History of the Peloponnesian War

I know, however, that men in such circumstances, and all who ever surpassed others in splendour of any kind, though disliked in their own life—time, most of all in their dealings with their equals, and then with the rest of the world also, have yet left to some of those who came after them a desire to claim connexion with them, even where there were no grounds for it; and a subject for glorying to the country they belonged to, not as for aliens, or offenders, but as for countrymen, who had achieved glorious things.

And in my case, who aim at such things, and am therefore in private assailed with clamour, consider, with regard to public affairs, whether I administer them in a manner inferior to any one else, or not. For having united the most powerful states of the Peloponnese, without any great danger or expense to you, I brought the Lacedaemonians to a single day's struggle for their all at Mantinea; in consequence of which, although they were victorious in the battle, they do not ever now feel any firm confidence in themselves.

"In this way, then, did my youth and preternatural folly, as it is thought, deal with the power of the Peloponnesians by means of suitable arguments; and [*]( For other modes of interpreting this sentence, see Poppo's note.) gaining credit by my vehemence, obtained their assent. And now too be not afraid of it; but while I am still in the flower of it, and Nicias appears fortunate, avail yourselves fully of the services of each of us.

And with regard to the expedition to Sicily, change not your determination from an idea that it would be undertaken against a great power. For it is only with a mixed rabble that its cities are populous; and they easily admit changes in their government, and adopt new ones.

And for this reason no one is furnished, as though in behalf of his own country, either with arms for the person, or with ordinary [*](τὰ ἐν τῇ χῶρᾳ ... κατασκευαῖς.] This would refer not only to public works for the defence of the country, such as forts, or the fortifications of the city itself, but to what we should call ordinary improvements, such as roads, bridges, etc., and perhaps ornamental buildings, whether temples or theatres. —Arnold. I cannot but think that in addition to these objects of expenditure, if not before them all, reference is made to the slaves, cattle, and implements, with which the land ought to be stocked, but was not, in consequence of the unsettled state of the country. As οὐδείς seems to refer to individuals, not to states, in the preceding clause, it would naturally refer to them in this also; as ἕκαστος also does in the following sentence. And with regard to this signification of κατασκευή, it is one which both the noun and the verb formed from it repeatedly convey in Xenophon's political and economical treatises; e.g. De Vectigalibus, IV. 11, ὅπως θαρσοῦνα ες μὲν ὅτι πλέιστους ἀνθρώπους ἐπὶ τὰ ἀργύρια ἄγωμεν, θαρσοῦντες δὲ κατασκευαζώμεθα ἐν αὐτοῖς. And again, 41, εἰ δὲ τινες αὖ φοβοῦνται, μὴ ματαία ἄν γένοιτο αὐτη ἡ κατασκευὴ, εἰ πόλεμος ὲγερθείη ... τί γὰρ δὴ εἰς πόλεμον κτῆμα χρησιμώτερον ἀνθρώπων. And in the same way, Thucydides himself uses the verb particularly with reference to slaves, as though they formed the chief stock in the country, in another speech which he puts into the mouth of Alcibiades; ch. 91. 7, οἷς τε γὰρ ἡ χώρα κατεσκεύασται, τὰ πολλὰ πρὸς ὑμᾶς, τὰ μὲν ληφθέντα τὰ δ᾽ αὐτόματα, ἥξει. I think therefore that in the present passage also by the expression τὰ ἐν τῇ χωρα νομίμοις κατασκευαῖς he means the different parts of an agricultural property, and more especially the slaves, which formed the most valuable and important part, while a country was in a peaceful and prosperous condition; but one so likely to be lost in a period of war and revolution, that the Siceliots, according to the view of their unsettled state which Alcibiades here gives, would have very little inducement to invest their money in them.) resources, as regards the country; but whatever each one thinks that he can get from the people, either by persuading them through his oratory, or by factious measures, and will so find a home in another land, in case of his not being successful, with that he provides himself.

It is not likely, then, that a populace of such a character should either listen to any counsel with one heart, or apply themselves to action in common: but they would severally side with whatever was said to please them; especially if they are torn by factions, as we hear.

Again, with regard to heavy-armed troops, neither have the Siceliots so many as are boasted of, nor did the rest of the Greeks prove so numerous as they severally reckoned themselves; but Greece had very much misstated them, and was with difficulty equipped with them in sufficient numbers on the outbreak of this war.

The states in those parts, then, from what I learn by report, are of this character, and still more easy to deal with—for we shall have many barbarians, who from hatred of the Syracusans will join us in attacking them—and those here will not prove an obstacle, if you take a right view of the matter.

For our fathers had these very men, whom they say you would leave behind you in hostility when sailing there, and the Mede beside, as their enemies; and still they won their empire; though strong in nothing else but the superiority of their fleet.