§11.39.1κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἑλλάδα Ἀθηναῖοι μὲν μετὰ τὴν ἐν Πλαταιαῖς νίκην μετεκόμισαν ἐκ Τροιζῆνος καὶ Σαλαμῖνος τέκνα καὶ γυναῖκας εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας, εὐθὺς δὲ καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐπεχείρησαν τειχίζειν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν ἀνηκόντων ἐπιμέλειαν ἐποιοῦντο.
In Greece, after the victory at Plataea, the Athenians brought back their children and wives from Troezen and Salamis to Athens, and immediately undertook to build the walls of the city and paid attention to the other matters pertaining to safety.
§11.39.2Λακεδαιμόνιοι δʼ ὁρῶντες τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἐν ταῖς ναυτικαῖς δυνάμεσι περιπεποιημένους δόξαν μεγάλην, ὑπώπτευσαν αὐτῶν τὴν αὔξησιν, καὶ διέγνωσαν κωλύειν τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἀνοικοδομεῖν τὰ τείχη.
The Lacedaemonians, seeing that the Athenians had acquired great glory in their naval forces, became suspicious of their growth and decided to prevent the Athenians from rebuilding the walls.
§11.39.3εὐθὺς οὖν πρέσβεις ἐξέπεμψαν εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας τοὺς λόγῳ μὲν συμβουλεύσοντας κατὰ τὸ παρὸν μὴ τειχίζειν τὴν πόλιν διὰ τὸ μὴ συμφέρειν κοινῇ τοῖς Ἕλλησι· τὸν γὰρ Ξέρξην, εἰ πάλιν παραγενηθείη μετὰ μειζόνων δυνάμεων, ἕξειν ἑτοίμους πόλεις τετειχισμένας ἐκτὸς Πελοποννήσου, ἐξ ὧν ὁρμώμενον ῥᾳδίως καταπολεμήσειν τοὺς Ἕλληνας.
Therefore, they immediately dispatched envoys to Athens, who, in word indeed, were to advise them not to build the walls of the city for the present, on the ground that it was not advantageous to the Greeks in common; for if Xerxes should return with larger forces, he would have ready-walled cities outside the Peloponnesus, starting from which he would easily wage war against and defeat the Greeks.
οὐ πειθομένων δʼ αὐτῶν, οἱ πρέσβεις προσιόντες τοῖς οἰκοδομοῦσι προσέταττον ἀφίστασθαι τῶν ἔργων τὴν ταχίστην.
When they would not comply, the envoys went to those who were building and ordered them to desist from the works as quickly as possible.
§11.39.4ἀπορουμένων δὲ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ὅ,τι χρὴ πράττειν, Θεμιστοκλῆς, ἀποδοχῆς τότε παρʼ αὐτοῖς τυγχάνων τῆς μεγίστης, συνεβούλευεν ἔχειν ἡσυχίαν· ἐὰν γὰρ βιάζωνται, ῥᾳδίως τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους μετὰ τῶν Πελοποννησίων στρατεύσαντας κωλύσειν αὐτοὺς τειχίζειν τὴν πόλιν.
While the Athenians were at a loss as to what they should do, Themistocles, who was then enjoying the greatest favor among them, advised them to keep quiet; for if they should use force, the Lacedaemonians together with the Peloponnesians would easily march against them and prevent them from walling the city.
§11.39.5ἐν ἀπορρήτοις δὲ τῇ βουλῇ προεῖπεν, ὡς αὐτὸς μὲν μετά τινων ἄλλων πορεύσεται πρεσβευτὴς εἰς Λακεδαίμονα, διδάξων τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους περὶ τοῦ τειχισμοῦ, τοῖς δὲ ἄρχουσι παρήγγειλεν, ὅταν ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος ἔλθωσι πρέσβεις εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας, παρακατέχειν αὐτούς, ἕως ἂν αὐτὸς ἐκ τῆς Λακεδαίμονος ἀνακάμψῃ, ἐν τοσούτῳ δὲ πανδημεὶ τειχίζειν τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ κρατήσειν αὐτοὺς ἀπεφαίνετο τῆς προθέσεως.
And in secret he told the council that he himself would go as an envoy to Lacedaemon with certain others, to instruct the Lacedaemonians concerning the walling, and he charged the magistrates that, whenever envoys should come from Lacedaemon to Athens, they should detain them until he himself should return from Lacedaemon, and that in the meantime they should wall the city with the whole population, and in this manner, he declared, they would succeed in their purpose.