Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 2.62

[1] "As for the toil of the war, that it may perhaps be long and we in the end never the nearer to victory, though that may suffice which I have demonstrated at other times touching your causeless suspicion that way, yet this I will tell you, moreover, touching the greatness of your means for dominion, which neither you yourselves seem ever to have thought on nor I touched in my former orations, nor would I also have spoken it now but that I see your minds dejected more than there is cause for.

[2] That though you take your dominion to extend only to your confederates, I affirm that of the two parts of the world of manifest use, the land and the sea, you are of one of them entire masters, both of as much of it as you make use of and also of as much more as you shall think fit yourselves. Neither is there any king or nation whatsoever of those that now are that can impeach your navigation with the fleet and strength you now go.

[3] So that you must not put the use of houses and lands wherein now you think yourselves deprived of a mighty matter into the balance with such a power as this nor take the loss of these things heavily in respect of it, but rather set little by them as but a light ornament and embellishment of wealth, and think that our liberty as long as we hold fast that will easily recover unto us these things again; whereas subjected once to others, even that which we possess besides will be diminished. Show not yourselves both ways inferior to your ancestors, who not only held this (gotten by their own labours not left them) but have also preserved and delivered the same unto us (for it is more dishonour to lose what one possesseth than to miscarry in the acquisition of it), and encounter the enemy not only with magnanimity but also with disdain.

[4] For a coward may have a high mind upon a prosperous ignorance; but he that is confident upon judgment to be superior to his enemy doth also disdain him, which is now our case.

[5] And courage in equal fortune is the safer for our disdain of the enemy where a man knows what he doth; for he trusteth less to hope, which is of force only in uncertainties, and more to judgment upon certainties, wherein there is a more sure foresight.

[1] If you shrink before the exertions which the war makes necessary, and fear that after all they may not have a happy result, you know the reasons by which I have often demonstrated to you the groundlessness of your apprehension. If those are not enough, I will now reveal an advantage arising from the greatness of your dominion, which I think has never yet suggested itself to you, which I never mentioned in my previous speeches, and which has so bold a sound that I should scarce adventure it now, were it not for the unnatural depression which I see around me.

[2] You perhaps think that your empire extends only over your allies; I will declare to you the truth. The visible field of action has two parts, land and sea. In the whole of one of these you are completely supreme, not merely as far as you use it at present, but also to what further extent you may think fit: in fine, your naval resources are such that your vessels may go where they please, without the king or any other nation on earth being able to stop them.

[3] So that although you may think it a great privation to lose the use of your land and houses, still you must see that this power is something widely different; and instead of fretting on their account, you should really regard them in the light of the gardens and other accessories that embellish a great fortune, and as, in comparison, of little moment. You should know too that liberty preserved by your efforts will easily recover for us what we have lost, while, the knee once bowed, even what you have will pass from you. Your fathers receiving these possessions not from others, but from themselves, did not let slip what their labor had acquired, but delivered them safe to you; and in this respect at least you must prove yourselves their equals, remembering that to lose what one has got is more disgraceful than to be baulked in getting, and you must confront your enemies not merely with spirit but with disdain.

[4] Confidence indeed a blissful ignorance can impart, ay, even to a coward's breast, but disdain is the privilege of those who, like us, have been assured by reflection of their superiority to their adversary.

[5] And where the chances are the same, knowledge fortifies courage by the contempt which is its consequence, its trust being placed, not in hope, which is the prop of the desperate, but in a judgment grounded upon existing resources, whose anticipations are more to be depended upon.

