- 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-grc2:8.84.1-8.84.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
A riot breaks out against Astyochus as he arrogantly responds to sailors demanding their pay, while the Milesians capture Tissaphernes' fort and clash with Lichas, who advocates for compliance with the Persian satrap.
ὄντων δ’ αὐτῶν ἐν τοιούτῳ ἀναλογισμῷ ξυνηνέχθη καὶ τοιόσδε τις θόρυβος περὶ τὸν Ἀστύοχον.
While they were engaged in such reflections, a disturbance of the following kind also arose around Astyochus.
τῶν γὰρ Συρακοσίων καὶ Θουρίων ὅσῳ μάλιστα καὶ ἐλεύθεροι ἦσαν τὸ πλῆθος οἱ ναῦται, τοσούτῳ καὶ θρασύτατα1 προσπεσόντες τὸν μισθὸν ἀπῄτουν. ὁ δὲ αὐθαδέστερόν τέ τι ἀπεκρίνατο καὶ ἠπείλησε καὶ τῷ γε Δωριεῖ ξυναγορεύοντι τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ ναύταις καὶ ἐπανήρατο τὴν βακτηρίαν.
For the sailors of the Syracusans and Thurians, inasmuch as the majority of them were especially free men, confronted him and demanded their pay with the greatest boldness. But he replied somewhat insolently and threatened them, and even raised his staff against Dorieus, who was speaking in support of his own sailors.
τὸ δὲ πλῆθος τῶν στρατιωτῶν ὡς εἶδον, οἷα δὴ ναῦται, ὥρμησαν2 ἐκραγέντες ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀστύοχον ὥστε βάλλειν· ὁ δὲ προϊδὼν καταφεύγει ἐπὶ βωμόν τινα. οὐ μέντοι ἐβλήθη γε, ἀλλὰ διελύθησαν ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων.
When the multitude of the soldiers saw this, they, like true sailors, broke out and rushed at Astyochus to pelt him with stones; but he, seeing this in advance, fled for refuge to an altar. He was not, however, hit, but they were parted from one another.
ἔλαβον δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐν τῇ Μιλήτῳ ἐνῳκοδομημένον τοῦ Τισσαφέρνους φρούριον οἱ Μιλήσιοι λάθρᾳ ἐπιπεσόντες, καὶ τοὺς ἐνόντας φύλακας αὐτοῦ ἐκβάλλουσιν· ξυνεδόκει δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ξυμμάχοις ταῦτα καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα τοῖς Συρακοσίοις.
The Milesians also, by a sudden attack, captured the fort of Tissaphernes which had been built in Miletus, and expelled the garrison that was in it; and this action was approved of by the other allies as well, and not least by the Syracusans.
ὁ μέντοι Λίχας οὔτε ἠρέσκετο αὐτοῖς ἔφη τε χρῆναι Τισσαφέρνει καὶ δουλεύειν Μιλησίους καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους τοὺς ἐν τῇ βασιλέως3 τὰ μέτρια καὶ ἐπιθεραπεύειν, ἕως ἂν τὸν πόλεμον εὖ θῶνται. οἱ δὲ Μιλήσιοι ὠργίζοντό τε αὐτῷ καὶ διὰ ταῦτα καὶ δι’ ἄλλα τοιουτότροπα καὶ νόσῳ ὕστερον ἀποθανόντα αὐτὸν οὐκ εἴασαν θάψαι οὗ ἐβούλοντο οἱ παρόντες τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων.
Lichas, however, was not pleased with these things, and said that the Milesians and the others in the King’s territory ought to serve Tissaphernes in a reasonable measure and pay court to him until they should bring the war to a successful conclusion. The Milesians, therefore, were angry with him both for this and for other things of a similar kind, and when he afterwards died of an illness, they would not allow the Lacedaemonians who were present to bury him where they wished.
- 8.84.2ὅσῳ μάλιστα καὶ ἐλεύθεροι ἦσαν τὸ πλῆθος οἱ ναῦται, τοσούτῳ καὶ θρασύτατα
The correlative construction ὅσῳ... τοσούτῳ expresses proportion ('the more... the more...'). Here, it establishes a causal link showing that because the majority (τὸ πλῆθος, accusative of specification) of the sailors were free men (as opposed to mercenaries or slaves), they demanded their pay with corresponding boldness (θρασύτατα).
- 8.84.3τὸ δὲ πλῆθος τῶν στρατιωτῶν ὡς εἶδον... ὥρμησαν
Although the subject τὸ πλῆθος (the multitude) is a singular neuter noun, both the verb of the temporal clause (εἶδον) and the main verb (ὥρμησαν) are in the third-person plural. This is a classic example of constructio ad sensum (construction according to sense), where the verb agrees with the plural meaning implied by the collective noun rather than its grammatical singular form.
- 8.84.5τοὺς ἐν τῇ βασιλέως
Between the feminine singular dative article τῇ and the genitive proper noun βασιλέως, the noun γῇ (land, territory) is omitted. In Greek, the omission of the feminine noun γῆ is highly common, especially in prepositional phrases designating geographical or political territories belonging to a ruler.