Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 6.76

[1] "Men of Camarina, we come not hither upon fear that the forces of the Athenians here present may affright you, but lest their speeches which they are about to make may seduce you before you have also heard what may be said by us.

[2] They are come into Sicily with that pretence indeed which you hear given out, but with that intention which we all suspect; and to me they seem not to intend the replantation of the Leontines, but rather our supplantation. For surely it holdeth not in reason that they who subvert the cities yonder should come to plant any city here; nor that they should have such a care of the Leontines, because Chalcideans, for kindred's sake, when they keep in servitude the Chalcideans themselves of Euboea, of whom these here are but the colonies.

[3] But they both hold the cities there and attempt those here in one and the same kind. For when the Ionians and the rest of the confederates, their own colonies, had willingly made them their leaders in the war to avenge them of the Medes, the Athenians, laying afterwards to their charge, to some the not sending of their forces, to some their war amongst themselves, and so to the rest the most colourable criminations they could get, subdued them all to their obedience.

[4] And it was not for the liberty of the Grecians that these men, nor for the liberty of themselves that the Grecians made head against the Medes; but the Athenians did it to make them serve not the Medes but them, and the Grecians to change their master, as they did, not for one less wise, but for one worse wise.

[1] ‘Camarinaeans, we did not come on this embassy because we were afraid of your being frightened by the actual forces of the Athenians, but rather of your being gained by what they would say to you before you heard anything from us.

[2] They are come to Sicily with the pretext that you know, and the intention which we all suspect, in my opinion less to restore the Leontines to their homes than to oust us from ours; as it is out of all reason that they should restore in Sicily the cities that they lay waste in Hellas , or should cherish the Leontine Chalcidians because of their Ionian blood, and keep in servitude the Euboean Chalcidians, of whom the Leontines are a colony.

[3] No; but the same policy which has proved so successful in Hellas is now being tried in Sicily . After being chosen as the leaders of the Ionians and of the other allies of Athenian origin, to punish the Mede , the Athenians accused some of failure in military service, some of fighting against each other, and others, as the case might be, upon any colourable pretext that could be found, until they thus subdued them all.

[4] In fine, in the struggle against the Medes, the Athenians did not fight for the liberty of the Hellenes, or the Hellenes for their own liberty, but the former to make their countrymen serve them instead of him, the latter to change one master for another, wiser indeed than the first, but wiser for evil.

„Nicht deßwegen, ihr Kamarinäer, haben wir zu euch
Gesandte geschickt, weil wir fürchteten, daß ihr der Macht der Athener
gegenüber'den Muth verlieren möchtet, sondern vielmehr, daß ihr
euch durch ihre Reden könntet gewinnen lassen, wenn ihr nicht zuvor
auch uns gehört. Unter welchem Vorwand sie nach Sieilien
gekommen find, habt auch ihr gehört; was aber ihr eigentlicher Plan dabei
ist, können wir Alle vermuthen. Mir nun scheint es keineswegs, als
ob sie die Leontiner in ihre Heimath zurückfuhremwollten,, sondern
vielmehr, daß sie uns selbst der Heimath berauben wollen. Denn eS
ist wohl nicht gar wahrscheinlich, daß sie dort Städte vernichten, hier
aber Städte wieder aufbauen sollten, auch wohl-nicht, daß sie sich hier
der Leontiner, als Chalkidischen Ursprungs, der Verwandtshcaft wegen
annehmen, während sie die Chalkidier auf Euböa selbst, deren
Pflanzvolk diese sind, in Knechtschaft halten. Viel wahrscheinlicher ist, daß
sie mit demselben Verfahren,.wie sie dort ihre Herrschaft erlangt
haben, dieselbe auch hier bei uns zu erlangen suchen.: Nachdem sie
nämlich durch freiwilligen Entschluß der Joner, und wer sonst frei
ihrer Bundesgenossenfchast sich angeschlossen hatte, Führer der
Hellenen geworden waren, wie um an den Medern Rache zu nehmen,
haben sie sich Alle unterworfen, indem sie die Einen anklagten, daß sie
der Kriegspflicht nicht nachgekommen, die Andern, daß sie unter
einander Krieg geführt, und so bei Allen und Jeden irgend eine Beschul?
digung zum Deckmantel nahmen. Also haben weder diese für die
Freiheit der Hellenen, noch auch die Hellenen selbst um ihre eigene
Freiheit gegen die Meder gekämpft, vielmehr die Athener nur, damit
die Hellenen nicht dem Meder, sondern ihnen selbst unterthänig
würden, und die Hellenen nur, um ihren Herrn mit einem neuen zu
vertauschen, der freilich nicht so schwachköpfig war, aber doch nur zu
ihrem eigenen Unglück schlauer."

