Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Thomas Hobbes (Translator), 6.14.1

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[1] And you, the president, if you think it your office to take care of the commonwealth and desire to be a good member of the same, put these things once more to the question, and let the Athenians speak to it again. Think (if you be afraid to infringe the orders of the assembly) that before so many witnesses it will not be made a crime, but that you shall be rather thought a physician of your country, that hath swallowed down evil counsel. And he truly dischargeth the duty of a president who laboureth to do his country the most good, or at least will not willingly do it hurt.

History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides. Thomas Hobbes (Translator). London. 1843.

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Current edition Perseus

The History of the Grecian War (English) (Thucydides. The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury. Hobbes, Thomas. translator. London: John Bohn, 1843.)

Editions (1)

Ἱστορίαι Perseus (Thucydides. Historiae, Vol 1-2. Jones, Henry Stuart, editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1910. (1942 printing).) — 6.14.1 focus

[1] ‘καὶ σύ, ὦ πρύτανι, ταῦτα, εἴπερ ἡγεῖ σοι προσήκειν κήδεσθαί τε τῆς πόλεως καὶ βούλει γενέσθαι πολίτης ἀγαθός, ἐπιψήφιζε καὶ γνώμας προτίθει αὖθις Ἀθηναίοις, νομίσας, εἰ ὀρρωδεῖς τὸ ἀναψηφίσαι, τὸ μὲν λύειν τοὺς νόμους μὴ μετὰ τοσῶνδ’ ἂν μαρτύρων αἰτίαν σχεῖν, τῆς δὲ πόλεως 〈κακῶς 〉 βουλευσαμένης ἰατρὸς ἂν γενέσθαι, καὶ τὸ καλῶς ἄρξαι τοῦτ’ εἶναι, ὃς ἂν τὴν πατρίδα ὠφελήσῃ ὡς πλεῖστα ἢ ἑκὼν εἶναι μηδὲν βλάψῃ.’

Translations (9)

History of the Peloponnesian War Perseus (Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Crawley, Richard, translator. London and Toronto: J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd.; New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1914.) — 6.14.1 focus

[1] And you, Prytanis, if you think it your duty to care for the commonwealth, and if you wish to show yourself a good citizen, put the question to the vote, and take a second time the opinions of the Athenians. If you are afraid to move the question again, consider that a violation of the law cannot carry any prejudice with so many abettors, that you will be the physician of your misguided city, and that the virtue of men in office is briefly this, to do their country as much good as they can, or in any case no harm that they can avoid.’

Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs First1KGreek (Thucydides. Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs. Wahrmund, Adolf, translator. Stuttgart: Krais and Hoffmann, 1864.) — 6.14 focus

„Und du, Prytane^), sofern du es für deine Pflicht
hältst, für das Staatswohl besorgt zu sein, und sofern du dich als
guter Bürger zeigen willst, berufe die Athener zur Abstimmung und
lege ihnen die Sache nochmals zur Berathung vor! Wenn du dich
fürchtest, auf Abänderung des Volksbeschlusses anzutragen, so bedenke,
daß die Aufhebung gesetzlicher Beschlüsse unter Theilnahme so vieler
Zeugen keine Anschuldigung begründen kann! Bedenke, daß du so
an der Stadt, die jenen Beschluß gefaßt hat, wie ein Arzt handelst,
und daß die rühmliche Verwaltung deines Amtes darin besteht, dem
Vaterland so viel als möglich zu nützen, oder ihm doch wenigstens
nicht mit Wissen und Willen zu schaden!"

Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs First1KGreek (Thucydides. Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs. Braun, Theodor, translator. Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1917.) — 6.14 focus

„Und du, Prytan, wenn anders dir das Wohl der Stadt
am Herzen liegt und du dich um sie verdient machen willst,
laß hierüber abstimmen und gib den Athenern Gelegenheit,
einen neuen Beschluß zu fassen. Und solltest du auch gegen
die Zulässigkeit einer wiederholten Abstimmung Bedenken haben,
so kannst du dich dabei beruhigen, daß ein Verstoß gegen
das Gesetz vor so viel Zeugen dir nicht den Hals brechen
wird. Es ist der Dienst eines Arztes, den du der Stadt nach
einem schädlichen Beschlusse leistest; es ist die Aufgabe des Vor
sitzenden, das Wohl des Vaterlandes möglichst zu fördern oder
es doch, soviel an ihm liegt, vor Schaden zu bewahren."

Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponèse First1KGreek (Thucydides. Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése, Vol. 1-2. Zévort, Marie Charles, translator. Paris: Charpentier, 1852.) — 6.14 focus

XIV. « Et toi, prytane¹, si tu crois qu’il t’appartienne de veiller sur la république, si tu veux être bon citoyen, mets cette proposition en délibération et appelle les Athéniens à vote de nouveau; songe, si tu crains de revenir sur un vote acquis, que, quand on a pour soi un si grand nombre de témoins, on ne saurait être accusé de violer les lois²; que la république, ³⁴ compromise par une résolution funeste, trouvera en toi son médecin; enfin que si on remplit les devoirs d’un magistrat, en faisant tout le bien possible à sa patrie, on le remplit aussi en ne permettant pas volontairement qu’il lui arrive aucun mal. »

Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése First1KGreek (Thucydides. Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése. Bétant, Élie-Ami, translator. Paris: Librairie de L. Hachette, 1863.) — 6.14 focus

« Et toi, prytane ¹, si tu crois de ton devoir de veiller au salut de l’État, et si tu veux faire acte de patriotisme, remets l’affaire aux voix et fais procéder à une seconde délibération. Si tu appréhendes de revenir sur la chose votée, songe que cette dérogation à la loi ne saurait être répréhensible quand elle a lieu devant tant de témoins. Songe aussi que tu seras le sauveur de la ville mal conseillée, et que le rôle d’un bon magistrat est de rendre à la patrie le plus de services possible, ou tout au moins de ne lui causer volontairement aucun mal. »

History of the Peloponnesian War First1KGreek (Thucydides, Vol. 1-4. Smith, Charles Foster, translator. London and Cambridge, MA: Heinemann and Harvard University Press, 1919-1923.) — 6.14.1 focus

[1] “And do you,, Mr. President, if you think it your duty to care for the state arid you wish to prove yourself a good citizen, bring these matters again to a vote and lay the question once more before the Athenians. If you fear to put the issue to vote again, reflect that it would involve no guilt to break the law in the presence of so many witnesses, but that you would thus become a physician for the state when it has taken evil counsel; and remember that this is the part of a good governor—to benefit his country as much as possible, or willingly at least to do it no harm.”

History of the Peloponnesian War First1KGreek (Thucydides. The history of the Peloponnesian War, Volume 1-2. Dale, Henry, translator. London: Heinemann and Henry G. Bohn, 1851-1852.) — 6.14.1 focus

[1]

And do you, Prytanis, if you think it your duty to care for the state, and if you wish to show yourself a good citizen, put this to the vote, and take a second time the opinion of the Athenians; reflecting, if you feel afraid to move the question again, that the violation of the law would not, with so many abettors, involve any guilt; but that you would be acting as a physician to the state, when it had taken bad counsel; and that good government consists in this,—for a man to do his country as much good as possible, or, at least, to do it voluntarily no harm.

Historia Belli Peloponnesiaci First1KGreek (Historia Belli Peloponnesiaci. Haase, Friedrich, translator. Paris: Firmin Didot, 1869.) — 6.14.1 focus

[1] « Tu vero, prytani, si modo ad munus tuum pertinere ducis, reipublicae aliquam curam habere, et si bonum te civem praestare vis, de his, quae dixi, ad populum refer et Athenienses iterum sententias roga, persuasum liabens, si sententias iterum rogare reformidas, libi, siquidem leges solvas, in tanta testium frequentia rem istam crimini datum non iri, sed te civitatis, quae malum consilium ceperit, medicum fore, atque id demum esse recte magistratu fungi, si quis patriam i^uam plurimis beneficiis affecerit, aut saltem, quantum in se est, nullum detrimentum ei attulerit.»

