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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §5.12.1-5.12.2

Ramphias's Expedition to Thrace and End of Summer

Passage 512 of 917 · Greek

Summary

While the Lacedaemonians under Ramphias, marching with reinforcements to Thrace, are regulating affairs at Heraclea in Trachis, the battle of Amphipolis takes place and the summer ends.

§5.12.1καὶ ὑπὸ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους τοῦ θέρους τελευτῶντος Ῥαμφίας καὶ Αὐτοχαρίδας καὶ Ἐπικυδίδας Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἐς τὰ ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης χωρία βοήθειαν ἦγον ἐνακοσίων ὁπλιτῶν, καὶ ἀφικόμενοι ἐς Ἡράκλειαν τὴν ἐν Τραχῖνι καθίσταντο ὅτι αὐτοῖς ἐδόκει μὴ καλῶς ἔχειν.
About the same time, at the end of the summer, the Lacedaemonians Ramphias, Autocharidas, and Epicydidas led a reinforcement of nine hundred hoplites to the parts toward Thrace, and having arrived at Heraclea in Trachis, they regulated whatever seemed to them not to be in a satisfactory state.
§5.12.2ἐνδιατριβόντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἔτυχεν ἡ μάχη αὕτη γενομένη, καὶ τὸ θέρος ἐτελεύτα.
While they were lingering there, this battle happened to take place, and the summer ended.

Notes

  1. 5.12.1ὅτι — The word `ὅτι` here is not the causal conjunction "because" but the neuter accusative singular of the indefinite relative pronoun `ὅστις` (usually written as `ὅ τι`), serving as the direct object of the transitively used `καθίσταντο` ("they regulated/settled"). It means "whatever (seemed to them not to be in a good state)." This usage is parallel to `τὰ περὶ τὴν Ἀμφίπολιν καθίσταντο` in the preceding section (11.3).
  2. 5.12.2ἔτυχεν ἡ μάχη αὕτη γενομένη — The construction of the verb `τυγχάνω` with a participle (here `γενομένη`) expresses a coincidental occurrence ("happened to take place," "just occurred"). The subject is `ἡ μάχη αὕτη` (this battle).

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §5.12.1-5.12.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.12.1-5.12.2

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