§1.5.1ταύτας δὴ τὰς πεπλανημένας, ὥσπερ ἔφην, ὑπολήψεις ἐξελέσθαι τῆς διανοίας τῶν πολλῶν προαιρούμενος καὶ ἀντικατασκευάσαι τὰς ἀληθεῖς, περὶ μὲν τῶν οἰκισάντων τὴν πόλιν, οἵτινες ἦσαν καὶ κατὰ τίνας ἕκαστοι καιροὺς συνῆλθον καὶ τίσι τύχαις χρησάμενοι τὰς πατρίους οἰκήσεις ἐξέλιπον, ἐν ταύτῃ δηλώσω τῇ γραφῇ, διʼ ἧς Ἕλληνάς τε αὐτοὺς ὄντας ἐπιδείξειν ὑπισχνοῦμαι καὶ οὐκ ἐκ τῶν ἐλαχίστων ἢ §1.5.2φαυλοτάτων ἐθνῶν συνεληλυθότας.
Desiring, as I said, to remove these erroneous conceptions from the minds of the many and to establish the true ones in their place, I shall make clear in this work, concerning those who founded the city, who they were, at what times they severally came together, and by what fortunes they were driven to leave their ancestral homes; through which work I promise to show that they were Greeks and did not come together from the smallest or most insignificant nations.
περὶ δὲ τῶν πράξεων, ἃς μετὰ τὸν οἰκισμὸν εὐθέως ἀπεδείξαντο, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων, ἐξ ὧν εἰς τοσαύτην ἡγεμονίαν προῆλθον οἱ μετʼ αὐτοὺς, ἀπὸ τῆς μετὰ ταύτην ἀρξάμενος ἀναγραφῆς ἀφηγήσομαι, παραλιπὼν οὐδὲν ὅση μοι δύναμις τῶν ἀξίων ἱστορίας, ἵνα τοῖς γε μαθοῦσι τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἃ προσήκει περὶ τῆς πόλεως τῆσδε παραστῇ φρονεῖν, εἰ μὴ παντάπασιν ἀγρίως καὶ δυσμενῶς διάκεινται πρὸς αὐτήν, καὶ μήτε ἄχθεσθαι τῇ ὑποτάξει κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς γενομένῃ ʽφύσεως γὰρ δὴ νόμος ἅπασι κοινός, ὃν οὐδεὶς καταλύσει χρόνος, ἄρχειν ἀεὶ τῶν ἡττόνων τοὺς κρείττονασʼ μήτε κατηγορεῖν τῆς τύχης, ὡς οὐκ ἐπιτηδείῳ πόλει τηλικαύτην ἡγεμονίαν καὶ τοσοῦτον ἤδη χρόνον προῖκα δωρησαμένης·
And concerning the deeds which they performed immediately after the founding, and the customs by which their descendants advanced to so great a hegemony, I shall relate, beginning with the narrative after this one, omitting nothing of what is worthy of history to the best of my power, so that those who have learned the truth may entertain the sentiments that are fitting towards this city, provided they are not completely hostile and ill-disposed towards her, and may neither resent the subjection which has come about in accordance with reason (for "it is a common law of nature, which no time shall destroy, that the stronger should always rule the weaker"), nor accuse fortune of having bestowed so great a hegemony upon an undeserving city, and that too for so long a time already.
§1.5.3μαθοῦσί γε δὴ παρὰ τῆς ἱστορίας, ὅτι μυρίας ἤνεγκεν ἀνδρῶν ἀρετὰς εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς μετὰ τὸν οἰκισμὸν, ὧν οὔτʼ εὐσεβεστέρους οὔτε δικαιοτέρους οὔτε σωφροσύνῃ πλείονι παρὰ πάντα τὸν βίον χρησαμένους οὐδέ γε τὰ πολέμια κρείττους ἀγωνιστὰς οὐδεμία πόλις ἤνεγκεν οὔτε Ἑλλὰς οὔτε βάρβαρος, εἰ δὴ ἀπέσται τοῦ λόγου τὸ ἐπίφθονον· ἔχει γάρ τι καὶ τοιοῦτον ἡ τῶν παραδόξων καὶ θαυμαστῶν ὑπόσχεσις.
If, indeed, they learn from history that immediately from the beginning, after the founding, she produced myriad virtues of men — than whom no city, whether Greek or barbarian, has produced men more pious, more just, or practicing greater temperance throughout their whole lives, or even better combatants in war — if, that is, our words may be free from envy; for the promise of things unexpected and wonderful carries some such quality with it.
§1.5.4οἱ δὲ σύμπαντες οἱ τοσοῦτο περιθέντες αὐτῇ δυναστείας μέγεθος ἀγνοοῦνται πρὸς Ἑλλήνων, οὐ τυχόντες ἀξιολόγου συγγραφέως· οὐδεμία γὰρ ἀκριβὴς ἐξελήλυθε περὶ αὐτῶν Ἑλληνὶς ἱστορία μέχρι τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς χρόνων, ὅτι μὴ κεφαλαιώδεις ἐπιτομαὶ πάνυ βραχεῖαι,
But all those who bestowed upon her so great a magnitude of power are unknown to the Greeks, because they did not meet with a worthy historian; for no accurate Greek history concerning them has appeared down to our times, except for very brief summaries.