Kitap 1
143.4
Again, should they come by land against our country, we will sail against theirs; and Literally, it will no longer be the same thing for some part of the Peloponnese to be ravaged, and for the whole of Attica. the loss will be greater for even a part of' the Peloponnese to be ravaged, than for the whole of Attica. For they will not be able to obtain any land in its stead without fighting for it; while we have abundance, both in islands and on the mainland. Moreover, consider it [in this point of view]: if we had been islanders, who would have been more impregnable?
143.5
And we ought, as it is, with views as near as possible to those of islanders, to αφίημι is used in a similar sense by Sophocles, oed. Col. 914. ei)=t' a)fei\sta\ th=sde th=s gh=s ku/ri', w(=d' e)peispesw\n,a)/geis q' a(/ xrh/|zeis, kai\ pari/stasai bi/a|. Soph. OC 914-916 give up all thought of our land and houses, and keep watch over the sea and the city; and not, through being enraged on their account, to come to an engagement with the Peloponnesians, who are much more numerous; (for if we defeat them, we shall have to fight again with no fewer of them: and if we meet with a reverse, our allies are lost also; for they will not remain quiet if we are not able to lead our forces against them;) and we should make lamentation, not for the houses and land, but for the lives [that are lost]; for it is not these things that gain men, but men that gain these things. And if I thought that I should persuade you, I would bid you go out yourselves and ravage them, and show the Peloponnesians that you will not submit to them for these things, at any rate.
144.1
I have also many other grounds for hoping that we shall conquer, if you will avoid gaining additional dominion at the time of your being engaged in the war, and bringing on yourselves dangers of your own choosing; for I am more afraid of our own mistakes than of the enemy's plans.
