Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 1.77

[1] "For though in pleas of covenants with our confederates when, in our own city we have allowed them trial by laws equal both to them and us, the judgment hath been given against us, we have then nevertheless been reputed contentious.

[2] None of them considering that others, who in other places have dominion and are toward their subject states less moderate than we, yet are never upbraided for it.

[3] For they that have the power to compel need not at all to go to law. And yet these men having been used to converse with us upon equal terms, if they lose anything which they think they should not, either by sentence or by the power of our government, they are not thankful for the much they retain, but take in worse part the little they forego than if at first, laying law aside, we had openly taken their goods by violence. For in this kind also they themselves cannot deny but the weaker must give way to the stronger.

[4] And men, it seems, are more passionate for injustice than for violence. For that, coming as from an equal, seemeth rapine, and the other, because from one stronger, but necessity.

[5] Therefore, when they suffered worse things under the Medes' dominion, they bore it, but think ours to be rigorous. And good reason, for to men in subjection the present is ever the worst estate.

[6] Insomuch as you also, if you should put us down and reign yourselves, you would soon find a change of the love which they bear you now for fear of us if you should do again as you did for awhile when you were their commanders against the Medes. For not only your own institutions are different from those of others, but also when any one of you comes abroad [with charge], he neither useth those of yours nor yet those of the rest of Greece.

[1] Our abatement of our rights in the contract trials with our allies, and our causing them to be decided by impartial laws at Athens , have gained us the character of being litigious.

[2] And none care to inquire why this reproach is not brought against other imperial powers, who treat their subjects with less moderation than we do; the secret being that where force can be used, law is not needed.

[3] But our subjects are so habituated to associate with us as equals, that any defeat whatever that clashes with their notions of justice, whether it proceeds from a legal judgment or from the power which our empire gives us, makes them forget to be grateful for being allowed to retain most of their possessions, and more vexed at a part being taken, than if we had from the first cast law aside and openly gratified our covetousness. If we had done so, not even would they have disputed that the weaker must give way to the stronger.

[4] Men's indignation, it seems, is more excited by legal wrong than by violent wrong; the first looks like being cheated by an equal, the second like being compelled by a superior.

[5] At all events they contrived to put up with much worse treatment than this from the Mede , yet they think our rule severe, and this is to be expected, for the present always weighs heavy on the conquered. This at least is certain.

[6] If you were to succeed in overthrowing us and in taking our place, you would speedily lose the popularity with which fear of us has invested you, if your policy of to-day is at all to tally with the sample that you gave of it during the brief period of your command against the Mede . Not only is your life at home regulated by rules and institutions incompatible with those of others, but your citizens abroad act neither on these rules nor on those which are recognized by the rest of Hellas .

„Obgleich wir unserer Machtstellung schon etwas vergeben,
wenn wir die Streitsachen mit unseren Bundesgenossen vor
dieSchiedsgerichte bringen lassen, und obgleich wir ihnen in unseren eigenen
Gerichten völlige Rechtsgleichheit mit uns zu Theil werden lassen, so
wird doch behauptet, daß wir streitsüchtig seien. Es fällt aber Keinem
ein, daran zu denken, warum denn Andere nicht getadelt werden, die
auch auswärtige Besitzungen haben und sich gegen ihre Unterthanen
mit viel weniger Mäßigung benehmen, als wir. Wer Gewalt brauchen
kann, dürfte nicht erst vor Gericht gehen. Jene aber sind gewohnt,
mit uns unter völliger Rechtsgleichheit zu verkehren, und wenn ihnen
durch einen Rechtsspruch oder in Folge einer Regierungsmaßregel
durch Zwang etwas noch so Geringfügiges entzogen wird, was ihnen
nicht in den Kopf will, so wissen sie uns gar keinen Dank, daß wir
ihnen immer noch viel mehr gelassen haben, sondern sie erbittern sich
über den kleinen Verlust mehr, als wenn wir uns von vorn herein
über alles Gesetz hinausgesetzt und der Habgier ganz offen gestöhnt
hätten. Und wären wir so verfahren, so würden sie wohl auch selbst
nicht die Einrede gebraucht haben, daß der Schwächere dem Stärkeren
nicht nachgeben müsse. Denn es scheint, als ob die Menschen sich
mehr erzürnen, wenn ihrem Recht ein geringer Abbruch geschieht, als
wenn sie mit Gewalt ganz darnieder gehalten werden. Das erste nennt
man: von seines Gleichen betrogen werden, das andere: dem
Mächtigeren nachgeben IV). Da sie von dem Perser ganz andere Dinge
erdulden mußten, ertrugen sie es ruhig; unsere Herrschaft scheint ihnen
drückend. Ganz natürlich: denn immer ist dem Unterworfenen die
Gegenwart eine Bürde. Was nun euch betrifft, so möchtet ihr, wenn
es euch gelingen sollte, uns zu stürzen und an unser Statt zu
herrschen, wohl sehr bald die Gunst wieder verloren haben, die man jetzt ^{1 2}
aus Furcht vor uns euch zuwendet, wenn ihr anders noch ähnliche
Grundsätze habt, wie ihr damals während eurer kurzen Oberanfnhrung
gegen die Meder IV sie zeigtet. Denn was bei euch Gesetz und
Sitte ist, ist es nicht bei den Andern, und noch schlimmer wird dies
dadurch, daß Jeder von Euch, wenn er hinaus kommt VI sich so
wenig nach Jenem richtet, wie nach dem, was bei den andern Hellenen
Brauch ist."