¹ „Was aber die Anstrengungen des Krieges wegen betrifft,
von denen ihr besorgt, daß sie zu groß für uns werden, und wir
vielleicht doch nicht Sieger bleiben möchten, so muß euch das genügen,
wodurch ich euch schon früher ost gezeigt habe, daß eure Furcht
ungegründet ist. Ich will aber jetzt den Punkt aushellen, den ihr mir
weder selbst jemals recht zu bedenken schienet, nämlich die Größe eurer
wirklichen Macht, und über den auch ich in meinen früheren Reden
nicht gesprochen habe. Und auch jetzt würde ich ihn nicht
hervorziehen, da es zu sehr den Anschein der Prahlerei hat, wenn ich euch
nicht ganz über alle Gebühr niedergeschlagen sähe. Ihr glaubet
nämlich, daß ihr nur über eure Bundesgenossen herrschet; ich aber sage,
daß von den zwei Gebieten, auf denen man sich bewegen muß, Land
und Meer nämlich, ihr das eine ganz und gar bherrschr, so weit ihr
bis jetzt reicht, und noch weiter, wenn ihr nur wollt. Es gibt heute
Niemanden, der eurer jetzigen Flotte die See wehren könnte, weder
einen König noch auch sonst ein Volk. Es kommt also die Benutzung
der Häuser und der Ländereien, mit denen ihr so gar viel verloren zu
haben glaubt, neben dieser eurer Macht gar nicht in Betracht. Und
es ist nicht in der Ordnung, daß ihr diesen Verlust so gar schwer
empfindet; vielmehr solltet ihr dergleichen gering achten, wie allenfalls
ein Gärtchen oder ein Prunkstück des Reichthums, und denken, daß
die Unabhängigkeit, wenn wir an ihr festhaltend den Kampf
überdauern, uns leicht dergleichen wiederbringen wird, daß aber, wenn
wir erst Anderen gehorchen, auch der frühere Besitz seinen Werth
verliert. Wir dürfen in beiden Dingen nicht schlechter fein als unsere
Väter, die jenes unter Mühe und Anstrengung erworben, nicht von
Andern ererbt, festgehalten und glücklich auf uns gebracht haben. Es
ist aber viel schimpflicher, sich nehmen zulassen, was man hat, als beim
Versuche es zu erwerben unglücklich zu sein. Und unseren Feinden
müssen wir nicht nur mit hochherziger Unerschrokceuheit, sondern sogar
mit Verachtung entgegen gehen. Prahlen kann auch einmal ein Feiger,
wenn er, ohne die Gefahr kennen gelernt zu haben, glücklich gewesen
ist, verachten aber nur der, der an einsichtigem Muthe den Feind zu
übertreffen sich bewußt ist; und das ist bei uns der Fall. Auch die
Kühnheit wird bei gleichem Glücke durch das Bewußtsein, auf den
Gegner herabsehen zu können, sicherer gemacht; auf die Hoffnung baut
das Bewußtsein weniger, denn deren Kraft zeigt sich nur in ganz un- ²
gewisser Lage, wohl aber auf den Muth, der sich faus Kenntnis; der
vorhandenen Mittel gründet, in deren vorsorglicher Beischaffung die
eigentliche Kraft liegt."

LXII. « Vous craignez peut-être d’avoir beaucoup à souffrir de la guerre, sans être plus avancés pour cela : qu’il vous suffise, à cet égard, de vous rappeler ce que j'ai dit bien des fois en d’autres circonstances, pour prouver que vos craintes ne sont pas fondées. Je vous signalerai un autre point auquel vous ne me paraissez pas avoir jamais songé, et que j’ai moi-même négligé dans mes précédents discours, c’est la grandeur de votre domination. Aujourd’hui même, j’aurais laissé de côté ces considérations qui peuvent paraître ambitieuses, si je ne vous voyais abattus outre mesure. Vous croyez ne commander qu’à vos alliés, et moi je déclare que des deux éléments départis à l'homme, la terre et la mer, aussi loin qu’elles s’étendent, il en est un soumis entièrement à votre domination absolue, tant aux lieux où s’exerce actuellement votre puissance, qu’à ceux où vous voudriez la porter encore. Avec les ressources de votre marine actuelle, il n’est personne, ni roi, ni peuple, qui puisse arrêter l’essor de vos flottes. Voilà ce qui fait votre véritable puissance, et non la jouissance de ces maisons et de ces terres dont la perte vous paraît si regrettable. Au lieu de vous affliger outre mesure de cette perte, songez plutôt que ce que vous regrettez n’est, en regard de votre puissance, que la parure et l’ornement de la richesse-, songez aussi que la liberté, si nous la sauvons par nos efforts, nous fera aisément recouvrer ces biens, tandis qu’en se soumettant à un joug étranger, on compromet d’ordinaire même ce qu’on possède. Nos pères n’avaient pas reçu de leurs ancêtres, ils avaient péniblement acquis leur puissance ; ils ont su en outre la garder et nous la transmettre. Sous ce double rapport, ne nous montrons pas inférieurs à eux ; car il est plus honteux encore de se laisser arracher des biens qu’on possède, que d’échouer en cherchant à les acquérir. Marchons donc contre nos ennemis, non-seulement avec con- fiance, mais avec dédain ; l’ignorance heureuse peut produire la confiance, même chez le lâche ; le dédain est le propre de celui qui a l’intime conviction de sa supériorité sur l’ennemi, et c’est là ce qui nous distingue. A fortune égale, l’habileté sûre d’elle-même puise dans ce mépris de l’ennemi une audace plus confiante ; elle s’en remet bien moins à l’espérance, ressource extrême dans les situations critiques, qu’à la conscience de ses propres forces, qui est la base la plus sûre d’une saine prévision.

