Brasidas' March Through Thessaly to Macedonia — Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War Book 4 (4.78.1–4.78.6), Greek & English

§4.78.1

Βρασίδας¹ δὲ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον τοῦ θέρους πορευόμενος ἑπτακοσίοις καὶ χιλίοις ὁπλίταις ἐς τὰ ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης ἐπειδὴ ἐγένετο ἐν Ἡρακλείᾳ τῇ ἐν Τραχῖνι καί, προπέμψαντος αὐτοῦ ἄγγελον ἐς Φάρσαλον παρὰ τοὺς ἐπιτηδείους, ἀξιοῦντος διάγειν ἑαυτὸν καὶ τὴν στρατιάν, ἦλθον ἐς Μελίτειαν τῆς Ἀχαΐας Πάναιρός τε καὶ Δῶρος καὶ Ἱππολοχίδας καὶ Τορύλαος καὶ Στρόφακος πρόξενος ὢν Χαλκιδέων, τότε δὴ ἐπορεύετο.

And Brasidas, marching during the same period of the summer with seventeen hundred hoplites to the regions towards Thrace, when he arrived at Heracleia in Trachis, and after he had sent a messenger ahead to Pharsalus to his friends, requesting them to conduct himself and his army through, and Panaerus, Dorus, Hippolochidas, Torylaus, and Strophacus, who was the proxenus of the Chalcidians, came to Meliteia in Achaea, then indeed he proceeded.

§4.78.2

ἦγον δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι Θεσσαλῶν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐκ Λαρίσης Νικονίδας Περδίκκᾳ ἐπιτήδειος ὤν. τὴν γὰρ Θεσσαλίαν ἄλλως τε οὐκ εὔπορον ἦν διιέναι ἄνευ ἀγωγοῦ καὶ μετὰ ὅπλων γε δή, καὶ τοῖς πᾶσί γε ὁμοίως Ἕλλησιν ὕποπτον καθειστήκει τὴν τῶν πέλας μὴ πείσαντας διιέναι·² τοῖς τε Ἀθηναίοις αἰεί ποτε τὸ πλῆθος τῶν Θεσσαλῶν εὔνουν ὑπῆρχεν.

Other Thessalians also guided him, and from Larisa, Niconidas, who was a friend of Perdiccas. For otherwise it was not easy to pass through Thessaly without a guide, and especially with arms; and indeed, it was established as a matter of suspicion to all Greeks alike to pass through the land of their neighbors without having persuaded them; besides, the multitude of the Thessalians had always been well-disposed towards the Athenians.

§4.78.3

ὥστε εἰ μὴ δυναστείᾳ μᾶλλον ἢ ἰσονομίᾳ ἐχρῶντο³ τὸ ἐγχώριον οἱ Θεσσαλοί, οὐκ ἄν ποτε προῆλθεν, ἐπεὶ καὶ τότε πορευομένῳ αὐτῷ ἀπαντήσαντες ἄλλοι τῶν τἀναντία τούτοις βουλομένων ἐπὶ τῷ Ἐνιπεῖ ποταμῷ ἐκώλυον καὶ ἀδικεῖν ἔφασαν ἄνευ τοῦ πάντων κοινοῦ πορευόμενον.

So that if the Thessalians had not lived under a dynasty rather than a system of equal laws in their country, he would never have gone forward, since even then, as he was marching, others who wished the opposite to these met him at the Enipeus river and tried to prevent him, saying that he was doing wrong in marching without the consent of the whole community.

§4.78.4

οἱ δὲ ἄγοντες οὔτε ἀκόντων ἔφασαν διάξειν, αἰφνίδιόν τε παραγενόμενον ξένοι ὄντες κομίζειν. ἔλεγε δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Βρασίδας τῇ Θεσσαλῶν γῇ καὶ αὐτοῖς φίλος ὢν ἰέναι καὶ Ἀθηναίοις πολεμίοις οὖσι καὶ οὐκ ἐκείνοις ὅπλα ἐπιφέρειν, Θεσσαλοῖς τε οὐκ εἰδέναι καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις ἔχθραν οὖσαν ὥστε τῇ ἀλλήλων γῇ μὴ χρῆσθαι, νῦν τε ἀκόντων ἐκείνων οὐκ ἂν προελθεῖν (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν δύνασθαι),⁴ οὐ μέντοι ἀξιοῦν γε εἴργεσθαι.

