- 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-grc2:4.1.1-4.1.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-28
At the beginning of the next summer, the Syracusans and Locrians seized Messene, causing it to revolt from Athens, while the Locrians invaded the territory of Rhegium, which was unable to defend itself due to internal faction.
τοῦ δ’ ἐπιγιγνομένου θέρους περὶ σίτου ἐκβολὴν Συρακοσίων δέκα νῆες πλεύσασαι καὶ Λοκρίδες ἴσαι Μεσσήνην τὴν ἐν Σικελίᾳ κατέλαβον, αὐτῶν ἐπαγαγομένων,1 καὶ ἀπέστη Μεσσήνη Ἀθηναίων.
In the following summer, about the time when the corn ears appear, ten ships of the Syracusans and an equal number of Locrian ones sailed and seized Messene in Sicily, the inhabitants themselves having invited them, and Messene revolted from the Athenians.
ἔπραξαν δὲ τοῦτο μάλιστα οἱ μὲν Συρακόσιοι ὁρῶντες προσβολὴν ἔχον τὸ χωρίον τῆς Σικελίας καὶ φοβούμενοι τοὺς Ἀθηναίους μὴ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ὁρμώμενοί ποτε σφίσι μείζονι παρασκευῇ ἐπέλθωσιν,2 οἱ δὲ Λοκροὶ κατὰ ἔχθος τὸ Ῥηγίνων, βουλόμενοι ἀμφοτέρωθεν αὐτοὺς καταπολεμεῖν.
This they did chiefly because the Syracusans saw that the place possessed an approach to Sicily, and feared that the Athenians, starting from there, might some day attack them with a larger force; while the Locrians did so out of hatred for the Rhegines, wishing to make war on them from both sides.
καὶ ἐσεβεβλήκεσαν ἅμα ἐς τὴν Ῥηγίνων οἱ Λοκροὶ πανστρατιᾷ, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιβοηθῶσι τοῖς Μεσσηνίοις, ἅμα δὲ καὶ ξυνεπαγόντων Ῥηγίνων φυγάδων, οἳ ἦσαν παρ’ αὐτοῖς· τὸ γὰρ Ῥήγιον ἐπὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἐστασίαζε καὶ ἀδύνατα ἦν3 ἐν τῷ παρόντι τοὺς Λοκροὺς ἀμύνεσθαι, ᾗ καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπετίθεντο.
At the same time, the Locrians had invaded the territory of the Rhegines with their whole army, so that they might not bring help to the Messenians, and also because Rhegine exiles who were with them were urging them on; for Rhegium had been in sedition for a long time, and it was impossible for them at present to defend themselves against the Locrians, which was also why they attacked them all the more.
δῃώσαντες δὲ οἱ μὲν Λοκροὶ τῷ πεζῷ ἀπεχώρησαν, αἱ δὲ νῆες Μεσσήνην ἐφρούρουν· καὶ ἄλλαι αἱ πληρούμεναι ἔμελλον αὐτόσε ἐγκαθορμισάμεναι τὸν πόλεμον ἐντεῦθεν ποιήσεσθαι.
And after ravaging the land, the Locrians withdrew with their land forces, but the ships guarded Messene; and other ships, which were being manned, were about to anchor there and carry on the war from that base.
- 4.1.1αὐτῶν ἐπαγαγομένων
Meaning 'they having invited them'. It is a genitive absolute construction, where the genitive subject αὐτῶν refers to the 'people of Messene', implied by the preceding feminine singular proper noun Μεσσήνην (the city of Messene).
- 4.1.2τοὺς Ἀθηναίους μὴ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ... ἐπέλθωσιν
A proleptic construction (anticipatory accusative). τοὺς Ἀθηναίους is placed as the direct object of the verbal participle φοβούμενοι in the main clause, but semantically functions as the subject of the subordinate clause introduced by μὴ ('lest the Athenians... should attack').
- 4.1.3ἀδύνατα ἦν
The neuter plural adjective ἀδύνατα is used with the impersonal verb ἦν, forming an impersonal construction meaning 'it was impossible to...' with the infinitive phrase τοὺς Λοκροὺς ἀμύνεσθαι acting as the logical subject. It functions in the same way as the singular ἀδύνατον ἦν.