« Vous craignez que les fatigues de la guerre ne se prolongent outre mesure, sans vous donner enfin la supériorité. Qu’il me suffise de vous répéter encore une fois que cette crainte est mal fondée. Mais je veux vous signaler un avantage que vous possédez pour l’extension de votre empire, avantage auquel vous ne semblez pas donner sa juste valeur. Moi-même j’ai négligé de vous en entretenir dans mes discours précédents, et aujourd’hui je ne vous présenterais pas ces réflexions tant soit peu ambitieuses, si je ne vous voyais en proie à un découragement exagéré.

« Vous croyez ne commander qu’à vos alliés : moi je soutiens que des deux éléments à l’usage de l’homme, la terre et la mer, Tun vous est pleinement assujetti dans toute l'étendue que vous en occupez, et plus loin encore, si vous le voulez. Avec la marine dont vous disposez, il n’y a ni grand roi ni-puissance au monde qui soit capable d’arrêter l’essor de vos flottes. C’est là ce qui constitue votre force bien plus que ces maisons et ces terres dont la perte vous paraît si cruelle. Il n’est pourtant pas raisonnable de regretter si amèrement des biens qui, en regard de votre empire, ne doivent pas être plus estimés que de cbétifs jardins ou de vaines parures. Songez que la liberté, si nous la conservons par nos efforts, réparera facilement toutes ces brèches; au lieu qu'en subissant la loi de l’étranger, on compromet même ce qu’on possède.

« Nous ne devons pas en cela nous montrer moins braves que nos pères, qui n’avaient pas hérité de cet empire, mais l’avaient gagné parleurs travaux, et qui sont parvenus à nous le transmettre. Or il est plus honteux de se laisser dépouiller d’un bien acquis que d’échouer à sa poursuite.

« Marchez donc contre vos adversaires, non-seulement avec courage, mais encore avec dédain. Une ignorance heureuse peut inspirer la fierté, même à un lâche ; mais le dédain n’appartient qu’à celui qui a la conscience de sa supériorité. Or ce sentiment est le nôtre. A égalité de fortune, l’intelligence puise dans la sagesse de ses vues une audace bien plus asu surée; elle se repose moins sur une espérance vacillante que sur le sentiment de ses forces, qui lui permet d’envisager plus nettement l’avenir.

[1] "As to the hardships involved in this war, and your misgivings lest they prove very great and we succumb after all, let those arguments suffice which I have advanced on many other occasions ¹ in order to convince you that your fears are groundless. But there is one point I propose to lay before you on which, I think, you have never yourselves as yet reflected, in spite of the advantage it gives you as regards your empire and its greatness, and which I have never previously dealt with in my speeches, and should not have done so now—for it makes a somewhat boastful claim—had I not seen that you are unreasonably dejected.

[2] You think that it is only over your allies that your empire extends, but I declare that of two divisions of the world which lie open to man's use, the land and the sea, you hold the absolute mastery over the whole of one, not only to the extent to which you now exercise it, but also to whatever fuller extent you may choose; and there is no one, either the Great King or any nation of those now on the earth, who will block your path as you sail the seas with such a naval armament as you now possess.

[3] This power, therefore, is clearly not to be compared with the mere use of your houses and fields, things which you value highly because you have been dispossessed of them; nor is it reasonable that you should fret about them, but you should make light of them, regarding them in comparison with this power as a mere flowergarden or ornament of a wealthy estate, and should recognize that freedom, if we hold fast to it and preserve it, will easily restore these losses, but let men once submit to others and even what has been won in the past ² has a way of being lessened. You must therefore show yourselves not inferior in either of these two respects to your fathers, who by their own labours, and not by inheritance, not only acquired but also preserved this empire and bequeathed it to you (and it is a greater disgrace to let a possession you have be taken away than it is to attempt to gain one and fail);

[4] and you must go to meet your enemies not only with confidence in yourselves, but with contempt for them. For even a coward, if his folly is attended with good luck, may boast, but contempt belongs only to the man who is convinced by his reason that he is superior to his opponents, as is the case with us.

