Greek passages split into sentences with English translation
| Passage | Sentence | Greek | English | Era | Skepticism |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.6.1 | 1 | πρὶν δὲ ἢ συγγράφειν με τὸν πόλεμον καὶ ὁπόσα πολεμοῦσιν ἑκατέροις ὁ δαίμων παθεῖν ἢ δρᾶσαι παρεσκεύασε, διακρῖναί τι καὶ ἡλικίας ἔργα πέρι ἠθέλησα ἀνδρὸς Μεσσηνίου. | Before writing my account of the war and of all that destiny caused each side to suffer or to achieve in its course, I wished to make clear one matter concerning the historical context, and particularly the achievements of the man of Messene. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.1 | 2 | τὸν γὰρ πόλεμον τοῦτον γενόμενον μὲν Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ τῶν συμμάχων πρὸς Μεσσηνίους καὶ τοὺς ἐπικούρους, ὀνομασθέντα δὲ οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπιστρατευσάντων ὥσπερ γε ὁ Μηδικὸς καὶ ὁ Πελοποννήσιος, Μεσσήνιον δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν συμφορῶν, καθὰ δὴ καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ Ἰλίῳ κληθῆναι Τρωικὸν καὶ οὐχ Ἑλληνικὸν ἐξενίκησεν, τοῦτον γὰρ τῶν Μεσσηνίων τὸν πόλεμον Ῥιανός τε ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν ἐποίησεν ὁ Βηναῖος καὶ ὁ Πριηνεὺς Μύρων· | For this war was fought by the Lacedaemonians and their allies against the Messenians and their supporters; yet it was not named after its aggressors, as were the Persian and Peloponnesian wars, but instead after the misfortunes of the defeated people, thus called Messenian—just as the war at Ilium earned the name "Trojan" from the sufferers rather than "Greek" from the attackers. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.1 | 3 | λόγοι δὲ πεζοὶ Μύρωνός ἐστιν ἡ συγγραφή. | Regarding this war of the Messenians, Rhianus of Bene composed an epic poem, as did Myron of Priene; and there also exists a prose account of this war by Myron. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.2 | 1 | συνεχῶς μὲν δὴ τὰ πάντα ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐς τοῦ πολέμου τὴν τελευτὴν οὐδετέρῳ διήνυσται· | Certainly, no one has written a complete, continuous account from beginning to end of the entire course of the war; rather, each historian chose only the portion which pleased him. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.2 | 2 | μέρος δὲ ᾧ ἑκάτερος ἠρέσκετο, ὁ μὲν τῆς τε Ἀμφείας τὴν ἅλωσιν καὶ τὰ ἐφεξῆς συνέθηκεν οὐ πρόσω τῆς Ἀριστοδήμου τελευτῆς, Ῥιανὸς δὲ τοῦδε μὲν τοῦ πρώτου τῶν πολέμων οὐδὲ ἥψατο ἀρχήν· | One author composed the capture of Ampheia and subsequent events, extending not far beyond the death of Aristodemus. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.2 | 3 | ὁπόσα δὲ χρόνῳ συνέβη τοῖς Μεσσηνίοις ἀποστᾶσιν ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων, ὁ δὲ καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὐ τὰ πάντα ἔγραψε, τῆς μάχης δὲ τὰ ὕστερα ἣν ἐμαχέσαντο ἐπὶ τῇ τάφρῳ τῇ καλουμένῃ Μεγάλῃ. | Rhianus, however, did not touch at all upon this first conflict, and recorded instead only those later developments, long afterward, that led to the revolt of the Messenians from the Lacedaemonians; even these he did not recount fully, but focused mainly upon the events following the battle which was fought near the trench called the "Great." | ? | ? |
| 4.6.3 | 1 | ἄνδρα οὖν Μεσσήνιον---τούτου γὰρ δὴ ἕνεκα τὸν πάντα ἐποιησάμην Ῥιανοῦ καὶ Μύρωνος λόγον---Ἀριστομένην, ὃς καὶ πρῶτος καὶ μάλιστα τὸ Μεσσήνης ὄνομα ἐς ἀξίωμα προήγαγε, τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα ἐπεισήγαγε μὲν ὁ Πριηνεὺς ἐς τὴν συγγραφήν, Ῥιανῷ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν οὐδὲν Ἀριστομένης ἐστὶν ἀφανέστερος ἢ Ἀχιλλεὺς ἐν Ἰλιάδι Ὁμήρῳ. | Now, concerning the Messenian Aristomenes—for it was chiefly on his account that I related the whole dispute between Rhianus and Myron—this Aristomenes, who first and above all others raised the name of Messene to its height of honor, the historian from Priene introduced him into his narrative. