Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 3.53

[1] "Men of Lacedaemon, relying upon you we yielded up our city, not expecting to undergo this but some more legal manner of proceeding; and we agreed not to stand to the judgment of others (as now we do) but of yourselves only, conceiving we should so obtain the better justice. But now we fear we have been deceived in both.

[2] For we have reason to suspect both that the trial is capital, and you, the judges, partial, gathering so much both from that, that there hath not been presented any accusation to which we might answer, and also from this, that the interrogatory is short and such, as if we answer to it with truth, we shall speak against ourselves and be easily convinced if we lie.

[3] But since we are on all hands in a strait, we are forced (and it seems our safest way) to try what we can obtain by pleading. For, for men in our case the speech not spoken may give occasion to some to think, that spoken it had preserved us. But besides other inconveniences, the means also of persuasion go ill on our side.

[4] For if we had not known one another, we might have helped ourselves by producing testimony in things you knew not. Whereas now, all that we shall say will be before men that know already what it is. And we fear not that you mean, because you know us inferior in virtue to yourselves, to make that a crime, but lest you bring us to a judgment already judged to gratify somebody else.

[1] ‘Lacedaemonians, when we surrendered our city we trusted in you, and looked forward to a trial more agreeable to the forms of law than the present, to which we had no idea of being subjected; the judges also in whose hands we consented to place ourselves were you, and you only (from whom we thought we were most likely to obtain justice), and not other persons, as is now the case.

[2] As matters stand, we are afraid that we have been doubly deceived. We have good reason to suspect, not only that the issue to be tried is the most terrible of all, but that you will not prove impartial; if we may argue from the fact that no accusation was first brought forward for us to answer, but we had ourselves to ask leave to speak, and from the question being put so shortly, that a true answer to it tells against us, while a false one can be contradicted.

[3] In this dilemma, our safest, and indeed our only course, seems to be to say something at all risks: placed as we are, we could scarcely be silent without being tormented by the damning thought that speaking might have saved us.

[4] Another difficulty that we have to encounter is the difficulty of convincing you. Were we unknown to each other we might profit by bringing forward new matter with which you were unacquainted: as it is, we can tell you nothing that you do not know already, and we fear, not that you have condemned us in your own minds of having failed in our duty towards you, and make this our crime, but that to please a third party we have to submit to a trial the result of which is already decided.

„Unsere Stadt haben wir euch übergeben, ihr
Lakedämonier, weil wir auf euer Wort hin vertrauten, nicht vor einem solchen
Gerichte stehen zu müssen, sondern daß es gesetzlicher ausfallen werde,
und wir nahmen eure Bedingungen an, um vor keinen anderen
Richter gestellt zu werden, als vor euch selbst, wie dieß jetzt auch wirklich
der Fall ist, weil wir glaubten, bei euch das billigste Urtheil zu finden.
Nun aber fürchten wir, daß wir uns in Beidem betrogen haben, denn
wir müssen mit Recht argwöhnen, daß es sich hier um das
Schrecklichste handle, und daß ihr nicht den Ruhm billiger Richter
davontragen werdet. Wir schließen das, weil von euch keine Voranklage
gestellt worden ist, gegen die wir uns zu rechtfertigen hätten, sondern
wir selbst haben um die Erlaubniß zum Reden bitten müssen, und
eure Frage ist so kurz, daß unsere Antwort, wenn sie der Wahrheit ¹
gemäß ist, uns verurtheilt, und wenn sie unwahr ist,- leicht widerlegt,
werden kann. So sehen wir nach keiner Seite einen Ausweg und sind
genöthigt, von einer Rede unsere Rettung zu hoffen, was auch das
Geziemendste zu sein scheint; denn wer in einer solchen Lage zu reden
unterläßt, zieht sich wohl den Vorwurf zu, daß eine Rede ihn hätte
retten können. Zu dem Andern, was uns bedrückt, fühlen wir aber
nun auch,- wie schwer es uns fallen wird, euch zu überreden. Denn
wären wir einander unbekannt, so könnten wir Beweisgründe
beibringen, die euch fremd wären, und so vielleicht Rettung finden; nun aber
wird Alles, was wir vorbringen, euch bereits bekannt sein, und wir
fürchten nicht sowohl, daß ihr schon im Voraus das Urtheil gefällt
habet, unsere Verdienste seien geringer als die eurigen, und daß ihr
uns eben daraus ein Verbrechen machet, sondern vielmehr, daß ihr
uns andern zu Gefallen vor ein Gericht stellt, welches sein Urtheil
schon gesprochen hat."

