30.
'My opinion, Alcidas, and you, my fellow-commanders of the Peloponnesian forces, is
that we1 should attack Mytilenè at once, just as we are, before our arrival is
known.
[2]
In all probability we shall find that men who have recently gained possession of a city
will be much off their guard, and entirely so at sea, on which element they do not fear
the attack of an enemy, and where at this moment we can strike with effect.
Probably too their land forces, in the carelessness of victory, will be scattered up
and down among the houses of the city.
[3]
If we were to fall upon them suddenly by night, with the help of our friends inside,
should there be any left, I have no doubt that Mytilenè would be ours.
[4]
The danger should not deter us; for we should consider that the execution of a military
surprise is always dangerous, and that the general who is never taken off his guard
himself, and never loses an opportunity of striking at an unguarded foe, will be most
likely to succeed in war.'
1 Let us hurry on to Mytilenè. We shall find the Athenians off their guard. The art of the general is to surprise others, never to be surprised.
Thucydides translated into English; with introduction, marginal analysis, notes, and indices. Volume 1. Thucydides. Benjamin Jowett. translator. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1881.
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