Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 7.13

[1] "Nay, we could hardly do it, though we had many galleys spare, and were not constrained, as now, to keep watch upon them with our whole number. For should we abate though but a little of our observance, we should want provision; which, as we are, being to pass so near their city, is brought in with difficulty.

[2] And hence it is that our mariners both formerly have been and are now wasted. For our mariners, fetching wood and water and foraging far off, are intercepted by the horsemen; and our slaves, now we are on equal terms, run over to the enemy. As for strangers, some of them having come aboard by constraint, return presently to their cities; and others having been levied at first with great wages, thinking they came to enrich themselves rather than to fight, now they see the enemy make so strong resistance, both otherwise beyond their expectation and especially with their navy, partly take pretext to be gone that they may serve the enemy, and partly, Sicily being large, shift themselves away every one as he can. Some there are also, who having bought here Hyccarian slaves, have gotten the captains of galleys to accept of them in the room of themselves, and thereby destroyed the purity of our naval strength.

[1] This we should scarcely be able to do, even if we had plenty of ships to spare, and were freed from our present necessity of exhausting all our strength upon the blockade. For it is already difficult to carry in supplies past Syracuse ; and were we to relax our vigilance in the slightest degree it would become impossible.

[2] The losses which our crews have suffered and still continue to suffer arise from the following causes. Expeditions for fuel and for forage, and the distance from which water has to be fetched, cause our sailors to be cut off by the Syracusan cavalry; the loss of our previous superiority emboldens our slaves to desert; our foreign seamen are impressed by the unexpected appearance of a navy against us, and the strength of the enemy's resistance; such of them as were pressed into the service take the first opportunity of departing to their respective cities; such as were originally seduced by the temptation of high pay, and expected little fighting and large gains, leave us either by desertion to the enemy or by availing themselves of one or other of the various facilities of escape which the magnitude of Sicily affords them. Some even engage in trade themselves and prevail upon the captains to take Hyccaric slaves on board in their place; thus they have ruined the efficiency of our navy.

„Wir selbst aber würden auch nicht einmal bei großer
Ueberlegenheit an Schiffszahl des gleichen Vortheils genießen, selbst
wenn wir nicht, wie es jetzt der Fall ist, gezwungen wären, mit
sämmtlichen Schiffen Wache zu halten. Denn wenn wir auch nur
um ein Geringes in unserer Wachsamkeit nachließen , so könnten
wir uns den nöthigen Unterhalt nicht verschaffen-, den wir an der
feindlichen Stadt vorüber so nur mit Mühe beitreiben können. Von
unserer Mannschaft ist schon ein gutes Theil verloren gegangen, und
sie leidet noch weitere Verluste, da die Seeleute beim Holzholen und
bei weiteren Streifungen, des Wassers oder des Beutemachens wegen,
von den Reitern niedergehauen werden. Die Bedienungsmannschaft
aber läuft über, seitdem die Wage zwischen uns gleichsteht, und die
Miethstruppen, die zum Seedienst gepreßt worden sind, gehen bei
der ersten Gelegenheit davon und zerstreuen sich in die Städte.
Diejenigen aber, welche sich Anfangs durch die hohe Löhnung gewinnen
ließen und mehr an's' Geldmachen als an's Fechten dachten, die
machen sich jetzt, wo sie wider Erwarten auf Seiten des Feindes eine ¹
Flotte und sonstige Kriegsmacht sehen, so gut, wie Jeder kann, aus ²
dem Staube. Sleilien ist ja groß! Ja es gibt auch Solche, die sich
Hykkarische Sklaven 2) erhandelten und diese an ihrer Statt auf die
Schiffe setzten, indem sie die Schiffshauptleute bestachen, und so ist
die Ordnung und Pünktlichkeit des Seedienstes verschwunden."

XIII. « Nous, au contraire, c’est à peine si nous aurions cet avantage ¹ , même avec une flotte de beaucoup supérieure et sans la nécessité où nous sommes maintenant de la consacrer tout entière à nous garder. Car pour peu que nous distrayions de bâtiments de nos croisières, nous manquerons de vivres; puisque, même maintenant, nous avons peine à les convoyer dans le voisinage de leur ville. Quant à nos équipages, voici ce qui les a ruinés et les ruine encore aujourd’hui : une partie de nos matelots, lorsqu’ils s’écartent pour ramasser du bois, marauder ou faire de l’eau, sont tués parla cavalerie; les valets désertent, depuis que les forces sont égales. Parmi les étrangers, ceux qui ont été embarqués de force saisissent la première occasion de se réfugier dans les villes ² ; ceux qui ont été séduits d’abord par l’élévation de la solde, et qui croyaient aller plutôt au butin qu’au combat, voyant maintenant, contre leur attente, l’ennemi en présence avec une flotte et des forces de tout genre, s’en vont sous quelque prétexte afin de déserter, ou s’ingénient de toute manière; car la Sicile est vaste ³ ; il en est même qui achètent sur les lieux des esclaves d’Hyccara et les embarquent à leur place avec l’autorisation des triérarques, ce qui désorganise les équipages.

