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Often appears with: conquest, plunder, and captives · siege and fortification · battle and tactics · military discipline and training · supply, logistics, and encampment · diplomacy and embassies · mobilization and recruitment · naval warfare and sea power · treaties, truces, and peacemaking · fate, destiny, and necessity · civil war and rebellion · counsel and advisers to rulers
Usually: detachment (844) · narrative (810) · argument (680) · skepticism (261) · sudden reversal of fortune (232) · exhortation (207) · curiosity (186) · indignation (178) · censure (150) · the test or trial (146)
“He who believes that new benefits will cause great personages to forget old injuries is deceived.” Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince · insight
“Therefore, let him who has no desire to conquer make use of these arms, for they are much more hazardous than mercenaries, because with them the ruin is ready made; they are all united, all yield obedience to others; but with mercenaries, when they have conquered, more time and better opportunities are needed to injure you;” Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince · insight
“In conclusion, in mercenaries dastardy is most dangerous; in auxiliaries, valour. The wise prince, therefore, has always avoided these arms and turned to his own; and has been willing rather to lose with them than to conquer with the others, not deeming that a real victory which is gained with the arms of others.” Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince · precept
“A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline;” Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince · precept
“The Speech if it may be called one, is nothing better than a wilful audacious libel against the truth, the common good, and the existence of mankind; and is a formal and pompous method of offering up human sacrifices to the pride of tyrants.” Thomas Paine, Common Sense · vivid
“Brutality and tyranny appear on the face of it. It leaves us at no loss: And every line convinces, even in the moment of reading, that He, who hunts the woods for prey, the naked and untutored Indian, is less a Savage than the King of Britain.” Thomas Paine, Common Sense · vivid
“The evening being come, I return home and go to my study; at the entrance I pull off my peasant-clothes, covered with dust and dirt, and put on my noble court dress, and thus becomingly re-clothed I pass into the ancient courts of the men of old” Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince · vivid
“For the hereditary prince has less cause and less necessity to offend; hence it happens that he will be more loved” Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince · insight
“Conquest may be effected under the pretence of friendship; and ourselves, after a long and brave resistance, be at last cheated into slavery.” Thomas Paine, Common Sense · insight
“Youth is the seed time of good habits, as well in nations as in individuals.” Thomas Paine, Common Sense · precept
“But the scanty wisdom of man, on entering into an affair which looks well at first, cannot discern the poison that is hidden in it, as I have said above of hectic fevers. Therefore, if he who rules a principality cannot recognize evils until they are upon him, he is not truly wise.” Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince · insight
“But the scanty wisdom of man, on entering into an affair which looks well at first, cannot discern the poison that is hidden in it, as I have said above of hectic fevers.” Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince · insight
The passage argues that Muslims should follow God and the Apostle, distrust hypocrites, understand that outcomes come from God, and fight on God’s path while trusting divine power and justice.
on the path of God; and they who believe not, fight on the path of Thagout: Fight therefore against the friends of Satan. Verily craft of Satan shall be powerless! Hast thou not marked those to whom it was said, "Withhold your hands awhile from war; and observe prayer, and pay the stated alms." But when war is commanded them, lo! a portion of them fear men as with the fear of God, or with a yet greater fear, and say…
Pepys recounts naval and court finance discussions with his superior about a promised 4000l. per annum, discusses virtue and gratitude, continues secretive counsel, and remarks on parliamentary disputes over sea-debts.
they all do cry, and we have much to do to tell who did cry last. The ships were the Indian, sold for 1300l. and the Half-moone, sold for 830l. 7th. Went by water to my Lord, where I dined with him, and he in a very merry humour (present Mr. Borfett and Childe) at dinner: he, in discourse of the great opinion of the virtue--gratitude, (which he did account the greatest thing in the world to him, and had, therefore,…
Pepys closes the old year with the Queen recovered and discussion of French strategy and Ottoman advances, then begins January with talk of a wealthy young widow and sees the play Henry VIII.
I thought. Thence went and spoke with the Duke of Albemarle about his wound at Newhall, but I find him a heavy dull man, methinks, by his answers to me. 3lst. The Queene after a long and sore sickness is become well again; and the King minds his mistress a little too much, if it pleased God! but I hope all things will go well, and in the Navy particularly, wherein I shall do my duty whatever comes of it. The great…
Pepys discusses war strategy and Dutch grievances with Mr. Coventry, debates Lord Sandwich’s potential to go to sea, describes court preaching and visiting Povy’s lavish house, and notes the King’s birthday dancing at Castlemaine’s lodgings.
