§365ἐκεῖνό γʼ ἔστʼ εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἄρα ὀλίγοι περὶ τούτων ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐγένοντο λόγοι παρʼ ἡμῖν, ἢ μιᾶς ἡμέρας μέρει μικρῷ τὸ πᾶν ἐπετρέψαμεν.
Even this cannot be said, namely that after all few words were spoken about these things among us from the beginning, or that we entrusted the whole to a small part of a single day.
ἀλλʼ ὡς μὲν καὶ κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἔτι τοῦ πολέμου καὶ Συρακοσίους ἐχθροὺς εἶναι καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων τῶν ἐκεῖ τοῖς δεομένοις βοηθεῖν ἐψηφίσασθε, καὶ τοὺς ἀποστόλους οὓς ἐπέμψατε πείρας ἕνεκα τοῦ παντὸς, ἐάσω· ἀλλʼ ἡνίκα τὸν μέγαν τουτονὶ στόλον πέμπειν διενοούμεθα, τίς λόγος οὐκ ἐρρήθη παρʼ ἡμῖν;
But as to your having voted, even at the very beginning of the war, both that the Syracusans were enemies and to help those of the Greeks there who needed it, and the envoys whom you sent to make trial of the whole situation, I shall pass that over; but when we were planning to send this great armament, what argument was not spoken among us?
ἢ τίς οὐκ ἐτρίβη χρόνος;
Or what time was not spent?
ἢ τίνι τῶν πάντων εἰπεῖν οὐκ ἀπεδώκαμεν;
Or to whom among all did we not grant the right to speak?
οἳ καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον περὶ τῆς παρασκευῆς αὐτῆς ἐκκλησίαν ποιοῦντες, παρελθόντος Νικίου καὶ πάλιν ἀντιλέγοντος ἐξ ἀρχῆς σχεδὸν ταῦθʼ ἅπερ καὶ νῦν ἐν τοῖς γράμμασιν, ὡς ἡ Σικελία πολλὴ καὶ οὔτε λαβεῖν ῥᾳδία οὔτε κατασχεῖν, ἐὰν ἄρα κτησώμεθα, * * ἀμφότερʼ εἰπεῖν ἔστιν, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι· οὔτε γὰρ ὀργὴν οὐδʼ ἡντινοῦν ἐποιησάμεθʼ, ὥστʼ εἰπεῖν τὰ δοκοῦντα κωλῦσαι, καὶ διὰ πάντων ἀκούσαντες ἔτʼ ἄμεινον ἔγνωμεν ὡς χρὴ πλεῖν.
You who, even at the last, holding an assembly about the preparation itself, when Nicias came forward and again opposed from the beginning almost those very things which he now writes in his letter—namely that Sicily is large and neither easy to capture nor to hold, if indeed we should acquire it—* * both things can be said, men of Athens: for we showed not the slightest anger, so as to prevent him from speaking his mind, and having heard him through all, we resolved even more firmly that we must sail.
εἰκότως, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι.
And naturally so, men of Athens.
πολὺ γὰρ μᾶλλον προτρεπόντων καὶ κινούντων οἱ τοιοῦτοι λόγοι πάντες ἢ κωλυόντων εἰσὶν ὡς οἷόν τε.
For all such arguments are far more encouraging and stirring than they could possibly be hindering.
τό τε γὰρ μέγεθος τῆς νήσου καὶ ὁ περίπλους ἆθλόν ἐστι τοῦ τολμήματος ἄξιον τό τε συμμίκτους εἶναι τοὺς ἔχοντας αὐτὴν καὶ μὴ ταυτὸν φρονεῖν πρὸς ἡμῶν ἐστιν.
For the size of the island and its circumnavigation are a prize worthy of our daring enterprise, and the fact that its inhabitants are a mixed populace and do not think alike is in our favor.
ἓν μὲν γὰρ ὄντες γένος πάντες χαλεποὶ καὶ παραπεῖσαι καὶ βιάσασθαι διὰ τέλους ἂν ἦσαν, σύγκλυδες δὲ καὶ πανταχόθεν συμπεφορημένοι συμμάχων οὐχ ἧττον ἡμῖν ἔχουσι τάξιν ἢ πολεμίων.
