Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 1.138

[1] The king, as is reported, wondered what his purpose might be and commanded him to do as he had said. In this time of respite he learned as much as he could of the language and fashions of the place.

[2] And a year after coming to the court, he was great with the king more than ever had been any Grecian before, both for his former dignity and the hope of Greece which he promised to bring into his subjection, but especially for the trial he gave of his wisdom.

[3] For Themistocles was a man in whom most truly was manifested the strength of natural judgment, wherein he had something worthy admiration different from other men. For by his natural prudence, without the help of instruction before or after, he was both of extemporary matters upon short deliberation the best discerner and also of what for the most part would be their issue the best conjecturer. What he was perfect in he was able also to explicate, and what he was unpractised in he was not to seek how to judge of conveniently. Also he foresaw, no man better, what was best or worst in any case that was doubtful. And (to say all in few words) this man, by the natural goodness of his wit and quickness of deliberation, was the ablest of all men to tell what was fit to be done upon a sudden.

[4] But falling sick he ended his life; some say he died voluntarily by poison because he thought himself unable to perform what he had promised to the king.

[5] His monument is in Magnesia in Asia, in the market place; for he had the government of that country, the king having bestowed upon him Magnesia which yielded him fifty talents by the year for his bread, and Lampsacus for his wine (for this city was in those days thought to have store of wine), and the city of Myus for his meat.

[6] His bones are said by his kindred to have been brought home by his own appointment and buried in Attica unknown to the Athenians, for it was not lawful to bury one there that had fled for treason. These were the ends of Pausanias the Lacedaemonian and Themistocles the Athenian, the most famous men of all the Grecians of their time.

[1] It is said that the king approved his intention, and told him to do as he said. He employed the interval in making what progress he could in the study of the Persian tongue, and of the customs of the country.

[2] Arrived at Court at the end of the year, he attained to very high consideration there, such as no Hellene has ever possessed before or since; partly from his splendid antecedents, partly from the hopes which he held out of effecting for him the subjugation of Hellas , but principally by the proof which experience daily gave of his capacity.

[3] For Themistocles was a man who exhibited the most indubitable signs of genius; indeed, in this particular he has a claim on our admiration quite extraordinary and unparalleled. By his own native capacity, alike unformed and unsupplemented by study, he was at once the best judge in those sudden crises which admit of little or of no deliberation, and the best prophet of the future, even to its most distant possibilities. An able theoretical expositor of all that came within the sphere of his practice, he was not without the power of passing an adequate judgment in matters in which he had no experience. He could also excellently divine the good and evil which lay hid in the unseen future. In fine, whether we consider the extent of his natural powers, or the slightness of his application, this extraordinary man must be allowed to have surpassed all others in the faculty of intuitively meeting an emergency.

[4] Disease was the real cause of his death; though there is a story of his having ended his life by poison, on finding himself unable to fulfil his promises to the king.

[5] However this may be, there is a monument to him in the market-place of Asiatic Magnesia . He was governor of the district, the king having given him Magnesia, which brought in fifty talents a year, for bread, Lampsacus , which was considered to be the richest wine country, for wine, and Myus for other provisions.

[6] His bones, it is said, were conveyed home by his relatives in accordance with his wishes, and interred in Attic ground. This was done without the knowledge of the Athenians; as it is against the law to bury in Attica an outlaw for treason. So ends the history of Pausanias and Themistocles, the Lacedaemonian and the Athenian, the most famous men of their time in Hellas .

