Humanitext Reader

Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §4.102.1-4.102.4

Brasidas against Amphipolis and its History

Passage 467 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Brasidas marches against the Athenian colony of Amphipolis on the Strymon river, prompting a historical review of previous settlement attempts on the site and the final successful foundation and naming by Hagnon.

§4.102.1τοῦ δ’ αὐτοῦ χειμῶνος Βρασίδας ἔχων τοὺς ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης ξυμμάχους ἐστράτευσεν ἐς Ἀμφίπολιν τὴν ἐπὶ Στρυμόνι ποταμῷ Ἀθηναίων ἀποικίαν.
During the same winter, Brasidas, with his allies in the direction of Thrace, marched against Amphipolis, the Athenian colony on the river Strymon.
§4.102.2τὸ δὲ χωρίον τοῦτο ἐφ’ οὗ νῦν ἡ πόλις ἐστὶν ἐπείρασε μὲν πρότερον καὶ Ἀρισταγόρας ὁ Μιλήσιος φεύγων βασιλέα Δαρεῖον κατοικίσαι, ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ Ἠδώνων ἐξεκρούσθη, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἔτεσι δύο καὶ τριάκοντα ὕστερον, ἐποίκους μυρίους σφῶν τε αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τὸν βουλόμενον πέμψαντες, οἳ διεφθάρησαν ἐν Δραβήσκῳ ὑπὸ Θρᾳκῶν.
This place, where the city now stands, Aristagoras of Miletus had previously attempted to settle when he was fleeing from King Darius, but he was driven out by the Edonians; and afterwards, thirty-two years later, the Athenians also sent ten thousand settlers, both of their own people and of any others who wished to go, who were destroyed at Drabescus by the Thracians.
§4.102.3καὶ αὖθις ἑνὸς δέοντι τριακοστῷ ἔτει ἐλθόντες οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι, Ἅγνωνος τοῦ Νικίου οἰκιστοῦ ἐκπεμφθέντος, Ἠδῶνας ἐξελάσαντες ἔκτισαν τὸ χωρίον τοῦτο, ὅπερ πρότερον Ἐννέα ὁδοὶ ἐκαλοῦντο.
And again in the twenty-ninth year, the Athenians came, Hagnon the son of Nicias having been sent out as founder, and having driven out the Edonians, they founded this place, which was formerly called Nine Ways.
ὡρμῶντο δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ἠιόνος, ἣν αὐτοὶ εἶχον ἐμπόριον ἐπὶ τῷ στόματι τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐπιθαλάσσιον, πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι σταδίους ἀπέχον ἀπὸ τῆς νῦν πόλεως, ἣν Ἀμφίπολιν Ἅγνων ὠνόμασεν, ὅτι ἐπ’ ἀμφότερα περιρρέοντος τοῦ Στρυμόνος [διὰ τὸ περιέχειν αὐτὴν] τείχει μακρῷ ἀπολαβὼν ἐκ ποταμοῦ ἐς ποταμὸν περιφανῆ ἐς θάλασσάν τε καὶ τὴν ἤπειρον ᾤκισεν.
And they made their starting point from Eion, which they themselves held as a seaport emporium at the mouth of the river, twenty-five stades distant from the present city, which Hagnon named Amphipolis because, as the Strymon flowed around it on both sides [on account of surrounding it], he cut it off by a long wall from river to river, and settled it so as to be conspicuous both to the sea and to the mainland.
§4.102.4ὡρμῶντο δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ἠιόνος, ἣν αὐτοὶ εἶχον ἐμπόριον ἐπὶ τῷ στόματι τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐπιθαλάσσιον, πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι σταδίους ἀπέχον ἀπὸ τῆς νῦν πόλεως, ἣν Ἀμφίπολιν Ἅγνων ὠνόμασεν, ὅτι ἐπ’ ἀμφότερα περιρρέοντος τοῦ Στρυμόνος [διὰ τὸ περιέχειν αὐτὴν] τείχει μακρῷ ἀπολαβὼν ἐκ ποταμοῦ ἐς ποταμὸν περιφανῆ ἐς θάλασσάν τε καὶ τὴν ἤπειρον ᾤκισεν.
And they made their starting point from Eion, which they themselves held as a seaport emporium at the mouth of the river, twenty-five stades distant from the present city, which Hagnon named Amphipolis because, as the Strymon flowed around it on both sides [on account of surrounding it], he cut it off by a long wall from river to river, and settled it so as to be conspicuous both to the sea and to the mainland.

Notes

  1. 4.102.1τοῦ δ’ αὐτοῦ χειμῶνος — Genitive of time, expressing the period within which the action occurred ('during the same winter').
  2. 4.102.3ἑνὸς δέοντι τριακοστῷ ἔτει — Literally 'in the thirtieth year wanting one,' meaning the twenty-ninth year. The dative case of ἔτει expresses the point of time.
  3. 4.102.3ὅπερ πρότερον Ἐννέα ὁδοὶ ἐκαλοῦντο — The relative pronoun ὅπερ (neuter singular) agrees with its antecedent τὸ χωρίον, but the verb ἐκαλοῦντο (plural) agrees in number with the predicate noun Ἐννέα ὁδοὶ (plural) rather than with the subject pronoun.
  4. 4.102.3ἀπέχον — The present participle ἀπέχον (neuter singular) grammatically agrees with the appositive neuter noun ἐμπόριον rather than with the feminine place name Ἠιόνος, indicating the distance.
  5. 4.102.3περιφανῆ — Accusative feminine singular of the two-termination adjective περιφανής, modifying the implied object (the city, namely αὐτήν or πόλιν) and functioning predicatively with the verb ᾤκισεν ('settled it so as to be conspicuous').

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §4.102.1-4.102.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.102.1-4.102.4

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.