- 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-grc2:7.47.1-7.47.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Facing defeat and the exhaustion of their army due to sickness and the marshy camp, the Athenian generals hold a council, where Demosthenes advocates for immediate retreat, arguing that further delay is futile.
οἱ δὲ τῶν Ἀθηναίων στρατηγοὶ ἐν τούτῳ ἐβουλεύοντο πρός τε τὴν γεγενημένην ξυμφορὰν καὶ πρὸς τὴν παροῦσαν ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ κατὰ πάντα ἀρρωστίαν. τοῖς τε γὰρ ἐπιχειρήμασιν ἑώρων οὐ κατορθοῦντες καὶ τοὺς στρατιώτας ἀχθομένους τῇ μονῇ·
At this time, the Athenian generals held a council, looking to the disaster that had occurred and the present exhaustion in every respect within the camp. For they saw that they were not succeeding in their enterprises and that the soldiers were distressed by their delay;
νόσῳ τε γὰρ ἐπιέζοντο κατ’ ἀμφότερα,1 τῆς τε ὥρας τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ταύτης οὔσης ἐν ᾗ ἀσθενοῦσιν ἄνθρωποι μάλιστα, καὶ τὸ χωρίον ἅμα ἐν ᾧ ἐστρατοπεδεύοντο ἑλῶδες καὶ χαλεπὸν ἦν, τά τε ἄλλα ὅτι ἀνέλπιστα αὐτοῖς ἐφαίνετο.
indeed, they were afflicted with sickness on both accounts—it being that season of the year in which men are most prone to illness, and at the same time the place where they were encamped was marshy and unhealthy; and furthermore, everything else appeared hopeless to them.
τῷ οὖν Δημοσθένει οὐκ ἐδόκει ἔτι χρῆναι μένειν, ἀλλ’ ἅπερ καὶ διανοηθεὶς ἐς τὰς Ἐπιπολὰς διεκινδύνευσεν, ἐπειδὴ ἔσφαλτο, ἀπιέναι ἐψηφίζετο καὶ μὴ διατρίβειν, ἕως ἔτι τὸ πέλαγος οἷόν τε περαιοῦσθαι καὶ τοῦ στρατεύματος ταῖς γοῦν ἐπελθούσαις ναυσὶ κρατεῖν.2
Therefore, it did not seem to Demosthenes that they should remain any longer, but rather, since the very plan for which he had risked the attack on Epipolae had failed, he voted to depart and not to waste time, while it was still possible to cross the sea and while they still held the upper hand, at least with the ships of the army that had recently arrived.
καὶ τῇ πόλει ὠφελιμώτερον ἔφη εἶναι πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ σφῶν ἐπιτειχίζοντας3 τὸν πόλεμον ποιεῖσθαι ἢ Συρακοσίους, οὓς οὐκέτι ῥᾴδιον εἶναι χειρώσασθαι· οὐδ’ αὖ ἄλλως χρήματα πολλὰ δαπανῶντας εἰκὸς εἶναι προσκαθῆσθαι.
And he said that it was more beneficial for the state to carry on the war against those who were building fortifications in their own territory than against the Syracusans, whom it was no longer easy to subdue; nor, on the other hand, was it reasonable for them to sit down before the city and spend vast sums of money to no purpose.
- 7.47.2κατ’ ἀμφότερα
Meaning 'on both accounts' or 'in both ways'. It anticipates the two following clauses that explain the causes of their illness: the temporal factor (the season of the year, introduced by 'τῆς τε ὥρας...') and the spatial factor (the marshy and unhealthy camp, introduced by 'καὶ τὸ χωρίον...').
- 7.47.3τοῦ στρατεύματος ταῖς γοῦν ἐπελθούσαις ναυσὶ κρατεῖν
The genitive 'τοῦ στρατεύματος' is best understood as a partitive genitive depending on the dative phrase 'ταῖς ἐπελθούσαις ναυσί' ('with at least the newly arrived ships of the army'). This phrase modifies the intransitive 'κρατεῖν' ('to hold the upper hand'), indicating that the Athenians still maintained superiority thanks to the newly arrived reinforcements.
- 7.47.4πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ σφῶν ἐπιτειχίζοντας
The word 'σφῶν' is the genitive of the indirect reflexive pronoun, referring back to the main subject (the Athenians). It means 'those who are building fortifications in their own territory', referring to the Spartans who had fortified Decelea in Attica.