Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 1.20

[1] Such then I find to have been the state of things past, hard to be believed, though one produce proof for every particular thereof. For men receive the report of things, though of their own country if done before their own time, all alike, from one as from another, without examination.

[2] For the vulgar sort of Athenians think that Hipparchus was the tyrant, and slain by Harmodius and Aristogeiton, and know not that Hippias had the government, as being the eldest son of Pisistratus, and that Hipparchus and Thessalus were his brethren; and that Harmodius and Aristogeiton, suspecting that some of their accomplices had that day and at that instant discovered unto Hippias somewhat of their treason, did forbear Hippias as a man forewarned; and desirous to effect somewhat, though with danger, before they should be apprehended, lighting on Hipparchus slew him near the temple called Leocorium, whilst he was setting forth the Panathenaical show.

[3] And likewise divers other things now extant, and which time hath not yet involved in oblivion, have been conceived amiss by other Grecians, as that the kings of Lacedaemon, in giving their suffrages, had not single but double votes, and that Pitanate was a band of soldiers so called there, whereas there was never any such. So impatient of labour are the most men in search of truth, and embrace soonest the things that are next to hand.

[1] Having now given the result of my inquiries into early times, I grant that there will be a difficulty in believing every particular detail. The way that most men deal with traditions, even traditions of their own country, is to receive them all alike as they are delivered, without applying any critical test whatever.

[2] The general Athenian public fancy that Hipparchus was tyrant when he fell by the hands of Harmodius and Aristogiton; not knowing that Hippias, the eldest of the sons of Pisistratus, was really supreme, and that Hipparchus and Thessalus were his brothers; and that Harmodius and Aristogiton suspecting, on the very day, nay at the very moment fixed on for the deed, that information had been conveyed to Hippias by their accomplices, concluded that he had been warned, and did not attack him, yet, not liking to be apprehended and risk their lives for nothing, fell upon Hipparchus near the temple of the daughters of Leos, and slew him as he was arranging the Panathenaic procession.

[3] There are many other unfounded ideas current among the rest of the Hellenes, even on matters of contemporary history which have not been obscured by time. For instance, there is the notion that the Lacedaemonian kings have two votes each, the fact being that they have only one; and that there is a company of Pitane , there being simply no such thing. So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand.

Das ist's, was ich über die älteren Zeiten gefunden habe.
Man darf aber den einzelnen Zeugnissen, wie sie sich der Reihe nach
darbieten, nur schwer Glauben schenken; denn die Menschen nehmen
die Erzählungen von dem, was sich früher ereignet hat, ohne alle
Prüfung von einander an, auch wenn es ihr eigenes Vaterland
betrifft^). So ist z. B. unter dem Volke zu Athen der Glaube
verbreitet, daß Hipparchos in der Eigenschaft als Tyrann durch
Harmodios und Aristogeiton ermordet worden sei, und sie wissen nicht,
daß die Herrschaft in den Händen des Hippias lag, als des ältesten
unter den Söhnen des Peifistratos, und daß Hipparchos und
Theffalos nur dessen Brüder waren. Da aber an jenem Tage und im
entscheidenden Augenblick Harmodios und Aristogeiton vermutheten,
Hippias sei durch einen Mitverfchwornen gewarnt, so legten sie nicht
Hand an diesen, weil sie ihn eben schon für unterrichtet hielten; sie
wollten aber vor ihrer Gefangennehmung doch auch etwas gethan
haben, und da sie zufällig auf den Hipparchos trafen, welcher in der
Nähe des sogenannten Leokorions den Festzug der Panathenäen
ordnete, so ermordeten sie diesen^). Aber auch über viele andere
Dinge und auch solche, die noch in der Gegenwart bestehen und
nicht durch die Länge der Zeit in Vergessenheit gerathen sein können,
haben auch die übrigen Griechen unrichtige Vorstellungen, wie z. B.
daß jeder der beiden Lakedämonischen Könige nicht Eine Stimme
abgebe, sondern zwei, und daß sie dort eine gewisse Schaar, genannt
die Pitanaten, hätten, die es doch gar nie gegeben hat ^). So fahr- ^{1 2 3 4}
ässig sind die Menschen, die Wahrheit zu untersuchen, und sie nehmen
viel lieber das an, was ihnen gerade zu Gehör kommt.

