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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §4.76.1-4.76.5

Athenian Plan for the Invasion of Boeotia

Passage 441 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Athenian general Demosthenes arrives at Naupactus, and a plan is prepared with democratic exiles to overthrow Boeotia through simultaneous uprisings across the region and the fortification of Delium.

§4.76.1ἐν δὲ τῷ αὐτῷ θέρει καὶ Δημοσθένης Ἀθηναίων στρατηγὸς τεσσαράκοντα ναυσὶν ἀφικνεῖται ἐς Ναύπακτον, εὐθὺς μετὰ τὴν ἐκ τῆς Μεγαρίδος ἀναχώρησιν.
During the same summer, Demosthenes, also an Athenian general, arrived at Naupactus with forty ships, immediately after the retreat from Megaris.
§4.76.2τῷ γὰρ Ἱπποκράτει καὶ ἐκείνῳ τὰ Βοιώτια πράγματα ἀπό τινων ἀνδρῶν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν ἐπράσσετο, βουλομένων μεταστῆσαι τὸν κόσμον καὶ ἐς δημοκρατίαν ὥσπερ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι τρέψαι· καὶ Πτοιοδώρου μάλιστ’ ἀνδρὸς φυγάδος ἐκ Θηβῶν ἐσηγουμένου τάδε αὐτοῖς παρεσκευάσθη.
For negotiations concerning Boeotian affairs were being carried on for Hippocrates and him by certain men in the cities, who wished to change the constitution and turn it into a democracy like that of the Athenians; and it was chiefly on the suggestion of Ptoeodorus, an exile from Thebes, that these things were prepared for them.
§4.76.3Σίφας μὲν ἔμελλόν τινες προδώσειν (αἱ δὲ Σῖφαί εἰσι τῆς Θεσπικῆς γῆς ἐν τῷ Κρισαίῳ κόλπῳ ἐπιθαλασσίδιοι)· Χαιρώνειαν δέ, ἣ ἐς Ὀρχομενὸν τὸν Μινύειον πρότερον καλούμενον, νῦν δὲ Βοιώτιον, ξυντελεῖ, ἄλλοι ἐξ Ὀρχομενοῦ ἐνεδίδοσαν, καὶ οἱ Ὀρχομενίων φυγάδες ξυνέπρασσον τὰ μάλιστα καὶ ἄνδρας ἐμισθοῦντο ἐκ Πελοποννήσου (ἔστι δὲ ἡ Χαιρώνεια ἔσχατον τῆς Βοιωτίας πρὸς τῇ Φανοτίδι τῆς Φωκίδος), καὶ Φωκέων μετεῖχόν τινες.
Some were to betray Siphae (Siphae is a coastal town of the Thespian territory on the Crisaean Gulf); while others from Orchomenus were to hand over Chaeronea, which pays dues to Orchomenus, formerly called Minyean, but now Boeotian; and the exiles of Orchomenus cooperated to the utmost and hired men from the Peloponnesus (Chaeronea is the border town of Boeotia near Phanotis of Phocis), and some of the Phocians also took part.
§4.76.4τοὺς δὲ Ἀθηναίους ἔδει Δήλιον καταλαβεῖν τὸ ἐν τῇ Ταναγραίᾳ πρὸς Εὔβοιαν τετραμμένον Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερόν, ἅμα δὲ ταῦτα ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ῥητῇ γίγνεσθαι, ὅπως μὴ ξυμβοηθήσωσιν ἐπὶ τὸ Δήλιον οἱ Βοιωτοὶ ἁθρόοι, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ τὰ σφέτερα αὐτῶν ἕκαστοι κινούμενα.
And the Athenians were to seize Delium, the sanctuary of Apollo in the territory of Tanagra facing Euboea, and at the same time these things were to take place on an appointed day, so that the Boeotians might not rush to help Delium in a body, but each to their own threatened points.
§4.76.5καὶ εἰ κατορθοῖτο ἡ πεῖρα καὶ τὸ Δήλιον τειχισθείη, ῥᾳδίως ἤλπιζον, εἰ καὶ μὴ παραυτίκα νεωτερίζοιτό τι τῶν κατὰ τὰς πολιτείας τοῖς Βοιωτοῖς, ἐχομένων τούτων τῶν χωρίων καὶ λῃστευομένης τῆς γῆς καὶ οὔσης ἑκάστοις διὰ βραχέος ἀποστροφῆς, οὐ μενεῖν κατὰ χώραν τὰ πράγματα, ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ τῶν Ἀθηναίων μὲν προσιόντων τοῖς ἀφεστηκόσι, τοῖς δὲ οὐκ οὔσης ἁθρόας τῆς δυνάμεως, καταστήσειν αὐτὰ ἐς τὸ ἐπιτήδειον.
And if the attempt should succeed and Delium were fortified, they easily expected that, even if no revolution in their constitutions should occur immediately among the Boeotians, since these places were held, the land plundered, and a nearby refuge existed for each, affairs would not remain in their status quo, but in time, while the Athenians supported the rebels and the others had no concentrated force, they would settle down into a favorable state.

Notes

  1. §4.76.2τῷ γὰρ Ἱπποκράτει καὶ ἐκείνῳ — The datives τῷ... Ἱπποκράτει καὶ ἐκείνῳ represent either the dative of agent or the dative of reference with the passive verbs ἐπράσσετο (was being negotiated) and παρεσκευάσθη (was prepared). It is translated as "for/by Hippocrates and him (Demosthenes)".
  2. §4.76.3ξυντελεῖ — The verb ξυντελεῖ (normally meaning "to contribute together") functions here intransitively with ἐς Ὀρχομενὸν to mean "belongs to" or "is politically dependent on" (paying dues or contributing to the league under Orchomenus).
  3. §4.76.4κινούμενα — The neuter plural present participle κινούμενα (things being moved/disturbed) modifies the preceding possessive phrase τὰ σφέτερα αὐτῶν (their own affairs/territory), referring to "their own territories being disturbed or threatened".
  4. §4.76.5καταστήσειν — The future infinitive καταστήσειν is part of the accusative-with-infinitive construction governed by ἤλπιζον. The verb is used intransitively here, with τὰ πράγματα (affairs) carried over from the previous clause as its subject, meaning "affairs would settle down (into a favorable state)".

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §4.76.1-4.76.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.76.1-4.76.5

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