LXXVI. « Camarinéens, si nous venons vers vous en ambassade, ce n’est pas dans la crainte que les forces réunies ici par les Alhéniensvous causent le moindre trouble; ce que nous redoutons surtout, c'est que vous ne vous laissiez entraîner, avant de nous avoir entendus, par les discours qu’ils vont vous tenir. Ils viennent en Sicile sous le prétexte que vous savez, mais avec des desseins que nous soupçonnons tous. Leur but me paraît être, non de rétablir, les Léontins chez eux, mais de nous chasser de chez nous. Car il n’est pas vraisemblable que, destructeurs de villes en Grèce, ils viennent ici les rétablir, ni qu’au nom de la communauté de race ils s’intéressent aux Léontins, à titre de Chalcidéens, tandis qu’en Eubée ils tiennent asservis les Chalcidéens dont ceux-ci sont des colons. Le même principe qui les a dirigés dans cette conquête, les guide encore aujourd’hui dans leur nouvelle tentative. C’est ainsi qu’appelés au commandement, du consentement des Ioniens et de tous les peuples d’origine athénienne, sous prétexte de se venger du Mède, on les vit accuser les uns de ne pas fournir le contingent, les autres de se faire mutuellement la guerre, invoquer enfin contre chacun quelque prétexte spécieux et les subjuguer tous. Dans la lutte contre le Mède, les Athéniens n’ont donc pas plus combattu pour la liberté des Grecs que ceux-ci pour leur propre indépendance. Les premiers voulaient que la Grèce fût asservie à eux-mêmes et non au Mède; les Grecs échangeaient leur maître contre un autre plus habile, et surtout plus habile pour le mal.

« Camarinéens, notre ville nous a délégués auprès de vous, non dans la crainte que la présence des Athéniens et de leurs forces vous effraye, mais afin que vous ne vous laissa pas influencer par les discours qu’ils pourraient vous tenir les premiers.

« Ils viennent en Sicile sous un prétexte avoué, mais dans un but qu’on devine sans peine. Ils visent, non pas à rétablir les Léontins dans leur patrie, mais à nous chasser de la nôtre; sans quoi il y aurait contradiction à dépeupler les villes de Grèce et à restaurer celles de Sicile ; à prendre fait et cause pour les Léontins, à cause de leur origine chalcidéenne, et à tenir sous le joug les Chalcidéens d’Eubée, ancêtres de ceux d’ici. Le même esprit qui là-bas leur a inspiré des idées de con-' quête les amène aujourd’hui chez nous. Devenus, par un libre consentement, les chefs de leurs colons d’Ionie ligués contre le Mède, les Athéniens les ont successivement asservis, les uns pour refus du service militaire, les autres sous couleur de guerres intestines, ou pour le premier motif venu. Cela prouve assez que, dans leur lutte contre le Mède, les Athéniens ne combattaient pas pour la liberté des Grecs, ni les Grecs eux-mêmes pour leur indépendance ¹ ; il s’agissait pour les premiers de se substituer au despotisme du Mède, pour les autres de passer sous une domination plus éclairée à la vérité, mais plus méchante.

[1] "We have come on this embassy, men of Camarina, not because we feared that you will be dismayed by the presence of the Athenian force, but rather through fear of the words that are going to be said on their part, lest these persuade you before you hear anything from us.

[2] For they are come to Sicily on the pretext that you hear, but with the design that we all suspect; and to me they seem to wish, not to resettle the Leontines, but rather to unsettle us. For surely it is not reasonable to suppose that, while desolating the cities in their own country, they are resettling the cities of Sicily, and that they care for the Leontines, on the score of kinship, as being Chalcidians, while holding in slavery the Chalcidians in Euboea, of whom these are colonists.

[3] Nay, one and the same design has guided them in acquiring their possessions over there and is now guiding them in their endeavour to acquire possessions here: after they had become leaders, by the free choice of their associates, both of the Ionians and of all those, descendants of the Ionians, who were members of the alliance that was concluded, avowedly, for revenge upon the Persians, they charged some with refusal to serve, others with warring upon one another, others with whatever specious charge they had at hand, and so reduced them to subjection.