LIII. « Nous vous avons livré notre ville, Lacédémoniens, confiants dans votre parole. Ce n’est pas là le jugement sur lequel nous comptions : nous attendions plus de respect de la légalité ; et, si nous avons accepté des juges, si nous n’en avons pas voulu d’autres que vous qui allez prononcer sur notre sort, c’était, dans la persuasion qu’auprès de vous surtout nous trouverions justice. Mais, maintenant, nous craignons bien d’avoir manqué doublement notre but : car nous soupçonnons (et cela n’est que trop vraisemblable) que nous avons à nous défendre contre le dernier supplice, et que nous ne vous trouverons pas exempts de par- tialité. Ce qui confirme nos craintes, c’est premièrement qu’on n’a formulé contre nous aucune accusation régulière que nous puissions réfuter, puisque c’est nous-mêmes qui avons dû demander à parler ; ensuite on ne nous adresse qu’une courte question, ménagée de telle sorte que, si notre réponse est conforme à la vérité, elle nous condamne, et si nous mentons, l’évidence est contre nous. De quelque côté que nous nous tournions, l’embarras est le même ; aussi, quelque danger qu’il y ait à parler, nous sommes forcés à suivre ce parti, qui nous paraît encore le plus sûr ; car, si nous gardions le silence dans la situation où nous sommes, on pourrait nous le reprocher et croire qu’en parlant nous avions chance de nous sauver.

« A toutes nos perplexités se joint la difficulté de vous persuader : si nous étions inconnus les uns des autres, nous pourrions invoquer en notre faveur le témoignage de faits que vous ignoreriez ; mais, tout au contraire, nous allons parler à des hommes à qui tout est connu. Ce que nous craignons, ce n’est pas que, préjugeant l’infériorité de nos mérites à l’égard des vôtres, vous ne nous en fassiez un crime ; mais bien que, dans le but de complaire à d’autres, vous ne nous fassiez plaider une cause déjà jugée.

« Lacédémoniens, quand nous avons livré notre ville, nous l’avons fait par confiance en vous. Alors nous étions loin de nous attendre à un jugement tel que celui-ci ; nous comptions sur plus de formes. Si nous n’avons voulu, comme nous ne voulons encore, d’autres juges que vous, c’est que nous pensions que vous tiendriez la balance égale. Maintenant nous craignons de nous être doublement trompés ; car nous soupçonnons à bon droit qu’il y va pour nous de la vie, et nous avons des doutes sur votre impartialité. Ce qui nous les suggère, c’est d’abord l’absence de toute accusation précise que nous aurions pu repousser; — il nous a fallu demander nous-mêmes la parole ; — puis la question sommaire qu'on noos adresse. Vraie, notre réponse nous condamne ; fausse, elle porte avec soi sa réfutation. De quelque côté que nous tournions les regards, notre embarras est le même. Nous sommes cependant contraints, quand la prudence ne nous en ferait pas un devoir, de hasarder quelques mots de justification. Garder le silence dans la situation où nous sommes, ce serait nous exposer au reproche de n’avoir pas fait tout notre possible pour nous sauver.