Der König nun, wie erzählt wird, bewunderte seine Klug- ^{1 2}
hcit und hieß ihn so thun, wie er geschrieben habe. Jener aber lernte
in der Frist, die ihm zugestanden war, so gut er konnte, die Sprache
und die Sitten des Landes, und nach Verlauf des Jahres stellte er
sich dem König dar und gelangte bei ihm zu sehr großen Ehren, wie
vordem nie ein Hellene, sowohl wegen des großen Ruhms, den er
erworben hatte, als auch, weil er ihm Hoffnung auf Unterwerfung der
Griechenvölker machte, vornehmlih caber, weil er sich ihm deutlich als
ein kluger Mann erwies. Denn in Themistokles offenbarte sich eine
außerordentliche Kraft des Geistes, und er ist darum mehr als ein
Anderer der Bewunderung würdig. Durch den angebornen Verstand
nämlich, denn er hatte weder vorher etwas gelernt, noch später durch,
Lernen etwas nachgeholt, fand er für den Augenblick nach sehr kurzer
Ueberlegung den besten Rath, und auch in zukünftigen Dingen war,
er aus lang hinaus der beste Vorausseher dessen, was eintreffen sollte;,
und was er vorhatte, das wußte er auch durch die Rede trefflich
darzustellen, und auch Unersahrenheit in einem Ding hinderte ihn nicht,
geschickt zu urtheilen, und was besser oder schlechter sei, sah er meist
schon voraus, wann der Ausgang noch im Dunkeln lag; kurz, er ver-,
mochte durch angeborne Geistesschärfe und mit rascher Ueberlegung das,
was Noth that, am sichersten herauszufinden. Er starb an einer
Krank-heit; doch sind auch solche, welche erzählen, daß er Gift genommen
habe, weil er es für unmöglich erkannte, dem König sein Versprechen
zu erfüllen. Sein Grabmal steht zn Magnesia in Asien auf dem,
Markte; denn über jene Gegend war er Statthalter, da der König
ihm zum Brote Magnesia gegeben hatte, welche Stadt jährlich fünfzig
Talente einbrachte, zum Wein Lampsakos, denn diese Gegend galt
damals für sehr weinreich, und zur Zuspeise Myus^). Die
Angehörigen erzählen, daß seine Gebeine auf seine Anordnung nach der
Heimath gebracht und in Attischer Erde beigesetzt worden, doch ohne.
Wissen der Athener; denn als ein wegen Verrathes Flüchtiger durste
er nicht begraben werden. — Mit Pausanias, dem Lakedämonier, und ³
dem Athener Themistokles, welche unter den Hellenen ihrer Zeit zum
höchsten Glanz emporgestiegen waren, hatte es also dies Ende
genommen.

Der König, sagt man, war darüber sehr erfreut und
forderte ihn auf, seine Absicht auszuführen. Er aber benutzte
die Zwischenzeit, um möglichst gut Persisch zu lernen und sich
über die Verhältnisse des Landes zu unterrichten. Als er sich
dann nach Ablauf des Jahres am Hoflager des Königs ein­
gefunden, gewann er bei ihm alsbald eine Stellung, wie sie
außer ihm noch nie ein Grieche eingenommen hatte, teils in­
folge seines alten Ruhmes, teils weil er ihm Hoffnung auf
die Unterwerfung Griechenlands machte, vor allen Dingen aber,
weil er ihn als einen ungewöhnlich klugen Mann erkannte.
Denn Themistokles war in der Tat ein Genie ersten Ranges
und verdient in dieser Beziehung unsere höchste Bewunderung.
Gelernt hatte er nichts und das auch später nicht nachgeholt,
aber mit angeborenem Verstand traf er in jedem Augenblick
nach kurzer Überlegung den Nagel auf den Kopf, und ebenso
ging sein Urteil über das, was die Zukunft bringen würde,
kaum jemals fehl. Was er auch in die Hand nahm, stetS
stand ihm dabei das rechte Wort zu Gebote, und selbst in
Dingen, bei denen er nicht hergekommen war, wußte er sich
sogleich zurechtzufinden, wie er denn auch dem unscheinbarsten
Wölkchen am politischen Horizont gleich ansah, ob Gutes oder
Böses dahintersteckte; kurzum, er war ein Mann, der durch
natürliche Begabung und Geistesgegenwart in den obwaltenden
Schwierigkeiten immer das Beste traf. Er starb an einer
Krankheit. Manche sagen allerdings, er habe sich selbst durch
Gift das Leben genommen, weil er sich von der Unmöglichkeit
überzeugt, dem Könige sein Versprechen zu erfüllen. Auf dem
Markte zu Magnesia in Asien steht sein Denkmal; denn dort
im Lande war er Statthalter. Der König hatte ihm nämlich
Magnesia, das jährlich fünfzig Talente einbrachte, zu Brot ge­
geben, das damals durch seinen Weinbau berühmte Lampsakos
zu Wein und Myus zu Gemüse. Seine Gebeine sind, wie
seine Angehörigen behaupten, auf seinen Wunsch später in die
Heimat gebracht und in Attika beerdigt, aber ohne daß die
Athener etwas davon erfuhren; denn da er wegen Hochverrats
verbannt war, durfte er dort nicht begraben werden. So
endeten die ihrer Zeit berühmtesten Männer Griechenlands, der
Lakedämonier Pausanias und der Athener Themistokles.

