ἐπεὶ δὲ Λακεδαιμόνιοι Φοιβίδαν μὲν ἀφείλοντο τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ δέκα δραχμῶν μυριάσιν ἐζημίωσαν, τὴν δὲ Καδμείαν οὐδὲν ἧττον φρουρᾷ κατέσχον, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι πάντες Ἕλληνες ἐθαύμαζον τὴν ἀτοπίαν, εἰ τὸν μὲν πράξαντα κολάζουσι, τὴν δὲ πρᾶξιν δοκιμάζουσι, τοῖς δὲ Θηβαίοις τὴν πάτριον ἀποβεβληκόσι πολιτείαν καὶ καταδεδουλωμένοις ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ Ἀρχίαν καὶ Λεοντίδαν οὐδὲ ἐλπίσαι περιῆν ἀπαλλαγήν τινα τῆς τυραννίδος,
But when the Lacedaemonians deprived Phoebidas of his command and fined him a hundred thousand drachmas, and yet held the Cadmeia with a garrison notwithstanding, all the rest of the Greeks were amazed at their inconsistency, since they punished the wrong-doer, but approved his deed. And as for the Thebans, they had lost their ancestral form of government and were enslaved by Archias and Leontidas, nor had they hopes of any deliverance from this tyranny,
ἣν ἑώρων τῇ Σπαρτιατῶν δορυφορουμένην ἡγεμονίᾳ καὶ καταλυθῆναι μὴ δυναμένην, εἰ μή τις ἄρα παύσειε κἀκείνους γῆς καὶ θαλάττης ἄρχοντας, οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ οἱ περὶ Λεοντίδαν πυνθανόμενοι τοὺς φυγάδας Ἀθήνησι διατρίβειν τῷ τε πλήθει προσφιλεῖς ὄντας καὶ τιμὴν ἔχοντας ὑπὸ τῶν καλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν, ἐπεβούλευον αὐτοῖς κρύφα· καὶ πέμψαντες ἀνθρώπους ἀγνῶτας Ἀνδροκλείδαν μὲν ἀποκτιννύουσι δόλῳ, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων διαμαρτάνουσιν.
which they saw was guarded by the dominant military power of the Spartans and could not be pulled down unless those Spartans should somehow be deposed from their command of land and sea. Nevertheless, Leontidas and his associates, learning that the fugitive Thebans were living at Athens, where they were not only in favour with the common people but also honoured by the nobility, secretly plotted against their lives, and sending men who were unknown, they treacherously killed Androcleides, but failed in their designs upon the rest.
ἧκε δὲ καὶ παρὰ Λακεδαιμονίων γράμματα τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις προστάσσοντα μὴ δέχεσθαι μηδὲ παρακινεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἐξελαύνειν τοὺς φυγάδας ὡς κοινοὺς πολεμίους ὑπὸ τῶν συμμάχων ἀποδεδειγμένους.
There came also letters from the Lacedaemonians charging the Athenians not to harbour or encourage the exiles, but to expel them as men declared common enemies by the allied cities.
οἱ μὲν οὖν Ἀθηναῖοι, πρὸς τῷ πάτριον αὐτοῖς καὶ σύμφυτον εἶναι τὸ φιλάνθρωπον, ἀμειβόμενοι τοὺς Θηβαίους μάλιστα συναιτίους γενομένους τῷ δήμῳ τοῦ κατελθεῖν, καὶ ψηφισαμένους, ἐάν τις Ἀθηναίων ἐπὶ τοὺς τυράννους ὅπλα διὰ τῆς Βοιωτίας κομίζῃ, μηδένα Βοιωτὸν ἀκούειν μηδὲ ὁρᾶν, οὐδὲν ἠδίκησαν τοὺς Θηβαίους.
The Athenians, however, not only yielding to their traditional and natural instincts of humanity, but also making a grateful return for the kindness of the Thebans, who had been most ready to aid them in restoring their democracy, and had passed a decree that if any Athenians marched through Boeotia against the tyrants in Athens, no Boeotian should see or hear them, did no harm to the Thebans in their city.
