Isocrates, Archidamus, George Norlin (Translator), 27

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[27] And yet notwithstanding that we hold these titles, the Thebans would on the one hand restore Asia as his ancestral right to the barbarian,¹ who has not yet held sway over it for two hundred years, while on the other hand they would rob us of Messene , which we have held for more than twice that length of time;² and although it was only the other day that they razed both Thespiae and Plataea to the ground,³ yet now, after a lapse of four hundred years, they propose to settle their colonists in Messene acting in both cases contrary to the oaths and covenants.⁴

Archidamus. Isocrates. George Norlin (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1928.

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Current edition Perseus

To Archidamus (English) (Isocrates, Vol. 1. Norlin, George, translator. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1928 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Ἀρχίδαμος Perseus (Isocrates, Vol. 1. Norlin, George, editor. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1928 (printing).) — 27 focus

[27] καὶ τούτων ἡμῖν ὑπαρχόντων τῷ μὲν βαρβάρῳ τὴν Ἀσίαν ὡς πατρῴαν οὖσαν ἀποδιδόασιν, ὃς οὔπω διακόσιʼ ἔτη κατέσχηκε τὴν ἀρχήν, ἡμᾶς δὲ Μεσσήνην ἀποστεροῦσιν, οἳ πλέον διπλάσιον χρόνον ἢ τοσοῦτον τυγχάνομεν ἔχοντες αὐτήν· καὶ Θεσπιὰς μὲν καὶ Πλαταιὰς ἐχθὲς καὶ πρώην ἀναστάτους πεποιήκασι, ταύτην δὲ διὰ τετρακοσίων ἐτῶν μέλλουσι κατοικίζειν, ἀμφότερα παρὰ τοὺς ὅρκους καὶ τὰς συνθήκας πράττοντες.

Notes on the current edition

Archidamus

1. By the peace terms of Pelopidas. See introduction to this oration.

2. Messene was not actually subdued until 724-723 B.C. Perhaps Isocrates is speaking loosely, or perhaps he follows another source than Pausanias, who is almost our sole authority for this period. However, the conquests of Alcamenes took place about 786 B.C., and Isocrates perhaps refers to this or a similar event. See Paus. 4.4.3 . Dinarchus ( Din. 1.73 ) gives the same figure as lsocrates.

3. Plataea was destroyed about 372 B.C., and Thespiae shortly after. See Dio. Sic. 15.46.4 and Xen. Hell. 6.3.1 . Others give the date as 374 B.C.

4. Cf. the Peace of Antalcidas. See Isoc. 4.115 ff. and note.

Isocrates Archidamus 27

George Norlin (Translator)

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