[5] And, where fortune is impartial, the result of this feeling of contempt is to render courage more effective through intelligence, that puts its trust not so much in hope, which is strongest in perplexity, as in reason supported by the facts, which gives a surer insight into the future.

[1] "But with regard to your trouble in the war, lest you should fear that it may prove great, and we may still be none the more successful, let those arguments suffice you, with which on many other occasions I have proved the error of your suspicions respecting it. At the same time, I will also lay before you the following advantage, which yourselves do not appear ever yet to have thought of as belonging to you, respecting the greatness of your empire, and which I never urged in my former speeches; nor would I even now, as it has rather too boastful an air, if I did not see you unreasonably cast down.

[2] You think then that you only bear rule over your own subject allies; but I declare to you that of the two parts of the world open for man's use, the land and the sea, of the whole of the one you are most absolute masters, both as far as you avail yourselves of it now, and if you should wish to do so still further; and there is no power, neither the king nor any nation besides at the present day, that can prevent your sailing [where you please] with your present naval resources.

[3] This power then evidently is far from being merely on a level with the benefits of your houses and lands, which you think so much to be deprived of: nor is it right for you to give about them, but rather to hold them cheap, considering them, in comparison with this, as a mere gardenplot and embellishment of a rich man's estate You should know, too, that liberty, provided we devote ourselves to that and preserve t, will easily recover these losses; whereas those who have once submitted to others find even their greatest gains diminish. Nor should you how yourselves interior in both respect to your fathers, who with labour, and not by inheritance from others, acquired these possessions, and moreover kept them, and bequeathed them to us for it is more disgraceful to be deprived of a thing when we have got it, than to fail in getting it. On the contrary, you should meet your enemies, nor only with spirit, but also with a spirit of contempt.

[4] For confidence is produced even by lucky ignorance, ay, even in a coward; but contempt is the feeling of the man who trusts that he is superior to his adversaries in counsel also, which is our case.

[5] And ability, with a high spirit, renders more sure the daring which arises from equal fortune; and does not so much trust to mere hope, whose strength mainly displays itself in difficulties; but rather to a judgment grounded upon present realities, whose anticipations may be more relied upon.

[1] « Quod autem de belli labore timetis, ne nimius sit nec tamen ideo magis victoriam obtineamus, vobis et illa sufficiant, in quibus jam saepe alias demonstravi, ipsum non recte suspectum esse; declarabo tamen hoc quoque, quod mihi videmini neque vos ipsi unquam antehac cogitasse vobis adesse, de magnitudine reip. ad imperium augendum, neque ego in superioribus meis orationibus; et ne nunc quidem hac oratione utei-er, quae quandam jactationis speciem habet, nisi vos praeter rationem animis consternatos viderem.

[2] Existimatis enim vos sociis tantum imperare; ego vero pronuntio de duobus elementis in usum datis, terra et mari, alterum totum in vestra maxime potestate esse, et quoad nunc tenetis et si longius progredi voletis; nec ullus est vel rex, vel alia gens earum, quas nunc vivunt, quae vos cum prapsenti classis apparatu navigantes prohibere possit.

Itaque non per aedificiorum et agri usum, quibus quasi magnis quibusdam rebus vos privatos putatis, potentiam hanc stare apparet; neque vos decet dolore potius rerum istarum tangi, quam hortulum eas et elegans aliquod divitiarum ludibrium prae potentia illa existimare, et id amissum vilipen-dere, atque intelligere, libertatem quidem, si eam fortiter retineamus et conservemus, haec facile recuperaturam, sed aliorum imperio si paruerimus, reliquas etiam fortunas, quas jam possidemus, ut fere fit, imminutum iri, et neutra in re nos debere a majoribus nostris degenerare; qui res istas non ab aliis acceptas, sed suis laboribus partas retinuerunt, et praeterea conservatas nobis tradiderunt (turpius autem est rebus, quas possidemus, privari, quam in quaerendo rem infeliciter gerere), sed adversus hostes ire non solum cum fidentia, sed etiam cum contemptione.

[4] Gloriatio enim etiam ex felici imperitia vel alicui ignavo innascitur, contemptio autem, si quis et consilio se adversariis superiorem esse confidit; id quod nobis adest.

[5] Et audaciam vel in aequali fortunae conditione firmiorem reddit prudentia, si subest elatus animus, et spei minus fidit, qua; vim suam in rebus angustis exserit, sed consilio ex iis, quae praesto sunt, ducto, cujus certior est providentia.

