ἀρχομένων δὲ Λακεδαιμονίων ἄχθεσθαι τῇ αὐξήσει τῶν Ἀθηναίων, ἐπαίρων ὁ Περικλῆς τὸν δῆμον ἔτι μᾶλλον μέγα φρονεῖν καὶ μεγάλων αὑτὸν ἀξιοῦν πραγμάτων, γράφει ψήφισμα, πάντας Ἕλληνας τοὺς ὁπήποτε κατοικοῦντας Εὐρώπης ἢ τῆς Ἀσίας παρακαλεῖν, καὶ μικρὰν πόλιν καὶ μεγάλην, εἰς σύλλογον πέμπειν Ἀθήναζε τοὺς βουλευσομένους περὶ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν ἱερῶν, ἃ κατέπρησαν οἱ βάρβαροι, καὶ τῶν θυσιῶν ἃς ὀφείλουσιν ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἑλλάδος εὐξάμενοι τοῖς θεοῖς ὅτε πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους ἐμάχοντο, καὶ τῆς θαλάττης, ὅπως πλέωσι πάντες ἀδεῶς καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην ἄγωσιν.
When the Lacedaemonians began to be annoyed by the increasing power of the Athenians, Pericles, by way of inciting the people to cherish yet loftier thoughts and to deem it worthy of great achievements, introduced a bill to the effect that all Hellenes wheresoever resident in Europe or in Asia, small and large cities alike, should be invited to send deputies to a council at Athens. This was to deliberate concerning the Hellenic sanctuaries which the Barbarians had burned down, concerning the sacrifices which were due to the gods in the name of Hellas in fulfillment of vows made when they were fighting with the Barbarians, and concerning the sea, that all might sail it fearlessly and keep the peace.
ἐπὶ ταῦτα δʼ ἄνδρες εἴκοσι τῶν ὑπὲρ πεντήκοντα ἔτη γεγονότων ἐπέμφθησαν, ὧν πέντε μὲν Ἴωνας καὶ Δωριεὶς τοὺς ἐν Ἀσίᾳ καὶ νησιώτας ἄχρι Λέσβου καὶ Ῥόδου παρεκάλουν, πέντε δὲ τοὺς ἐν Ἑλλησπόντῳ καὶ Θρᾴκῃ μέχρι Βυζαντίου τόπους ἐπῄεσαν, καὶ πέντε ἐπὶ τούτοις εἰς Βοιωτίαν καὶ Φωκίδα καὶ Πελοπόννησον, ἐκ δὲ ταύτης διὰ Λοκρῶν ἐπὶ τὴν πρόσοικον ἤπειρον ἕως Ἀκαρνανίας καὶ Ἀμβρακίας ἀπεστάλησαν·
To extend this invitation, twenty men, of such as were above fifty years of age, were sent out, five of whom invited the Ionians and Dorians in Asia and on the islands between Lesbos and Rhodes; five visited the regions on the Hellespont and in Thrace as far as Byzantium; five others were sent into Boeotia and Phocis and Peloponnesus, and from here by way of the Ozolian Locrians into the neighboring continent as far as Acarnania and Ambracia;
οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ διʼ Εὐβοίας ἐπʼ Οἰταίους καὶ τὸν Μαλιέα κόλπον καὶ Φθιώτας Ἀχαιοὺς καὶ Θεσσαλοὺς ἐπορεύοντο, συμπείθοντες ἰέναι καὶ μετέχειν τῶν βουλευμάτων ἐπʼ εἰρήνῃ καὶ κοινοπραγίᾳ τῆς Ἑλλάδος. ἐπράχθη δὲ οὐδέν, οὐδὲ συνῆλθον αἱ πόλεις, Λακεδαιμονίων ὑπεναντιωθέντων, ὡς λέγεται, καὶ τὸ πρῶτον ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ τῆς πείρας ἐλεγχθείσης. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν παρεθέμην ἐνδεικνύμενος αὐτοῦ τὸ φρόνημα καὶ τὴν μεγαλοφροσύνην.
while the rest proceeded through Euboea to the Oetaeans and the Maliac Gulf and the Phthiotic Achaeans and the Thessalians, urging them all to come and take part in the deliberations for the peace and common welfare of Hellas. But nothing was accomplished , nor did the cities come together by deputy, owing to the opposition of the Lacedaemonians, as it is said, since the effort met with its first check in Peloponnesus. I have cited this incident, however, to show forth the man’s disposition and the greatness of his thoughts.