23rd. The King is gone down with the Duke and a great crew this morning by break of day to Chatham. 29th. Mr. Coventry and I did a long discourse together of the business of the office, and the war with the Dutch; and he seemed to argue mightily with the little reason that there is for all this. For first, as to the wrong we pretend they have done us; that of the East Indys, for their not delivering of Poleron, it…
Pepys reports court and naval news: Prince Rupert and the fleet position, O’Neale’s death, the launching at Woolwich, Dutch raids and rumors of De Ruyter, and debate and preparation for war.
nobly furnished; and there I saw her and the Duke of York and Duchesse. The Duke espied me, and come to me, and talked with me a very great while. 24th. Into the galleries at White Hall to talk with my Lord Sandwich; among other things, about the Prince's writing up to tell us of the danger he and his fleet lie in at Portsmouth, of receiving affronts from the Dutch; which, my Lord said, he would never have done, ha…
Pepys records late-January details of the plague worsening, the emptying of London, talk of war with France and fleet movements, plus letters and ship orders connected to the Duke of Albemarle and diplomacy.
at the publick charge in the last, plague-time, merely for want of room and now none, but such as are able to pay dear for it, can be buried there. 20th. Walked to Redriffe, where I hear the sickness is, and indeed is scattered almost every where. There dying 1089 of the plague this week. My Lady Carteret did this day give me a bottle of plague-water home with me. I received yesterday a letter from my Lord Sandw…
Pepys notes political and naval context for England’s war preparations, then describes plague growth, his visits and meetings in London and Westminster, and news of Sir Jeremy Smith’s fleet near Málaga.
War against the French, but with such mild invitations of both them and the Dutch to come over here with promise of their protection, that every body wonders at it. 12th. Comes Mr. Caesar, my boy's lute-master, whom I have not seen since the plague before, but he hath been in Westminster Hall all this while very well; and tells me in the height of it, how bold people there were, to go in sport to one another's buri…
On the 7th, Pepys learns the situation has worsened: the English are said to be beaten, ships lost, the Prince wrecked on the Galloper, and commanders killed, forcing him to draft a sad letter instead of a triumphal one.
appear but thirty-six in all of the Dutch fleet left at the end of the voyage when they run home. The joy of the City was this night exceeding great. 7th. Up betimes, and to my office about business, (Sir W. Coventry having sent me word that he is gone down to the fleet to see how matters stand, and to be back again speedily); and with the same expectation of congratulating ourselves with the victory that I had yes…
Pepys hears the town exult in victory, then judges the results cautiously: ships burned, people guessing motives, Coventry dissatisfied with management, and Pepys returns home to domestic music disputes.
most brave drink cooled in ice, (which at this hot time was welcome,) and I drinking no wine, had metheglin for the King's own drinking, which did please me mightily. 27th. To Sir W. Coventry's lodging, and there he showed me Captain Talbot's letter, wherein he says that the fight begun on the 25th: that our White squadron begun with one of the Dutch squadrons, and then the Red with another, so hot that we put the…
Pepys records further post-battle news from abroad, then shifts to early August: debate about management and casualties, rumors of Flushing unrest, and mounting plague intelligence about Deptford and Greenwich.
saved. This is all, only we keep the sea, which denotes a victory, or at least that we are not beaten; but no great matters to brag of, God knows. 30th. To Sir W. Coventry, at St. James's, where I find him in his new closet, which is very fine, and well supplied with handsome books. I find him speak very slightly of the late victory: dislikes their staying with the fleet up their coast; believing that the Dutch w…
The Duke of York explains a change in war strategy and fears of invasion, Buckingham is said to be in the Tower, coal costs soar during bitter cold, and Pepys stresses how uncertain information is.
treachery against this King; as betraying him in Scotland, and giving Oliver an account of the King's private councils: which the King knows very well, and yet hath pardoned him. 6th. To White Hall; and here the Duke of York did acquaint us (and the King did the like also afterwards coming in) with his resolution of altering the manner of the war this year: that is, we shall keep what fleet we have abroad in sever…
On 28th–30th Pepys walks at Deptford Yard discussing dock and artillery discoveries, learns the Duke of Cambridge is severely ill with spots, and hears plans for Arlington and others regarding the office of Lord Treasurer.