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.3 | 2 | διάφορα οὖν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον εἰρηκότων, προσέσθαι μὲν τὸν ἕτερόν μοι τῶν λόγων καὶ οὐχ ἅμα ἀμφοτέρους ὑπελείπετο, Ῥιανὸς δέ μοι ποιῆσαι μᾶλλον ἐφαίνετο εἰκότα ἐς τὴν Ἀριστομένους ἡλικίαν· | But in Rhianus' poem Aristomenes is no less prominent than Achilles is in Homer's Iliad. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.4 | 1 | Μύρωνα δὲ ἐπί τε ἄλλοις καταμαθεῖν ἔστιν οὐ προορώμενον εἰ ψευδῆ τε καὶ οὐ πιθανὰ δόξει λέγειν καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἐν τῇδε τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ συγγραφῇ. | One can observe in other passages also that Myron was not concerned beforehand whether his statements might seem false and improbable, and not least in this work on Messenia. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.4 | 2 | πεποίηκε γὰρ ὡς ἀποκτείνειε Θεόπομπον τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων τὸν βασιλέα Ἀριστομένης ὀλίγον πρὸ τῆς Ἀριστοδήμου τελευτῆς· | For he made Aristomenes slay Theopompus, the king of the Lacedaemonians, somewhat before the death of Aristodemus. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.4 | 3 | Θεόπομπον δὲ οὔτε μάχης γινομένης οὔτε ἄλλως προαποθανόντα ἴσμεν πρὶν ἢ διαπολεμηθῆναι τὸν πόλεμον. | But we know that Theopompus did not die beforehand, either in battle or otherwise, until the war had completely ended. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.5 | 1 | οὗτος δὲ ὁ Θεόπομπος· ἦν καὶ ὁ πέρας ἐπιθεὶς τῷ πολέμῳ· | This Theopompus was also the one who brought the war to its conclusion. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.5 | 2 | μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι καὶ τὰ ἐλεγεῖα τῶν Τυρταίου λέγοντα ἡμετέρῳ βασιλῆι θεοῖσι φίλῳ Θεοπόμπῳ, ὃν διὰ Μεσσήνην εἵλομεν εὐρύχορον. | My assertion is supported by Tyrtaeus' elegiac verses, which say: "to our king dear to the gods, Theopompus, whom we seized wide-rich Messene." | ? | ? |
| 4.6.5 | 3 | ὁ τοίνυν Ἀριστομένης δόξῃ γε ἐμῇ γέγονεν ἐπὶ τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ ὑστέρου· καὶ τὰ ἐς αὐτόν, ἐπειδὰν ἐς τοῦτο ὁ λόγος ἀφίκηται, τηνικαῦτα ἐπέξειμι. | Aristomenes, in my opinion at least, belongs to the later war; I shall deal with what concerns him at the appropriate place in my narrative. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.6 | 1 | οἱ δὲ Μεσσήνιοι τότε, ὡς τὰ περὶ τὴν Ἄμφειαν ἤκουον παρʼ αὐτῶν τῶν ἀποσωθέντων ἐκ τῆς ἁλώσεως, συνελέγοντο ἐς Στενύκληρον ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων. | The Messenians, at that time hearing of the events at Ampheia from those who had escaped from its capture, gathered together from their cities at Stenykleros. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.6 | 2 | ἀθροισθέντος δὲ ἐς ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ δήμου καὶ ἄλλοι τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ τελευταῖος ὁ βασιλεὺς παρεκελεύετο μήτε τῆς Ἀμφείας καταπεπλῆχθαι τὴν πόρθησιν, ὡς τὸν πάντα ἤδη κεκριμένον διʼ αὐτῆς πόλεμον, μήτε ὡς τῆς σφετέρας κρείσσονα τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων δεδοικέναι τὴν παρασκευήν· | When the people had assembled in assembly, various magistrates spoke, and last of all the king addressed them, urging them neither to be discouraged by the capture of Ampheia, as though the entire war had already been decided by it, nor to fear the military preparations of the Lacedaemonians as surpassing their own. | ? | ? |
| 4.6.6 | 3 | μελέτην μὲν γὰρ ἐκείνοις τῶν πολεμικῶν ἐκ χρόνου πλείονος, σφίσι δὲ εἶναι τήν τε ἀνάγκην ἰσχυροτέραν ἀνδράσιν ἀγαθοῖς γίνεσθαι καὶ τὸ εὐμενέστερον ἔσεσθαι παρὰ τῶν θεῶν ἀμύνουσι τῇ οἰκείᾳ καὶ οὐκ ἀδικίας ἄρχουσιν. | For he said that, although the Spartans had long and practiced experience in warfare, the Messenians had the stronger motivation, which naturally leads brave men to greater deeds, and could count upon greater support from the gods, being defenders of their own territory and not initiators of injustice. | ? | ? |