- 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-grc2:6.74.1-6.74.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
Due to Alcibiades' disclosure, the plot to betray Messene fails, forcing the Athenian army to withdraw empty-handed to Naxos for the winter and request funds and cavalry from Athens.
τὸ δ’ ἐν τῇ Κατάνῃ στράτευμα τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἔπλευσεν εὐθὺς ἐπὶ Μεσσήνην ὡς προδοθησομένην.1 καὶ ἃ μὲν ἐπράσσετο οὐκ ἐγένετο· Ἀλκιβιάδης γὰρ ὅτ’ ἀπῄει ἐκ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἤδη μετάπεμπτος, ἐπιστάμενος ὅτι φεύξοιτο,2 μηνύει τοῖς τῶν Συρακοσίων φίλοις τοῖς ἐν τῇ Μεσσήνῃ ξυνειδὼς τὸ μέλλον· οἱ δὲ τούς τε ἄνδρας διέφθειραν πρότερον καὶ τότε στασιάζοντες καὶ ἐν ὅπλοις ὄντες ἐπεκράτουν μὴ δέχεσθαι τοὺς Ἀθηναίους οἱ ταῦτα βουλόμενοι.3
And the Athenian army in Catana sailed immediately against Messene, in the expectation that it would be betrayed. And what was being negotiated did not come to pass; for Alcibiades, when he was already being recalled and leaving his command, knowing that he would be exiled, disclosed the plot to the friends of the Syracusans in Messene, as he was privy to what was intended; and they had already put those men to death beforehand, and at that time, rising in faction and being under arms, those who wished for this prevailed so that they did not admit the Athenians.
ἡμέρας δὲ μείναντες περὶ τρεῖς καὶ δέκα οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ὡς ἐχειμάζοντο καὶ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια οὐκ εἶχον καὶ προυχώρει οὐδέν, ἀπελθόντες ἐς Νάξον καὶ ὅρια καὶ σταυρώματα περὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον ποιησάμενοι αὐτοῦ διεχείμαζον· καὶ τριήρη ἀπέστειλαν ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας ἐπί τε χρήματα καὶ ἱππέας, ὅπως ἅμα τῷ ἦρι παραγένωνται.
The Athenians, having remained about thirteen days, because they were buffeted by the storm, had no provisions, and made no progress, withdrew to Naxos, and having constructed boundaries and palisades around their camp, spent the winter there. And they dispatched a trireme to Athens for money and cavalry, so that they might arrive at the beginning of spring.
- 6.74.1ὡς προδοθησομένην
The conjunction ὡς combined with the future passive participle indicates a subjective expectation or belief ('in the expectation that Messene would be betrayed'). The participle is in the feminine accusative singular, agreeing with Μεσσήνην.
- 6.74.1ὅτι φεύξοιτο
Future optative in indirect discourse. The direct future indicative φεύξομαι ('I shall be exiled') has been changed to the optative φεύξοιτο because it depends on a past context (ἀπῄει, ἐπιστάμενος).
- 6.74.1οἱ ταῦτα βουλόμενοι
A nominative participle phrase placed at the end of the sentence to restrict or define the implied subject of the main verb ἐπεκράτουν (the faction opposed to admitting the Athenians). ταῦτα refers back to the infinitive μὴ δέχεσθαι, meaning 'those who wished for this (i.e., non-admission) prevailed'.