He thinks that much of our misfortune hath been for want of an active Lord Treasurer, and that such a man as Sir W. Coventry would do the business thoroughly. 26th. To White Hall, and there saw the Duke of Albemarle, who is not well, and do grow crazy. While I was waiting in the Matted Gallery, a young man was working in Indian inke, the great picture of the King and Queene sitting by Van Dike; and did it very fin…
On 9th and into preparations, Pepys hears the Dutch have reached the Nore, urges fire-ships with Sir William Coventry and others, travels to Deptford and Gravesend, and notes Sheerenesse’s town defenses and removals.
I will send them him. I find an order come for the getting some fire-ships presently to annoy the Dutch, who are in the King's Channel, and expected up higher. 10th. Up; and news brought us that the Dutch are come up as high as the Nore; and more presing orders for fire-ships. W. Batten, W. Pen, and I to St. James's; whence the Duke of York gone this morning betimes, to send away some men down to Chatham. So we t…
Pepys records a duel death of Sir Henry Bellasses, talks with Mr. Evelyn about looming ruin, and hears Sir W. Coventry explain Treasury-Navy disputes and fears for the kingdom’s financial collapse.
to offend her no more so: and that, indeed, she did threaten to bring all his bastards to his closet door, and hath nearly hectored him out of his wits. 8th. Sir Henry Bellasses is dead of the duell he fought about ten days ago with Tom Porter; and it is pretty to see how the world talk of them as of a couple of fools that killed one another out of love. I to my bookseller's; where by and by I met Mr. Evelyn, and …
After recovering the gold up to about the correct total, Pepys rides back to London safely, learns Sir William Batten’s burial, and records Parliament’s response to the King’s speech and worries about calling Lord Sandwich home.
by this time it was past two in the morning; and so to bed, and there lay in some disquiet all night telling of the clock till it was day-light. 11th. And then W. Hewer and I, with pails and a sieve, did lock ourselves into the garden, and there gather all the earth about the place into pails, and then sift those pails in one of the summer-houses (just as they do for dyamonds in other parts of the world); and there…
Pepys and other Navy commissioners answer Parliament on Medway and Chatham; he gives an account of office actions, criticizes Commissioner Pett’s confused defense, and worries about renewed attacks.
charged: but my heart is full of fear for him and his family. I hear that they do prosecute the business against my Lord Chief Justice Keeling with great severity. 22nd. Slept but ill all the last part of the night, for fear of this day's success in Parliament: therefore up, and all of us all the morning close, till almost two o'clock, collecting all we had to say and had done from the beginning, touching the safe…
Pepys attends a court-martial after being appointed captain to examine losses, debates avoiding dangerous precedents, notes the Duke of York’s cabinet burglary, and then discusses war rationale and the Act of Indemnity.
Duke of York comes to town about the papers, and therefore make no words of it. He gone, I to work again, and then to supper home, and to bed. 20th. Up, and to the Tower to Sir W. Coventry, and there walked with him alone on the stone-walk till company came to him; and there about the business of the Navy discoursed with him, and about my Lord Chancellor and Treasurer; that they were against the war at first, decla…
Pepys attends meetings with the Duke of York on managing the war with Algiers, watches prize-fighting at the Bear-garden, visits Alderman Backewell, and continues civic and cultural sightseeing.
tube, for fourteen days past; which is so much as I hope I shall not run in arrear again, but the badness of my eyes do force me to it. 12th. The whole office attended the Duke of York at his meeting with Sir Thomas Allen and several flag-officers, to consider of the manner of managing the war with Algier; and it being a thing I was wholly silent in, I did only observe; and find that their manner of discourse on th…
Pepys reports negotiations and governance worries: he meets officials about provisioning for Tangier, attends the Duke of York’s play at the Pell Mell, debates Navy administration and “old religion,” and dines with court contacts discussing Tangier’s ruin.
there walked out the sermon with one or other; and then saw the Duke of York, and he talked to me a little; and so away back by water home. 3rd. Up, and coach to my Lord Brouncker's, where Sir G. Carteret did meet Sir J. Minnes and me, to discourse upon Mr. Deering's business, who was directed in the time of the war to provide provisions at Hamburgh, by Sir G. Carteret's direction; and now Sir G. Carteret is afraid…
Thucydides argues that early Greece lacked stable populations, commerce, walls, and coordinated action, so migrations prevented large cities and greatness, with Attica as an exception that later needed colonization to Ionia.
