§2.58.1θρωπίαν.
ness.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα προορώμενοι τὰς ἐν αὑτοῖς στάσεις καὶ τὰς ὑπʼ Αἰτωλῶν καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων ἐπιβουλάς, πρεσβεύσαντες πρὸς τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς ἠξίωσαν δοῦναι παραφυλακὴν αὑτοῖς.
After this, anticipating the factions among themselves and the plots by the Aetolians and Lacedaemonians, they sent ambassadors to the Achaeans and requested them to grant them a guard.
§2.58.2οἱ δὲ πεισθέντες ἀπεκλήρωσαν ἐξ αὑτῶν τριακοσίους ἄνδρας· ὧν οἱ λαχόντες ὥρμησαν, ἀπολιπόντες τὰς ἰδίας πατρίδας καὶ τοὺς βίους, καὶ διέτριβον ἐν Μαντινείᾳ, παραφυλάττοντες τὴν ἐκείνων ἐλευθερίαν ἅμα καὶ σωτηρίαν.
And they, being persuaded, chose by lot from among themselves three hundred men; of whom those who drew the lot set out, leaving behind their own homelands and livelihoods, and remained in Mantinea, guarding at once their freedom and safety.
§2.58.3σὺν δὲ τούτοις καὶ μισθοφόρους διακοσίους ἐξέπεμψαν, οἳ μετὰ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν συνδιετήρουν τὴν ὑποκειμένην αὐτοῖς κατάστασιν.
And along with these they also sent out two hundred mercenaries, who together with the Achaeans preserved for them the established order.
§2.58.4μετʼ οὐ πολὺ δὲ στασιάσαντες πρὸς σφᾶς οἱ Μαντινεῖς καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους ἐπισπασάμενοι τήν τε πόλιν ἐνεχείρισαν καὶ τοὺς παρὰ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν διατρίβοντας παρʼ αὑτοῖς κατέσφαξαν· οὗ μεῖζον παρασπόνδημα καὶ δεινότερον οὐδʼ εἰπεῖν εὐμαρές.
But not long afterwards, having fallen into factional strife among themselves and having invited the Lacedaemonians, the Mantineans surrendered the city and slaughtered those from the Achaeans who were staying among them; than which a greater treaty-violation and more terrible deed is not even easy to speak of.
§2.58.5ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔδοξε σφίσι καθόλου τὴν πρὸς τὸ ἔθνος χάριν καὶ φιλίαν ἀθετεῖν, τῶν γε προειρημένων ἀνδρῶν ἐχρῆν δήπου φεισαμένους ἐᾶσαι πάντας ὑποσπόνδους ἀπελθεῖν· §2.58.6τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ τοῖς πολεμίοις ἔθος ἐστὶ συγχωρεῖσθαι κατὰ τοὺς κοινοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων νόμους.
For since they decided to reject entirely their gratitude and friendship toward the league, they ought surely, sparing at least the aforementioned men, to have allowed them all to depart under truce; for this is customary even for enemies to be granted according to the common laws of mankind.
§2.58.7οἱ δʼ ἵνα Κλεομένει καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις ἱκανὴν παράσχωνται πίστιν πρὸς τὴν ἐνεστῶσαν ἐπιβολήν, τὰ κοινὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων δίκαια παραβάντες τὸ μέγιστον ἀσέβημα κατὰ προαίρεσιν ἐπετέλεσαν.
But they, in order to provide sufficient pledge to Cleomenes and the Lacedaemonians for the impending enterprise, having transgressed the common rights of mankind, committed the greatest impiety by deliberate choice.
