History of the Peloponnesian War

"For you, to whom I am writing, know that [*](ὅτι βραχεῖα ἀκμὴ πληρώματος.] Or, as others take it, that the bloom of a crew is but of brief duration. But that statement has been already made in the preceding chapter, see 3; and the words which follow are evidently intended to explain this expression.) the flower of a crew is limited in number, and that there are but few seamen who will get a ship under weigh, or keep the rowing in time.

But the most distressing of all these things is, that I, their general, have no power to put a stop to these abuses, (for your tempers are difficult to command,) and that we have no means of recruiting our ships' crews, (which the enemy can do from many quarters,) but both what is kept, and what is expended, must be taken from what we brought with us. For the cities which are at present in alliance with us, namely, Naxos and Catana, are powerless.