Athenian Hostility to Perdiccas and Guard on Allies — Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War Book 4 (4.82.1), Greek & English

§4.82.1

τότε δ’ οὖν ἀφικομένου αὐτοῦ¹ ἐς τὰ ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι πυθόμενοι τόν τε Περδίκκαν πολέμιον ποιοῦνται,² νομίσαντες αἴτιον εἶναι³ τῆς παρόδου, καὶ τῶν ταύτῃ ξυμμάχων φυλακὴν πλέονα⁴ κατεστήσαντο.

At that time, therefore, upon his arrival in the Thracian region, the Athenians, when they heard of it, made Perdiccas an enemy, believing him to have been the cause of Brasidas’ passage, and established a stricter guard over their allies in those parts.

Syntax notes4 items

4.82.1ἀφικομένου αὐτοῦ
Genitive absolute construction. Possessing a subject (αὐτοῦ, referring to Brasidas) distinct from that of the main clause (οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι), it functions as an adverbial clause of time ('when he arrived' or 'upon his arrival').
4.82.1πολέμιον ποιοῦνται
The verb ποιοῦνται (middle of ποιέω, used here as a historic present) takes both τόν τε Περδίκκαν as its direct object and πολέμιον as its object complement in a double accusative construction, meaning 'they made Perdiccas an enemy to themselves'.
4.82.1αἴτιον εἶναι
An accusative-with-infinitive clause serving as the object of the participle νομίσαντες. The subject of the infinitive εἶναι is omitted because it refers back to the preceding Περδίκκαν. The adjective αἴτιον ('responsible' or 'the cause') governs the genitive τῆς παρόδου ('of the passage').
4.82.1πλέονα
The Attic contracted form of πλείονα, the accusative feminine singular of πλείων ('more', 'stricter'), modifying the feminine noun φυλακήν.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.82.1