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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §1.58.1-1.58.2

Revolt of Potidaea and Consolidation at Olynthus

Passage 58 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Failing in negotiations with Athens but securing a promise of an invasion of Attica from Lacedaemon, Potidaea revolts alongside the Chalcidians and Bottiaeans. Perdiccas persuades the Chalcidians to abandon their coastal cities and consolidate at Olynthus, offering them land for cultivation.

§1.58.1Ποτειδεᾶται δὲ πέμψαντες μὲν καὶ παρ’ Ἀθηναίους πρέσβεις, εἴ πως πείσειαν μὴ σφῶν πέρι νεωτερίζειν μηδέν, ἐλθόντες δὲ καὶ ἐς τὴν Λακεδαίμονα μετὰ Κορινθίων, [ἔπρασσον] ὅπως ἑτοιμάσαιντο τιμωρίαν, ἢν δέῃ, ἐπειδὴ ἔκ τε Ἀθηνῶν ἐκ πολλοῦ πράσσοντες οὐδὲν ηὕροντο ἐπιτήδειον, ἀλλ’ αἱ νῆες αἱ ἐπὶ Μακεδονίαν καὶ ἐπὶ σφᾶς ὁμοίως ἔπλεον, καὶ τὰ τέλη τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ὑπέσχετο αὐτοῖς, ἢν ἐπὶ Ποτείδαιαν ἴωσιν Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐς τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἐσβαλεῖν, τότε δὴ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ἀφίστανται μετὰ Χαλκιδέων καὶ Βοττιαίων κοινῇ ξυνομόσαντες.
The Potidaeans, on the one hand, sent envoys to Athens to see if they could in any way persuade them not to take any revolutionary measures against them, and on the other hand, went to Lacedaemon with the Corinthians to negotiate so that they might secure assistance in case of need. However, when after long negotiations they obtained nothing favorable from Athens, but on the contrary, the ships were sailing equally against Macedonia and themselves, and the authorities of the Lacedaemonians promised them to invade Attica if the Athenians should go against Potidaea, then indeed at this very juncture they revolted, having bound themselves by a common oath with the Chalcidians and Bottiaeans.
§1.58.2καὶ Περδίκκας πείθει Χαλκιδέας τὰς ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ πόλεις ἐκλιπόντας καὶ καταβαλόντας ἀνοικίσασθαι ἐς Ὄλυνθον μίαν τε πόλιν ταύτην ἰσχυρὰν ποιήσασθαι·
And Perdiccas persuaded the Chalcidians to abandon and demolish their cities on the coast, to migrate inland to Olynthus, and to make this one city strong.
τοῖς τ’ ἐκλιποῦσι τούτοις τῆς ἑαυτοῦ γῆς τῆς Μυγδονίας περὶ τὴν Βόλβην λίμνην ἔδωκε νέμεσθαι, ἕως ἂν ὁ πρὸς Ἀθηναίους πόλεμος ᾖ.
To those who thus abandoned their homes, he gave a portion of his own land of Mygdonia around Lake Bolbe to cultivate, for as long as the war with the Athenians should last.
καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀνῳκίζοντό τε καθαιροῦντες τὰς πόλεις καὶ ἐς πόλεμον παρεσκευάζοντο·
So they demolished their cities and migrated inland, and began to prepare for war.

Notes

  1. 1.58.1εἴ πως πείσειαν — The conjunction εἴ followed by the optative πείσειαν. In a historical context (or after historical presents), it expresses an indirect question or an expectation/attempt ('in the hope that they might somehow persuade').
  2. 1.58.1τὰ τέλη τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ὑπέσχετο — Although the subject τὰ τέλη (the authorities) is a neuter plural noun, the verb ὑπέσχετο is in the third-person singular. This is a classic example of the Attic schema, where a neuter plural subject takes a singular verb.
  3. 1.58.2ἕως ἂν ὁ πρὸς Ἀθηναίους πόλεμος ᾖ — The conjunction ἕως with the particle ἄν followed by the subjunctive ᾖ introduces a temporal clause expressing indefinite duration in the future ('as long as the war with the Athenians should last').

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §1.58.1-1.58.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.58.1-1.58.2

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