Humanitext Reader

Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §2.95.1-2.95.3

Sitalces' Expedition Against Perdiccas of Macedonia

Passage 241 of 917 · Greek

Summary

At the beginning of winter, Sitalces, the Thracian king, launched an expedition against King Perdiccas of Macedonia and the Chalcidians to enforce their mutual promises. He was accompanied by Philip's son Amyntas and Athenian envoys.

§2.95.1ὑπὸ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους, τοῦ χειμῶνος τούτου ἀρχομένου, Σιτάλκης ὁ Τήρεω Ὀδρύσης Θρᾳκῶν βασιλεὺς ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ Περδίκκαν τὸν Ἀλεξάνδρου Μακεδονίας βασιλέα καὶ ἐπὶ Χαλκιδέας τοὺς ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης, δύο ὑποσχέσεις τὴν μὲν βουλόμενος ἀναπρᾶξαι, τὴν δὲ αὐτὸς ἀποδοῦναι.
About the same time, at the beginning of this winter, Sitalces, son of Teres, the Odrysian, king of the Thracians, made an expedition against Perdiccas, son of Alexander, king of Macedonia, and against the Chalcidians in Thrace; wishing to exact one of two promises, and himself to fulfill the other.
§2.95.2ὅ τε γὰρ Περδίκκας αὐτῷ ὑποσχόμενος, εἰ Ἀθηναίοις τε διαλλάξειεν ἑαυτὸν κατ’ ἀρχὰς τῷ πολέμῳ πιεζόμενον καὶ Φίλιππον τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ πολέμιον ὄντα μὴ καταγάγοι ἐπὶ βασιλείᾳ, ἃ ὑπεδέξατο οὐκ ἐπετέλει· τοῖς τε Ἀθηναίοις αὐτὸς ὡμολογήκει, ὅτε τὴν ξυμμαχίαν ἐποιεῖτο, τὸν ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης Χαλκιδικὸν πόλεμον καταλύσειν.
For Perdiccas, although he had promised Sitalces—on condition that Sitalces should reconcile him to the Athenians when he was hard pressed at the beginning of the war, and should not restore his hostile brother Philip to the throne—did not perform what he had undertaken; and Sitalces himself had promised the Athenians, when he made the alliance, that he would bring to an end the Chalcidian war in Thrace.
§2.95.3ἀμφοτέρων οὖν ἕνεκα τὴν ἔφοδον ἐποιεῖτο καὶ τόν τε Φιλίππου υἱὸν Ἀμύνταν ὡς ἐπὶ βασιλείᾳ τῶν Μακεδόνων ἦγε καὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων πρέσβεις, οἳ ἔτυχον παρόντες τούτων ἕνεκα, καὶ ἡγεμόνα Ἅγνωνα· ἔδει γὰρ καὶ τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ναυσί τε καὶ στρατιᾷ ὡς πλείστῃ ἐπὶ τοὺς Χαλκιδέας παραγενέσθαι.
For both reasons, therefore, he made the invasion, and he brought both Amyntas, the son of Philip, to place him on the throne of Macedonia, and the Athenian ambassadors, who happened to be present on this account, and Hagnon as commander; for it was necessary that the Athenians also should join the expedition against the Chalcidians with ships and as large a force as possible.

Notes

  1. §2.95.1δύο ὑποσχέσεις τὴν μὲν βουλόμενος ἀναπρᾶξαι, τὴν δὲ αὐτὸς ἀποδοῦναι — The accusative `δύο ὑποσχέσεις` functions as the object of the subsequent infinitives `ἀναπρᾶξαι` and `ἀποδοῦναι`, with `τὴν μὲν ... τὴν δὲ` standing in a whole-and-part apposition (schema dissociationis) to elaborate on them.
  2. §2.95.2εἰ Ἀθηναίοις τε διαλλάξειεν ἑαυτὸν κατ’ ἀρχὰς τῷ πολέμῳ πιεζόμενον καὶ Φίλιππον τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ πολέμιον ὄντα μὴ καταγάγοι ἐπὶ βασιλείᾳ — The verbs `διαλλάξειεν` and `καταγάγοι` in the conditional clause are in the optative (optativus obliquus) because they depend on a past verbal idea in indirect discourse. The subject of these optatives is Sitalces, who was to reconcile Perdiccas (`ἑαυτόν`) with the Athenians and not restore Perdiccas' hostile brother Philip. The participle `πιεζόμενον` modifies `ἑαυτόν`.
  3. §2.95.3ὡς ἐπὶ βασιλείᾳ — The particle `ὡς` is used with the prepositional phrase `ἐπὶ βασιλείᾳ` ("for the kingship") to denote the subjective purpose or declared intention ("with the intention of placing him on the throne").

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §2.95.1-2.95.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.95.1-2.95.3

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.