« A ces difficultés se joint encore celle de vous convaincre. Si nous étions inconnus les uns aux autres, nous pourrions alléguer en notre faveur des témoignages nouveaux pour vous; mais vous savez d’avance tout ce que nous pourrions dire. Ce que nous craignons, ce n’est pas que vous ne jugiez nos mérites inférieurs aux vôtres, et no nous fassiez un crime de cette infériorité, mais bien plutôt que dans le dessein de complaire à d'autres, vous ne nous fassiez plaider une cause déjà jugée.

[1] "When we surrendered our city, Lacedaemonians, trusting in your good faith, we had no thought that we should have to undergo a trial like this, but supposed it would be a more regular procedure; and when we consented to be on trial before you and you alone as judges, as we now are, we believed that we should be most likely to obtain fair treatment.

[2] But now we fear that we have been disappointed in both expectations; for we have good reason to suspect, not only that the issues involved in the trial are of the gravest nature ¹ but also that you will not prove to be impartial judges. These inferences we draw from the fact that no accusation was first brought against us requiring a plea in defence, but we have had to ask leave to speak, and that the question which is put to us is so curt that a truthful answer to it is against our interests, while a false one can be exposed at once.

[3] But beset as we are with perplexities on every hand, we are forced, as indeed seems to be the safer course, to say something and take the risk; for to men in our condition not to have spoken would cause us afterwards to reproach ourselves with the thought that, had the word been spoken, it would have saved us.

[4] A further difficulty in our position is the task of convincing you. For if we were strangers to each other, we might find it to our advantage to introduce evidence on matters with which you were unacquainted; but as it is, anything that we shall say is already known to you, and what we fear is, not that you have already judged our virtues ² to be inferior to your own and now make that a charge against us, but that in order to gratify others ³ we are to appear before a court that has already decided against us.

[1] "The surrender of our city, Lacedaemonians, we made with full confidence in you, not supposing that we should be subjected to such a trial as this, but that it would be one more consistent with law; and with an agreement that we should not, as we now are, be at the mercy of any other judges but yourselves; thinking that so we should best obtain what was fair.

[2] But as things are, we fear that we have failed at once in both expectations. For with reason we suspect that our contest is ¹ for life or death, and that you will not prove impartial; inferring this from the fact of there having been made against us no previous charge for us to reply to, (but it was ourselves who requested permission to speak,) and from the question put to us being so concise; a true answer to which tells against us, while a false one is open to refutation.

[3] Being involved, however, in perplexity on all sides, we are compelled, and it seems the safer course, to say something at all risks; for the words that had been left unspoken might occasion to men in our situation the self-accusing thought, that if they had been spoken, they might have saved us.

[4] But in addition to our other disadvantages, the work of convincing you is also surrounded with difficulties. Were we unacquainted with each other, we might derive assistance from bringing forward fresh proofs of what you did not know: but as it is, every thing will be said to men who know it already; and our fear is, not that you have before considered our services as inferior to your own, and now make that fact a ground of accusation against us; but that, through your determination to gratify another party, we are brought to a trial which is already decided against us.

[1] « Urbis deditionem, 0 Lacedaemonii, vestra aequitate freti fecimus, non existimantes, nos tale judicium subituros, sed legibus magis conveniens aliquod fore sperantes; et conditionem nobis oblatam accepimus, ut non apud alios, sed apud vos judices causam diceremus, quemadmodum etiam dicimus; sic enim potissimum nos aequum obtenturos arbitrabamur.

[2] Nunc vero veremur, ne in utroque simul falsi simus; nam et de capite nostro ultimoque supplicio certamen esse merito suspicamur, et vos ne judices non utrique parti aequi existalis, conjecturam inde facientes, tum quia nulla accusatio ante facta est, cui respondendum esset (sed ipsi dicendi potestatem poposcimus ), tum etiam quia vestra interrogatio perbrevis est, ad quam si vera respondeamus, in contraria vertuntur, sin falsa, mendacii facile argui possumus.

