- 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-grc2:4.53.1-4.53.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Explains the Athenian expedition to Cythera under the command of Nicias and others, and details the geographical and military importance of the island for the defense of Laconia.
Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ θέρει ἑξήκοντα ναυσὶ καὶ δισχιλίοις ὁπλίταις ἱππεῦσί τε ὀλίγοις καὶ τῶν ξυμμάχων Μιλησίους καὶ ἄλλους τινὰς ἀγαγόντες ἐστράτευσαν ἐπὶ Κύθηρα· ἐστρατήγει δὲ αὐτῶν Νικίας ὁ Νικηράτου καὶ Νικόστρατος ὁ Διειτρέφους καὶ Αὐτοκλῆς ὁ Τολμαίου.
In the same summer the Athenians campaigned against Cythera with sixty ships, two thousand hoplites, and a few cavalry, taking with them also some Milesians and others of their allies; their generals were Nicias son of Niceratus, Nicostratus son of Diitrephes, and Autocles son of Tolmaeus.
τὰ δὲ Κύθηρα νῆσός ἐστιν, ἐπίκειται δὲ τῇ Λακωνικῇ κατὰ Μαλέαν· Λακεδαιμόνιοι δ’ εἰσὶ τῶν περιοίκων,1 καὶ κυθηροδίκης ἀρχὴ ἐκ τῆς Σπάρτης διέβαινεν αὐτόσε κατὰ ἔτος, ὁπλιτῶν τε φρουρὰν διέπεμπον αἰεὶ καὶ πολλὴν ἐπιμέλειαν ἐποιοῦντο.
Cythera is an island lying off Laconia near Malea; the inhabitants are Lacedaemonians of the Perioeci, and a magistrate called the “Judge of Cythera” used to cross over there from Sparta every year. They also regularly dispatched a garrison of hoplites there and paid great attention to it.
ἦν γὰρ αὐτοῖς τῶν τε ἀπ’ Αἰγύπτου καὶ Λιβύης ὁλκάδων προσβολή, καὶ λῃσταὶ ἅμα τὴν Λακωνικὴν ἧσσον ἐλύπουν ἐκ θαλάσσης, ᾗπερ μόνον οἷόν τε ἦν κακουργεῖσθαι·2 πᾶσα γὰρ ἀνέχει πρὸς τὸ Σικελικὸν καὶ Κρητικὸν πέλαγος.
For it was the landing-place for the merchant vessels from Egypt and Libya, and at the same time privateers would harass Laconia less from the sea, which was the only way it could be damaged; for the whole country projects into the Sicilian and Cretan seas.
- 4.53.2τῶν περιοίκων
The genitive τῶν περιοίκων (the Perioeci) is a partitive genitive, indicating that the inhabitants of Cythera (implied as the subject) were Lacedaemonians who belonged to the class of the Perioeci.
- 4.53.3ᾗπερ μόνον οἷόν τε ἦν κακουργεῖσθαι
The relative adverb ᾗπερ (by which way, in which manner) refers back to the route indicated by ἐκ θαλάσσης (from the sea), meaning "which was the only way." The present infinitive passive κακουργεῖσθαι (to be damaged/harassed) depends on the impersonal construction οἷόν τε ἦν (it was possible).