The State of Greece from the earliest Times to the Commencement of the Peloponnesian War Thucydides, an Athenian, wrote the history of the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians, beginning at the moment that it broke out, and believing that it would be a great war and more worthy of relation than any that had preceded it. This belief was not without its grounds. The preparations of both the combatants were…
He claims Agamemnon’s armament depended more on his military and naval strength than Tyndareus’s oaths, then argues earlier invasions lacked supplies, so even the Trojan expedition was limited by money and logistics.
enabled the more powerful to reduce the smaller towns to subjection. And it was at a somewhat later stage of this development that they went on the expedition against Troy. What enabled Agamemnon to raise the armament was more, in my opinion, his superiority in strength, than the oaths of Tyndareus, which bound the suitors to follow him. Indeed, the account given by those Peloponnesians who have been the recipients …
Thucydides says tyrants and regional conditions prevented national cooperation until Athens’ and other tyrannies were overthrown by Lacedaemon, after which the Medes fought Athens at Marathon and the Persian armada returned.
long time everywhere in Hellas do we find causes which make the states alike incapable of combination for great and national ends, or of any vigorous action of their own. But at last a time came when the tyrants of Athens and the far older tyrannies of the rest of Hellas were, with the exception of those in Sicily, once and for all put down by Lacedaemon; for this city, though after the settlement of the Dorians, it…
After the rout, the Corinthians massacre men rather than take prisoners, then retire at night when they spot Athenian reinforcements; the battle stops at darkness, ships anchor, and both sides later set up trophies.
last came when every one set to, and all distinction was laid aside, and it came to this point, that the Corinthians and Athenians raised their hands against each other. After the rout, the Corinthians, instead of employing themselves in lashing fast and hauling after them the hulls of the vessels which they had disabled, turned their attention to the men, whom they butchered as they sailed through, not caring so mu…
In the Spartan assembly, Corinthians rebuke Spartan inactivity and argue Athens had time to grow through delayed intervention; they cite earlier warnings, charge Spartans with enabling Athenian subjugation, and urge immediate defensive action.
the siege of Potidæa?—places one of which lies most conveniently for any action against the Thracian towns; while the other would have contributed a very large navy to the Peloponnesians? “For all this you are responsible. You it was who first allowed them to fortify their city after the Median war, and afterwards to erect the long walls—you who, then and now, are always depriving of freedom not only those whom they…
A Corinthian remonstration to Lacedaemonians contrasts Spartan “keeping what you have” with Athenian innovation, speed, daring, and soldierly labor, arguing delay and undue faith in allies will doom them.
we owe it more to her blunders than to your protection; Indeed, expectations from you have before now been the ruin of some, whose faith induced them to omit preparation. “We hope that none of you will consider these words of remonstrance to be rather words of hostility; men remonstrate with friends who are in error, accusations they reserve for enemies who have wronged them. Besides, we consider that we have as goo…
Athens urges Sparta to delay war, settle differences through arbitration and oaths’ witnesses, and offers to repel hostilities if Sparta breaks faith, then Lacedaemonians consult on declaring war.
regulated by rules and institutions incompatible with those of others, but your citizens abroad act neither on these rules nor on those which are recognized by the rest of Hellas. “Take time then in forming your resolution, as the matter is of great importance; and do not be persuaded by the opinions and complaints of others to bring trouble on yourselves, but consider the vast influence of accident in war, before y…
Archidamus counsels against rash war with Athens, arguing Spartan inferiority at sea and in money, warning devastation won’t end quickly, and recommending remonstration plus preparation over immediate arms.
be declared at once. But Archidamus, the Lacedaemonian king, came forward, who had the reputation of being at once a wise and a moderate man, and made the following speech: “I have not lived so long, Lacedaemonians, without having had the experience of many wars, and I see those among you of the same age as myself, who will not fall into the common misfortune of longing for war from inexperience or from a belief in …
Archidamus proposes seeking more allies, developing home resources, delaying escalation so Athenian land serves as a hostage, and warning that coalition war for sectional interests is hard to settle honorably.
