- Source
- Thucydides. Historiae, Vol 1-2. Jones, Henry Stuart, editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1910. (1942 printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.12.1-2.12.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-22
Archidamus sends Melesippus as an envoy to Athens, but the Athenians refuse negotiations and send him back immediately. In response, the Peloponnesian forces begin their invasion of Attica, while the Boeotians ravage the territory of Plataea.
τοσαῦτα εἰπὼν καὶ διαλύσας τὸν ξύλλογον ὁ Ἀρχίδαμος Μελήσιππον πρῶτον ἀποστέλλει ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας τὸν Διακρίτου ἄνδρα Σπαρτιάτην, εἴ τι ἄρα μᾶλλον ἐνδοῖεν1 οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ὁρῶντες σφᾶς ἤδη ἐν ὁδῷ ὄντας.
Having said this much and dismissed the assembly, Archidamus first sent Melesippus, son of Diacritus, a Spartan, to Athens, in case the Athenians might show themselves more inclined to yield now that they saw them already on the march.
οἱ δὲ οὐ προσεδέξαντο αὐτὸν ἐς τὴν πόλιν οὐδ’ ἐπὶ τὸ κοινόν· ἦν γὰρ Περικλέους γνώμη πρότερον νενικηκυῖα κήρυκα καὶ πρεσβείαν μὴ προσδέχεσθαι Λακεδαιμονίων ἐξεστρατευμένων· ἀποπέμπουσιν οὖν αὐτὸν πρὶν ἀκοῦσαι καὶ ἐκέλευον ἐκτὸς ὅρων εἶναι αὐθημερόν, τό τε λοιπὸν ἀναχωρήσαντας2 ἐπὶ τὰ σφέτερα αὐτῶν, ἤν τι βούλωνται, πρεσβεύεσθαι. ξυμπέμπουσί τε τῷ Μελησίππῳ ἀγωγούς, ὅπως μηδενὶ ξυγγένηται.
But they did not admit him into the city or to the public assembly; for a proposal of Pericles had previously prevailed, that they should not receive any herald or embassy from the Lacedaemonians once they had taken the field. They therefore sent him back before hearing him, and ordered him to be beyond the borders on that very day, and that in the future, only after they had retired to their own territory, they might send embassies if they wished. They also sent guards with Melesippus to accompany him, so that he might hold communication with no one.
ὁ δ’ ἐπειδὴ ἐπὶ τοῖς ὁρίοις ἐγένετο καὶ ἔμελλε διαλύσεσθαι, τοσόνδε εἰπὼν ἐπορεύετο ὅτι ‘ἥδε ἡ ἡμέρα τοῖς Ἕλλησι μεγάλων κακῶν ἄρξει.’
And when he arrived at the borders and was about to part from them, he went on his way, saying only this: ‘This day will be the beginning of great evils for the Hellenes.’
ὡς δὲ ἀφίκετο ἐς τὸ στρατόπεδον καὶ ἔγνω ὁ Ἀρχίδαμος ὅτι οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι οὐδέν πω ἐνδώσουσιν, οὕτω δὴ ἄρας τῷ στρατῷ3 προυχώρει ἐς τὴν γῆν αὐτῶν.
When he returned to the camp and Archidamus realized that the Athenians would not yet make any concession, he then at last broke camp with his army and advanced into their territory.
Βοιωτοὶ δὲ μέρος μὲν τὸ σφέτερον καὶ τοὺς ἱππέας παρείχοντο Πελοποννησίοις ξυστρατεύειν, τοῖς δὲ λειπομένοις ἐς Πλάταιαν ἐλθόντες τὴν γῆν ἐδῄουν.
Meanwhile, the Boeotians furnished their own contingent and their cavalry to campaign with the Peloponnesians, while with the remainder of their forces they marched to Plataea and ravaged their land.
- 2.12.1εἴ τι ἄρα μᾶλλον ἐνδοῖεν
The combination of the conjunction εἰ with the optative ἐνδοῖεν (third-person plural aorist active optative of ενδίδωμι). Following the main verb in the historical present (ἀποστέλλει), it functions as an adverbial conditional clause expressing the expectation or tentative purpose of the subject ('in case they might yield' or 'to see if they would yield').
- 2.12.2ἀναχωρήσαντας
An accusative plural aorist active participle. It agrees in gender, number, and case with the implied accusative subject of the infinitive πρεσβεύεσθαι (they, i.e., the Lacedaemonians).
- 2.12.4ἄρας τῷ στρατῷ
The participle ἄρας (nominative masculine singular aorist active participle of αἴρω) is used intransitively in military contexts, meaning 'having started' or 'having set out'. The dative τῷ στρατῷ functions as a dative of accompaniment or instrument ('with the army').