§1.1Pelopidas Thebanus, magis historicis quam vulgo notus.
Pelopidas the Theban is known more to historians than to the general public.
cuius de virtutibus dubito quem ad modum exponam, quod vereor, si res explicare incipiam, ne non vitam eius enarrare, sed historiam videar scribere, sin tantummodo summas attigero, ne rudibus Graecarum litterarum minus dilucide appareat, quantus fuerit ille vir.
I am in doubt as to how I should set forth his virtues; for I fear that, if I begin to explain his deeds, I may seem not to be telling his life but to be writing history; but if I only touch upon the main points, I fear that it may not appear clearly enough to those unversed in Greek literature how great a man he was.
itaque utrique rei occurram, quantum potuero, et medebor cum satietati tum ignorantiae lectorum.
Therefore, I shall meet both difficulties as far as I can, and remedy both the satiety and the ignorance of my readers.
§1.2Phoebidas Lacedaemonius cum exercitum Olynthum duceret iterque per Thebas faceret, arcem oppidi, quae Cadmea nominatur, occupavit impulsu paucorum Thebanorum, qui adversariae factioni quo facilius resisterent, Laconum rebus studebant, idque suo privato, non publico fecit consilio.
When Phoebidas the Lacedaemonian was leading his army to Olynthus and making his march through Thebes, he seized the citadel of the town, which is called Cadmea, at the instigation of a few Thebans, who, in order to resist their opposing faction more easily, favored the interests of the Lacedaemonians; and he did this by his own private counsel, not by public policy.
§1.3quo facto eum Lacedaemonii ab exercitu removerunt pecuniaque multarunt, neque eo magis arcem Thebanis reddiderunt, quod susceptis inimicitiis satius ducebant eos obsideri quam liberari.
After this was done, the Lacedaemonians removed him from the army and fined him in money, but they did not on that account return the citadel to the Thebans, because, since hostilities had been undertaken, they thought it better that they should be besieged rather than set free.
nam post Peloponnesium bellum Athenasque devictas cum Thebanis sibi rem esse existimabant et eos esse solos, qui adversus se sistere auderent.
For after the Peloponnesian War and the defeat of Athens, they estimated that their business was with the Thebans, and that they were the only ones who dared to stand against them.
§1.4hac mente amicis suis summas potestates dederant alteriusque factionis principes partim interfecerant, alios in exilium eiecerant: in quibus Pelopidas hic, de quo scribere exorsi sumus, pulsus patria carebat.
With this mind they had given the highest powers to their own friends, and had partly put to death the leaders of the other faction, and partly driven others into exile; among whom this Pelopidas, about whom we have begun to write, being expelled, was deprived of his country.