[1] Dies sind die Vortheile, welche, alles wohl erwogen, Athen gegenüber zu gewinnen sind. Und warum sollten wir schon uns selber das gepriesene Glück des Friedens länger vorenthalten? Saget selbst, wird nicht jedes Gut, das wir besitzen, sowie jedes Uebel im Frieden besser geschirmt und leichter gehoben als im Kriege, erfreuen sich nicht auch Würden und Ehrenstellen, kurz alle Dinge, im Frieden eines gesicherteren Bestandes? Doch das bedarf nicht erst langen Beweises, so wenig als das Elend des Krieges. Möchte nur angesichts dieser Wahrheit niemand meine Worte verachten, möchten sie vielmehr einen jeden veranlassen in Zeiten auf seine Selbsterhaltung bedacht zu sein. Sollte aber jemand auf sein Recht oder seine Macht pochen bei seiner Hoffnung auf Erfolg, der möge das Schicksal fürchten und seine bittern Enttäuschungen. Wie viele haben nicht schon an einem Angreifer sich rächen, andere in Hoffnung auf vermeintliche Macht als Eroberer auftreten wollen und haben nicht etwa nur ihre Rache nicht befriedigt, sondern sie mit dem Leben bezahlen, und die andern, statt sich zu bereichern, noch ihr Eigenes darüber einbüssen müssen. Ja wenn die Nothwehr als der angegriffene Theil stets auch zu ihrem Rechte käme, wenn der Mächtige an seinem Selbstgefühl auch eine Bürgschaft hätte, und nicht die Ereignisse grösstentheils unter dem Gebot des Zufalls stünden, der, so blind er auch ist, doch dadurch wieder höchst heilsam sich erweist, dass die über alle verhängte Furcht der Fehdelust einen Damm entgegenstellt.

et Rispetto poi al dubbio che le fatiche della guerra non abbiano ad esser grandi senza però facilitarvi più la vittoria, devono certamente bastarvi quelle ragioni con cui spesse fiate vi ho dimostrato non esser giusto il dubbio vostro. Voglio ora chiarirvi di quest’ altro vantaggio , il quale tutto che si trovi della vastità del vostro impero, non è stato mai avvertito da voi, nè da me nelle precedenti arringhe : nè ora io lo produrrei, perchè avente faccia di millanteria , se non vi vedessi sbigottiti fuori di ogni ragione. Voi credete di comandare solo ai confederati , ed io vi dichiaro che due essendo le parti destinate all’ uso umano, cioè terra e mare, d’una siete interamente padroni , non solo in quella misura che or ne godete , ma più oltre eziandio, cjualor vogliate : quanto all’altra, non vi è alcuno che, con le forze marittime onde or siete fomiti, impedir vi possa di correre il mare, foss’ e^rli il re stesso « od altra nazione che ora si conosca: cosicché questa potenza non istà punto in comparazione del godimento delle ville e delle campagne, la cui perdita voi stimate un gran cliè. Ed invece di adirarvi, ragion vuole che non vi curiate di quelle, risguardaudole, al paragone di (juesta potenza , non altramente che un’ acconciatura graziosa della chioma, od altra frivolezza che per ghiribizzo di lusso si usi dai ricchi \ e clic intendiate bene che ove ci manteniamo la libertà, sostenendola vigorosamente, dessa agevolmente ci ricupererà coteste cose ; laddove col soggettarsi ad altri sogliono perdersi anche i beni tutti, che con quella potenza si erano acquistati. Sono questi due oggetti nei quali noi dobbiamo mostrarci da meno dei padri nostri, che colle loro fatiche e non con titolo d’ eredità possederono quest’ impero, e che di più lo seppero conservare e lasciare a noi : ora , è più vergogna lasciarsi torre quel che uno ha, che andar fallito nel tentar degli acquisti. Corriamo dunque ad affrontare il nemico, non solo con animo altiero, ma eziandio con generoso disprezzo. Conciossiachè il vantamento può allignare anche nell' animo di un codardo per la felicità della sua imperìzia ; ma il generoso disprezzo è proprio solo di chi pel savio suo accorgimento confida di superare il nemico ; pregio che è tutto nostro. Cotesto savid accorgimento col generoso disprezzo assicura viemaggiormente l' ardire anche in fortuna eguale : perchè si fonda non su la speranza , il cui potere è incerto, ma sul consiglio ; il quale, derivando da forze che si posseggono , più sicuramente antivede.