LXXVII. «En effet, quoique, même chez nous, nos contestations judiciaires avec nos alliés soient souvent jugées contre nous ¹ ; quoique nous nous soumettions aux mêmes lois qui les régissent, on nous accuse d’aimer les procès ² : personne ne se demande pourquoi ceux qui ont ailleurs l’empire, tout en se montrant moins modérés que nous envers les peuples soumis, n’encourent pas le même reproche : la raison en est que, quand on a la force à son service, on n’a pas besoin de recourir à la justice. Nos alliés, au contraire, sont habitués à vivre avec nous dans des rapports d’égalité ; dès lors, s’ils échouent en quelque façon dans leurs prétentions, s’il leur faut se soumettre soit à nos décisions, soit à l’autorité que nous donne le commandement, ils ne savent aucun gré de ce qu’on ne leur ôte rien de plus ; loin de là, aigris par la déception qu’ils éprouvent, ils s’irritent bien plus que si, mettanttoute loi de côté dès le principe, nous eussions ouvertement abusé du pouvoir : car alors eux-mêmes n’eussent point osé prétendre qu’il ne faut pas que le plus faible cède au plus fort. Mais il paraît que les hommes supportent plus impatiemment l’injustice que la violence ; l’une paraît un attentat à nos droits de la part d’un égal, l’autre une nécessité qu’il faut subir avec la loi du plus fort. Ainsi ils ont souffert de la part du Mède des maux bien autres, et ils se résignaient ; tandis que notre domination leur semble dure : cela doit être ; le présent pèse toujours à qui est sous le joug.

« Quant à vous, si vous arriviez à l’empire, après nous en avoir précipités, vous ne tarderiez pas à perdre la faveur que vous a value la crainte que nous inspirons ; vos principes aujourd’hui seraient encore ceux qui ont dirigé votre conduite pendant la courte durée de votre commandement contre les Mèdes ³ ; car vos institutions sont incompatibles avec celles des autres peuples ⁴ , sans compter qu’une fois hors de chez vous ⁵ aucun de vous ne se conforme ni aux lois de sa patrie ni à celles du reste de la Grèce.

