Brasidas Breaks the Encirclement and Perdiccas Deflects — Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War Book 4 (4.128.1–4.128.5), Greek & English

§4.128.1

ὁ δὲ γνοὺς προεῖπε τοῖς μεθ’ αὑτοῦ τριακοσίοις, ὃν ᾤετο μᾶλλον ἂν ἑλεῖν τῶν λόφων,¹ χωρήσαντας πρὸς αὐτὸν δρόμῳ, ὡς τάχιστα ἕκαστος δύναται, ἄνευ τάξεως, πειρᾶσαι² ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐκκροῦσαι τοὺς ἤδη ἐπόντας βαρβάρους, πρὶν καὶ τὴν πλέονα κύκλωσιν σφῶν αὐτόσε προσμεῖξαι.

Perceiving this, he ordered the three hundred with him to advance at a run, as fast as each was able, without keeping ranks, toward that of the hills which he thought they could more easily capture, and to try to dislodge the barbarians who were already upon it, before the greater part of their encircling force could join them there.

§4.128.2

καὶ οἱ μὲν προσπεσόντες ἐκράτησάν τε τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ λόφου, καὶ ἡ πλείων ἤδη στρατιὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ῥᾷον πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπορεύοντο· οἱ γὰρ βάρβαροι καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν, τῆς τροπῆς αὐτοῖς ἐνταῦθα γενομένης σφῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ μετεώρου,καὶ ἐς τὸ πλέον οὐκέτ’ ἐπηκολούθουν, νομίζοντες καὶ ἐν μεθορίοις εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἤδη καὶ διαπεφευγέναι.

So they charged and overpowered those on the hill, and the main army of the Greeks now proceeded toward it with greater ease; for the barbarians were struck with fear, since their own rout from the high ground had occurred there, and they no longer followed them any further, thinking that the Greeks were already on the border and had escaped.

§4.128.3

Βρασίδας δὲ ὡς ἀντελάβετο τῶν μετεώρων, κατὰ ἀσφάλειαν μᾶλλον ἰὼν αὐθημερὸν ἀφικνεῖται ἐς Ἄρνισαν πρῶτον τῆς Περδίκκου ἀρχῆς.

When Brasidas had secured the high ground, he proceeded with greater safety and arrived on the same day at Arnisa, the first town of Perdiccas’ dominions.

§4.128.4

καὶ αὐτοὶ ὀργιζόμενοι οἱ στρατιῶται τῇ προαναχωρήσει τῶν Μακεδόνων, ὅσοις ἐνέτυχον κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ζεύγεσιν αὐτῶν βοεικοῖς ἢ εἴ τινι σκεύει ἐκπεπτωκότι, οἷα ἐν νυκτερινῇ καὶ φοβερᾷ ἀναχωρήσει εἰκὸς ἦν ξυμβῆναι, τὰ μὲν ὑπολύοντες κατέκοπτον, τῶν δὲ³ οἰκείωσιν ἐποιοῦντο.

And the soldiers themselves, being angry at the prior withdrawal of the Macedonians, whenever they encountered their ox-teams on the road or any fallen baggage, as was likely to happen in a fearful night retreat, unyoked and slaughtered the oxen, and made the rest of the baggage their own property.

§4.128.5

ἀπὸ τούτου τε πρῶτον Περδίκκας Βρασίδαν τε πολέμιον ἐνόμισε καὶ ἐς τὸ λοιπὸν Πελοποννησίων τῇ μὲν γνώμῃ δι’ Ἀθηναίους οὐ ξύνηθες μῖσος⁴ εἶχε, τῶν δὲ ἀναγκαίων ξυμφόρων διαναστὰς ἔπρασσεν ὅτῳ τρόπῳ τάχιστα τοῖς μὲν ξυμβήσεται, τῶν δὲ ἀπαλλάξεται.

From this time on, Perdiccas first began to regard Brasidas as an enemy, and for the future, though in his heart he cherished an unusual hatred for the Peloponnesians because of the Athenians, he withdrew from his essential interests and negotiated in what way he might most quickly come to terms with the latter and rid himself of the former.

Syntax notes4 items

4.128.1ὃν ᾤετο μᾶλλον ἂν ἑλεῖν τῶν λόφων
This structure involves the attraction of the antecedent λόφος into the relative clause, which stands for τὸν λόφον ὃν ᾤετο... ἂν ἑλεῖν. The particle ἂν goes with the infinitive ἑλεῖν to represent a potential or hypothetical action.
4.128.1χωρήσαντας... πειρᾶσαι
Although προεῖπε governs the dative τοῖς μεθ’ αὑτοῦ τριακοσίοις, the participle χωρήσαντας is in the accusative because it acts as the subject of the infinitive πειρᾶσαι. This shift from dative to accusative is common in infinitive clauses.
4.128.4ὅσοις ἐνέτυχον... τὰ μὲν... τῶν δὲ
The dative relative objects (ὅσοις... ζεύγεσιν... ἢ εἴ τινι σκεύει) are picked up and partitioned in the main clause by the pronominal contrast τὰ μὲν... τῶν δὲ as direct objects of κατέκοπτον and genitive objects of οἰκείωσιν ἐποιοῦντο.
4.128.5Πελοποννησίων... μῖσος
Πελοποννησίων is an objective genitive dependent on the noun μῖσος ('hatred toward the Peloponnesians').

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.128.1-4.128.5