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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §4.109.1-4.109.5

Megarian Walls Demolished and Brasidas at Acte

Passage 474 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Megarians demolish their long walls held by the Athenians, and Brasidas marches into the Acte peninsula. The ethnic composition of Acte's cities is described, and most of them submit to Brasidas, except Sane and Dium.

§4.109.1τοῦ δ’ αὐτοῦ χειμῶνος Μεγαρῆς τε τὰ μακρὰ τείχη, ἃ σφῶν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι εἶχον, κατέσκαψαν ἑλόντες ἐς ἔδαφος, καὶ Βρασίδας μετὰ τὴν Ἀμφιπόλεως ἅλωσιν ἔχων τοὺς ξυμμάχους στρατεύει ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀκτὴν καλουμένην.
In the same winter, the Megarians captured and razed to the ground the long walls of theirs which the Athenians held; and Brasidas, after the capture of Amphipolis, marched with his allies against the territory called Acte.
§4.109.2ἔστι δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως διορύγματος ἔσω προύχουσα, καὶ ὁ Ἄθως αὐτῆς ὄρος ὑψηλὸν τελευτᾷ ἐς τὸ Αἰγαῖον πέλαγος.
It projects inward from the King's canal, and Mount Athos, which is high, terminates it in the Aegean Sea.
§4.109.3πόλεις δὲ ἔχει Σάνην μὲν Ἀνδρίων ἀποικίαν παρ’ αὐτὴν τὴν διώρυχα, ἐς τὸ πρὸς Εὔβοιαν πέλαγος τετραμμένην, τὰς δὲ ἄλλας Θυσσὸν καὶ Κλεωνὰς καὶ Ἀκροθῴους καὶ Ὀλόφυξον καὶ Δῖον·
It contains cities: Sane, a colony of the Andrians, close to the canal itself and facing the sea toward Euboea, and the others, Thyssus, Cleonae, Acrothoi, Olophyxus, and Dium.
§4.109.4αἳ οἰκοῦνται ξυμμείκτοις ἔθνεσι βαρβάρων διγλώσσων, καί τι καὶ Χαλκιδικὸν ἔνι βραχύ, τὸ δὲ πλεῖστον Πελασγικόν, τῶν καὶ Λῆμνόν ποτε καὶ Ἀθήνας Τυρσηνῶν οἰκησάντων, καὶ Βισαλτικὸν καὶ Κρηστωνικὸν καὶ Ἠδῶνες· κατὰ δὲ μικρὰ πολίσματα οἰκοῦσιν.
These are inhabited by mixed populations of bilingual barbarians, with some small Chalcidian element, but the majority are Pelasgians—belonging to those Tyrrhenians who once inhabited Lemnos and Athens—and Bisaltians, Crestonians, and Edonians; they dwell in small towns.
§4.109.5καὶ οἱ μὲν πλείους προσεχώρησαν τῷ Βρασίδᾳ, Σάνη δὲ καὶ Δῖον ἀντέστη, καὶ αὐτῶν τὴν χώραν ἐμμείνας τῷ στρατῷ ἐδῄου.
And the greater part of them came over to Brasidas, but Sane and Dium resisted, and he, remaining there with his army, ravaged their territory.

Notes

  1. §4.109.1σφῶν — Third person plural reflexive pronoun. Although placed inside the relative clause ἃ ... εἶχον, it refers to the subject of the main clause, Μεγαρῆς, rather than the subject of the relative clause (οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι) (indirect reflexive). It means 'their own long walls which the Athenians held.'
  2. §4.109.4τῶν ... Τυρσηνῶν οἰκησάντων — A genitive participial phrase. It functions as a partitive genitive or an appositive explaining the preceding Πελασγικόν (Pelasgian element). The article τῶν goes with Τυρσηνῶν, which is the subject of the participle οἰκησάντων, meaning 'belonging to those Tyrrhenians who once inhabited Lemnos and Athens.'
  3. §4.109.5τῷ στρατῷ — Dative of accompaniment. Although it could theoretically be construed as the complement of the intransitive participle ἐμμείνας ('remaining with the army'), it is more naturally interpreted as a dative of military accompaniment (dativus militaris) modifying the main verb ἐδῄου ('he ravaged [their territory] with his army/at the head of his army').

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §4.109.1-4.109.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.109.1-4.109.5

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