History of the Peloponnesian War

This armament which [*](παρασκευὴ αὕτη πρώτη.] I have followed Göller's and Arnold's interpretation of these words in preference to that of Poppo, who joins πρώτη with πολυτελεστάτη δὴ and renders the passage thus: hic enim fuit apparatus primus sumptuosissimus profectus; which appears to imply that there could be more than one expedition that was the most costly of all up to that time.—Unless primus is intended by him to express quality, and not time; which does not seem probable.) first sailed out, going from a single city, and consisting of a Grecian force, was the most costly and splendid of all up to that time. Yet in number of ships and of heavy—armed, that against Epidaurus under Pericles, and the same when going against Potidaea under Hagnon, was not inferior to this: for there were in it four thousand heavy-armed of the Athenians themselves, three hundred horse, and a hundred triremes, with fifty of the Lesbians and Chians, while many allies besides joined in the expedition.

But they were despatched on a short voyage and with scanty preparation: whereas this expedition started with the expectation of its being a long one, and was equipped for both kinds of service, whichever might be required, with ships and land forces at the same time. The fleet was elaborately fitted out, at great expense both on the part of the captains and of the state.

For the treasury gave a drachma a day to each seaman, and furnished empty vessels, sixty fast sailers and forty transports; while the captains provided the best crews for them, and gave gratuities in addition to the pay from the treasury, to the [*](θρανίταις,] i. e. the highest of the three banks of rowers in a trireme, whose labour was greater in proportion to the greater length of the oars they worked. Göller supposes ὑπηρεσίαις in this passage to signify the servants of the sailors, and Poppo agrees with him, if the text be allowed to be sound. I have followed Arnold's interpretation. See his note on the passage.) thranitae, and to the petty officers; and made use besides of expensive ensigns and equipments; each one of them being in the highest degree desirous that his own ship should excel most in beauty and fast sailing. The land forces, on the other hand, were selected from the best muster-rolls, and vied with each other in great attention to their arms and personal accoutrements. The consequence was, that there was at once a rivalry amongst themselves, in the arm of the service to which they were severally appointed; and that with the rest of the Greeks it was imagined to be a display of power and resources, rather than an armament raised against an enemy.

For if any one had reckoned the public expenditure of the state, and the private outlay of individuals; with regard to the state, what sums it had already spent upon it, and what it was sending out in the hands of the generals;

and with regard to individuals, what each had laid out on his personal equipment, and, in the case of a captain, on his ship, with what he was likely to lay out still; and, moreover, what it was probable that every one had provided, independently of his pay from the treasury, towards the expenses of a voyage expected to be so long; and what each soldier or trader took with him for the purpose of exchange; [if all these sums, I say, had been calculated,] it would have been found that many talents in all were being taken out of the city. And the expedition was no less celebrated through men's astonishment at its boldness, and the splendour of its appearance, than for the superiority of the armament, compared with those whom they were going to attack;

and from the fact of its being the longest passage from their own country that had hitherto been undertaken, and with the greatest hope of future advantages in comparison with their present means.