CXXXVIII. Le roi admira, dit-on, sa résolution, et l’engagea à y donner suite. Thémistocle, dans l’intervalle, apprit tout ce qu’il put de la langue des Perses et des usages du pays. Au bout d’un an, il se présenta devant le roi et reçut de lui plus d’honneurs et de puissance que n’en avait jamais obtenu aucun des Grecs ¹ . Il dut cette distinction à son illustration antérieure, à l’espérance qu’il faisait concevoir au roi de lui soumettre la Grèce, et surtout à la perspicacité dont il donna des preuves.

En effet, on remarquait chez Thémistocle une intelligence naturelle aussi sûre que puissante ; et, à cet égard, il méritait tout particulièrement l’admiration qu’inspire un homme supérieur. Une pénétration innée, que l’étude n’avait pas eu besoin de former, à laquelle l’étude n’avait rien ajouté, lui permettait de juger sai- nement, presque sans réflexion, les faits les plus imprévus, au moment même où ils se présentaient ; quant à l’avenir, il était rare que ses conjectures fussent démenties. Il avait une égale sûreté de coup d’oeil et pour traiter les questions dont il avait l’habitude, et pour saisir celles dont il n’avait point l’expérience. Pardessus tout il savait démêler à l’avance, au milieu des événements, ce qui était avantageux ou nuisible. En un mot, il excellait, grâce à la vigueur de son intel- ligence, à improviser presque sans travail tout ce qu’exigeaient les besoins du moment. Une maladie termina sa vie. On a aussi prétendu qu’il s’empoisonna lui-même, ne croyant pas pouvoir tenir les promesses qu’il avait faites au roi.

Son tombeau est à Magnésie-d’Asie, sur la place publique ; car il était gouverneur de cette contrée, le roi lui ayant donné ² , pour le pain, Magnésie qui rapportait annuellement cinquante talents ; pour le vin Lampsaque, qu’on réputait le vignoble le plus fertile d’alors ; et Myonte ³ pour la table. Ses parents assurent avoir rapporté, d’après ses ordres, ses restes dans l’Attique, sa patrie, et les y avoir ensevelis à l’insu des Athéniens ; car, ayant été banni pour trahison, il ne pouvait y être enseveli ⁴ .

Ainsi finirent Pausanias de Lacédémone et Thémistocle d’Athènes, les deux hommes les plus illustres de la Grèce à cette époque.

[1] The King, it is said, marvelled at his purpose ¹ and bade him do as he desired. And Themistocles, in the interval of his waiting, made himself acquainted, as far as he could, with the Persian language and with the customs of the country;

[2] but when the year was ended he came to the King and becme more influential with him than any of the Hellenes ever had been before, both because of the reputation he already enjoyed and of the hope which he kept suggesting to him that he would make all Hellas subject to him, but most of all in consequence of the insight he minifested, of which he gave repeated proofs.

[3] I[cr indeed Themistocles was a man who had most convincingly demonstrated the strength of his natural sagacity, and was in the very highest degree worthy of admiration in that respect. For by native insight, not reinforced by earlier or later study, ² he was beyond other men, with the briefest deliberation, both a shrewd judge of the immediate present and wise in forecasting what would happen in the most distant future. Moreover, he had the ability to expound to others the enterprises he had in hand, and on those which he had not yet essayed he could yet without fail pass competent judgment; and he could most clearly foresee the issue for better or worse that lay in the still dim future. To sum up all in a word, by force of native sagacity and because of the brief preparation he required, he proved himself the ablest of all men instantly to hit upon the right expedient.

