- 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-grc2:2.68.1-2.68.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-23
Triggered by the Ambraciot expedition against Amphilochian Argos, the narrative details the history of the city's foundation, its conflict with the Ambraciots, and its subsequent alliance with Athens and the Acarnanians.
κατὰ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους, τοῦ θέρους τελευτῶντος, καὶ Ἀμπρακιῶται αὐτοί τε καὶ τῶν βαρβάρων πολλοὺς ἀναστήσαντες1 ἐστράτευσαν ἐπ’ Ἄργος τὸ Ἀμφιλοχικὸν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην Ἀμφιλοχίαν.
At the same time, at the end of the summer, the Ambraciots themselves, along with many of the barbarians whom they had mobilized, marched against Amphilochian Argos and the rest of Amphilochia.
ἔχθρα δὲ πρὸς τοὺς Ἀργείους ἀπὸ τοῦδε αὐτοῖς ἤρξατο πρῶτον γενέσθαι.
Their hostility toward the Argives first began to arise from the following cause.
Ἄργος τὸ Ἀμφιλοχικὸν καὶ Ἀμφιλοχίαν τὴν ἄλλην ἔκτισε μὲν μετὰ τὰ Τρωικὰ οἴκαδε ἀναχωρήσας καὶ οὐκ ἀρεσκόμενος τῇ ἐν Ἄργει καταστάσει Ἀμφίλοχος ὁ Ἀμφιάρεω ἐν τῷ Ἀμπρακικῷ κόλπῳ, ὁμώνυμον τῇ ἑαυτοῦ πατρίδι Ἄργος ὀνομάσας2 (καὶ ἦν ἡ πόλις αὕτη μεγίστη τῆς Ἀμφιλοχίας καὶ τοὺς δυνατωτάτους εἶχεν οἰκήτορας), ὑπὸ ξυμφορῶν δὲ πολλαῖς γενεαῖς ὕστερον πιεζόμενοι Ἀμπρακιώτας ὁμόρους ὄντας τῇ Ἀμφιλοχικῇ ξυνοίκους ἐπηγάγοντο, καὶ ἡλληνίσθησαν τὴν νῦν γλῶσσαν3 τότε πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῶν Ἀμπρακιωτῶν ξυνοικησάντων· οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι Ἀμφίλοχοι βάρβαροί εἰσιν.
Amphilochian Argos and the rest of Amphilochia were founded after the Trojan War by Amphilochus, the son of Amphiaraus, who had returned home but was dissatisfied with the state of affairs in Argos; he founded it in the Ambracian Gulf and named it Argos after his own homeland. (And this city was the largest in Amphilochia and had the most powerful inhabitants.) But many generations later, being hard pressed by misfortunes, they invited the Ambraciots, who were their neighbors, to join them as co-habitants; and they then for the first time learned their present Greek language from the Ambraciots who had settled with them. The other Amphilochians, however, are barbarians.
ἐκβάλλουσιν οὖν τοὺς Ἀργείους οἱ Ἀμπρακιῶται χρόνῳ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἴσχουσι τὴν πόλιν.
In the course of time, therefore, the Ambraciots expelled the Argives and held the city themselves.
οἱ δ’ Ἀμφίλοχοι γενομένου τούτου διδόασιν ἑαυτοὺς Ἀκαρνᾶσι,4 καὶ προσπαρακαλέσαντες ἀμφότεροι Ἀθηναίους, οἳ αὐτοῖς Φορμίωνά τε στρατηγὸν ἔπεμψαν καὶ ναῦς τριάκοντα, ἀφικομένου [δὲ] τοῦ Φορμίωνος αἱροῦσι κατὰ κράτος Ἄργος καὶ τοὺς Ἀμπρακιώτας ἠνδραπόδισαν, κοινῇ τε ᾤκισαν αὐτὸ Ἀμφίλοχοι καὶ Ἀκαρνᾶνες.
Upon this happening, the Amphilochians gave themselves up to the Acarnanians, and both together called in the Athenians, who sent them Phormio as general with thirty ships. After the arrival of Phormio, they took Argos by storm and enslaved the Ambraciots, and the Amphilochians and Acarnanians settled the place together.
μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἡ ξυμμαχία πρῶτον ἐγένετο Ἀθηναίοις καὶ Ἀκαρνᾶσιν.
It was after this that the alliance was first made between the Athenians and the Acarnanians.
οἱ δὲ Ἀμπρακιῶται τὴν μὲν ἔχθραν ἐς τοὺς Ἀργείους ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνδραποδισμοῦ σφῶν αὐτῶν πρῶτον ἐποιήσαντο, ὕστερον δὲ ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ τήνδε τὴν στρατείαν ποιοῦνται αὑτῶν τε καὶ Χαόνων καὶ ἄλλων τινῶν τῶν πλησιοχώρων βαρβάρων· ἐλθόντες τε πρὸς τὸ Ἄργος τῆς μὲν χώρας ἐκράτουν, τὴν δὲ πόλιν ὡς οὐκ ἐδύναντο ἑλεῖν προσβαλόντες, ἀπεχώρησαν ἐπ’ οἴκου καὶ διελύθησαν κατὰ ἔθνη. τοσαῦτα μὲν ἐν τῷ θέρει ἐγένετο.
The Ambraciots first conceived their hostility toward the Argives because of this enslavement of themselves, and later, during this war, they made this expedition with themselves, the Chaonians, and some of the other neighboring barbarians. Having come to Argos, they mastered the country, but when they were unable to take the city by assault, they withdrew homeward and dispersed according to their tribes. Such were the events of the summer.
- 2.68.1τῶν βαρβάρων πολλοὺς ἀναστήσαντες
The first aorist active participle ἀναστήσαντες of the verb ἀνίστημι is used here in a causative sense, meaning 'having caused many of the barbarians to rise up (from their homes) and accompany them,' i.e., 'having mobilized.'
- 2.68.3ὁμώνυμον τῇ ἑαυτοῦ πατρίδι Ἄργος ὀνομάσας
The adjective ὁμώνυμον is in the neuter accusative singular, standing in apposition to the direct object noun Ἄργος, forming a double accusative construction: 'naming it Argos, a namesake of his own homeland.'
- 2.68.5ἡλληνίσθησαν τὴν νῦν γλῶσσαν
The passive form ἡλληνίσθησαν is used here in an active or middle sense meaning 'they became Hellenized in speech' or 'they adopted the Greek tongue.' The accusative τὴν νῦν γλῶσσαν functions as an accusative of specification or cognate accusative defining the area of Hellenization.
- 2.68.7διδόασιν ἑαυτοὺς Ἀκαρνᾶσι
διδόασιν is the third-person plural present active of δίδωμι. Literally 'they give themselves to the Acarnanians,' which is an idiomatic expression meaning 'they surrendered themselves' or 'placed themselves under the protection of' another power for political and military reasons.