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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §4.50.1-4.50.3

Capture of a Persian Envoy and Interception of Letters

Passage 415 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Athenian general Aristeides captured Artaphernes, a Persian envoy to Sparta, whose letters the Athenians then translated. Later, Athenian envoys sent to accompany him back to Ephesus returned home upon hearing of the death of King Artaxerxes.

§4.50.1τοῦ δ’ ἐπιγιγνομένου χειμῶνος Ἀριστείδης ὁ Ἀρχίππου, εἷς τῶν ἀργυρολόγων νεῶν Ἀθηναίων στρατηγός, αἳ ἐξεπέμφθησαν πρὸς τοὺς ξυμμάχους, Ἀρταφέρνην ἄνδρα Πέρσην παρὰ βασιλέως πορευόμενον ἐς Λακεδαίμονα ξυλλαμβάνει ἐν Ἠιόνι τῇ ἐπὶ Στρυμόνι.
In the following winter, Aristeides the son of Archippus, one of the commanders of the Athenian money-collecting ships which had been sent out to the allies, captured Artaphernes, a Persian, at Eion on the Strymon, while he was on his way from the King to Lacedaemon.
§4.50.2καὶ αὐτοῦ κομισθέντος οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι τὰς μὲν ἐπιστολὰς μεταγραψάμενοι ἐκ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων γραμμάτων ἀνέγνωσαν, ἐν αἷς πολλῶν ἄλλων γεγραμμένων κεφάλαιον ἦν πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους, οὐ γιγνώσκειν ὅτι βούλονται·
After he was brought to Athens, the Athenians translated the letters from the Assyrian characters and read them.
πολλῶν γὰρ ἐλθόντων πρέσβεων οὐδένα ταὐτὰ λέγειν· εἰ οὖν τι βούλονται σαφὲς λέγειν, πέμψαι μετὰ τοῦ Πέρσου ἄνδρας ὡς αὐτόν.
In these, among many other things, the substance of the message to the Lacedaemonians was that the King did not understand what they wanted; for although many envoys had come, no two said the same thing; if, therefore, they wished to say anything clear, they should send men to him in company with this Persian.
§4.50.3τὸν δὲ Ἀρταφέρνην ὕστερον οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἀποστέλλουσι τριήρει ἐς Ἔφεσον καὶ πρέσβεις ἅμα· οἳ πυθόμενοι αὐτόθι βασιλέα Ἀρταξέρξην τὸν Ξέρξου νεωστὶ τεθνηκότα (κατὰ γὰρ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἐτελεύτησεν) ἐπ’ οἴκου ἀνεχώρησαν.
Afterwards, the Athenians sent Artaphernes back in a trireme to Ephesus, and sent envoys with him; but when they arrived there and learned that King Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes, was recently dead (for he died about that time), the envoys returned home.

Notes

  1. §4.50.1νεῶν — A noun in the genitive plural modified by `ἀργυρολόγων` (money-collecting) and serving as the antecedent of the relative pronoun `αἳ`. It indicates that the money-collecting ships were sent out to the allies.
  2. §4.50.2οὐ γιγνώσκειν — Infinitive in indirect discourse with the Persian King as the implied subject, representing the content of the letter: 'that he (the King) did not understand...'
  3. §4.50.2πέμψαι — Infinitive representing a command in indirect discourse, with the Lacedaemonians as the implied subject: 'that they should send...'
  4. §4.50.3τεθνηκότα — Perfect participle functioning as the complement of `πυθόμενοι` (having learned), agreeing with the accusative subject `βασιλέα Ἀρταξέρξην`, forming an indirect statement: 'having learned that King Artaxerxes was dead.'

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §4.50.1-4.50.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.50.1-4.50.3

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