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Contents of the Thirteenth Book of Diodorus
chapter 1chapter 2chapter 3chapter 4chapter 5chapter 6chapter 7chapter 8chapter 9chapter 10chapter 11chapter 12chapter 13chapter 14chapter 15chapter 16chapter 17chapter 18chapter 19chapter 20chapter 21chapter 22chapter 23chapter 24chapter 25chapter 26chapter 27chapter 28chapter 29chapter 30chapter 31chapter 32chapter 33chapter 34chapter 35chapter 36chapter 37chapter 38chapter 39chapter 40chapter 41chapter 42chapter 43chapter 44chapter 45chapter 46chapter 47chapter 48chapter 49chapter 50chapter 51chapter 52chapter 53chapter 54chapter 55chapter 56chapter 57chapter 58chapter 59chapter 60chapter 61chapter 62chapter 63chapter 64chapter 65chapter 66chapter 67chapter 68chapter 69chapter 70chapter 71chapter 72chapter 73chapter 74chapter 75chapter 76chapter 77chapter 78chapter 79chapter 80chapter 81chapter 82chapter 83chapter 84chapter 85chapter 86chapter 87chapter 88chapter 89chapter 90chapter 91chapter 92chapter 93chapter 94chapter 95chapter 96chapter 97chapter 98chapter 99chapter 100chapter 101chapter 102chapter 103chapter 104chapter 105chapter 106chapter 107chapter 108chapter 109chapter 110chapter 111chapter 112chapter 113chapter 114
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When the news of the victory came to Athens, the people, contemplating the unexpected good fortune which had come to
the city after their former disasters, were elated over their successes and the populace in a
body offered sacrifices to the gods and gathered in festive assemblies; and for the war they
selected from their most stalwart men one thousand hoplites and one hundred horsemen, and in
addition to these they dispatched thirty triremes to Alcibiades, in order that, now that they
dominated the sea, they might lay waste with impunity the cities which favoured the
Lacedaemonians.
[2]
The Lacedaemonians, on the other hand, when
they heard of the disaster they had suffered at Cyzicus, sent ambassadors to Athens to
treat for peace, the chief of whom was Endius.1 When permission was given him, he took the floor and spoke succinctly and
in the terse fashion of Laconians, and for this reason I have decided not to omit the speech as
he delivered it.
[3]
"We want to be
at peace with you, men of Athens, and that each
party should keep the cities which it now possesses and cease to maintain its garrisons in the
other's territory, and that our captives be ransomed, one Laconian for one Athenian. We are not
unmindful that the war is hurtful to both of us, but far more to you.
[4]
Never mind the words I use but learn from the facts. As for us, we till the entire
Peloponnesus, but you only a small part2 of Attica. While to the
Laconians the war has brought many allies, from the Athenians it has taken away as many as it
has given to their enemies. For us the richest king to be found in the inhabited world3
defrays the cost of the war, for you the most poverty-stricken folk of the inhabited world.
[5]
Consequently our troops, in view of their generous pay, make
war with spirit, while your soldiers, because they pay the war-taxes out of their own pockets,
shrink from both the hardships and the costs of war.
[6]
In the
second place, when we make war at sea, we risk losing only hulls among resources of the state,
while you have on board crews most of whom are citizens. And, what is the most important, even
if we meet defeat in our actions at sea, we still maintain without dispute the mastery on
land—for a Spartan foot-soldier does not even know what flight means—but
you, if you are driven from the sea, contend, not for the supremacy on land, but for
survival.'
[7]
'It remains for me
to show you why, despite so many and great advantages we possess in the fighting, we urge you
to make peace. I do not affirm that Sparta is
profiting from the war, but only that she is suffering less than the Athenians. Only fools find
satisfaction in sharing the misfortunes of their enemies, when it is in their power to make no
trial whatsoever of misfortune. For the destruction of the enemy brings no joy that can balance
the grief caused by the distress of one's own people.
[8]
And not
for these reasons alone are we eager to come to terms, but because we hold fast to the custom
of our fathers; for when we consider the many terrible sufferings which are caused by the
rivalries which accompany war, we believe we should make it clear in the sight of all gods and
men that we are least responsible of all men for such things."
1 Endius, an ex-ephor, was an hereditary friend of Alcibiades and had served before on such a mission (Thuc. 5.44.3; Thuc. 8.6.3).
2 From Deceleia, some 13 miles north and a little east of Athens, which the Lacedaemonians had seized and fortified, they could raid the larger part of Attica.
3 The King of Persia, who was contributing to the maintenance of the Peloponnesian fleet, but not as yet so generously as toward the end of the war.
Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.
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References (7 total)
- Cross-references to this page (2):
- Cross-references in notes to this page
(1):
- Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander, The Peloponnesian War and Athenian Life
- Cross-references in notes from this page (2):
- Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page
(2):
- LSJ, Λα^κων-ικός
- LSJ, συνα^τυ^χέω
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