ἐν δὲ ταῖς στρατηγίαις εὐδοκίμει μάλιστα διὰ τὴν ἀσφάλειαν, οὔτε μάχης ἐχούσης πολλὴν ἀδηλότητα καὶ κίνδυνον ἑκουσίως ἁπτόμενος, οὔτε τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ παραβάλλεσθαι χρησαμένους τύχῃ λαμπρᾷ καὶ θαυμασθέντας ὡς μεγάλους ζηλῶν καὶ μιμούμενος στρατηγούς, ἀεί τε λέγων πρὸς τοὺς πολίτας ὡς ὅσον ἐπʼ αὐτῷ μενοῦσιν ἀθάνατοι πάντα τὸν χρόνον.
In his capacity as general, he was famous above all things for his saving caution; he neither undertook of his own accord a battle involving much uncertainty and peril, nor did he envy and imitate those who took great risks, enjoyed brilliant good-fortune, and so were admired as great generals; and he was for ever saying to his fellow-citizens that, so far as lay in his power, they would remain alive forever and be immortals.
ὁρῶν δὲ Τολμίδην τὸν Τολμαίου διὰ τὰς πρότερον εὐτυχίας καὶ διὰ τὸ τιμᾶσθαι διαφερόντως ἐκ τῶν πολεμικῶν σὺν οὐδενὶ καιρῷ παρασκευαζόμενον εἰς Βοιωτίαν ἐμβαλεῖν, καὶ πεπεικότα τῶν ἐν ἡλικίᾳ τοὺς ἀρίστους καὶ φιλοτιμοτάτους ἐθελοντὶ στρατεύεσθαι, χιλίους γενομένους ἄνευ τῆς ἄλλης δυνάμεως, κατέχειν ἐπειρᾶτο καὶ παρακαλεῖν ἐν τῷ δήμῳ, τὸ μνημονευόμενον εἰπών, ὡς εἰ μὴ πείθοιτο Περικλεῖ, τόν γε σοφώτατον οὐχ ἁμαρτήσεται σύμβουλον ἀναμείνας χρόνον.
So when he saw that Tolmides, son of Tolmaeus, all on account of his previous good-fortune and of the exceeding great honor bestowed upon him for his wars, was getting ready, quite inopportunely, to make an incursion into Boeotia, and that he had persuaded the bravest and most ambitious men of military age to volunteer for the campaign,—as many as a thousand of them, aside from the rest of his forces,—he tried to restrain and dissuade him in the popular assembly, uttering then that well remembered saying, to wit, that if he would not listen to Pericles, he would yet do full well to wait for that wisest of all counsellors, Time.
τότε μὲν οὖν μετρίως εὐδοκίμησε τοῦτʼ εἰπών· ὀλίγαις δʼ ὕστερον ἡμέραις, ὡς ἀνηγγέλθη τεθνεὼς μὲν αὐτὸς Τολμίδης περὶ Κορώνειαν ἡττηθεὶς μάχῃ, τεθνεῶτες δὲ πολλοὶ κἀγαθοὶ τῶν πολιτῶν, μεγάλην τοῦτο τῷ Περικλεῖ μετʼ εὐνοίας δόξαν ἤνεγκεν, ὡς ἀνδρὶ φρονίμῳ καὶ φιλοπολίτῃ.
This saying brought him only moderate repute at the time; but a few days afterwards, when word was brought that Tolmides himself was dead after defeat in battle near Coroneia, and that many brave citizens were dead likewise, then it brought Pericles great repute as well as goodwill, for that he was a man of discretion and patriotism.