For if they had all been of one race, they would have been difficult both to persuade and to constrain to the end; but being a mixed rabble gathered from all quarters, they stand in the relation of allies to us no less than of enemies.
οὐ γὰρ ἂν γένοιντο καθʼ ἓν, ὥστε ὑπάρχειν τοὺς ἑτέρους κατὰ τῶν ἑτέρων ἔχειν.
For they would not unite as one, so that we have the opportunity of using one party against the other.
ὥσπερ γὰρ πόλιν οἶμαι στασιάζουσαν ῥᾷόν ἐστι παραστήσασθαι, οὕτω καὶ νῆσον, ἥτις ἐξ ἀρχῆς διῄρηται.
For just as, I think, it is easier to reduce a city that is in sedition, so too an island which has been divided from the beginning.
ἔτι δʼ, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, πρὶν μὲν παραβαλεῖν ἡμέτερον ναυτικὸν εἰς Σικελίαν, ἦν τις ἀφορμὴ Συρακοσίοις ἀπὸ τῶν συμμάχων, παρούσης δὲ ἀποστροφῆς οἱ πρότερον κατʼ ἀνάγκας ἐκείνων ἀκούοντες σφαλεροὶ μὲν, εἰ παραμένοιεν, κοινωνοὶ τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτοῖς, χαλεποὶ δʼ, εἰ μετασταῖεν, γίγνονται πολέμιοι·
And further, men of Athens, before our fleet touched at Sicily, the Syracusans had some resource from their allies; but now that a refuge is at hand, those who formerly obeyed them by constraint become untrustworthy partners in their affairs if they remain, and formidable enemies if they revolt; and the war has shaken these things thoroughly.
§366διεκίνησεδʼ αὐτὰ καλῶς ὁ πόλεμος. νῦν μὲν οὖν πρὸς τὴν ἐξαίφνης εὐημερίαν αὐτῶν καὶ τὸ παρʼ ἐλπίδα δοκεῖν ἀνενηνοχέναι συνεσταλμένοι σχηματίζονται.
So for the present, in view of their sudden prosperity and the appearance of having recovered contrary to expectation, they act with caution.
εἰ δʼ αὖθις ἄλλος στόλος φανείη, διʼ ὀλίγου εὑρήσετε, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, τὴν Σικελίαν τὴν πολλὴν καὶ πολυάνθρωπον ὑμετέραν οὖσαν.
But if another fleet should appear again, within a short time, men of Athens, you will find that Sicily, vast and populous as it is, is yours.
τὸ μὲν τοίνυν ἐξ ἀρχῆς πείθειν ὑμᾶς πλεῖν λόγου ἐδεῖτο ἴσως καὶ πλείονος τῆς ἐξετάσεως· νῦν δʼ εἰς τὰ πράγματʼ αὐτὰ βλέψας ἄν τις εὕροι πανταχῆ καὶ συμφέροντα καὶ οὐ μείζονα ἢ καταπρᾶξαι δύνασθαι καὶ οὐκ ἀδύνατα εἰς τὸ πραχθῆναι βεβουλευμένους ὑμᾶς.
To persuade you to sail at the beginning, therefore, was perhaps in need of more discussion and scrutiny; but now, looking at the facts themselves, one would find that they are in every way advantageous, and not too great for you to achieve, and that you have resolved on what is not impossible to be done.
τῆς τε γὰρ θαλάττης κεκρατήκαμεν τοσοῦτον ὅσον πλεῖστον ἐξῆν, κατὰ γῆν τε μάχην ἥντινα οὐ πολλῷ νενικήκαμεν οὐδεὶς ἂν εἰπεῖν ἔχοι τοσούτων τῶν πασῶν ἄχρι τούτου γεγενημένων.
For we have mastered the sea to the greatest extent possible, and on land, no one could name a battle which we have not won by a wide margin, out of all those, so many in number, that have taken place up to this point.