[4] And so, after all, it was not for ' freedom' that they withstood the Persians, neither the Athenians to win it for the Hellenes nor the Hellenes to win it for themselves, but they fought for the enslavement of the rest to themselves, and the Hellenes for a change of master, not to one more unwise, but more wickedly wise.

[1] "It was not, Camarinaeans, from any fear of your being terrified at the present forces of the Athenians that we came on this embassy, but rather from apprehension that the words which would be spoken by them before you heard any thing from us might prevail upon you.

[2] For they are come to Sicily on the pretext, indeed, which you hear, but with the purpose which we all suspect; and, in my opinion, they are wishing, not to restore the Leontines to their home, but to eject us from ours. For surely it is not consistent that they should depopulate the cities in Greece, but re-settle those in Sicily; and that they should care for the Leontines, who are Chalcidians, because of their connexion with them, but keep in slavery the Chalcidians in Euboea, from whom these are a colony.

[3] But the method is the same, by which they both gained possession of those places, and are attempting to do so with these. For after they had been appointed leaders, by the free choice both of the Ionians and of all who were of Athenian origin, for the purpose of talking vengeance on the Mede; by charging some of them with failure in military service, others with mutual hostilities, and others on any specious plea which they severally had to urge, they reduced them to subjection.

[4] And so they did not withstand the Mede for the sake of liberty—neither these men for that of the Greeks, nor the Greeks for their own—but the former did it to enslave the Greeks to themselves, instead of to the Mede; the latter, to get a new master, one not more unwise, but more wise for evil.

[1] « Non ideo legati ad vos sumus, viriCauiarinaci, quod vereamur, ne praesentibus Atheniensium copiis terreamini , sed potius ne orationibus illorum, quibus usuri sunt, priusquam aliquid a nobis quoque dictum audieritis, vobis persuadeant.

[2] Venerunt enim in Siciliam praetextu quidem eo, quem audistis, consilio vero eo, quod omnes suspicamur; et mibi videntur non Leontinos veUe in suae sedes restituere, sed potius nos ex nostris expellere. Nec enim rationi consentaneum videtur, eas quidem utbes, quae illic sunt, evertere, eas vero, quae hic sunt, oondtte, et de Leontinis quidem, qui sunt Chalcidenses, pmpter cognationis jus solicitos esse, Chalcidenses vero, qui sum in Euboea, quorum isti sunt coloni, servitute oppressos habere.

[3] Sed eadem ratione et illas res occuparunt, et has nunc occupare conantur; quum enim et Iones ceterique sodi, quotquot eorum erant coloni, imperium ad eos ultro detulissent, ut scilicet Medum ulciscerentur, eorum alios desertae militiae crimine, alios, quod inter se bellum gererent, alios alio objecto specioso crimine, ut in quibusque reperire poterant, in servitutem redegerunt.

[4] Ergo non pro libertate neque hi pro Graecorum neque Graeci pro ana Medis restilenmt, sed alii quidem, ut sibi non autem illis serviretur, alii vero, ut domino mutato alium haberent, cujus non minor sed pejor prodentia esset

« Non siamo , o Camarinesi, venuti qua ambasciatori perchè temiamo che voi sbigottiate della presente armata ateniese ; ma invece perchè i discorsi che udirete da costoro non abbiano a persuadervi, prima d’aver sentito un poco anche noi. Ed invero vengono essi in Sicilia con quel pretesto che ascoltate, ma infatto con l’intenzione di che tutti sospettiamo : e parmi non che vogliano rimettere in patria i Leontini, ma cacciarne via noi stessi. Perciocché non sta certo in ragione che e’sovvertano le cittadi di là, e poi vogliano riaccouciare quelle che son qui ; nè che per titolo di parentela si brighino pei Leontini perchè Calcidesi, mentre tengono schiavi i Calcidesi d' Eubea, donde questi per colonia discendono. E però in quel modo che occuparono le cose di là, con quello stesso tentano di far qua il simigliante. Conciossiachè scelti per duci spontaneamente dagli Ionii e dagli altri confederati discendenti da loro col fiue di vendicarsi del Medo, gli hanno poi soggiogati tutti, incolpandone alcuni di abbandonata milizia, altri di guerra scambievole, altri finalmente di quel delitto che secondo lo stato di ciascheduno parea meglio colorato# Talché nè gli Ateniesi si opposero al Medo per proteggere la libertà de’Greci, nè i Greci la loro ; ma quelli per assoggettarli a sé stessi invece del Medo, questi per mutar un padrone in un altro non già meno accorto , ma più furbescamente maligno.