La storia di Tucidide First1KGreek (Thucydides. Della storia di Tucidide volgarizzata libri otto. Anonymous translator. Florence: Tipografia Galileiana, 1835.) — 6.14 focus

« E tu, o Pritane, se credi tuo debito aver cura della patria, e vuoi essere buon cittadino, riproponi la cosa e mandala nuovamente a partito, persuadendoti (qualora tu tema di rimetterla un’altra volta a’voti) che il trasgredire alle leggi fra tanti testimoni non ti sarà apposto a delitto, e che piuttosto tu sarai il medico della Repubblica che avea malamente deliberato, e che ottimo magistrato è quegli che più giova alla patria , e che meno la danneggia volontariamente ».

Commentary

Commentary on Thucydides: Book 6 (Thucydides, Book VI. Marchant, Edgar C., editor. London: Macmillan and Company, 1909.) focus

κήδεσθαι —for the day and night during which the ἐπιστάτης was on duty, he was in charge of the state seal, and held the keys of the temples in which state funds and documents were kept,

ἐπιψήφιζε —it should be noticed that the πρύτανις was in 404 B.C. bound by law ἅπαντα τὰ λεγόμενα περὶ τῆς σωτηρίας ἐπιψηφίζειν ( Ath. Pol. c. 29); and probably N. is here urging the claim of his proposal. viz. λύειν τὰ ἐψηφισμένα to be reckoned as περὶ τῆς σωτηρίας. It is to be observed that the A. could always be persuaded to take any measure however exceptional if it could be shown that ἡ σωτηρία τῆς πόλεως requned it. See below on

γνώμας προτίθει — Ath. Pol. c. 44 ὑπὲρ ὦν δεῖ χρηματίζειν προτιθέασιν The phrase for ‘to allow a debate’ is λόγον or γνώμας προτιθέναι.

τὸ λύειν τοὺς νόμους —if right, this is subject of αἰτίαν σχεῖν The phrase αἰτίαν ἔχω is very common: it is regularly used of the persons who are blamed for any act, which is expressed by the gen., the inf., or, less commonly, τοῦ and inf. If the subject is inanimate, the meaning is that the thing is blamed, as though it were a person. If λύειν τοὺς νόμους κτλ. means, as is usually supposed, ‘to act illegally will not involve blame,’ it is extraordinary that Alc. in his reply should make no use of the most obvious argument against rescinding the decree. But N. probably only means that the president might have some doubt whether it was legal ἀναψηφίσαι, and not that he himself thought the action would be illegal. The question of legality, however, could not possibly be raised, because too many persons were witnesses that τὸ ἀναψηφίσαι was the right course. Trans. ‘that illegal action would not be blamed where there are so many witnesses to its innocence.’

βουλευσαμένης —the aor. partic. does not here denote time past relatively to γενέσθαι ἄν, but=‘in her resolution.’

τοῦτ’ εἶναι, ὃς ἄν —cf. II. 44 τὸ δ’ εὺτυχές, οἳ ἄν . .; 62, 4 καταφρόνησις ὃς ἄν . .; Hom. Il. 14, 81 βέλτερον, ὁ)ς φεύγων προφύγῃ κακὸν ἠὲ α·λώῃ; Xen. Hel. II. 3 , 51 νομίζω προστάτου ἔργον εἶναι οἵου δεῖ ὃς ἂν ὁρῶν τοὺς φίλους ἐξαπατωμένους μὴ ἐπιτρέπῃ.

ἤ —‘or at least.’

τὸ καλῶς ἄρξαι κτλ and indeed the whole of the closing passage of the speech, contains unmistakable references to the ὅρκος βουλευτικὸς (for which see Ath. Pol. c. 22, 2 with Sandys' note) ἐν ᾧ ἦν κατὰ τοὺς νόμους βουλεύσειν. The ἐπιστάτης might think that he would be violating the spirit of the oath. But βλάπτειν τὴν πὀλιν cannot be consistent with an oath τὰ βέλτιστα συμβουλεύσειν τῇ πόλει (Lys. 31, 1).

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 6.14.1

Thomas Hobbes (Translator)

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