- 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-grc2:4.93.1-4.93.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
Pagondas leads the Boeotian army to a hidden position near the Athenians, while Hippocrates prepares the Athenian lines. The Boeotians arrange their forces, with the Thebans forming a deep formation of twenty-five shields on the right wing.
τοιαῦτα ὁ Παγώνδας τοῖς Βοιωτοῖς παραινέσας ἔπεισεν ἰέναι ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀθηναίους. καὶ κατὰ τάχος ἀναστήσας ἦγε τὸν στρατόν (ἤδη γὰρ καὶ τῆς ἡμέρας ὀψὲ ἦν), καὶ ἐπειδὴ προσέμειξεν ἐγγὺς τοῦ στρατεύματος αὐτῶν, ἐς χωρίον καθίσας ὅθεν λόφου ὄντος μεταξὺ οὐκ ἐθεώρουν ἀλλήλους, ἔτασσέ τε καὶ παρεσκευάζετο ὡς ἐς μάχην.
Pagondas, having thus exhorted the Boeotians, persuaded them to march against the Athenians. And hastily setting them in motion, he led the army (for it was already late in the day), and when he came near their army, having halted in a place from which, because there was a hill in between, they could not see one another, he drew them up and made preparations as if for battle.
τῷ δὲ Ἱπποκράτει1 ὄντι περὶ τὸ Δήλιον ὡς αὐτῷ ἠγγέλθη ὅτι Βοιωτοὶ ἐπέρχονται, πέμπει ἐς τὸ στράτευμα κελεύων ἐς τάξιν καθίστασθαι, καὶ αὐτὸς οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον ἐπῆλθε, καταλιπὼν ὡς τριακοσίους ἱππέας περὶ τὸ Δήλιον, ὅπως φύλακές τε ἅμα εἶεν, εἴ τις ἐπίοι αὐτῷ, καὶ τοῖς Βοιωτοῖς καιρὸν φυλάξαντες ἐπιγένοιντο ἐν τῇ μάχῃ.
As for Hippocrates, who was at Delium, when it was reported to him that the Boeotians were advancing, he sent to the army, ordering them to get into line, and he himself followed not long after, having left about three hundred cavalry at Delium, so that they might both serve as a guard in case anyone attacked it, and, watching for an opportunity, fall upon the Boeotians in the battle.
Βοιωτοὶ δὲ πρὸς τούτους ἀντικατέστησαν τοὺς ἀμυνουμένους, καὶ ἐπειδὴ καλῶς αὐτοῖς εἶχεν,2 ὑπερεφάνησαν τοῦ λόφου καὶ ἔθεντο τὰ ὅπλα τεταγμένοι ὥσπερ ἔμελλον, ὁπλῖται ἑπτακισχίλιοι μάλιστα καὶ ψιλοὶ ὑπὲρ μυρίους, ἱππῆς δὲ χίλιοι καὶ πελτασταὶ πεντακόσιοι.
The Boeotians drew themselves up against these who were about to defend themselves, and when they were ready, they appeared over the hill and grounded their arms, drawn up just as they were to fight, namely, about seven thousand hoplites, more than ten thousand light-armed troops, a thousand cavalry, and five hundred peltasts.
εἶχον δὲ δεξιὸν μὲν κέρας Θηβαῖοι καὶ οἱ ξύμμοροι αὐτοῖς· μέσοι δὲ Ἁλιάρτιοι καὶ Κορωναῖοι καὶ Κωπαιῆς καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι οἱ περὶ τὴν λίμνην· τὸ δὲ εὐώνυμον εἶχον Θεσπιῆς καὶ Ταναγραῖοι καὶ Ὀρχομένιοι. ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ κέρᾳ ἑκατέρῳ οἱ ἱππῆς καὶ ψιλοὶ ἦσαν. ἐπ᾽ ἀσπίδας3 δὲ πέντε μὲν καὶ εἴκοσι Θηβαῖοι ἐτάξαντο, οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι ὡς ἕκαστοι ἔτυχον.
The Thebans and their allies held the right wing; in the center were the Haliartians, Coroneans, Copaeans, and the others around the lake; the left wing was held by the Thespians, Tanagraeans, and Orchomenians. On each wing were the cavalry and the light-armed troops. The Thebans drew up twenty-five shields deep, while the others as each happened to.
αὕτη μὲν Βοιωτῶν παρασκευὴ καὶ διάκοσμος ἦν·
This was the preparation and array of the Boeotians.
- 4.93.2τῷ δὲ Ἱπποκράτει
The dative at the beginning of the sentence is a proleptic or hanging dative, anticipating and functioning in apposition with the pronoun αὐτῷ inside the subsequent clause ὡς αὐτῷ ἠγγέλθη.
- 4.93.3καλῶς αὐτοῖς εἶχεν
The impersonal verb εἶχεν (imperfect of ἔχει) with the adverb καλῶς and the dative αὐτοῖς idiomaticially means 'things were well with them' or 'they were ready'.
- 4.93.4ἐπ᾽ ἀσπίδας
The preposition ἐπί with the accusative ἀσπίδας is an idiomatic military expression used to indicate the depth of a combat formation ('twenty-five shields deep').