[4] He died a natural death, an illness taking him off, though some say that he put an end to his own life by poison ³ when he realised it to be impossible to fulfil his promises to the King.

[5] There is a monument to him at Magnesia in Asia, in the marketplace; for he was governor of this country, the King having given him, for bread, Magnesia, which brought in a revenue of fifty talents a year, for wine, Lampsacus, reputed to be the best wine country of all places at that time;

[6] and Myus for meat. But his bones, his relations say, were fetched home by his own command and buried in Attica unknown to the Athenians; for it was not lawful to bury him there, as he had been banished for treason. Such was the end of Pausanias the Lacedaemonian and of Themistocles the Athenian, the most distinguished of the Hellenes of their time.

[1] The king, it is said, approved of his plan, and told him to do so. During the time that he waited he learnt as much as he could of the Persian language, and the institutions of the country;

[2] and having gone to him after the expiration of the year, he became an influential person with him, so as none of the Greeks had hitherto been, both on account of his previous reputation, and the hope which he suggested with regard to Greece, namely, that he would make it subject to him; but most of all, from his showing himself talented by actual proofs.

[3] For Themistocles was one who most clearly displayed the strength of natural genius, and was particularly worthy of admiration in this respect, more than any other man: for by his own talent, and without learning any thing towards it before, or in addition to it, he was both the best judge of things present with the least deliberation, and the best conjecturer of the future, to the most remote point of what was likely to happen. Moreover, the things which he took in hand he was also able to carry out; and in those in which he had no experience he was not at a loss ¹ to form a competent judgment. He had too the greatest foresight of what was the better course or the worse in what was as yet unseen. In a word, by strength of natural talent, and shortness of study, he was the best of all men to do ² off-hand what was necessary.

[4] He ended his life by disease; though some say that he purposely destroyed himself by poison, on finding that he was unable to perform what he had promised to the king.

[5] Now there is a monument to him in the Asiatic Magnesia, in the market-place; for he was governor of the country, the king having given him ³ Magnesia, which brought him in fifty talents a year, for bread, Lampsacus for wine, (for it was considered more productive of wine than any other place at that time,) and Myus for provisions ⁴ in general.

[6] But his relations say that his bones were carried, by his own command, and laid in Attica without the knowledge of the Athenians; for it was not lawful to give them burial, as they were the bones of a man banished for treason. Such was the end of Pausanias the Lacedaemonian, and Themistocles the Athenian, who had been the most distinguished of all the Greeks in their day.

[1] Rex vero, ut aiunt, ejus animum est admiratus , eumque ita facere jussit. Hic vero unius anni spatio, quo supersedit, quicquid poterat et linguae Persicae et morum illius regionis, didicit;

[2] exacloque anno apud eum magnam auctoritatem est adeptus, et quantam nullos unquam Graecorum, quum propter pristinam dignitatem, tum etiam propter spem de Graecis, quam ei praebebat fore, ut eos in potestatem suam redigeret; praecipue vero quod specimine sui dato prudens esse videretur.

[3] Themistocles enim manifestam sui ingenii vim certissime demonstraverat, et hac in re multo majore admiratione, quam ullus alius, dignus erat; suapte enim innata prudentia neque pro-cedente neque accedeule ulla ad eam disciplina et rerum improvisarum cum brevissima deliberatione judex erat praestantissimus, et instantium in longissimum futuri temporie spacium optimus conjector; quae autem in manibus haberet, ea etiam explicare poterat; quorum vero esset imperitus, ab bis commode judicandis non erat alienus; et quid melius, quidve deterius esset in rebus adhuc obscuris optime prospiciebat. Utque rem totam comprehendam, et naturae bonitate, et meditationis celerilale vir iste maxime idoneus fuit ad explicandum ex tempore, quae opus essent.