§2.58.8τὸ γὰρ τούτων αὐτόχειρας γενέσθαι καὶ τιμωροὺς οἵτινες πρότερον μὲν κατὰ κράτος λαβόντες αὐτοὺς ἀθῴους ἀφῆκαν, τότε δὲ τὴν ἐκείνων ἐλευθερίαν καὶ σωτηρίαν ἐφύλαττον, πηλίκης ὀργῆς ἐστιν ἄξιον; §2.58.9τί δʼ ἂν παθόντες οὗτοι δίκην δόξαιεν ἁρμόζουσαν δεδωκέναι;
For to become the executioners and punishers of those who previously, having captured them by force, let them go unharmed, and at that time were guarding their freedom and safety—of how great anger is it worthy? And what having suffered would these men be thought to have paid a fitting penalty?
τυχὸν ἴσως εἴποι τις ἄν, πραθέντες μετὰ τέκνων καὶ γυναικῶν, ἐπεὶ κατεπολεμήθησαν.
Perhaps someone might say: having been sold, along with their children and wives, when they were utterly defeated in war.
§2.58.10ἀλλὰ τοῦτό γε καὶ τοῖς μηθὲν ἀσεβὲς ἐπιτελεσαμένοις κατὰ τοὺς τοῦ πολέμου νόμους ὑπόκειται παθεῖν. οὐκοῦν ὁλοσχερεστέρας τινὸς καὶ μείζονος τυχεῖν ἦσαν ἄξιοι τιμωρίας,
But this at least lies before even those who have committed no impiety to suffer according to the laws of war.
§2.58.11ὥστʼ εἴπερ ἔπαθον ἃ Φύλαρχός φησιν, οὐκ ἔλεον εἰκὸς ἦν συνεξακολουθεῖν αὐτοῖς παρὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ἔπαινον δὲ καὶ συγκατάθεσιν μᾶλλον τοῖς πράττουσι καὶ μεταπορευομένοις τὴν ἀσέβειαν αὐτῶν.
Therefore they were worthy of obtaining some more complete and greater punishment, so that if indeed they suffered what Phylarchus says, it was not reasonable that pity should follow them from the Greeks, but rather praise and approval for those who did it and prosecuted their impiety.
§2.58.12ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὐδενὸς περαιτέρω συνεξακολουθήσαντος Μαντινεῦσι κατὰ τὴν περιπέτειαν πλὴν τοῦ διαρπαγῆναι τοὺς βίους καὶ πραθῆναι τοὺς ἐλευθέρους, ὁ συγγραφεὺς αὐτῆς τῆς τερατείας χάριν οὐ μόνον ψεῦδος εἰσήνεγκε τὸ ὅλον, §2.58.13ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ψεῦδος ἀπίθανον, καὶ διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς ἀγνοίας οὐδὲ τὸ παρακείμενον ἠδυνήθη συνεπιστῆσαι, πῶς οἱ αὐτοὶ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς καιροὺς κυριεύσαντες Τεγεατῶν κατὰ κράτος οὐδὲν τῶν ὁμοίων ἔπραξαν.
But nevertheless, although nothing further followed the Mantineans in their reverse except that their property was plundered and the free citizens sold, the historian, for the sake of the sensationalism itself, not only introduced a falsehood as a whole, but also an implausible falsehood, and through the excess of his ignorance was not even able to notice what was lying right next to him: how the same men, having mastered the Tegeans by force at the same times, did nothing of the sort.
§2.58.14καίτοι γʼ εἰ μὲν ἡ τῶν πραττόντων ὠμότης ἦν αἰτία, καὶ τούτους εἰκὸς ἦν πεπονθέναι ταὐτὰ τοῖς ὑπὸ τὸν αὐτὸν ὑποπεπτωκόσι καιρόν.
And yet, if the cruelty of the perpetrators had been the cause, it was reasonable that these men too should have suffered the same things, having fallen under them at the same time.
§2.58.15εἰ δὲ περὶ μόνους γέγονε Μαντινεῖς ἡ διαφορά, φανερὸν ὅτι καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ὀργῆς ἀνάγκη διαφέρουσαν γεγονέναι περὶ τούτους.
But if the difference occurred regarding the Mantineans alone, it is clear that the cause of the anger too must have been different regarding them.