leave it as a legacy to our children; so improbable is it that the Athenian spirit will be the slave of their land, or Athenian experience be cowed by war. “Not that I would bid you be so unfeeling as to suffer them to injure your allies, and to refrain from unmasking their intrigues; but I do bid you not to take up arms at once, but to send and remonstrate with them in a tone not too suggestive of war, nor again to…
The Lacedaemonians urge Athens to avoid walls and even help demolish other cities’ defenses, but Themistocles delays their envoys until Athens completes fortifications enough for Spartan consultations to assume Athens can judge both local and common interests.
portions of the circumference had been left standing, and most of the houses were in ruins; though a few remained, in which the Persian grandees had taken up their quarters. Perceiving what they were going to do, the Lacedaemonians sent an embassy to Athens. They would have themselves preferred to see neither her nor any other city in possession of a wall; though here they acted principally at the instigation of the…
The Athenians’ Egypt campaign ends after six years when Persian forces besiege Prosopitis and crush the expedition; afterward Athens attempts operations in Thessaly under Orestes and in Acarnania against Oeniadae.
round Peloponnese under Tolmides, son of Tolmaeus, burnt the arsenal of Lacedaemon, took Chalcis, a town of the Corinthians, and in a descent upon Sicyon defeated the Sicyonians in battle. Meanwhile the Athenians in Egypt and their allies were still there, and encountered all the vicissitudes of war. First the Athenians were masters of Egypt, and the King sent Megabazus a Persian to Lacedaemon with money to bribe th…
Thucydides sets the stage for the Peloponnesian War, explaining that Corcyra and Potidaea became pretexts, while Athens strengthened its empire and Sparta finally resolved to break the treaty and start war.
Second Congress at Lacedaemon—Preparations for War and Diplomatic Skirmishes—Cylon—Pausanias—Themistocles After this, though not many years later, we at length come to what has been already related, the affairs of Corcyra and Potidæa, and the events that served as a pretext for the present war. All these actions of the Hellenes against each other and the barbarian occurred in the fifty years’ interval between the re…
In a Spartan-allied congress, the Corinthians argue that the war is necessary duty for leaders, warn inland states about losing coast trade, and urge risking peace for war when injured.
war, in the fear that it might come too late to save Potidæa; they were present also on this occasion, and came forward the last, and made the following speech: “Fellow allies, we can no longer accuse the Lacedaemonians of having failed in their duty: they have not only voted for war themselves, but have assembled us here for that purpose. We say their duty, for supremacy has its duties. Besides equitably administer…
Pericles argues Athens is better prepared for long war: Peloponnesians lack sea command and financial stamina, face political disunity, and gradually exhaust resources, making prolonged conflict favor Athens.
from an equal, urged upon a neighbour as commands before any attempt at legal settlement, be they great or be they small, have only one meaning, and that is slavery. “As to the war and the resources of either party, a detailed comparison will not show you the inferiority of Athens. Personally engaged in the cultivation of their land, without funds either private or public, the Peloponnesians are also without experie…
Pericles continues, dismissing fear of fortifications in Attica and praising Athenian seamanship, arguing sea power enables retaliatory fortification and that war’s true stakes are the lives of men.
is the business of somebody else to look after this or that for him; and so, by the same notion being entertained by all separately, the common cause imperceptibly decays. “But the principal point is the hindrance that they will experience from want of money. The slowness with which it comes in will cause delay; but the opportunities of war wait for no man. Again, we need not be alarmed either at the possibility of …
After issuing orders to invade Attica, the Peloponnesian army assembles at the Isthmus under King Archidamus, who exhorts disciplined vigilance and warns against negligence during a campaign in an enemy’s country.
Thera. Of these, ships were furnished by Chios, Lesbos, and Corcyra, infantry and money by the rest. Such were the allies of either party and their resources for the war. Immediately after the affair at Plataea, Lacedaemon sent round orders to the cities in Peloponnese and the rest of her confederacy to prepare troops and the provisions requisite for a foreign campaign, in order to invade Attica. The several states …
Pericles advises Athenians to prepare rather than fight by urging evacuation of wives, children, and goods into the city, safeguarding revenue, manpower, walls, and ships, while Boeotians are already joining the invasion and Archidamus advances.