« Pour nous, c’est à peine si nous aurions cet avantage quand nos vaisseaux seraient beaucoup plus nombreux, et que nous ne serions pas, comme aujourd’hui, dans là nécessité de les employer tous pour la garde ·, car, pour peu que nous nous relâchions de la surveillance, les vivres nous manqueront; ce n’est déjà pas sans difficulté qu’ils nous parviennent en passant devant la ville ennemie ¹ . Quant aux équipages, ce qui les a ruinés et les ruine encore à présent, c’est que les matelots, obligés de s’éloigner pour aller au bois, à l’eau ou à la maraude, tombent sous les coups des cavaliers ennemis. Les esclaves désertent depuis que les forces se balancent. Les étrangers, embarqués par contrainte, profitent de la première occasion pour se disperser dans les villes; tandis que ceux qui d’abord avaient été séduits par l’appât d’une forte paye, et qui croyaient avoir plutôt à s’enrichir qu’à combattre, voyant, contrairement à leur attente, les ennemis nous tenir tête sur mer et ailleurs, disparaissent, les uns sous prétexte d’aller à la recherche de leurs esclaves fugitifs, les autres comme ils peuvent. Or la Sicile est grande. Il en est même qui, pour trafiquer, achètent des esclaves d’Hyccara ² , obtiennent des triérarques de les embarquer à leur place, et détruisent ainsi la régularité du service.

[1] "We, on the contrary, could hardly enjoy this advantage even if we had a great superiority in the number of our ships, and were not compelled, as now, to use them all for guard-duty. For if we relax our vigilance ever so little, we shall not have our supplies, which are even now with difficulty brought past their city and into our camp.

[2] And our crews have been and are still being wasted, for the reason that our sailors, forced to go out to a distance for wood and forage and water, are constantly being killed by the cavalry. And now that we have been reduced to equal terms with the enemy, our servants are deserting. Of the mercenaries also, some, who embarked on our ships under compulsion, go home to their cities on the first opportunity; others, who were in the first place stirred by the prospects of high pay and thought they were going to make money rather than to fight, now that, contrary to their expectation, they see on the enemy's side the fleet and everything else offering resistance, either go over as professed ¹ deserters, or get away as best they can—for Sicily is large—and there are also some who, being themselves engaged in traffic, have persuaded the trierarchs to take Hyccarian slaves on board in their stead, and thus have robbed our navy of its perfection of discipline.

[1] "We, on the other hand, could scarcely enjoy this advantage, though with a great superabundance of ships, and though we were not compelled, as at present, to keep guard with all of them. For if we relax our watching even in a slight degree, we shall have no provisions; since even now we find difficulty in bringing them in past their city.

[2] On this account our crews have been wasted and are still wasting; as some of our seamen, in consequence of their fetching wood, of foraging, and of distant watering, are cut off by their cavalry; while our servants, since we have been reduced to an equal footing, desert from us, and those of the foreigners who went on board as pressed men straightway depart to the several cities; while those, again, who were at first elated by the high pay, and supposed that they were going to make money, rather than to fight, since they have unexpectedly seen both the fleet and every thing else on the side of the enemy offering resistance to us, either leave us on finding some excuse for going over to the enemy, or in whatever way they severally can, ( ¹ and Sicily is a large country;) while in some instances, by engaging in traffic themselves, after persuading the captains to take Hyccarian slaves on board in their stead, they have destroyed the perfection of our navy.

[1] « Nobis vero, quamvis magno navium numero abundassemus, vix tamen boc licebat, etsi non, ut nunc, excubias cum tota classe agere cogeremur; nam si vel modicam custodi» partem detrahemus, commeatum non habebimus, quem nunc quoque juxta illorum urbem prfe-tervecti «gre in castra importamus.

[2] Homines vero nautici liac de causa et perierunt nobis, et nunc etiam pereunt, quod nautae partim quidem propter longinquam lh gnationem et populationem et aquationem ab equilibus caeduntur; servitia vero, postquam utrorumque vires exaequatu: sunt, transfugiunt, et peregrinorum alii, qui coacti naves conscenderunt, in urbes continuo ditabuntur, alii, qui primo mercedis magnitudine erecti erant et opinabantur, se quaestum potius facturos, quam pugnaturos, postquam praeter opinionem et classem et cetera jam nobis ab hostibus adversari vident, partim transfugiendi causa discedunt, par tim ut quibusque facultas offertur; Sicilia autem est ampla; quidam eliam dum ipsi mercaturam factitant, trierarchis persuaserunt, ut Hyccarica mancipia pro se in naves imponerent, atque boc modo exactam rei nauticae disciplinam sustulerunt.

« All’incontro noi appena saremmo in grado di far ciò se sovrabbondassimo di navi, e non fossimo costretti y siccome adesso, a stare in guardia con tutte. Imperciocché per poco che ci togliessimo da tal vigilanza, ci mancherebbono i viveri che pur ora difficilmente s' intro^ ducono, dovendo rasentare la loro città. Le nostre ciurmi sono state rifinite e lo sono tuttora , per questo perchè dovendo i marinari allontanarsi a far legna, preda ed acqua, vengouo uccisi dai cavalli nemici ; i servi poi, da che le due armate sono a fronte, disertano. Quanto agli altri che non sono nostri distrettuali, quelli che s’imbarcarono per forza si spargono subito per le città di Sicilia ; quelli poi che ci seguirono, mossi in primo dalla grandezza del soldo, e credendo piuttosto di far denari che combattere, poiché fuor dell’espettativa han veduto la flotta e le altre forze del nemico schierarcisi contro, parte trovata l’occasione di disertare se ne vanno, parte fanno il sitnigliante in quel modo che possono , giacché la Sicilia è grande. Ve ne sono anche di quelli che datisi quivi a mercanteggiare comprano degli schiavi d’Iccara , ed han persuaso i capitani delle triremi ad imbarcarli invece loro; e cosi han guastato l' esattezza della marinaresca disciplina.