« Nous avons beau, dans toutes nos contestations avec nos alliés, nous relâcher de nos droits, et maintenir l’égalité devant la loi, nous n’en passons pas moins pour rechercher les procès ¹ . Personne ne se demande pourquoi l’on ne fait pas le même reproche à tous ceux qui commandent à d’autres peuples et qui se montrent moins modérés que nous envers leurs sujets: c’est que, lorsqu’on peut user de violence, on n’a que faire de procès. Mais nos alliés, habitués à vivre avec nous sur un pied d’égalité, viennent-ils à éprouver quelque mécompte par suite d’une divergence d’opinion ou de l’autorité que nous donne notre prééminence, au lieu d’être reconnaissants de ce qu’on ne leur ôte pas le plus, mais seulement le moins, ils montrent plus de colère que si d’emblée nous eussions mis de côté la loi et commis des usurpations manifestes. Dans ce cas, ils n’auraient pas même songé à protester contre la soumission du plus, faible au plus foTt. C'est qu’apparemment on s’irrite plus de l’injustice que de la violence : la première, venant d’un égal, semble-être une usurpation ; la seconde, appuyée sur la force, passe pour une nécessité. Ainsi nos alliés, quoiqu’ils eussent à subir, sous l’oppression éu Mède, des lois bien plus rigoureuses, ne laissaient pas de s’y résigner, tandis que notre autorité leur paraît tyrannique. Faut-il s’en étonner? La domination présente est toujours odieuse. Quant à vous, s’il vous arrivait de nous supplanter et d’hériter de notre prééminence, vous ne tarderiez pas à voir s’évanouir cette faveur dont vous jouissez grâce à la crainte que nous inspirons, surtout si vous suiviez les mêmes principes que pendant la courte durée de votre commandement dans la guerre Médique ² ; en effet, vos mœurs sont incompatibles avec celles des autres nations, sans compter que chacun de vous, une fois hors de son pays, ne suit plus ni les usages de sa patrie ni ceux du reste de la Grèce.

[1] "For although we are at a disadvantage in suits ¹ with our allies arising out of commercial agreements, and although in our own courts in Athens, where we have established tribunals, the same laws apply to us as to them, we are thought to insist too much upon our legal rights.

[2] And none of our allies observes why it is that those who hold dominion elsewhere, and are less moderate than we are toward their subjects, are not reproached on this account. It is because those who may use might have no need to appeal to right.

[3] But if ever our allies, accustomed as they are to associate with us on the basis of equality, come off second best in any matter, however trivial, contrary to their own notion that it ought to be otherwise, whether their discomfiture is due to a legal decision or to the exercise of our imperial power, instead of being grateful that they have not been deprived of what is of greater moment, ² they are more deeply offended because of their trifling inequality than if we had from the first put aside all legal restraints and had openly sought our own advantage.

[4] In that case even they would not be setting up the claim that the weaker should not have to yield to the stronger. Men, it seems, are more resentful of injustice than of violence;

[5] for the former, they feel, is overreaching by an equal, whereas the latter is coercion by a superior. At any rate, they submitted to more grievous wrongs than these at the hands of the Persians, while our rule is hard to bear, as they think;

[6] and no wonder, for the present yoke is always heavy to subjects. Certainly you, should you overthrow us and obtain supremacy, would soon lose the good will which you have gained through fear of usif indeed you mean again to show such temper as you gave a glimpse of at that time when for a little while you had the hegemony against the Persian. ³ For the institutions that prevail among you at home are incompatible with those of other peoples, and, besides, each one of you when he goes abroad uses neither these nor those which the rest of Greece is accustomed to.

[1] "For from putting up with less than we might have had in contract-suits with the allies, and from having made our decisions in our own courts on the footing of equal laws, we are thought to be litigious.

[2] And none of them considers why this reproach is not brought against those who have empire in any other quarter also, and are less moderate towards their subjects than we have been: for those who can act with violence have no need besides to act with justice.

[3] But they, from being accustomed to have intercourse with us on a fair footing, if contrary to their notions of right they have been worsted in any thing, either by a legal judgment or by the power of our empire, even in any degree whatever; they feel no gratitude for not being deprived of the greater part [of their possessions], but are more indignant for what is lost than if from the first we had laid aside law, and openly taken advantage of them.

[4] In that case not even they themselves would have denied that it was right for the weaker to yield to the stronger. But when injured it seems men are more angry than when treated with violence: for the one case is regarded as an advantage taken by their compulsion by their superior.

[5] At least they endured much harder treatment than this at the hand of the Medes; whereas our rule is thought to be severe; and naturally so;

[6] for their present condition is always irksome to subjects. You, at any rate, should you subdue us and possess an empire, would quickly lose the good-will which you have enjoyed through their fear of us; if you have the same views now as you gave symptoms of then, when you led then against the Mede for a short time. For you have institutions by yourselves, distinct from the rest of the world; and moreover, each individual of you, on going abroad., neither acts according to these, nor to those which the rest of Greece recognises.

