- 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-grc2:5.73.1-5.73.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
The Athenians fall into danger of encirclement by the Lacedaemonians, but escape safely as King Agis orders his whole army to rescue his struggling left wing. Seeing this, the Mantineans and the select Argives also turn to flight, and the battle ends with a brief pursuit by the Lacedaemonians.
ὡς δὲ ταύτῃ ἐνεδεδώκει τὸ τῶν Ἀργείων καὶ ξυμμάχων στράτευμα, παρερρήγνυντο ἤδη ἅμα καὶ ἐφ’ ἑκάτερα, καὶ ἅμα τὸ δεξιὸν τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ Τεγεατῶν ἐκυκλοῦτο τῷ περιέχοντι σφῶν1 τοὺς Ἀθηναίους, καὶ ἀμφοτέρωθεν αὐτοὺς κίνδυνος περιειστήκει, τῇ μὲν κυκλουμένους, τῇ δὲ ἤδη ἡσσημένους. καὶ μάλιστ’ ἂν τοῦ στρατεύματος ἐταλαιπώρησαν, εἰ μὴ οἱ ἱππῆς παρόντες αὐτοῖς ὠφέλιμοι ἦσαν.2
And when the army of the Argives and their allies had given way in this quarter, their line was now at the same time being broken on both sides; and at the same time the right wing of the Lacedaemonians and Tegeans was surrounding the Athenians with their overlapping wing, and danger hemmed them in on both sides, on the one side because they were being surrounded, and on the other because they had already been defeated. And they would have suffered most of any part of the army, had not their cavalry, which was present, been of service to them.
καὶ ξυνέβη τὸν Ἆγιν, ὡς ᾔσθετο τὸ εὐώνυμον σφῶν πονοῦν τὸ κατὰ τοὺς Μαντινέας καὶ τῶν Ἀργείων τοὺς χιλίους, παραγγεῖλαι3 παντὶ τῷ στρατεύματι χωρῆσαι ἐπὶ τὸ νικώμενον.
And it happened that Agis, when he perceived that their left wing, which was opposed to the Mantineans and the thousand Argives, was in distress, ordered the whole army to advance to the support of the defeated part.
καὶ γενομένου τούτου οἱ μὲν Ἀθηναῖοι ἐν τούτῳ, ὡς παρῆλθε καὶ ἐξέκλινεν ἀπὸ σφῶν τὸ στράτευμα, καθ’ ἡσυχίαν ἐσώθησαν καὶ τῶν Ἀργείων μετ’ αὐτῶν τὸ ἡσσηθέν· οἱ δὲ Μαντινῆς καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι καὶ τῶν Ἀργείων οἱ λογάδες οὐκέτι πρὸς τὸ ἐγκεῖσθαι τοῖς ἐναντίοις τὴν γνώμην εἶχον, ἀλλ’ ὁρῶντες τούς τε σφετέρους νενικημένους καὶ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους ἐπιφερομένους ἐς φυγὴν ἐτράποντο.
And when this took place, the Athenians, during this interval, as the enemy’s army passed by and turned away from them, escaped at their leisure, as did also the defeated part of the Argives who were with them; but the Mantineans and their allies and the select Argives no longer had any thought of pressing upon their opponents, but seeing their own side defeated and the Lacedaemonians advancing upon them, they turned to flight.
καὶ τῶν μὲν Μαντινέων καὶ πλείους διεφθάρησαν, τῶν δὲ Ἀργείων λογάδων τὸ πολὺ ἐσώθη. ἡ μέντοι φυγὴ καὶ ἀποχώρησις οὐ βίαιος οὐδὲ μακρὰ ἦν· οἱ γὰρ Λακεδαιμόνιοι μέχρι μὲν τοῦ τρέψαι χρονίους τὰς μάχας καὶ βεβαίους τῷ μένειν ποιοῦνται, τρέψαντες δὲ βραχείας καὶ οὐκ ἐπὶ πολὺ τὰς διώξεις.
And of the Mantineans a considerable number were slain, but of the select Argives the greater part escaped. The flight and retreat, however, were neither hurried nor long; for the Lacedaemonians fight long and maintain their ground stubbornly until they have routed the enemy, but when they have once routed them, they pursue them only for a short distance and not far.
- 5.73.1τῷ περιέχοντι σφῶν
σφῶν ('of them') is a possessive genitive referring to 'the right wing of the Lacedaemonians and Tegeans' (τὸ δεξιὸν), depending on the neuter participle τῷ περιέχοντι ('the overlapping part'). It represents the surplus forces of the right wing that extended beyond the Athenian line to flank them.
- 5.73.1ἂν ... ἐταλαιπώρησαν, εἰ μὴ ... ἦσαν
This expresses a past contrary-to-fact condition, with the protasis in the imperfect indicative (εἰ μὴ... ἦσαν) and the apodosis in the aorist indicative with ἄν (ἂν ἐταλαιπώρησαν). The genitive τοῦ στρατεύματος is a partitive genitive indicating the scope ('most of any part of the army').
- 5.73.2ξυνέβη τὸν Ἆγιν ... παραγγεῖλαι
The accusative and infinitive construction (τὸν Ἆγιν... παραγγεῖλαι) functions as the subject of the impersonal verb ξυνέβη ('it happened'). The inserted clause ὡς ᾔσθετο explains the circumstance that led Agis to issue this order.