καίτοι πῶς οὐκ ἄτοπον εἰ διότι μὲν τοσαῦτα νενικήκαμεν ἑξῆς μὴ θαρρεῖν οἰησόμεθα χρῆναι, ὅτι δʼ ἡ νῦν οὐ κατὰ νοῦν ἐχώρησε μάχη μία, τοῦτʼ εἰς ἄφυκτον θήσομεν;
And yet, how is it not absurd, if because we have won so many consecutive victories we think we ought not to be confident, but because this single battle just now did not go according to our mind, we shall regard this as a hopeless disaster?
καὶ Συρακόσιοι μὲν ἴσασι θαρρεῖν οὕτω πολλὰ καὶ συνεχῆ δυστυχήσαντες, ἡμεῖς δʼ οἷς τοσαῦτα ἀπʼ ἐκείνων ἕστηκε τρόπαια, ταυτὸν τοῦτʼ οὐχὶ ποιήσομεν;
And if the Syracusans know how to be confident after suffering so many and continuous misfortunes, shall not we, on whose part so many trophies have been erected at their expense, do the same?
οὐδʼ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν ὧν προσπταῖσαι δοκοῦμεν εἰσόμεθα ὡς οὐκ ἀγαθὸν τὸ ῥᾳδίως ὑφίεσθαι;
Shall we not learn, even from the very things in which we seem to have stumbled, that it is not good to yield easily?
φέρε γὰρ πρὸς Διὸς, εἴ τις ἐν Συρακοσίοις λέγων, ὅτε πάντʼ ἐφεξῆς ἀπετύγχανον, ὡς δεῖ καταλύσασθαι τὸν πόλεμον καὶ παραδοῦναι τὴν πόλιν ἡμῖν, εἶτʼ ἔπεισεν, ἔσθʼ ὅπως ἂν ἢ Γύλιππος ἦλθεν αὐτοῖς πρῶτον, ἢ νὴ Δίʼ ἐπελθὼν εἶχεν ὃ ποιοίη;
For come, by Zeus, if anyone among the Syracusans, when they were failing in everything in succession, had said that they must end the war and surrender the city to us, and had then persuaded them, is there any way that Gylippus would either have come to them in the first place, or, by Zeus, having come, would have had anything to do?
καὶ πῶς ἄν;
And how could he?
οὐδαμῶς.
In no way.
νῦν δʼ οἶμαι τὰς ἐλπίδας ἐκτείναντες καὶ τῶν ἐν ποσὶ δυσκόλων ἀεὶ κρείττους ταῖς δόξαις γενόμενοι τοσοῦτον γοῦν κεκερδάκασιν, ὅσον δοκεῖν ἤδη περὶ τῶν ἴσων αὐτοῖς εἶναι τὸν λόγον.
But now, I think, by extending their hopes and in their imagination always rising superior to the difficulties at hand, they have at least gained this much, that the debate already seems to be about equal terms for them.
οὐ τοίνυν τὸ κεχωρηκέναι τι τῶν πάντων κατὰ νοῦν αὐτοῖς φοβητέον μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦτʼ αὐτὸ ποιησαμένους παράδειγμα τοῖς πράγμασι βοηθητέον ἐρρωμένως, ὡς μήτε χείρους ἐκείνων ἐλπίζειν φανείημεν, καὶ ταῦτα πάντων ἀνθρώπων οὐ μόνον καταπρᾶξαι τὰ δοκοῦντα κρατίστους ἡμᾶς ὑπειληφότων, ἀλλὰ κἀν τοῖς δεινοῖς ἐπὶ πλεῖστον διαφέρειν, μήθʼ ἃ τοῦ παρελθόντος ἡμῖν κέρδη γέγονε χρόνου, ταῦτʼ εἰκῆ διαφθείραιμεν.
Therefore, we must not fear the fact that some of their affairs have gone according to their mind, but rather, making this very thing our example, we must help our cause vigorously, so that we may not appear to have less hope than they—and that too when all men have supposed us to be not only the strongest in accomplishing our designs, but also far pre-eminent in dangers—nor should we wastefully destroy the gains that have accrued to us in the past.
καὶ μὴν ὅτε Νικίου γε
And indeed, when Nicias...