Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.53.4 · 2.53.4
Neither gods nor laws held anyone back
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θεῶν δὲ φόβος ἢ ἀνθρώπων νόμος οὐδεὶς ἀπεῖργε, τὸ μὲν κρίνοντες ἐν ὁμοίῳ καὶ σέβειν καὶ μὴ ἐκ τοῦ πάντας ὁρᾶν ἐν ἴσῳ ἀπολλυμένους, τῶν δὲ ἁμαρτημάτων οὐδεὶς ἐλπίζων μέχρι τοῦ δίκην γενέσθαι βιοὺς ἂν τὴν τιμωρίαν ἀντιδοῦναι, πολὺ δὲ μείζω τὴν ἤδη κατεψηφισμένην σφῶν ἐπικρεμασθῆναι, ἣν πρὶν ἐμπεσεῖν εἰκὸς εἶναι τοῦ βίου τι ἀπολαῦσαι.
No fear of the gods and no law of men held anyone back. People judged it the same whether one worshipped or not, since they saw everyone dying alike. And for their wrongdoings no one expected to live until a trial came and pay the penalty. They felt that a much heavier sentence, already voted against them, was hanging over their heads, and that before it fell it was reasonable to enjoy something of life.
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The setting
Fear of the gods and the law of men no longer restrained anyone: worship made no difference when all died alike, and no one expected to live to be punished.
A note on this passage
Thucydides puts the two restraints side by side as theōn phobos, "fear of gods," and anthrōpōn nomos, "law of men." The first is a feeling and the second is a rule, and neither held anyone back (apeirge). The reasoning for the gods is in en homoiōi, "on equal terms": sebein, to revere, and mē, not to, came to the same thing when everyone was seen apollymenous, perishing, en isōi, equally. The reasoning for law is about time. A trial (dikē) comes late, and no one hoped to live that long.
He then describes the fear that took the law's place. The perfect passive katepsēphismenēn comes from katapsēphizomai, "to vote against," so the sentence is pictured as already passed by a jury, and epikremasthēnai has it hanging over people like a weight on a thread. The last clause draws the conclusion, eikos, "reasonable": use the part of life that remains before the weight falls.
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