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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §1.57.1-1.57.6

Intrigues of Perdiccas and Athenian Precautions

Passage 57 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Immediately after the Battle of Corcyra, Athens prepares preventive measures against Potidaea. King Perdiccas of Macedon, now hostile, schemes with Sparta, Corinth, and neighboring tribes to instigate a revolt, prompting Athens to instruct its expeditionary fleet to secure Potidaea.

§1.57.1ταῦτα δὲ περὶ τοὺς Ποτειδεάτας οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι προπαρεσκευάζοντο εὐθὺς μετὰ τὴν ἐν Κερκύρᾳ ναυμαχίαν·
The Athenians began making these preparatory measures concerning the Potidaeans immediately after the sea-fight at Corcyra.
§1.57.2οἵ τε γὰρ Κορίνθιοι φανερῶς ἤδη διάφοροι ἦσαν, Περδίκκας τε ὁ Ἀλεξάνδρου Μακεδόνων βασιλεὺς ἐπεπολέμωτο ξύμμαχος πρότερον καὶ φίλος ὤν.
For the Corinthians were already openly hostile, and Perdiccas, the son of Alexander and king of the Macedonians, had been made an enemy, though he had previously been an ally and friend.
§1.57.3ἐπολεμώθη δὲ ὅτι Φιλίππῳ τῷ ἑαυτοῦ ἀδελφῷ καὶ Δέρδᾳ κοινῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐναντιουμένοις οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ξυμμαχίαν ἐποιήσαντο.
He became hostile because the Athenians had made an alliance with his brother Philip and with Derdas, who were acting together in opposition to him.
§1.57.4δεδιώς τε ἔπρασσεν ἔς τε τὴν Λακεδαίμονα πέμπων ὅπως πόλεμος γένηται αὐτοῖς πρὸς Πελοποννησίους, καὶ τοὺς Κορινθίους προσεποιεῖτο τῆς Ποτειδαίας ἕνεκα ἀποστάσεως·
Fearing this, he began to take action, sending envoys to Lacedaemon in order to bring about a war between them and the Peloponnesians, and he tried to win over the Corinthians to bring about the revolt of Potidaea.
§1.57.5προσέφερε δὲ λόγους καὶ τοῖς ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης Χαλκιδεῦσι καὶ Βοττιαίοις ξυναποστῆναι, νομίζων, εἰ ξύμμαχα ταῦτα ἔχοι ὅμορα ὄντα τὰ χωρία, ῥᾷον ἂν τὸν πόλεμον μετ’ αὐτῶν ποιεῖσθαι.
He also made proposals to the Chalcidians of the Thracian region and to the Bottiaeans to join in the revolt, thinking that if he had these neighboring districts as allies, he could carry on the war with them more easily.
§1.57.6ὧν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι αἰσθόμενοι καὶ βουλόμενοι προκαταλαμβάνειν τῶν πόλεων τὰς ἀποστάσεις (ἔτυχον γὰρ τριάκοντα ναῦς ἀποστέλλοντες καὶ χιλίους ὁπλίτας ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ, Ἀρχεστράτου τοῦ Λυκομήδους μετ’ ἄλλων † δέκα † στρατηγοῦντος) ἐπιστέλλουσι τοῖς ἄρχουσι τῶν νεῶν Ποτειδεατῶν τε ὁμήρους λαβεῖν καὶ τὸ τεῖχος καθελεῖν, τῶν τε πλησίον πόλεων φυλακὴν ἔχειν ὅπως μὴ ἀποστήσονται.
The Athenians, perceiving these designs and wishing to forestall the revolts of the cities (for they happened to be dispatching thirty ships and a thousand hoplites to his land, under the command of Archestratus the son of Lycomedes with ten others), instructed the commanders of the ships to take hostages from the Potidaeans, to demolish the wall, and to keep watch over the neighboring cities so that they would not revolt.

Notes

  1. 1.57.2ἐπεπολέμωτο — Third-person singular pluperfect passive of the verb πολεμόω ('to make an enemy'). The pluperfect tense here denotes the completed state of hostility that had already been established, contrastive to his prior status as an ally.
  2. 1.57.3Φιλίππῳ ... καὶ Δέρδᾳ κοινῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐναντιουμένοις — The dative noun phrase is modified by the present participle ἐναντιουμένοις. These words are in the dative because they are governed by the verbal construction ξυμμαχίαν ἐποιήσαντο ('made an alliance with').
  3. 1.57.5εἰ ξύμμαχα ταῦτα ἔχοι ὅμορα ὄντα τὰ χωρία — In the protasis (εἰ + optative), the adjective ξύμμαχα is used predicatively with τὰ χωρία ὅμορα ὄντα, meaning 'if he should have these neighboring districts as allies'. The infinitive with ἄν (ἂν ... ποιεῖσθαι) in the apodosis, depending on νομίζων, represents a potential optative (ἂν ποιοῖτο) in indirect discourse.
  4. 1.57.6ἔτυχον γὰρ τριάκοντα ναῦς ἀποστέλλοντες — The combination of τυγχάνω with the participle ἀποστέλλοντες expresses the coincidence of timing ('they happened to be sending'). It highlights that the Athenian expedition was already on the point of departure when the need to issue instructions regarding Potidaea arose.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §1.57.1-1.57.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.57.1-1.57.6

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