τῶν δὲ στρατηγιῶν ἠγαπήθη μὲν ἡ περὶ Χερρόνησον αὐτοῦ μάλιστα, σωτήριος γενομένη τοῖς αὐτόθι κατοικοῦσι τῶν Ἑλλήνων· οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἐποίκους Ἀθηναίων χιλίους κομίσας ἔρρωσεν εὐανδρίᾳ τὰς πόλεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν αὐχένα διαζώσας ἐρύμασι καὶ προβλήμασιν ἐκ θαλάττης εἰς θάλατταν ἀπετείχισε τὰς καταδρομὰς τῶν Θρᾳκῶν περικεχυμένων τῇ Χερρονήσῳ,
Of all his expeditions, that to the Chersonesus was held in most loving remembrance, since it proved the salvation of the Hellenes who dwelt there. Not only did he bring thither a thousand Athenian colonists and stock the cities anew with vigorous manhood, but he also belted the neck of the isthmus with defensive bulwarks from sea to sea, and so intercepted the incursions of the Thracians who swarmed about the Chersonesus,
καὶ πόλεμον ἐνδελεχῆ καὶ βαρὺν ἐξέκλεισεν, ᾧ συνείχετο πάντα τὸν χρόνον ἡ χώρα βαρβαρικαῖς ἀναμεμιγμένη γειτνιάσεσι καὶ γέμουσα λῃστηρίων ὁμόρων καὶ συνοίκων· ἐθαυμάσθη δὲ καὶ διεβοήθη πρὸς τοὺς ἐκτὸς ἀνθρώπους περιπλεύσας Πελοπόννησον, ἐκ Πηγῶν τῆς Μεγαρικῆς ἀναχθεὶς ἑκατὸν τριήρεσιν.
and shut out the perpetual and grievous war in which the country was all the time involved, in close touch as it was with neighboring communities of Barbarians, and full to overflowing of robber bands whose haunts were on or within its borders. But he was admired and celebrated even amongst foreigners for his circumnavigation of the Peloponnesus, when he put to sea from Pegae in the Megarid with a hundred triremes.
οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἐπόρθησε τῆς παραλίας πολλήν, ὡς Τολμίδης πρότερον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πόρρω θαλάττης προελθὼν τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν νεῶν ὁπλίταις τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους εἰς τὰ τείχη συνέστειλε δείσαντας αὐτοῦ τὴν ἔφοδον, ἐν δὲ Νεμέᾳ Σικυωνίους ὑποστάντας καὶ συνάψαντας μάχην κατὰ κράτος τρεψάμενος ἔστησε τρόπαιον.
He not only ravaged a great strip of seashore, as Tolmides had done before him, but also advanced far into the interior with the hoplites from his ships, and drove all his enemies inside their walls in terror at his approach, excepting only the Sicyonians, who made a stand against him in Nemea, and joined battle with him; these he routed by main force and set up a trophy for his victory.
ἐκ δʼ Ἀχαΐας φίλης οὔσης στρατιώτας ἀναλαβὼν εἰς τὰς τριήρεις ἐπὶ τὴν ἀντιπέρας ἤπειρον ἐκομίσθη τῷ στόλῳ, καὶ παραπλεύσας τὸν Ἀχελῷον Ἀκαρνανίαν κατέδραμε, καὶ κατέκλεισεν Οἰνιάδας εἰς τὸ τεῖχος, καὶ τεμὼν τὴν γῆν καὶ κακώσας ἀπῆρεν ἐπʼ οἴκου, φοβερὸς μὲν φανεὶς τοῖς πολεμίοις, ἀσφαλὴς δὲ καὶ δραστήριος τοῖς πολίταις. οὐδὲν γὰρ οὐδʼ ἀπὸ τύχης πρόσκρουσμα συνέβη περὶ τοὺς στρατευομένους.
Then from Achaia, which was friendly to him, he took soldiers on board his triremes, and proceeded with his armament to the opposite mainland, where he sailed up the Achelous, overran Acarnania, shut up the people of Oeniadae behind their walls, and after ravaging and devastating their territory, went off homewards, having shown himself formidable to his enemies, but a safe and efficient leader for his fellow-citizens. For nothing untoward befell, even as result of chance, those who took part in the expedition.
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