Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §5.70.1

Clash of Armies and the Spartan Advance to the Flute

Passage 570 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The clash of the two armies begins; while the Argives advance with fury, the Lacedaemonians move slowly to the music of flutes to prevent their battle line from breaking.

§5.70.1καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἡ ξύνοδος ἦν, Ἀργεῖοι μὲν καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι ἐντόνως καὶ ὀργῇ χωροῦντες, Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ βραδέως καὶ ὑπὸ αὐλητῶν πολλῶν ὁμοῦ ἐγκαθεστώτων, οὐ τοῦ θείου χάριν, ἀλλ’ ἵνα ὁμαλῶς μετὰ ῥυθμοῦ βαίνοντες προσέλθοιεν καὶ μὴ διασπασθείη αὐτοῖς ἡ τάξις, ὅπερ φιλεῖ τὰ μεγάλα στρατόπεδα ἐν ταῖς προσόδοις ποιεῖν.

After this the conflict began. The Argives and their allies advanced with impetuosity and fury, but the Lacedaemonians slowly and to the music of many flute-players stationed among them, not for any religious reason, but in order that they might advance evenly, stepping in time, and that their line of battle might not be broken, which is what large armies are prone to do in their advances.

Notes

5.70.1ὑπὸ αὐλητῶν — The preposition `ὑπό` with the genitive here denotes accompanying circumstances ("to the music of") rather than the agent of a passive verb.
5.70.1ὅπερ φιλεῖ — The relative pronoun `ὅπερ` refers back to the concept of the line being broken (`διασπασθῆναι τὴν τάξιν`). The verb `φιλέω` with the infinitive (`ποιεῖν`) is used in the sense of "to be accustomed to" or "to be prone to."

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §5.70.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.70.1

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