with his army into their territory. Meanwhile the Boeotians, sending their contingent and cavalry to join the Peloponnesian expedition, went to Plataea with the remainder and laid waste the country. While the Peloponnesians were still mustering at the Isthmus, or on the march before they invaded Attica, Pericles, son of Xanthippus, one of the ten generals of the Athenians, finding that the invasion was to take place…
Archidamus invades Attica around eighty days after the Theban attempt on Plataea, camps at Eleusis and the Thriasian plain, ravages the Athenian demes to Acharnae, and stays near Athens to lure Athenians into battle—while Oenoe’s siege failure drives broader invasion.
is said, expected that the Athenians would shrink from letting their land be wasted, and would make their submission while it was still uninjured; and this was why he waited. But after he had assaulted Oenoe, and every possible attempt to take it had failed, as no herald came from Athens, he at last broke up his camp and invaded Attica. This was about eighty days after the Theban attempt upon Plataea, just in the mi…
Thucydides records contemporary interpretations of the plague—misquoted verses, recalled Spartan oracles, and the claim it began with the Spartan invasion of Attica—then shifts back to military ravaging by the Peloponnesians.
dead body upon the stranger’s pyre and ignited it; sometimes they tossed the corpse which they were carrying on the top of another that was burning, and so went off. Nor was this the only form of lawless extravagance which owed its origin to the plague. Men now coolly ventured on what they had formerly done in a corner, and not just as they pleased, seeing the rapid transitions produced by persons in prosperity sudd…
Pericles forbids Athenians from marching out against the Peloponnesians, instead sending a naval expedition that raids in the Peloponnese, while other Athenian commanders fail at Potidaea due to plague.
which faces Euboea and Andros. But Pericles, who was still general, held the same opinion as in the former invasion, and would not let the Athenians march out against them. However, while they were still in the plain, and had not yet entered the Paralian land, he had prepared an armament of a hundred ships for Peloponnese, and when all was ready put out to sea. On board the ships he took four thousand Athenian heavy…
Brasidas and allied forces wait to avoid offensive battle, the Athenians decline due to unequal risk, and Megarian exiles reopen the gates; Brasidas later returns to Corinth while executed enemies and an enduring oligarchy follow.
trophy; but regarding the action as a whole the forces separated without either side having gained a decisive advantage, the Boeotians returning to their army and the Athenians to Nisaea. After this Brasidas and the army came nearer to the sea and to Megara, and taking up a convenient position, remained quiet in order of battle, expecting to be attacked by the Athenians and knowing that the Megarians were waiting to…
Thucydides explains why Brasidas’s departure from the Peloponnese was enabled by Thracian revolt and Macedonian fears, then describes Spartan policy toward helots and Brasidas’s campaign shift into Thrace.
escort went back, and the Perrhaebians, who are subjects of Thessaly, set him down at Dium in the dominions of Perdiccas, a Macedonian town under Mount Olympus, looking towards Thessaly. In this way Brasidas hurried through Thessaly before any one could be got ready to stop him, and reached Perdiccas and Chalcidice. The departure of the army from Peloponnese had been procured by the Thracian towns in revolt against …
Brasidas further assures Acanthus that he will not seize the city for a party, insists freedom requires respecting constitutions, and threatens to lay waste the land if they refuse his offer of alliance.
suspicions of my intentions after the guarantees which I offer, and equally so against doubts of my ability to protect you, and I invite you to join me without hesitation. “Some of you may hang back because they have private enemies, and fear that I may put the city into the hands of a party: none need be more tranquil than they. I am not come here to help this party or that; and I do not consider that I should be b…
The fall of Amphipolis alarms Athens, since it threatens Spartan movement along the Strymon, while allies’ hopes rise under Brasidas’ moderate conduct; Athens rushes garrisons, and Brasidas begins campaigns in Chalcidice and toward Athos.
own wife Brauro; and Galepsus and Oesime, which are Thasian colonies, not long after followed its example. Perdiccas too came up immediately after the capture and joined in these arrangements. The news that Amphipolis was in the hands of the enemy caused great alarm at Athens. Not only was the town valuable for the timber it afforded for shipbuilding, and the money that it brought in; but also, although the escort o…
As barbarians mistakenly think Brasidas is fleeing, his picked men hold them off, the enemy tries to surround him in a narrow pass, and Brasidas escapes by splitting forces and reaching Arnisa the next town.
