Humanitext Reader

Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §1.56.1-1.56.2

Athenian Demands on Potidaea to Dismantle Walls and Give Hostages

Passage 56 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Following the conflict over Corcyra, further disputes arise between Athens and the Peloponnesians. Fearing a revolt instigated by the Corinthians and Perdiccas, Athens orders Potidaea—a Corinthian colony but an Athenian tributary ally—to dismantle its walls, hand over hostages, and reject Corinthian magistrates.

§1.56.1μετὰ ταῦτα δ’ εὐθὺς καὶ τάδε ξυνέβη γενέσθαι τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις καὶ Πελοποννησίοις διάφορα ἐς τὸ πολεμεῖν.
Immediately after this, it also happened that these further disputes arose between the Athenians and the Peloponnesians, leading to war.
§1.56.2τῶν γὰρ Κορινθίων πρασσόντων ὅπως τιμωρήσονται αὐτούς, ὑποτοπήσαντες τὴν ἔχθραν αὐτῶν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι Ποτειδεάτας, οἳ οἰκοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῷ ἰσθμῷ τῆς Παλλήνης, Κορινθίων ἀποίκους, ἑαυτῶν δὲ ξυμμάχους φόρου ὑποτελεῖς, ἐκέλευον τὸ ἐς Παλλήνην τεῖχος καθελεῖν καὶ ὁμήρους δοῦναι, τούς τε ἐπιδημιουργοὺς ἐκπέμπειν καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν μὴ δέχεσθαι οὓς κατὰ ἔτος ἕκαστον Κορίνθιοι ἔπεμπον, δείσαντες μὴ ἀποστῶσιν ὑπό τε Περδίκκου πειθόμενοι καὶ Κορινθίων, τούς τε ἄλλους τοὺς ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης ξυναποστήσωσι ξυμμάχους.
For as the Corinthians were scheming how they might avenge themselves on them, the Athenians, suspecting their hostility, ordered the Potidaeans, who dwell on the isthmus of Pallene—being colonists of the Corinthians but tribute-paying allies of their own—to pull down the wall facing Pallene, to give hostages, to dismiss the epidemiourgoi, and for the future not to receive those whom the Corinthians sent every year, fearing lest they should revolt, persuaded by Perdiccas and the Corinthians, and should cause the other allies in the Thracian region to join in the revolt.

Notes

  1. §1.56.1διάφορα — Neuter plural of the adjective διάφορος (differing, at variance). It acts as a predicate adjective with the infinitive γενέσθαι, sharing the subject with τάδε, meaning 'it happened that these things also became points of dispute.'
  2. §1.56.1ἐς τὸ πολεμεῖν — The preposition ἐς with the articular infinitive in the accusative neuter singular. It functions as an adverbial phrase modifying διάφορα, expressing either result ('tending to war') or specification ('in respect of making war').
  3. §1.56.2δείσαντες μὴ ἀποστῶσιν... ξυναποστήσωσι — Following the participle of fearing (δείσαντες), the conjunction μή introduces two subjunctive verbs: the intransitive second aorist ἀποστῶσιν ('lest they revolt') and the transitive first aorist ξυναποστήσωσι ('lest they cause [others] to revolt with them'), which takes τούς τε ἄλλους ... ξυμμάχους as its direct object. Note the shift from intransitive to transitive aspect.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §1.56.1-1.56.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.56.1-1.56.2

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.