ὁ δὲ Πελοπίδας, καίπερ ἐν τοῖς νεωτάτοις ὤν, ἰδίᾳ τε καθʼ ἕκαστον ἐξώρμα τῶν φυγάδων, καὶ πρὸς τὸ πλῆθος ἐποιήσατο λόγους, ὡς οὔτε καλὸν οὔτε ὅσιον εἴη δουλεύουσαν τὴν πατρίδα καὶ φρουρουμένην περιορᾶν, αὐτοὺς δὲ μόνον τὸ σῴζεσθαι καὶ διαζῆν ἀγαπῶντας ἐκκρέμασθαι τῶν Ἀθήνησι ψηφισμάτων καὶ θεραπεύειν ὑποπεπτωκότας ἀεὶ τοῖς λέγειν δυναμένοις καὶ πείθειν τὸν ὄχλον,
But Pelopidas, although he was one of the youngest of the exiles kept inciting each man of them privately, and when they met together pleaded before them that it was neither right nor honourable for them to suffer their native city to be garrisoned and enslaved, and, content with mere life and safety, to hang upon the decrees of the Athenians, and to be always cringing and paying court to such orators as could persuade the people;
ἀλλὰ κινδυνευτέον ὑπὲρ τῶν μεγίστων, παράδειγμα θεμένους τὴν Θρασυβούλου τόλμαν καὶ ἀρετήν, ἵνα, ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἐκ Θηβῶν πρότερον ὁρμηθεὶς κατέλυσε τοὺς ἐν Ἀθήναις τυράννους, οὕτως αὐτοὶ πάλιν ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν προελθόντες ἐλευθερώσωσι τὰς Θήβας, ὡς οὖν ἔπεισε ταῦτα λέγων, πέμπουσιν εἰς Θήβας κρύφα πρὸς τοὺς ὑπολελειμμένους τῶν φίλων τὰ δεδογμένα φράζοντες.
nay, they must risk their lives for the highest good, and take Thrasybulus and his bold valour for their example, in order that, as he once sallied forth from Thebes and overthrew the tyrants in Athens, so they in their turn might go forth from Athens and liberate Thebes. When, therefore, they had been persuaded by his appeals, they sent secretly to the friends they had left in Thebes, and told them what they purposed.
οἱ δὲ συνεπῄνουν καὶ Χάρων μέν, ὅσπερ ἦν ἐπιφανέστατος, ὡμολόγησε τὴν οἰκίαν παρέξειν, Φιλλίδας δὲ διεπράξατο τῶν περὶ Ἀρχίαν καὶ Φίλιππον γραμματεὺς γενέσθαι πολεμαρχούντων. Ἐπαμεινώνδας δὲ τοὺς νέους πάλαι φρονήματος ἦν ἐμπεπληκώς· ἐκέλευε γὰρ ἐν τοῖς γυμνασίοις ἐπιλαμβάνεσθαι τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ παλαίειν, εἶτα ὁρῶν ἐπὶ τῷ κρατεῖν καὶ περιεῖναι γαυρουμένους ἐπέπληττεν, ὡς αἰσχύνεσθαι μᾶλλον αὐτοῖς προσῆκον, εἰ δουλεύουσι διʼ ἀνανδρίαν ὧν τοσοῦτον ταῖς ῥώμαις διαφέρουσιν.
These approved their plan; and Charon, a man of the highest distinction, agreed to put his house at their disposal, while Phillidas contrived to have himself appointed secretary to Archias and Philip, the polemarchs. Epaminondas, too, had long since filled the minds of the Theban youth with high thoughts; for he kept urging them in the gymnastic schools to try the Lacedaemonians in wrestling, and when he saw them elated with victory and mastery, he would chide them, telling them they ought rather to be ashamed, since their cowardice made them the slaves of the men whom they so far surpassed in bodily powers.
ἡμέρας δὲ πρὸς τὴν πρᾶξιν ὁρισθείσης, ἔδοξε τοῖς φυγάσι τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους συναγαγόντα Φερένικον ἐν τῷ Θριασίῳ περιμένειν, ὀλίγους δὲ τῶν νεωτάτων παραβαλέσθαι προεισελθεῖν εἷς τὴν πόλιν, ἐὰν δέ τι πάθωσιν ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων οὗτοι, τοὺς ἄλλους ἐπιμελεῖσθαι πάντας ὅπως μήτε παῖδες αὐτῶν μήτε γονεῖς ἐνδεεῖς ἔσονται τῶν ἀναγκαίων.
A day for the enterprise having been fixed, the exiles decided that Pherenicus, with the rest of the party under his command, should remain in the Thriasian plain, while a few of the youngest took the risk of going forward into the city; and if anything happened to these at the hands of their enemies, the rest should all see to it that neither their children nor their parents came to any want.
ὑφίσταται δὲ τὴν πρᾶξιν Πελοπίδας πρῶτος, εἶτα Μέλων καὶ Δαμοκλείδας καὶ Θεόπομπος, ἄνδρες οἴκων τε πρώτων καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους τὰ ἄλλα μὲν φιλικῶς καὶ πιστῶς, ὑπὲρ δὲ δόξης καὶ ἀνδρείας ἀεὶ φιλονείκως ἔχοντες, γενόμενοι δὲ οἱ σύμπαντες δώδεκα, καὶ τοὺς ἀπολειπομένους ἀσπασάμενοι, καὶ προπέμψαντες ἄγγελον τῷ Χάρωνι, προῆγον ἐν χλαμυδίοις, σκύλακάς τε θηρατικὰς καὶ στάλικας ἔχοντες, ὡς μηδὲ εἷς ὑποπτεύοι τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων καθʼ ὁδόν, ἀλλʼ ἀλύοντες ἄλλως πλανᾶσθαι καὶ κυνηγεῖν δοκοῖεν.
