Texte grec :
| [9,31] Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ τῆς γνώμης κατηγοροῦσί μου
προδοσίαν μὲν οὐ τολμῶντες ἐπικαλεῖν οὐδ´ ἀνανδρίαν,
ἐφ´ οἷς αἱ κατὰ τῶν ἄλλων στρατηγῶν γίνονται κρίσεις,
ἀπειρίαν δὲ τοῦ στρατηγεῖν καὶ ἀφροσύνην, ὅτι
κίνδυνον ὑπέμεινα οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον ἐπὶ τὸν χάρακα τῶν
πολεμίων ὠσάμενος, βούλομαι καὶ περὶ τούτου λόγον
ὑποσχεῖν ὑμῖν, προχειρότατον μὲν τοῦτ´ ἔχων εἰπεῖν,
ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἐπιτιμᾶν τοῖς γενομένοις πάνυ ῥᾴδιον καὶ
παντὸς ἀνθρώπου, τὸ δὲ παραβάλλεσθαι πράγμασι καλοῖς
χαλεπὸν καὶ ὀλίγων· καὶ ὅτι οὐχ ὥσπερ τὰ γεγονότα
φαίνεται, ὁποῖά ἐστιν, οὕτω καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα,
ὁποῖα ἔσται· ἀλλ´ ἐκεῖνα μὲν αἰσθήσει καὶ πάθεσι
καταλαμβανόμεθα, ταῦτα δὲ μαντείαις καὶ δόξαις
εἰκάζομεν, ἐν αἷς πολὺ τὸ ἀπατηλόν· καὶ ὅτι ῥᾷστον
ἁπάντων ἐστὶ λόγῳ στρατηγεῖν πολέμους ἔξω τοῦ δεινοῦ
βεβηκότας, ὃ ποιοῦσιν οἱ κατηγοροῦντες ἐμοῦ. ἀλλ´
ἵνα ταῦτ´ ἀφῶ, φέρε πρὸς θεῶν εἴπατέ μοι, μόνος ἢ
πρῶτος ὑμῖν ἐγὼ φαίνομαι βιάσασθαι φρούριον
ἐπιβαλόμενος καὶ πρὸς ὑψηλὰ χωρία τὰς δυνάμεις
ἀγαγών; ἢ πολλῶν μετ´ ἄλλων ὑμετέρων στρατηγῶν, ἐξ
ὧν οἱ μὲν κατώρθωσαν, τοῖς δ´ οὐκ ἐχώρησεν ἡ πεῖρα
κατὰ νοῦν; τί δήποτ´ οὖν τοὺς ἄλλους ἀφέντες ἐμὲ
κρίνετε, εἰ ταῦτ´ ἀστρατηγησίας καὶ ἀφροσύνης ἔργα
νομίζετε; πόσα δ´ ἄλλα τούτου τολμηρότερα τοῖς ἡγεμόσιν
ἔπεισι πράττειν, ὅταν τὸ ἀσφαλὲς καὶ λελογισμένον
ἥκιστα οἱ καιροὶ δέχωνται; οἱ μέν γε τὰς σημαίας
ἁρπάσαντες τῶν σφετέρων ἔρριψαν εἰς τοὺς πολεμίους,
ἵνα τοῖς βλακεύουσι καὶ ἀποδειλιῶσιν ἐκ τοῦ ἀναγκαίου
παραστῇ τὸ εὔψυχον ἐπισταμένοις, ὅτι τοὺς μὴ
ἀνασώσαντας τὰ σημεῖα ὑπὸ τῶν στρατηγῶν δεῖ σὺν
αἰσχύνῃ ἀποθανεῖν· οἱ δ´ εἰς τὴν τῶν πολεμίων χώραν
ἐμβαλόντες ἔλυσαν τὰ ζεύγματα τῶν ποταμῶν, οὓς διέβησαν,
ἵνα τοῖς φεύγειν διανοουμένοις ἄπορος ἡ τοῦ
σωθῆναι ἐλπὶς φανεῖσα θάρσος παραστήσῃ καὶ μένος
ἐν ταῖς μάχαις· οἱ δὲ τὰς σκηνὰς καὶ τὰ σκευοφόρα
κατακαύσαντες ἀνάγκην ἐπέθηκαν τοῖς σφετέροις ἐκ
τῆς πολεμίας, ὅσων δέονται, λαμβάνειν. ἐῶ τἆλλα
μυρία ὄντα λέγειν, καὶ ὅσα τολμηρὰ ἔργα καὶ ἐνθυμήματα
ἕτερα στρατηγῶν ἱστορίᾳ τε καὶ πείρᾳ παραλαβόντες
ἔχομεν, ἐφ´ οἷς οὐδεὶς πώποτε τῶν ψευσθέντων
τῆς ἐλπίδος ὑπέσχε δίκας. εἰ μὴ ἄρα ἔχει τις ὑμῶν
αἰτιάσασθαί με, ὅτι προβαλὼν τοὺς ἄλλους εἰς
προὖπτον ὄλεθρον, αὐτὸς ἔξω τοῦ κινδύνου τὸ σῶμα
εἶχον. εἰ δὲ μετὰ πάντων τ´ ἐξηταζόμην καὶ τελευταῖος
ἀπηλλαττόμην καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς τοῖς ἄλλοις μετεῖχον
τύχης, τί ἀδικῶ; καὶ περὶ μὲν ἐμοῦ ταῦθ´ ἱκανὰ εἰρήσθω.
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Traduction française :
| [9,31] "But since they censure my judgement also, not daring, indeed, to accuse me of
treachery or cowardice, the charges on which other generals are tried, but accuse me
of inexperience in the duties of a general and imprudence, in that I undertook an
