History of the Peloponnesian War

"It is necessary that I should first address you on the subject of the prejudice felt against me, that you may not, through your suspicions, attend to me the less on matters of public interest.

When, then, [*](ἡμῶν.] Arnold accounts for the use of the plural here and in other parts of the chapter by supposing the speaker to join with himself some relations, as well as personal friends, who had been banished with him.) our ancestors had, on the ground of some quarrel or other, renounced their connexion with you as your proxeni, I myself, from a wish to resume it, paid attentions to you, both in other respects, and in the case of your misfortune at Pylus. And when I continued thus zealous, you, at the time you were concluding peace with the Athenians, conferred influence on my enemies, by negotiating through them, but brought dishonour on me.

For these reasons it was with justice that you received harm at my hands, both when I turned to the Mantineans and Argives, and on whatever other occasions I opposed you. And now, if there be any one who at that time, while he was suffering, was unfairly angry with me, let him look at the question in the true light, and be led to a different conviction. Or if there be any one who formed a worse opinion of me, because I rather attached myself to the popular party, let him not on this ground, either, suppose that he was with good reason offended at me.

For we have always been foes to tyrants; and all that are opposed to the dominant faction are called by the name of 'people.' It was from this, then, that our taking the lead of the populace continued; and besides, as the state was under a democratical government, it was necessary on most occasions to follow the existing order of things.

However, we endeavoured to be more moderate in politics than suited the intemperate spirit which had before prevailed. But there were others, both in times of old and now, who led on the banished me.

But in our case it was the whole body of the people that we headed; thinking it right to assist in preserving that form of government under which the country was most great and free, and which we had received. For with regard to democracy, all of us who had any sense knew what it was; and I myself, perhaps, better than any one, [*](ὅσῳ καὶ λοιδορήσαιμι.] I have given what appears to be the meaning, of this passage; though it is doubtful whether it can be extracted from the Greek as it now stands. Arnold supposes that some words have been lose before λοιδορήσαιμι so that the words οὐδενὸς ἂν χεῖρον properly belong to that verb, and after ὅσῳ καὶ there should be supplied μᾶλλον ἐπ᾽ αὐτής ἠδίκημαι. But this is perhaps a more ingenious than safe correction. I had myself conjectured before I found that Bloomfield had done the same that καί might be a corruption of κἄν a contraction which occurs ch. 92. 4; and this very slight change is perhaps sufficient to remedy the evil.—Though γιγνώσκοιμι is probably understood with ἄν in the preceding clause, I cannot think that it could ever have been expressed, as Bloomfield proposes to do; at least not in the position which he would give to it, immediately after λοιδορήσαιμι, thus giving by the concurrence of the two optatives a most unmusical termination to the paragraph.—With regard to the word ὅσῳ, it seems doubtful whether it is to be considered as qualifying a comparative understood, as the commentators suppose, or as used absolutely, as in some other passages of our author, signifying inasmuch as; e. g. chap. 92. 4, κἂν φίλος ὢν ἱκανῶς ὠφελοίην, ὅσῳ τὰ μὲν ʼαθηναίων οἶδα, τὰ ὑμέτεραἤκαζον. If the former be the real construction, it is possible that the whole expression, οὐδενος ἂν χεῖρον, was intended to be supplied from the preceding clause; and so there would be no necessity for even the slight alteration of καί into κἄν) in proportion as I could also abuse it more. But of an acknowledged absurdity nothing new could be said; and yet to put it aside did not appear to us safe, while you, as our enemies, were so closely besetting us.