- 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-grc2:5.44.1-5.44.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-02
Upon learning of the discord between Athens and Sparta, Argos immediately sends envoys to negotiate an alliance, while Sparta hastily dispatches its own ambassadors to Athens to prevent it and demand the return of Pylos.
οἱ δὲ Ἀργεῖοι ἀκούσαντες τῆς τε ἀγγελίας καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἔγνωσαν οὐ μετ’ Ἀθηναίων πραχθεῖσαν τὴν τῶν Βοιωτῶν ξυμμαχίαν,1 ἀλλ’ ἐς διαφορὰν μεγάλην καθεστῶτας αὐτοὺς πρὸς τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους, τῶν μὲν ἐν Λακεδαίμονι πρέσβεων, οἳ σφίσι περὶ τῶν σπονδῶν ἔτυχον ἀπόντες, ἠμέλουν, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς Ἀθηναίους μᾶλλον τὴν γνώμην εἶχον, νομίζοντες πόλιν τε σφίσι φιλίαν ἀπὸ παλαιοῦ καὶ δημοκρατουμένην ὥσπερ καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ δύναμιν μεγάλην ἔχουσαν τὴν κατὰ θάλασσαν ξυμπολεμήσειν2 σφίσιν, ἢν καθιστῶνται ἐς πόλεμον.
The Argives, on hearing the message and learning that the alliance with the Boeotians had not been made in concert with the Athenians, but that the Athenians were in a state of great disagreement with the Lacedaemonians, neglected their own ambassadors who happened to be away in Lacedaemon negotiating for the treaty, and turned their minds rather towards the Athenians, thinking that a city which was friendly to them from of old, democratic like themselves, and possessed of great power at sea, would join them in the war if they should be involved in one.
ἔπεμπον οὖν εὐθὺς πρέσβεις ὡς τοὺς Ἀθηναίους περὶ τῆς ξυμμαχίας· ξυνεπρεσβεύοντο δὲ καὶ Ἠλεῖοι καὶ Μαντινῆς.
They therefore immediately sent ambassadors to the Athenians to negotiate the alliance; and the Eleans and Mantineans also joined in the embassy.
ἀφίκοντο δὲ καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων πρέσβεις κατὰ τάχος, δοκοῦντες ἐπιτήδειοι εἶναι τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, Φιλοχαρίδας καὶ Λέων καὶ Ἔνδιος, δείσαντες μὴ τήν τε ξυμμαχίαν ὀργιζόμενοι πρὸς τοὺς Ἀργείους ποιήσωνται,3 καὶ ἅμα Πύλον ἀπαιτήσοντες ἀντὶ Πανάκτου καὶ περὶ τῆς Βοιωτῶν ξυμμαχίας ἀπολογησόμενοι,4 ὡς οὐκ ἐπὶ κακῷ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐποιήσαντο.
But ambassadors from the Lacedaemonians also arrived in haste—namely Philocharidas, Leon, and Endius, who were thought to be well-disposed to the Athenians—fearing lest the Athenians, in their anger, should make an alliance with the Argives, and at the same time to demand back Pylos in exchange for Panactum, and to make a defense concerning their alliance with the Boeotians, asserting that they had not made it to the detriment of the Athenians.
- 5.44.1ἔγνωσαν οὐ μετ’ Ἀθηναίων πραχθεῖσαν τὴν τῶν Βοιωτῶν ξυμμαχίαν
A participle construction is used here as the object of the verb ἔγνωσαν ('they learned'), rather than an accusative and infinitive. The aorist passive participle πραχθεῖσαν ('having been made') is in the feminine accusative singular, agreeing with its grammatical and logical subject τὴν τῶν Βοιωτῶν ξυμμαχίαν ('the alliance of the Boeotians'). The phrase οὐ μετ’ Ἀθηναίων means 'not in concert with the Athenians'.
- 5.44.1πόλιν τε σφίσι φιλίαν ἀπὸ παλαιοῦ καὶ δημοκρατουμένην ὥσπερ καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ δύναμιν μεγάλην ἔχουσαν τὴν κατὰ θάλασσαν ξυμπολεμήσειν
An accusative and infinitive construction introduced by the participle νομίζοντες ('thinking'). The infinitive is the future ξυμπολεμήσειν ('would join in war'), and its logical subject is the accusative πόλιν ('a city', referring to Athens). Modifying πόλιν are three coordinated elements: the adjective phrase φιλίαν ἀπὸ παλαιοῦ, the passive participle δημοκρατουμένην, and the active participle phrase δύναμιν μεγάλην ἔχουσαν..., all linked by τε ... καὶ ... καὶ.
- 5.44.3δείσαντες μὴ τήν τε ξυμμαχίαν ὀργιζόμενοι πρὸς τοὺς Ἀργείους ποιήσωνται
A clause of fearing introduced by the participle δείσαντες ('fearing'), using μὴ with the aorist middle subjunctive ποιήσωνται ('lest they should make'). The subject of ποιήσωνται is the Athenians. The participle ὀργιζόμενοι ('being angry') is embedded to describe the emotional state of the subject.
- 5.44.3ἀπαιτήσοντες ἀντὶ Πανάκτου καὶ περὶ τῆς Βοιωτῶν ξυμμαχίας ἀπολογησόμενοι
Two future participles, the active ἀπαιτήσοντες ('to demand back') and the middle ἀπολογησόμενοι ('to make a defense'), both express the purpose of the Lacedaemonian ambassadors. The prepositional phrase ἀντὶ Πανάκτου ('in exchange for Panactum') modifies the action of demanding back the previously mentioned Pylos (Πύλον).
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1