unnecessary risk in pressing forward to the enemy's camp, I wish to render you an
accounting on that point, too, since I can make the very obvious retort that it is very
easy and lies within the power of any man to censure past actions, whereas to venture
upon glorious exploits is difficult and within the power of but few; also that it is not
so apparent what future events will be as what past events are, but, on the contrary,
we apprehend the latter by perception and our experiences, while we conjecture the
others by divination and opinions, in which there is much that is deceptive; and
again, that it is the easiest thing in the world for people to conduct wars by talk when
they stand far from the danger, which is what my accusers do.But, to waive all this,
tell me, in the name of the gods, do you regard me as the first or the only man who
ever attempted to capture a stronghold by force and led his men against lofty
positions? Or have not many (p27) others of your generals done the sam, some of whom
have succeeded, while the attempt of others has not turned out as they wished? Why
in the world, then, did you let the others off but now try me, if you consider these
actions to be marks of incapacity and imprudence in a general? How many other
undertakings more daring than this does it occur to your generals to attempt when
times of crisis will by no means admit of the safe and well-considered course? Some
indeed have snatched the standards from their own men and hurled them among the
enemy, in order that the indolent and cowardly might perforce gain courage, since
they knew that those who failed to recover those standards must be put to death
ignominiously by their generals. Others, after invading the enemy's country, have
destroyed the bridges over the rivers what they had crossed, in order that any who
entertained thoughts of saving themselves by flight might find their hope vain and so
be inspired with boldness and resolution in the battles. Still others by burning their
tents and baggage38 have imposed on their men the necessity of supplying themselves
out of the enemy's country with everything they needed. I omit mentioning all the
other instances of the kind, which are countless, and the many other daring actions
and expedients of generals that we know of from both history and our own
experience, for which no general was ever punished when disappointed in his helps.
Unless, indeed, someone among you can bring the charge against me that when
I exposed the others to manifest destruction I kept myself out of danger. But if I took
my place in the line with all the rest, was last to withdraw and shared the same
fortune with the (p29) others, of what crime am I guilty? Concerning myself, then, let
this suffice.
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