- 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-grc2:7.27.1-7.27.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Thracian targeteers arrive too late and are sent back by Athens due to high maintenance costs. The severe economic, human, and military damage inflicted on Athens by the fortification and constant occupation of Decelea is detailed.
ἀφίκοντο δὲ καὶ Θρᾳκῶν τῶν μαχαιροφόρων τοῦ Διακοῦ γένους ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας πελτασταὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ θέρει τούτῳ τριακόσιοι καὶ χίλιοι, οὓς ἔδει τῷ Δημοσθένει1 ἐς τὴν Σικελίαν ξυμπλεῖν.
In this same summer there also arrived at Athens thirteen hundred targeteers of the sword-bearing Thracians of the Dii race, who were to sail with Demosthenes to Sicily.
οἱ δ’ Ἀθηναῖοι, ὡς ὕστεροι ἧκον, διενοοῦντο αὐτοὺς πάλιν ὅθεν ἦλθον ἐς Θρᾴκην ἀποπέμπειν. τὸ γὰρ ἔχειν πρὸς τὸν ἐκ τῆς Δεκελείας πόλεμον αὐτοὺς πολυτελὲς ἐφαίνετο· δραχμὴν γὰρ τῆς ἡμέρας ἕκαστος ἐλάμβανεν.
But the Athenians, since they had arrived too late, resolved to send them back to Thrace, whence they had come; for to keep them in view of the war from Decelea seemed too expensive, since each received a drachma a day.
ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡ Δεκέλεια τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὑπὸ πάσης τῆς στρατιᾶς ἐν τῷ θέρει τούτῳ τειχισθεῖσα, ὕστερον δὲ φρουραῖς ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων κατὰ διαδοχὴν χρόνου ἐπιούσαις τῇ χώρᾳ ἐπῳκεῖτο, πολλὰ ἔβλαπτε τοὺς Ἀθηναίους, καὶ ἐν τοῖς πρῶτον2 χρημάτων τ’ ὀλέθρῳ καὶ ἀνθρώπων φθορᾷ ἐκάκωσε τὰ πράγματα.
For Decelea, having been fortified at first by the whole army during this summer, and being afterwards occupied by garrisons which came from the cities in succession of time to hold the country, did great damage to the Athenians, and was among the very first things that ruined their affairs by destruction of property and loss of lives.
πρότερον μὲν γὰρ βραχεῖαι γιγνόμεναι αἱ ἐσβολαὶ τὸν ἄλλον χρόνον τῆς γῆς ἀπολαύειν οὐκ ἐκώλυον· τότε δὲ ξυνεχῶς ἐπικαθημένων, καὶ ὁτὲ μὲν καὶ πλεόνων ἐπιόντων, ὁτὲ δ’ ἐξ ἀνάγκης τῆς ἴσης φρουρᾶς καταθεούσης τε τὴν χώραν καὶ λῃστείας ποιουμένης, βασιλέως τε παρόντος τοῦ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων Ἄγιδος, ὃς οὐκ ἐκ παρέργου τὸν πόλεμον ἐποιεῖτο, μεγάλα οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐβλάπτοντο.
For formerly the invasions, being of short duration, did not prevent them from enjoying the land during the rest of the time; but then, because the enemy was constantly established there, sometimes attacking with larger forces, and sometimes of necessity the regular garrison overrunning the territory and making raids, while Agis, the king of the Lacedaemonians, was also present, who made the war no secondary matter, the Athenians suffered great damage.
τῆς τε γὰρ χώρας ἁπάσης ἐστέρηντο, καὶ ἀνδραπόδων πλέον ἢ δύο μυριάδες ηὐτομολήκεσαν, καὶ τούτων τὸ πολὺ μέρος χειροτέχναι, πρόβατά τε πάντα ἀπωλώλει καὶ ὑποζύγια· ἵπποι τε, ὁσημέραι ἐξελαυνόντων τῶν ἱππέων πρός τε τὴν Δεκέλειαν καταδρομὰς ποιουμένων καὶ κατὰ τὴν χώραν φυλασσόντων, οἱ μὲν ἀπεχωλοῦντο ἐν γῇ ἀποκρότῳ τε καὶ ξυνεχῶς ταλαιπωροῦντες, οἱ δ’3 ἐτιτρώσκοντο.
For they were deprived of their whole territory, and more than twenty thousand slaves had deserted, the greater part of whom were artisans, and all the sheep and beasts of burden were lost; and as for the horses, as the cavalry rode out daily, making excursions towards Decelea and guarding the country, some became lame by being continuously harassed on hard ground, and others were wounded.
- 7.27.1ἔδει τῷ Δημοσθένει
The dative τῷ Δημοσθένει is governed by the infinitive ξυμπλεῖν ('to sail with'), rather than being the subject of the impersonal verb ἔδει (which would normally expect an accusative). The subject of the infinitive is the accusative relative pronoun οὓς.
- 7.27.3ἐν τοῖς πρῶτον
An idiomatic adverbial expression meaning 'especially', 'among the very first', or 'above all'. It originated from a phrase like ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις (among the first) and is used here to intensify the degree of damage.
- 7.27.5ἵπποι τε... οἱ μὲν... οἱ δ’
An instance of nominativus pendens (anacoluthon). The plural noun ἵπποι is placed at the beginning in the nominative case, but the construction changes, and it is subsequently split into the distributive subjects οἱ μὲν... οἱ δ’.