Thucydides I.1
Bernardo CDA Vasconcelos / Thucydides
- Created on 2018-09-06 19:57:22
- Modified on 2019-01-22 15:46:26
- Translated by JEREMY MYNOTT
- Aligned by Bernardo CDA Vasconcelos
History of the Peloponnesian War
Ἑλληνική Transliterate
English
Θουκυδίδης Ἀθηναῖος ξυνέγραψε τὸν πόλεμον τῶν Πελοποννησίων καὶ Ἀθηναίων , ὡς ἐπολέμησαν πρὸς ἀλλήλους , ἀρξάμενος εὐθὺς καθισταμένου καὶ ἐλπίσας μέγαν τε ἔσεσθαι καὶ ἀξιολογώτατον τῶν προγεγενημένων , τεκμαιρόμενος ὅτι ἀκμάζοντές τε ᾖσαν ἐς αὐτὸν ἀμφότεροι παρασκευῇ τῇ πάσῃ καὶ τὸ ἄλλο Ἑλληνικὸν ὁρῶν ξυνιστάμενον πρὸς ἑκατέρους , τὸ μὲν εὐθύς , τὸ δὲ καὶ διανοούμενον . κίνησις γὰρ αὕτη μεγίστη δὴ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐγένετο καὶ μέρει τινὶ τῶν βαρβάρων , ὡς δὲ εἰπεῖν καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἀνθρώπων . τὰ γὰρ πρὸ αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ἔτι παλαίτερα σαφῶς μὲν εὑρεῖν διὰ χρόνου πλῆθος ἀδύνατα ἦν , ἐκ δὲ τεκμηρίων ὧν ἐπὶ μακρότατον σκοποῦντί μοι πιστεῦσαι ξυμβαίνει οὐ μεγάλα νομίζω γενέσθαι οὔτε κατὰ τοὺς πολέμους οὔτε ἐς τὰ ἄλλα .
Thucydides
of
Athens
wrote
the
war
of
the
Peloponnesians
and
the
Athenians
,
how
they
waged
it
against
each
other
.
He
began
writing
at
its
very
outset
,
in
the
expectation
that
this
would
be
a
great
war
and
more
worthy
of
account
than
any
previous
one
.
He
based
this
judgement
on
the
grounds
that
both
sides
came
into
the
war
at
the
height
of
their
powers
and
in
a
full
state
of
military
readiness
;
and
he
also
saw
that
the
rest
of
the
Greek
world
had
either
taken
sides
right
at
the
start
or
was
now
planning
to
do
so
.
This
was
certainly
the
greatest
ever
upheaval
among
the
Greeks
,
and
one
which
affected
a
good
part
of
the
barbarian
world
too
–
even
,
you
could
say
,
most
of
mankind
.
In
respect
of
the
preceding
period
and
the
still
remoter
past
,
the
length
of
time
that
has
elapsed
made
it
impossible
to
ascertain
clearly
what
happened
;
but
from
the
evidence
I
find
I
can
trust
in
pushing
my
enquiries
back
as
far
as
possible
,
I
judge
that
earlier
events
were
not
on
the
same
scale
,
either
as
regards
their
wars
or
in
other
respects
.