[3] Sed quum maximis difficultatibus undique premamur, cogimur et tutius esse ducimus, non taciti periclitari. Quod enim dici potuit si dictum non fuerit, iis, qui in tali discrimine versantur, culpa imputari possit, quod hoc si dictum esset, salutem dare potuisset.

[4] Sed praeter alia etiam ipsa persuadendi ratio in difficili nobis est Nam si ignoti inter nos essemus, allatis testimoniis rerum illarum, quas ignoraretis, causam nostram fortasse juvaremus; nunc autem apud eos, qui rerum sunt gnari, omnia dicentur, nec illud pertimescimus, ne propterea quod jam ante apud vos contra nos statueritis, merita nostra esse vestris inferiora, crimini hoc ipsum nobis vertatis, sed ne, dum aliis in nobis gratificamini, judicium jam peractum subeamus.

[1] Männer von Sicilien! Ihr wisset, nicht die Ohnmacht meiner Vaterstadt oder ihre Erschöpfung durch den Krieg ist es, was mir diese Worte eingibt, sondern allein die uneigennützige Absicht, dem gesamten Sicilien den besten Rath zu ertheilen, den es nach meiner Ueberzeugung für dasselbe gibt. Ich möchte von dem Krieg und seinen Leiden anheben und über seine zahllosen Uebel mich verbreiten; indes ihr kennet sie ja. Denn so wenig Unkunde die Schuld trägt an einem aufgenöthigten Kriege, ebensowenig lässt sich die Eroberungslust durch Furcht von ihm zurückschrecken. Natürlich; ihr ¹ erscheinen die Vortheile grösser als die Gefahren, während man dort sich lieber den Kriegsgefahren aussetzen will, um einem gewissen Verlust zu entgehen. Aber eben wenn es sich ergibt, dass beide Grundsätze zur Unzeit in Anwendung gebracht werden, dann ist eine Mahnung zur Friedfertigkeit am Platze. Dies ist gerade unser Fall, und es liegt alles daran, dass wir uns davon überzeugen.

Hat uns nicht alle bisher die Erwägung unserer Sonderinteressen geleitet in diesem Kriege wie heute bei unsern Friedensvorschlägen, wo wieder hin und hergerechtet wird, und falls es nicht jedem gelingt, zu seinem Rechte zu kommen, der Wiederausbruch des Krieges in gewisser Aussicht steht?

« Noi certamente , o Lacedemoni, facemmo la dedizione della città confidando di non dover sostenere cotal giudizio , ma uno più consono alle leggi , ed accettando di non esser sotto ad altri giudici che a voi (siccome lo siamo) , perchè ciò credevamo il modo più sicuro ad ottenere equità. Se non che temiamo non sia ora fallito questo nostro doppio intendimento ; perocché drittamente sospettiamo che si discuta per noi la causa dell’estremo supplizio, e che voi non siate per riuscire giudici imparziali. Ce ne dà argomento non solo il non ci esser proposta querela alla quale dobbiamo coatradire (mentre noi stessi abbiamo domandato la parola), ma ancora quella breve vostra interrogazione, alla quale risponder vero è nostro danno, risponder falso porta convincimento di menzogna. Laonde, ridotti in dubbiezza per ogni lato, siamo astretti, e ci par più sicuro, il non abbandonare al silenzio il nostro pericolo : avvegnaché , per chi è venuto a tale, una sola parola non detta potrebbe produrre il rammarico ; che se fosse stata detta , sarebbe stata di sua salvezza. Ma per noi v’ è anche di più la difficolti di procacciarsi credenza ; essendo che, se non ci conoscessimo scambievolmente , accumulando testimonianze di cui foste all’oscuro , potremmo cavarne vantaggio : ora però dobbiam parlare dinanzi a gente di tutto informata. Nè temiamo che voi mal prevenuti contro il nostro valore, perchè minore del vostro, ci imputiate ciò a delitto ; ma che f mentre volete gratificare ad altrui, noi ci imbarchiamo in una causa già decisa.