Texte grec :
| [8,27] Εἷς ἔτι μοι καταλείπεται λόγος, ὃν εἰ μὴ
μετ´ ὀργῆς, ἀλλ´ ἐκ λογισμοῦ κρινεῖς, ὀρθῶς τ´ εἰρῆσθαι
δόξει καὶ παραστήσεταί σοι μεταμέλεια τῶν πραττομένων. τίς δ´
ἐστὶν οὗτος ὁ λόγος; οὐδενὶ θνητῷ
φύντι θεοὶ τῶν μελλόντων ἔσεσθαι βεβαίαν ἐπιστήμην
ἔδωκαν ἔχειν, οὐδ´ ἂν εὕροις ἐκ τοῦ παντὸς αἰῶνος,
ὅτῳ πάντα κατὰ νοῦν ἐχώρησε τὰ πράγματα μηδὲν
ἐναντιωθείσης τῆς τύχης. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οἱ φρονήσει
προὔχοντες ἑτέρων, ἣν ὁ μακρὸς βίος καὶ τὰ πολλὰ
μαθήματα φέρει, πρὶν ἐγχειρεῖν ὁτῳδήποτε ἔργῳ, τὸ
τέλος αὐτοῦ πρῶτον οἴονται δεῖν σκοπεῖν, οὐ θάτερον
μόνον, ὃ βούλονται γενέσθαι σφίσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ παρὰ
γνώμην ἐκβησόμενον· μάλιστα δ´ οἱ τῶν πολέμων ἡγεμόνες, ὅσῳ
μειζόνων τε γίνονται πραγμάτων κύριοι,
καὶ τὰς αἰτίας τῶν κατορθωμάτων ἢ σφαλμάτων ἅπαντες
ἐπὶ τούτους ἀναφέρουσιν. ἔπειτ´ ἂν μὲν εὕρωσι μηδεμίαν
ἐνοῦσαν ἢ μικρὰς καὶ ὀλίγας ἐν τῷ μὴ κατορθῶσαι
βλάβας, ἅπτονται τῶν ἔργων, ἐὰν δὲ πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας,
ἀφίστανται. τοῦτο δὴ καὶ σὺ ποίησον καὶ σκόπει
πρὸ τῶν ἔργων, ἐὰν σφαλῇς κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον καὶ
μὴ πάντα ὑπάρξῃ, τί συμβήσεταί σοι παθεῖν. δι´ αἰτίας μὲν ἔσῃ
παρὰ τοῖς ὑποδεξαμένοις, μέμψῃ δὲ καὶ
αὐτὸς σεαυτόν, ὡς μείζοσιν ἐπιχειρήσας πράγμασιν ἢ
δυνατοῖς· στρατιᾶς δ´ ἡμετέρας πάλιν ἐκεῖσε ἀφικομένης καὶ
φθειρούσης τὴν ἐκείνων γῆν· οὐ γὰρ ἀνεξόμεθα μὴ
ἀντιτιμωρούμενοι τοὺς ἄρξαντας ἡμᾶς κακῶς
ποιεῖν· δυεῖν οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοις θατέρου, ἢ πρὸς αὐτῶν
ἐκείνων, οἷς αἴτιος ἔσῃ συμφορῶν μεγάλων, αἰσχρῶς
ἀναιρεθῆναι, ἢ πρὸς ἡμῶν, οὓς ἀποκτενῶν τε καὶ
δουλωσόμενος ἦλθες. τάχα δ´ ἂν ἐκεῖνοι, πρὶν ἐν τῷ
παθεῖν τι κακὸν γενέσθαι, διαλύσεις ποιεῖσθαι πρὸς
ἡμᾶς ἐπιχειροῦντες ἔκδοτον ἀξιώσειαν ἐπὶ τιμωρίᾳ σε
παραδιδόναι· ὃ πολλοὶ βάρβαροί τε καὶ Ἕλληνες εἰς
τοιαύτας καταστάντες τύχας ἠναγκάσθησαν ὑπομεῖναι.
ἆρά γε μικρὰ καὶ οὐκ ἄξια λόγου ταῦτ´ εἶναί σοι δοκεῖ
καὶ δέον αὐτῶν ὑπεριδεῖν ἢ κακῶν συμπάντων τὰ
ἔσχατα παθεῖν;
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Traduction française :
| [8,27] "I still have one argument left which, if you will judge of it by reason rather than
in anger, will not only seem to you to have been well made, but will also cause you to
repent of what you are doing. What is this argument? That the gods have not given it
to any mortal creature to possess sure knowledge of future events, and you will not
find in all past time a man for whom all his undertakings succeeded according to his
plan and whom Fortune thwarted in none. For this reason alone those who excel
others in prudence the fruit of a long life and many lessons from experience
think that they ought, before beginning any enterprise whatever, first to consider its
possible outcome not only the one which they desire for themselves, but also the
one which will be contrary to their judgement. And this is particularly true of
commanders in wars, the more so because the affairs of which they have charge are of
greater importance and because everybody imputes to them the responsibility for
both victories and defeats. Then, if they find that no loss inheres in failure, or few and
small losses, they set about their undertakings, but if the losses might be many and
serious, they abandon them. Do you too, then, follow their example, and before you
resort to action, consider what it will be your fate to suffer if you fail in this war and
all conditions do not favour you. You will be reproached by those who have received
you and you will also blame yourself for having undertaken greater things than are
possible; and when our army in turn marches into their territory and lays it waste
(p79) for we shall never submit to such injuries without avenging ourselves on our
aggressors you will not be able to avoid one of these two fates: you will be put to
death in a shameful manner either by those very men, in whose eyes you will be to
blame the great misfortunes, or by us, whom you came to slay and to enslave. But
perhaps those others, before they become involved in any misfortune, may, in the
attempt to effect an accommodation with us, think fit to deliver up to us to be
punished a course to which many, both barbarians and Greeks, have been obliged
to submit when reduced to such extremities. Do you look upon these as small matters
unworthy of your consideration and believe that you ought to overlook them, or
rather as the worst evils of all to suffer?
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