[4] Morbo autem correptus vita est defunctus. Quidam autem aiunt eum sponte etiam hausto veneno decessisse, quod existimasset, se non posse praestare, quae Regi promisisset.

[5] Monumentum vero ejus exstat in foro urbis Magnesiae, quae est in Asia; nam huic regioni praeerat, quum rex ipsi Magnesiam dedisset pro pane, quae quotannis quinquaginta talenta pendebat; Lampsacum vero pro vino (haec enim tum vini copia excellere videbatur); Myuntem vero pro opsonio.

[6] Ejus autem ossa propinqui ipsius dicunt domum ipsius jussu reportata et clam Atheniensibus in agro Attico humata esse; non enim licebat sepelire, ut qui esset proditionis reus.

[7] Pausanias igitur Lacedae- monius, et Themistocles Atlieniensis, viri omnium ause aetatis Graecorum nobilissimi, hunc exitum habuerunt.

[1] Diesen Grundsätzen, die wir von unsern Vätern überkommen und selber stets bewährt erfunden haben, lasst uns nicht ungetreu werden und nicht binnen weniger Stunden über so viel Menschenleben und Eigenthum, über Staatenglück und Ehre einen übereilten Beschluss fassen, sondern uns Zeit nehmen. Wir haben den Vortheil der Macht, um nichts zu versäumen. Nach Athen also sendet wegen Potidäas und wegen der Beschwerden der Bundesgenossen, besonders da sie eine gerichtliche Entscheidung nicht ablehnen. Wer diese anbietet, den hat man kein Recht als bereits Verurtheilten anzugreifen. Aber zugleich rüstet euch auch zum Kriege. Dies ist das Beste, was ihr beschliessen könnt, und wird bei dem Feind am meisten Eindruck machen.

Il re, come si dice , si maravigliò del proponimento di lui, e gli permise di far cosi. Intanto nel tempo che si trattenne apprese quanto potè di lingua persiana e di costumanze del paese ; e passato l'anno presentossi al re , appo il quale fu grande e tenuto in tanto onore , quanto niun altro greco giammai, non solo per la dignità ond’ era innanzi fregiato , ma ancora per la speranza che in lui nutriva di soggettargli la Grecia , e soprattutto perchè mostravasi uomo di grande accorgimento. Aveva infatti Temistocle manifestato la forza del suo ingegno nel modo il più evidente , e perciò meritava di esser particolarmente ammirato sovra tutti. Conciossiachò col penetrativo intelletto che aveva sortito dalla natura , e non già corredato di anteriori studi o accresciuto da posteriori, discemeva ottimamente, dopo brevissima deliberazione, quel che di presente abbisognava , e benissimo congliietturava gli eventi nascosti nel più remoto avvenire. Destro nel condurre a buon fine gli affari che avesse tra mano , non era però inabile a dar giudizio soddisfacente anche su quelli dei quali non era perito ; e benché le cose fossero tuttora nella più oscura incertezza , antivedeva egli stupendamente il meglio e il peggio di quelle : e brevemente , egli fu senza dubbio per forza d’ingegno e per celerità di consiglio , l' uomo il più valente a dichiarare all’ improvviso ciò che meglio si confacesse alle varie occorrenze. Fini per malattia i suoi giorni. Avvi chi dice essersi col veleno procacciato spontaneamente la morte disperando potere adempiere le promesse aveva fatte al re. Del resto si vede tuttora il suo monumento nella piazza di Magnesia città dell'Asia ; conciossiachò egli governasse cotesta provincia ; avendogli il re dato per il pane Magnesia , che rendeva cinquanta talenti Tanno, per il vino Lampsaco tenuta allora per la provincia più abbondante di tal prodotto , e Miunte per il companatico. I parenti di lui dicono le sue ossa essere state trasportate in patria per comandamento di esso , e sepolte nell’Attica senza saputa degli Ateniesi ; avvegnaché non fosse permesso seppellirvelo perchè cacciatone per tradimento. Questo fine ebbero Pausania lacedemone e Temistocle ateniese, i più celebri capitani greci dei loro tempi.