- 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-grc2:8.97.1-8.97.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Upon receiving the news, the Athenians man twenty ships and summon assemblies at the Pnyx, where they depose the Four Hundred and establish the government of the Five Thousand with unpaid offices. Thucydides praises this transitional constitution as the best in his lifetime, and the recall of Alcibiades is decreed.
ἐπὶ δ’ οὖν τοῖς ἠγγελμένοις οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ναῦς τε εἴκοσιν ὅμως ἐπλήρουν καὶ ἐκκλησίαν ξυνέλεγον, μίαν μὲν εὐθὺς τότε πρῶτον ἐς τὴν Πύκνα καλουμένην, οὗπερ καὶ ἄλλοτε εἰώθεσαν, ἐν ᾗπερ καὶ τοὺς τετρακοσίους καταπαύσαντες τοῖς πεντακισχιλίοις ἐψηφίσαντο τὰ πράγματα παραδοῦναι (εἶναι δὲ αὐτῶν1 ὁπόσοι καὶ ὅπλα παρέχονται) καὶ μισθὸν μηδένα φέρειν μηδεμιᾷ ἀρχῇ· εἰ δὲ μή, ἐπάρατον ἐποιήσαντο.
On receipt of this news, however, the Athenians nevertheless manned twenty ships and summoned an assembly—meeting for the first time immediately then at the place called Pnyx, where they had also been accustomed to meet at other times. In this very assembly they deposed the Four Hundred and voted to hand over the government to the Five Thousand (decreeing that all those who provided themselves with heavy armor should belong to this number), and that no one should receive any pay for any office; if anyone did, they pronounced him accursed.
ἐγίγνοντο δὲ καὶ ἄλλαι ὕστερον πυκναὶ ἐκκλησίαι, ἀφ’ ὧν καὶ νομοθέτας καὶ τἆλλα ἐψηφίσαντο ἐς τὴν πολιτείαν. καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα δὴ τὸν πρῶτον χρόνον ἐπί γε ἐμοῦ Ἀθηναῖοι φαίνονται εὖ πολιτεύσαντες·2 μετρία γὰρ ἥ τε ἐς τοὺς ὀλίγους καὶ τοὺς πολλοὺς ξύγκρασις ἐγένετο καὶ ἐκ πονηρῶν τῶν πραγμάτων γενομένων3 τοῦτο πρῶτον ἀνήνεγκε τὴν πόλιν.
And many other frequent assemblies were held afterwards, from which they voted for lawmakers and other measures for the constitution. And indeed, for the first period, at least in my time, the Athenians appear to have enjoyed the best government; for there was a moderate blending of the few and the many, and this first raised the city up from its miserable condition.
ἐψηφίσαντο δὲ καὶ Ἀλκιβιάδην καὶ ἄλλους μετ’ αὐτοῦ κατιέναι καὶ παρά τε ἐκεῖνον καὶ παρὰ τὸ ἐν Σάμῳ στρατόπεδον πέμψαντες διεκελεύοντο ἀνθάπτεσθαι τῶν πραγμάτων.
They also voted for the recall of Alcibiades and others with him, and sending messengers both to him and to the army at Samos, they urged them to take the administration of affairs vigorously in hand.
- 8.97.1εἶναι δὲ αὐτῶν
The infinitive εἶναι functions as an indirect command or declarative infinitive dependent on the main verb ἐψηφίσαντο. The genitive αὐτῶν (referring to the Five Thousand) indicates possession or belonging ("to belong to them"). The subject of εἶναι is the relative clause ὁπόσοι καὶ ὅπλα παρέχονται ("whoever provide their own armor").
- 8.97.2φαίνονται εὖ πολιτεύσαντες
The verb φαίνομαι combined with the participle πολιτεύσαντες (aorist participle) expresses an actual fact ("they clearly governed well"), in contrast to when it is followed by an infinitive (φαίνονται εὖ πολιτεῦσαι), which would suggest only an appearance ("they seem to have governed well," with implication of doubt).
- 8.97.2ἐκ πονηρῶν τῶν πραγμάτων γενομένων
The preposition ἐκ governs the genitive noun τῶν πραγμάτων with its predicate adjective πονηρῶν and the genitive participle γενομένων. It means "from a state in which affairs had become bad," embedding a circumstantial, absolute-like participial phrase within a prepositional construction.