Pelopidas was first to undertake the enterprise, then Melon, Damocleides, and Theopompus, men of foremost families, and of mutual fidelity and friendship, although in the race for heroic achievement and glory they were constant rivals. When their number had reached twelve, they bade farewell to those who stayed behind, sent a messenger before them to Charon, and set out in short cloaks, taking hunting dogs and nets with them, that anyone who met them on the road might not suspect their purpose, but take them for hunters beating about the country.
ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ πεμφθεὶς παρʼ αὐτῶν ἄγγελος ἧκε πρὸς τὸν Χάρωνα καὶ καθʼ ὁδὸν ὄντας ἔφραζεν, αὐτὸς μὲν ὁ Χάρων οὐδὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ δεινοῦ πλησιάζοντος ἔτρεψέ τι τῆς γνώμης, ἀλλʼ ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς ἦν καὶ παρεῖχε τὴν οἰκίαν, Ἱπποσθενείδας δέ τις, οὐ πονηρὸς μὲν, ἀλλὰ καὶ φιλόπατρις καὶ τοῖς φυγάσιν εὔνους ἄνθρωπος, ἐνδεὴς δὲ τόλμης τοσαύτης ὅσης ὅ τε καιρὸς ὀξὺς ὢν αἵ τε ὑποκείμεναι πράξεις ἀπῄτουν, ὥσπερ ἰλιγγιάσας πρὸς τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ ἀγῶνος ἐν χερσὶ γενομένου,
When their messenger came to Charon and told him they were on the way, Charon himself did not change his mind at all even though the hour of peril drew nigh, but was a man of his word and prepared his house to receive them; a certain Hipposthenidas, however, not a bad man, nay, both patriotic and well disposed towards the exiles, but lacking in that degree of boldness which the sharp crisis and the projected enterprise demanded, was made dizzy, so to speak, by the magnitude of the struggle now so close at hand,
καὶ μόλις ποτὲ τῷ λογισμῷ συμφρονήσας ὅτι τρόπον τινὰ τὴν τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων σαλεύουσιν ἀρχὴν καὶ τῆς ἐκεῖθεν δυνάμεως ὑποβάλλονται κατάλυσιν, πιστεύσαντες ἀπόροις καὶ φυγαδικαῖς ἐλπίσιν, ἀπελθὼν οἴκαδε σιωπῇ πέμπει τινὰ τῶν φίλων πρὸς Μέλωνα καὶ Πελοπίδαν, ἀναβαλέσθαι κελεύων ἐν τῷ παρόντι καὶ περιμένειν βελτίονα καιρόν αὖθις ἀπαλλαγέντας εἷς Ἀθήνας. Χλίδων ἦν ὄνομα τῷ πεμφθέντι, καὶ κατὰ σπουδὴν οἴκαδε πρὸς αὑτὸν τραπόμενος καὶ τὸν ἵππον ἐξαγαγών ᾔτει τὸν χαλινόν.
and at last comprehended that, in undertaking to overthrow the armed force in the city, they were in a manner trying to shake the empire of the Lacedaemonians, and had placed their reliance on the hopes of men in exile and without resources. He therefore went quietly home, and sent one of his friends to Melon and Pelopidas, urging them to postpone the enterprise for the present, go back to Athens, and await a more favourable opportunity. Chlidon was the name of this messenger, and going to his own home in haste, he brought out his horse and asked for the bridle.
ἀπορουμένης δὲ τῆς γυναικὸς ὡς οὐκ εἶχε δοῦναι, καὶ χρῆσαί τινὶ τῶν συνήθων λεγούσης, λοιδορίαι τὸ πρῶτον ἦσαν, εἶτα δυσφημίαι, τῆς γυναικὸς ἐπαρωμένης αὐτῷ τε κακὰς ὁδοὺς ἐκείνῳ καὶ τοῖς πέμπουσιν, ὥστε καὶ τὸν Χλίδωνα πολὺ τῆς ἡμέρας ἀναλώσαντα πρὸς τούτοις διʼ ὀργήν, ἅμα δὲ καὶ τὸ συμβεβηκὸς οἰωνισάμενον, ἀφεῖναι τὴν ὁδὸν ὅλως καὶ πρὸς ἄλλο τι τραπέσθαι. παρὰ τοσοῦτον μὲν ἦλθον αἱ μέγισται καὶ κάλλισται τῶν πράξεων εὐθὺς ἐν ἀρχῇ διαφυγεῖν τὸν καιρόν.
His wife, however, was embarrassed because she could not give it to him, and said she had lent it to a neighbour. Words of abuse were followed by imprecations, and his wife prayed that the journey might prove fatal both to him and to those that sent him. Chlidon, therefore, after spending a great part of the day in this angry squabble, and after making up his mind, too, that what had happened was ominous, gave up his journey entirely and turned his thoughts to something else. So near can the greatest and fairest enterprises come, at the very outset, to missing their opportunity.
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