XX. Telle m’est apparue l’antiquité. Il est difficile, du reste, d’admettre tous les témoignages qui se transmettent d’àge en âge ; car, en général, les hommes se communiquent sans aucun contrôle le récit des faits passés, même de ceux qui intéressent leur propre pays. C’est ainsi que la plupart des Athéniens croient qu’Hipparque exerçait la tyrannie quand il fut tué par Har- modius et Aristogiton. Ils ne savent pas qu’Hippias commandait alors, comme aîné des fils de Pisistrate, et qu’Hipparquc et Thessalus étaient ses frères. Au jour fixé, et au moment même de l’exécution, Harmodius et Aristogiton soupçonnèrent que quelques-uns de leurs complices avaient fait des révélations à Hippias ; le croyant instruit, ils s’abstinrent à son égard ; mais ils voulurent du moins, avant d’être arrêtés, faire quelque action d’éclat et ne pas s’être exposés pour rien ; ayant rencontré près du temple nommé Léocorion ¹ Hipparque occupé à se préparer pour la fête des Panathénées ² ils le tuèrent. Il y a beaucoup d’autres faits, même contemporains et que le temps n’a pas effacés de la mémoire, dont on n’a cependant que de fausses idées dans le reste de la Grèce ; ainsi on croit que les rois de Lacédémone donnent chacun deux suffrages au lieu d’un, et qu’ils ont une cohorte appelée Pitanate, ce qui n’a jamais existé. Tant la plupart des hommes ont peu de souci de la recherche du vrai et s’attachent de préférence à ce qui est sous leur main !

Voilà ce que j’ai découtert sur l’antiquité. Au surplus, il est dangereux d’accueillir sans examen toute espèce de témoignage : car les hommes se transmettent de main en main, sans jamais les vérifier, les traditions des anciens, même celles qui concernent leur patrie. C’est ainsi que les Athéniens sont persuadés qu’Hipparque exerçait la tyrannie lorsqu’il fut tué par Harmodios et Aristogiton, ils ignorent que c’était Hippias qui avait succédé à Pisistrate son père, comme plus âgé que ses frères Hipparque et Thessalos ; qu’au jour et à l’instant marqués pour l'exécution de leur complot, Harmodios et Aristogiton ¹ s’imaginant qu’Hippias avait été averti par un de leurs affidés et se tenait sur ses gardes, renoncèrent à le frapper, mais voulurent au moins faire quelque coup d’éclat avant d’être saisis ; et qu’ayant rencontré Hipparque à l’endroit appelé Léocorion ² , au moment où il organisait la procession des Panathénées, ils lui donnèrent la mort.

Sans remonter à des temps effacés de la mémoire, on peut citer plusieurs faits rapprochés, sur lesquels la Grèce entière s’est formé les idées les plus fausses; par exemple que les rois de Lacédémone donnent chacun deux suffrages au lieu d’un et que les Lacédémoniens ont un bataillon nommé Pitanatès, lequel n’a jamais existé ³ : tant la plupart des hommes se montrent insouciants dans la recherche de la vérité et disposés à recevoir les opinions toutes faites.

[1] Now the state of affairs in early times I have found to have been such as I have described, although it is difficult in such matters to credit any and every piece of testimony. For men accept from one another hearsay reports of former events, neglecting to test them just the same, ¹ even though these events belong to the history of their own country.

[2] Take the Athenians, for example; most of them think that Hipparchus was tyrant when he was slain by Harmodius and Aristogeiton. ² They do not know that it was Hippias, as the eldest of the sons of Peisistratus, who was ruler, and that Hipparchus and Thessalus were merely his brothers; further, that Harmodius and Aristogeiton, suspecting, on that very day and at the very moment of executing their plan, that information had been conveyed to Hippias by one of their fellow-conspirators, held off from him as forewarned, but wishing to do something before they were seized and then take their chances, fell in with Hipparchus, who was marshalling the Panathenaic procession near the sanctuary called Leocorium, ³ and killed him.