going to do, at a distance, but with those who give way to them are quick enough to display their heroism in pursuit when they can do so without danger.” With this brief address Brasidas began to lead off his army. Seeing this, the barbarians came on with much shouting and hubbub, thinking that he was flying and that they would overtake him and cut him off. But wherever they charged they found the young men ready to…
After hearing Mende has fallen to the Athenians, Brasidas holds Torone, while Nicias and Nicostratus campaign: they take Mende by exploiting factional conflict and block citadel rebels, then move to besiege Scione.
adversary of the Athenians. However, he departed from his natural interests and made it his endeavour to come to terms with the latter and to get rid of the former. On his return from Macedonia to Torone, Brasidas found the Athenians already masters of Mende, and remained quiet where he was, thinking it now out of his power to cross over into Pallene and assist the Mendaeans, but he kept good watch over Torone. For …
With the truce ending after the Pythian games, Cleon leads an Athenian force to Scione and Torone, captures Torone by assault and ships, takes prisoners, and then sails toward Amphipolis; at the same time Brasidas prepares against Cleon’s move.
Tenth Year of the War—Death of Cleon and Brasidas—Peace of Nicias The next summer the truce for a year ended, after lasting until the Pythian games. During the armistice the Athenians expelled the Delians from Delos, concluding that they must have been polluted by some old offence at the time of their consecration, and that this had been the omission in the previous purification of the island, which, as I have relat…
Cleon marches with allied troops against Amphipolis after murmurs in his army, hoping to surround and storm despite closed gates, while Brasidas descends from Cerdylium and prepares to attack by stratagem rather than direct assault.
by a war with the Hipponians and Medmaeans who lived on their border, and were colonists of theirs. Phaeax meanwhile proceeded on his voyage, and at length arrived at Athens. Cleon, whom we left on his voyage from Torone to Amphipolis, made Eion his base, and after an unsuccessful assault upon the Andrian colony of Stagirus, took Galepsus, a colony of Thasos, by storm. He now sent envoys to Perdiccas to command his …
Lacedaemonians and their allies intervene against Argos with Agis, but at Methydrium and near Nemea they maneuver so Argos is hemmed in, while Thrasylus and Alciphron urge arbitration instead of battle.
dismounted troopers; the Corinthians with two thousand heavy infantry; the rest more or less as might happen; and the Phliasians with all their forces, the army being in their country. The preparations of the Lacedaemonians from the first had been known to the Argives, who did not, however, take the field until the enemy was on his road to join the rest at Phlius. Reinforced by the Mantineans with their allies, and …
In the Melian Conference during the sixteenth year, Athens and its allies besiege and negotiate with the neutral island of Melos, with Athenians arguing that justice depends on power while Melians stress freedom, hope, and Spartan aid.
Sixteenth Year of the War—The Melian Conference—Fate of Melos The next summer Alcibiades sailed with twenty ships to Argos and seized the suspected persons still left of the Lacedaemonian faction to the number of three hundred, whom the Athenians forthwith lodged in the neighbouring islands of their empire. The Athenians also made an expedition against the isle of Melos with thirty ships of their own, six Chian, and…
The Athenians press Melos to submit as strong powers rule by force, warning that even divine favor and Spartan shame will not guarantee rescue, while the Melians counter that they should invoke justice and interest together for their own survival.
we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. Melians. As we think, at any rate, it is expedient—we speak as we are obliged, since you enjoin us to let right alone and talk only of interest—that you should not destroy what is our common protection, the privilege of being allowed in danger to invoke what is fair …
The Athenians argue that hope is dangerous for the weak and criticize reliance on prophecies, then urge Melos to choose tributary alliance over hopeless war, while the Melians refuse and propose neutrality with a treaty.
like yourselves, outside our empire, and subjects smarting under the yoke, who would be the most likely to take a rash step and lead themselves and us into obvious danger. Melians. Well then, if you risk so much to retain your empire, and your subjects to get rid of it, it were surely great baseness and cowardice in us who are still free not to try everything that can be tried, before submitting to your yoke. Athen…
Athenian leaders decide to sail to Sicily with a larger armament to conquer the island, explaining its immense size and varied peoples, and offering a long origin-history of Sicanians, Elymians, Sicels, Phoenicians, and Greek settlers at key cities.
