In a single battle the Peloponnesians and their allies may be able to defy all Hellas, but they are incapacitated from carrying on a war against a power different in character from their own, by the want of the single council-chamber requisite to prompt and vigorous action, and the substitution of a diet composed of various races, in which every state possesses an equal vote, and each presses its own ends, a condition of things which generally results in no action at all.
"Peloponesoarrak eta beren aliatuak bataila bakarrean Heleniar guztiei buru egiteko gai dira, baina ez dira gauza erakunde militar ezberdin baten kontra gerra bat egiteko, izan ere, ez dutenez kontseilu bakarra, ezin dute berehala eta adorez betearazi edozein erabaki, eta botoek balio berbera dutenez eta leinu berekoak ez direnez, bakoitza berearen alde doa;