἡμετέρας κοινωνοῦσι, τῷ δὲ τρόπῳ τῷ τῶν βαρβάρων χρωμένοις·
The greatest share of these has fallen to those inhabiting the coast of Asia, whom in the treaties we have betrayed all of them, not only to the barbarians but also to those of the Greeks who, though sharing our language, practice the manners of the barbarians.
οὕς, εἰ νοῦν εἴχομεν, οὐκ ἂν περιεωρῶμεν ἀθροιζομένους οὐδ’ ὑπὸ τῶν τυχόντων στρατηγουμένους, οὐδὲ μείζους καὶ κρείττους συντάξεις στρατοπέδων γιγνομένας ἐκ τῶν πλανωμένων ἢ τῶν πολιτευομένων· οἳ τῆς μὲν βασιλέως χώρας μικρὸν μέρος λυμαίνονται, τὰς δὲ πόλεις τὰς Ἑλληνίδας, εἰς ἣν ἂν εἰσέλθωσιν, ἀναστάτους ποιοῦσι, τοὺς μὲν ἀποκτείνοντες, τοὺς δὲ φυγαδεύοντες, τῶν δὲ τὰς οὐσίας διαρπάζοντες, ἔτι δὲ παῖδας καὶ γυναῖκας ὑβρίζοντες, καὶ τὰς μὲν εὐπρεπεστάτας καταισχύνοντες, τῶν δ’ ἄλλων ἃ περὶ τοῖς σώμασιν ἔχουσι περισπῶντες, ὥσθ’ ἃς πρότερον οὐδὲ κεκοσμημένας ἦν ἰδεῖν τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις, ταύτας ὑπὸ πολλῶν ὁρᾶσθαι γυμνάς, ἐνίας δ’ αὐτῶν ἐν ῥάκεσι περιφθειρομένας δι’ ἔνδειαν τῶν ἀναγκαίων.
Whom, if we had sense, we should not have allowed to gather in crowds, nor to be led by any chance generals, nor should we have allowed larger and stronger organizations of armies to be formed from wanderers than from citizens; who do little damage to the King's territory, but reduce the Greek cities, whichever they enter, to ruin, killing some, banishing others, plundering the property of others, and besides, insulting children and women, dishonoring the most respectable, and stripping from others the clothes they have on their bodies, so that those whom formerly not even fully dressed could be seen by strangers, are now seen naked by many, and some of them are seen wandering in rags through lack of necessities.