But those who were guiding him said they would not conduct him against their will, and that, since he had arrived suddenly, they were only escorting him as his hosts. And Brasidas himself also said that he went as a friend to the land and people of the Thessalians, and that he was bearing arms against the Athenians who were his enemies, and not against them, and that he did not know of any hostility existing between the Thessalians and the Lacedaemonians so as not to use each other’s land, and that now indeed he would not go forward against their will (for indeed he would not be able to), yet he did not think it right to be shut out.

§4.78.5

καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀκούσαντες ταῦτα ἀπῆλθον, ὁ δὲ κελευόντων τῶν ἀγωγῶν, πρίν τι πλέον ξυστῆναι τὸ κωλῦσον, ἐχώρει οὐδὲν ἐπισχὼν δρόμῳ. καὶ ταύτῃ μὲν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, ᾗ ἐκ τῆς Μελιτείας ἀφώρμησεν, ἐς Φάρσαλόν τε ἐτέλεσε καὶ ἐστρατοπεδεύσατο ἐπὶ τῷ Ἀπιδανῷ ποταμῷ, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ ἐς Φάκιον, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐς Περραιβίαν.

And having heard these things, they departed; but he, at the urging of his guides, before any larger force should assemble to prevent him, proceeded at a run without stopping. And on that very day on which he set out from Meliteia, he reached Pharsalus and encamped near the Apidanus river, and thence went to Phacium, and from there to Perrhaebia.

§4.78.6

ἀπὸ δὲ τούτου ἤδη οἱ μὲν τῶν Θεσσαλῶν ἀγωγοὶ πάλιν ἀπῆλθον, οἱ δὲ Περραιβοὶ αὐτόν, ὑπήκοοι ὄντες Θεσσαλῶν, κατέστησαν ἐς Δῖον τῆς Περδίκκου ἀρχῆς, ὃ ὑπὸ τῷ Ὀλύμπῳ Μακεδονίας πρὸς Θεσσαλοὺς πόλισμα κεῖται.

From this point, the Thessalian guides went back again, and the Perrhaebi, who were subjects of the Thessalians, conducted him to Dium in the territory of Perdiccas, which is a small town of Macedonia situated under Mount Olympus, looking towards the Thessalians.

Syntax notes4 items

4.78.1Βρασίδας
The nominative Βρασίδας at the beginning of the sentence acts as the main subject of the whole period, but due to the insertion of the temporal clause and another clause with a different subject (ἦλθον...), the syntactical structure becomes an anacoluthon. The sentence is resumed at the end with τότε δὴ ἐπορεύετο to reconnect with the original subject.
4.78.2τὴν τῶν πέλας μὴ πείσαντας διιέναι
The feminine accusative article τὴν modifies the omitted noun γῆν ("the land of their neighbors"), serving as the direct object of the infinitive διιέναι (the entire infinitive clause functions as the subject of ὕποπτον καθειστήκει). The accusative plural participle πείσαντας ("after having persuaded") indicates that the indefinite subject of the infinitive is "people in general."
4.78.3εἰ μὴ δυναστείᾳ μᾶλλον ἢ ἰσονομίᾳ ἐχρῶντο
A past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence employing the imperfect indicative ἐχρῶντο in the protasis and ἄν with the aorist indicative προῆλθεν in the apodosis. It assumes the opposite of the historical fact that Thessaly was governed by a powerful oligarchy ("dynasty") rather than an equal democracy ("isonomy"), which was what enabled Brasidas to secure safe passage through private influence.
4.78.4οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν δύνασθαι
An infinitive with ἄν in indirect discourse dependent on ἔλεγε. It represents either a past contrary-to-fact indicative (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν ἐδυνάμην: "for indeed I would not have been able to") or a potential optative (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν δυναίμην: "for indeed I would not be able to") in the direct speech.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.78.1-4.78.6