Seventeenth Year of the War—The Sicilian Campaign—Affair of the Hermae—Departure of the Expedition The same winter the Athenians resolved to sail again to Sicily, with a greater armament than that under Laches and Eurymedon, and, if possible, to conquer the island; most of them being ignorant of its size and of the number of its inhabitants, Hellenic and barbarian, and of the fact that they were undertaking a war no…
Thucydides sketches several Sicilian colonies’ origins and political character, then explains why Athens is preparing to invade Sicily, prompted by envoys from Egesta urging aid against Syracuse.
their turn not long afterwards by Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegium, the town was by him colonized with a mixed population, and its name changed to Messina, after his old country. Himera was founded from Zancle by Euclides, Simus, and Sacon, most of those who went to the colony being Chalcidians; though they were joined by some exiles from Syracuse, defeated in a civil war, called the Myletidae. The language was a mixture…
In Athens’ assembly Nicias argues against the Sicily expedition, warning that unresolved treaties and enemy states could attack the weakened Athenians while distant Sicilians are hard to rule.
the conquest of the whole of Sicily, a great matter to achieve, came forward in the hope of diverting the Athenians from the enterprise, and gave them the following counsel: “Although this assembly was convened to consider the preparations to be made for sailing to Sicily, I think, notwithstanding, that we have still this question to examine, whether it be better to send out the ships at all, and that we ought not t…
Nicias continues, claiming conquering Sicilians will not secure them and that failure would worsen Athens compared to its current position, urging focus on defense against Sparta’s oligarchic plots.
a doubtful obedience. Meanwhile the Egestaeans, our allies, have been wronged, and we run to help them, while the rebels who have so long wronged us still wait for punishment. “And yet the latter, if brought under, might be kept under; while the Sicilians, even if conquered, are too far off and too numerous to be ruled without difficulty. Now it is folly to go against men who could not be kept under even if conquere…
Thucydides contrasts Nicias with Alcibiades, then has Alcibiades argue for command by citing his fame and past successes, claiming Sicily’s mixed populations can be controlled and Peloponnesians cannot stop Athens by sea.
and caused them to commit affairs to other hands, and thus before long to ruin the city. Meanwhile he now came forward and gave the following advice to the Athenians: “Athenians, I have a better right to command than others—I must begin with this as Nicias has attacked me—and at the same time I believe myself to be worthy of it. The things for which I am abused, bring fame to my ancestors and to myself, and to the c…
Alcibiades continues, insisting Athens must not neglect allies in Sicily, arguing that empire requires constant extension or it will be taken away, and warning that inaction will ruin the city.
I compelled the Lacedaemonians to stake their all upon the issue of a single day at Mantinea; and although victorious in the battle, they have never since fully recovered confidence. “Thus did my youth and so-called monstrous folly find fitting arguments to deal with the power of the Peloponnesians, and by its ardour win their confidence and prevail. And do not be afraid of my youth now, but while I am still in its …
After the debate, enthusiasm rises for the expedition as oaths and appeals from Egesta and Leontine exiles are repeated, and Nicias returns with detailed estimates to counter them by fear or exaggeration.
country even if we stay at home, they can never hurt us with their navy, as we leave one of our own behind us that is a match for them. “In this state of things what reason can we give to ourselves for holding back, or what excuse can we offer to our allies in Sicily for not helping them? They are our confederates, and we are bound to assist them, without objecting that they have not assisted us. We did not take the…
Nicias warns Athens it needs a large land force and overwhelming resources because Syracuse and Selinus are powerful, horses and local grain give them advantage, and Athens must be ready to establish control immediately on landing.
by the old line of argument, but thinking that he might perhaps alter their resolution by the extravagance of his estimates, came forward a second time and spoke as follows: “I see, Athenians, that you are thoroughly bent upon the expedition, and therefore hope that all will turn out as we wish, and proceed to give you my opinion at the present juncture. From all that I hear we are going against cities that are grea…
Despite Nicias’ extensive logistical demands and his offer to resign, the Athenians become even more determined, vote to give the generals full powers, and begin preparations using stored funds after recovery from plague and war.
us from home as much money as possible, as the sums talked of as ready at Egesta are readier, you may be sure, in talk than in any other way. “Indeed, even if we leave Athens with a force not only equal to that of the enemy except in the number of heavy infantry in the field, but even at all points superior to him, we shall still find it difficult to conquer Sicily or save ourselves. We must not disguise from oursel…