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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §2.78.1-2.78.4

Circumvallation of Plataea and the Besieged Garrison

Passage 224 of 917 · Greek

Summary

After the failure of the fire attack, the Peloponnesians complete the circumvallation wall around Plataea and withdraw, leaving a guard force, while the exact number of the besieged remaining in the city is recorded.

§2.78.1οἱ δὲ Πελοποννήσιοι ἐπειδὴ καὶ τούτου διήμαρτον, μέρος μέν τι καταλιπόντες τοῦ στρατοῦ, τὸ δὲ πλέον ἀφέντες περιετείχιζον τὴν πόλιν κύκλῳ, διελόμενοι κατὰ πόλεις τὸ χωρίον·
When the Peloponnesians had failed in this also, they left a part of their army behind, but dismissed the greater part, and began to build a wall of circumvallation around the city, dividing the ground among the various states.
τάφρος δὲ ἐντός τε ἦν καὶ ἔξωθεν ἐξ ἧς ἐπλινθεύσαντο.
There was a ditch both on the inside and on the outside, from which they made their bricks.
§2.78.2καὶ ἐπειδὴ πᾶν ἐξείργαστο περὶ ἀρκτούρου ἐπιτολάς, καταλιπόντες φυλακὰς τοῦ ἡμίσεος τείχους (τὸ δὲ ἥμισυ Βοιωτοὶ ἐφύλασσον) ἀνεχώρησαν τῷ στρατῷ καὶ διελύθησαν κατὰ πόλεις.
And when the whole was completed about the rising of Arcturus, they left guards for half of the wall (the other half being guarded by the Boeotians), retreated with the rest of the army, and dispersed to their several cities.
§2.78.3Πλαταιῆς δὲ παῖδας μὲν καὶ γυναῖκας καὶ τοὺς πρεσβυτάτους τε καὶ πλῆθος τὸ ἀχρεῖον τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρότερον ἐκκεκομισμένοι ἦσαν ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας, αὐτοὶ δὲ ἐπολιορκοῦντο ἐγκαταλελειμμένοι τετρακόσιοι, Ἀθηναίων δὲ ὀγδοήκοντα, γυναῖκες δὲ δέκα καὶ ἑκατὸν σιτοποιοί.
The Plataeans had previously conveyed their children, wives, and oldest men, as well as the useless multitude of people, to Athens; they themselves who were left behind to endure the siege were four hundred, with eighty Athenians, and one hundred and ten women to make bread.
§2.78.4τοσοῦτοι ἦσαν οἱ ξύμπαντες ὅτε ἐς τὴν πολιορκίαν καθίσταντο, καὶ ἄλλος οὐδεὶς ἦν ἐν τῷ τείχει οὔτε δοῦλος οὔτ’ ἐλεύθερος.
This was the entire number of those who were in the city when the siege began, and there was no one else within the wall, whether slave or free.
τοιαύτη μὲν ἡ Πλαταιῶν πολιορκία κατεσκευάσθη.
In this manner the blockade of Plataea was established.

Notes

  1. §2.78.1ἐξ ἧς ἐπλινθεύσαντο — The antecedent of the relative pronoun ἧς is the singular feminine noun τάφρος (ditch). The preposition ἐξ (from) denotes the source of the material, meaning that the earth excavated from the ditch was used to make bricks. The verb ἐπλινθεύσαντο is the middle voice meaning 'to make bricks for themselves'.
  2. §2.78.2περὶ ἀρκτούρου ἐπιτολάς — Literally 'about the rising of Arcturus'. This is a conventional astronomical time expression in ancient Greece used to indicate the season, specifically the beginning of autumn around mid-September.
  3. §2.78.2ἀνεχώρησαν τῷ στρατῷ — The dative τῷ στρατῷ is a dative of accompaniment. This is a common military idiom used to express the force with which a commander moves, meaning 'they retreated with the army'.
  4. §2.78.3ἐκκεκομισμένοι ἦσαν — Pluperfect middle/passive indicative of the verb ἐκκομίζω. Here it has a middle (or active/causative) force, meaning 'they had previously conveyed' or 'sent away for their own safety' their non-combatants to Athens, indicating a state completed before the siege began.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §2.78.1-2.78.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.78.1-2.78.4

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