- 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-grc2:2.31.1-2.31.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-22
The passage describes the Athenian invasion of the Megarid with their entire force under Pericles' command, highlighting the unprecedented scale of the assembled army.
περὶ δὲ τὸ φθινόπωρον τοῦ θέρους τούτου Ἀθηναῖοι πανδημεί, αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ μέτοικοι, ἐσέβαλον ἐς τὴν Μεγαρίδα Περικλέους τοῦ Ξανθίππου στρατηγοῦντος. καὶ οἱ περὶ Πελοπόννησον Ἀθηναῖοι ἐν ταῖς ἑκατὸν ναυσίν (ἔτυχον γὰρ ἤδη ἐν Αἰγίνῃ ὄντες1 ἐπ’ οἴκου ἀνακομιζόμενοι) ὡς ᾔσθοντο τοὺς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως πανστρατιᾷ ἐν Μεγάροις ὄντας, ἔπλευσαν παρ’ αὐτοὺς καὶ ξυνεμείχθησαν.
About the autumn of this summer, the Athenians invaded the Megarid with their whole population, both citizens and metics, under the command of Pericles, son of Xanthippus, as general. And the Athenians in the hundred ships around the Peloponnese (for they happened to be already at Aegina on their way home), when they perceived that those from the city were in Megara with their whole force, sailed to join them and united with them.
στρατόπεδόν τε μέγιστον δὴ τοῦτο ἁθρόον Ἀθηναίων ἐγένετο, ἀκμαζούσης ἔτι τῆς πόλεως καὶ οὔπω νενοσηκυίας·2 μυρίων γὰρ ὁπλιτῶν οὐκ ἐλάσσους ἦσαν αὐτοὶ Ἀθηναῖοι (χωρὶς δὲ αὐτοῖς οἱ ἐν Ποτειδαίᾳ τρισχίλιοι ἦσαν),3 μέτοικοι δὲ ξυνεσέβαλον οὐκ ἐλάσσους τρισχιλίων ὁπλιτῶν, χωρὶς δὲ ὁ ἄλλος ὅμιλος ψιλῶν οὐκ ὀλίγος. δῃώσαντες δὲ τὰ πολλὰ τῆς γῆς ἀνεχώρησαν.
This was indeed the largest assembled Athenian army, while the city was still at its height and not yet afflicted by the plague; for the Athenians themselves were not fewer than ten thousand hoplites (besides whom there were the three thousand at Potidaea), and the metics who invaded with them were not fewer than three thousand hoplites, and besides these, there was a not inconsiderable crowd of other light-armed troops. Having ravaged most of the land, they withdrew.
ἐγένοντο δὲ καὶ ἄλλαι ὕστερον ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ κατὰ ἔτος ἕκαστον ἐσβολαὶ Ἀθηναίων ἐς τὴν Μεγαρίδα καὶ ἱππέων καὶ πανστρατιᾷ, μέχρι οὗ Νίσαια ἑάλω ὑπ’ Ἀθηναίων.
There were also other subsequent invasions of the Megarid made by the Athenians during the war every year, both with cavalry and with their whole force, until Nisaea was captured by the Athenians.
- 2.31.1ἔτυχον ... ὄντες
The verb τυγχάνω with a participle (here ὄντες) forms a periphrastic construction meaning "happen to be" or "coincidentally be." Here it explains that the Athenian fleet "happened to be already at Aegina" on their way back.
- 2.31.2ἀκμαζούσης ἔτι τῆς πόλεως καὶ οὔπω νενοσηκυίας
A genitive absolute construction with the noun τῆς πόλεως and the participles ἀκμαζούσης and νενοσηκυίας (perfect active), functioning here as a causal clause ("since the city was still..."). The phrase οὔπω νενοσηκυίας ("not yet having fallen ill") foreshadows the famous plague that would soon afflict Athens.
- 2.31.2χωρὶς δὲ αὐτοῖς οἱ ἐν Ποτειδαίᾳ τρισχίλιοι ἦσαν
The dative pronoun αὐτοῖς functions as a dative of possession ("they had") or reference ("for them"), referring to the Athenians. The phrase means "besides these, they had the three thousand at Potidaea," indicating an expeditionary force distinct from the main army assembled at Athens.