[3] There are many other matters, too, belonging to the present and not forgotten through lapse of time, regarding which the other Hellenes ⁴ as well hold mistaken opinions, for example, that at Lacedaemon the kings cast not one but two votes each, and that the Lacedaemonians have the " Pitana company" in their army, which never at any time existed. So averse to taking pains are most men in the search for the truth, and so prone are they to turn to what lies ready at hand.

[1] Such then I found to be the early state of things, though it is difficult to trust every proof of it in succession. For men receive alike without examination from each other the reports of past events, even though they may have happened in their own country.

[2] For instance, the mass of the Athenians think that Hipparchus was tyrant when he was slain by Harmodius and Aristogiton; and do not know that Hippias held the government as being the eldest of the sons of Pisistratus, and Hipparchus and Thessalus were his brothers. But Harmodius and Aristogiton having suspected that on that day, and at the very moment, some information had been given to Hippias by their accomplices, abstained from attacking him, as being fore-warned; but as they wished before they were seized to do something even at all hazards, having fallen in with Hipparchus near the Leocorium, as it is called, while arranging the Panathenaic procession, they slew him.

[3] And there are many other things also, even at the present day, and not such as are thrown into oblivion by time, of which the rest of the Greeks too have not correct notions; as, that the kings of the Lacedaemonians do not vote with one vote each, but with two; and that they have a Pitanensian Lochus; which never yet existed. With so little pains is the investigation of truth pursued by most men; and they rather turn to views already formed.

[1] Res igitur vetustas tales esse comperi, quibus fides difficulter adhibetur, quamvis ordine argumentum quodque proferatur. Homines enim famam rerum ante suam aetatem gestarum, et si sint domesticae, promisce sine accurata inquisitione alii ab aliis accipiunt

[2] Veluti Athenieuses vulgo Hipparchum ab Harmodio et Aristogitone, dum tyrannus esset, caesum putant, et ignorant Hippiam, quippe filiorum Pisistrati natu maximum, imperasse, et Hipparchum ac Thessalum ejus fuisse fratres; Harmodium vero et Aristogitonem illo die et in ipsa re suspicatos aliquid a sociis sum conjurationis Hippiae indicatum, ab hoc quidem ut praemonito abstinuisse, sed cupientes, antequam comprehenderentur, edito aliquo facinore periclitari, quum in Hipparchum incidissent ad fanum, quod Leocorium appellatur, Panathe-naicam pompam ornantem, hunc interfecisse.

[3] Atque alia etiam multa, quae hodieque exstant, necdum propter vetustatem memoria exciderunt, celeri quoque Graeci non recte opinantur : veluti Lacedaemoniorum reges in suffragiis ferendis non singulis quemque, sed binis uti calculis; et Pitanaten lochum apud eos esse, qui nunquam fuit. Adeo non operosa apud plerosque veritatis investigatio est, et ad ea, quae eunt in prompta, potius se convertunt.

Ecco pertanto quello che ho trovato delle cose antiche ; le quali, tutto che successivamente comprovate da ogni maniera di argomenti, saranno appena credute; perchè la gente senza scrupoloso esame ascolta tutti ad un modo i racconti dei fatti dei maggiori, sieno anche del proprio paese. Quindi il volgo degli Ateniesi crede che Ipparco fosse tiranno quando fu ucciso da Armodio e da Aristogitone; non sanno che Ippia (di cui era fratello Ipparco e Tessalo ) come primogenito di Pisistrato reggeva allora Atene ; e che in quel giorno Armodio ed Aristogitone entrati improvvisamente in sospetto che qualche indizio della trama fosse stato dato da’ loro complici ad Ippia, non osarono arco« starsi a lui credendolo avvertito : ma incaparbiti in voler fare qualche prodezza prima di essere arrestati, essendosi presso al così detto Leocorio abbattuti in Ipparco, che ordinava la pompa della festa panatenaica, lo uccisero. Parimente in molte altre cose, tuttora esistenti, e pel tempo non obliate, non la pensano giustamente nè pure gli altri Greci. Per esempio che i re de'Lacedemoni rendan voto non con una ma con due pietruzze per ciascheduno ; che sia presso loro la compagnia Pitanate, che per niun modo vi fu mai : cotanto la ricerca del vero è intollerante di fatica pel maggior numero degli uomini, che più volentieri piegano alla corrente.