[1] « Etenim in causis, quae de contractu cum sociis sunt, deteriore antea conditione utentes, postquam instituimus, ut apud nos ipsos aequis legibus judicia fiant, litigiosi esse videmur.

[2] Nec eorum quisquam considerat, cur hoc ipsum crimen non objiciatur iis etiam, qui usquam alibi imperium habent, et qui in subditos minus modeste se gerunt, quam nos; iis enim, qui rei per vim gerendae potestatem habent, nullis judiciis est opus.

[3] At illi assueti jam aequo jure nobiscum disceptare, si quid iis vel nostro judicio, vel propter imperii potentiam, vel etiam quomodocumque, fuerit detractum, quod ipsi sibi non detrahendum putarint, non habent gratiam de pluribus non ereptis; sed modicum illud, quod detractum est, gravius ferunt, quam si slatim ab initio, deposito juris instituto, aperte nostrum commodum quwsissemus. Illo enim modo ne ipsi'quidem contradicere potuissent, quin oporteat inferiorem superiori cedere;

[4] et injuria, ut videtur, quum alliciuntur homines, magis indignantur, quam quum vim patiuntur; illud enim a pari profectum propter plus habendi cupiditatem fieri videtur; hoc vero a potentiore, videtur inevitabilem necessitatem habere.

[5] Idcirco etiam a Medo quamvis his graviora paterentur, tolerabant; at nostrum imperium durum esse videtur, nec immerito; nam praesens rerum status semper gravis est subditis.

[6] Itaque vos ipsi, si eversis nostris rebus imperium gereretis, profecto benevolentiam, quam propter nostri metum suscepistis, commutatis hominum studiis amitteretis, si quidem nunc quoque talia vobis facienda censebitis, qualia vel tunc exiguo illo tempore edi* dislis, quo in bello contra Medum gerendo praefuistis. Vestra enim et inter vos instituta vehementer a ceteris abhorrent, et unus quisque de vobis peregre proficiscens neque his utitur, neque illis, quibus reliqua Graecia solet uti.

« Perciocché , quantunque nelle giudiciali contraversie cogli alleati recediamo dai nostri diritti, e facciam loro giudizio, tutto che in casa nostra , con leggi eguali per essi e per noi, nondimeno siamo reputati gente litigiosa : né alcun di loro considera perchè tal rimprovero non sia fatto a quelli che altrove hanno impero , benché men discreti di noi coi loro soggetti. Ciò procede da questo , che coloro i quali possono usar la via della forza, non si curano più punto di quella del diritto : mentre questi nostri alleati avvezzi a trattar con noi alla pari, se per nostro giudicio, o per quel potere che dall' impero deriva , contro la da loro creduta convenienza , o comunque sia, restino in qualchecosa al disotto, non ci sanno grado per quel di più di che non vengono privati ; anzi per quel nonnulla vanno più malcontenti che se , messe a dirittura dall’ un dei lati le leggi, gli avessimo manifestamente oppressi : perocché a quel modo non avrebber pure aperto bocca per negare che il più debole debba cedere al più forte. Conciossiaché , come pare, gli uomini più si adirano pel negato diritto , che per la manifesta violenza : quello sembra soverchieria fatta da un eguale , questa necessaria conseguenza dell’ esser da più. Infatti sofferivano essi pazientemente dal Medo trattamenti più severi di questi ; laddove il nostro impero passa per grave : nè maraviglia : perchè il governo presente è sempre quello che più pesa aì sudditi. E se a voi , dopo averci atterrati, toccasse a comandare, forse doveste scendere dal grado di benevolenza in cui siete pel timore che si ha dì noi ; se pure quali vi mostraste allora nel breve comando vostro contro il Medo , tali vi faceste conoscere anche adesso. Perocché non solo a casa vostra seguitate usauze non punto confacenti con quelle degli altri, ma di più qualunque di voi esca di patria non pratica nè queste sue, uè quelle seguite dal rimanente di Grecia.