History of the Peloponnesian War

"Such, then, was the issue of that battle, and clear proof was given thereby that the salvation of the Hellenes depended upon their ships. To that issue we contributed the three most serviceable elements, namely, the largest number of ships, the shrewdest general, and the most unfaltering zeal. Of the four hundred[*](Probably a round number for 378 given by Hdt. 8.48, of which the Athenian contingent (200, i.e. 180 + 20 lent to the Chalcidians, 8.1) could be spokean of as πλείους τῶν ἡμισέων or with slight exaggeration as ἐλάσσους τῶν δύο μοιρῶν.) ships our quota was a little less than two-thirds. The commander was Themistocles, who more than any other was responsible for our fighting the battle in the strait, which most surely was our salvation; and on this account you yourselves honoured him above any stranger who ever visited you.[*](See Hdt. 8.124; Plut. Them. 17.3)

And the zeal we displayed was that of utmost daring, for when there was no one to help us on land, since all the rest up to our very borders were already slaves, we resolved to abandon our city and sacrifice all our possessions; yet not even in that extremity to desert the common cause of the allies who remained, or by dispersing to render ourselves useless to them, but to embark on our ships and fight, and not to be angry because you failed to help us earlier. We therefore maintain that we on our part conferred upon you a benefit at least as great as we received;

for whereas the population of the cities from which you brought aid was still undisturbed and you could hope to possess them in the future, and your motive was fear for yourselves rather than for us—at any rate you did not come near so long as we were still unharmed—we on our part, setting forth from a city that was no more,[*](cf. the taunt of Adimantus: περὶ οὐδεμίης ἔτι πατρίδος ναυμαχήσειςHdt. 8.57.7, You will fight for a country that is no more,, and the famous answer of Themistocles, ὡς εἴη καὶ πόλις καὶ γῆ μέζων ἤπερ κείνοις ἔστ’ ἂν διηκόσιαι νέες σφι ἔωσι πεπληρωμέναι,Hdt. 8.61.8, We have a city and a country greater than yours as long as we have two hundred ships fully manned.) and risking our lives in behalf of one whose future hung upon but a slender hope, bore our part in saving both you and ourselves.

But if we had acted as others did, and through fear of losing our territory had gone over to the Persians earlier in the war, or afterwards had lacked the courage to embark on our ships, in the conviction that we were already ruined, it would from that moment have been useless for you, with your inadequate fleet, to fight at sea, but the Persian's plans would have moved on quietly just as he wished.