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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §5.75.1-5.75.6

Spartan Recovery of Prestige and the Carnea

Passage 575 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Pleistoanax's aborted march and the Lacedaemonian withdrawal to celebrate the Carnea are related. The Spartan victory at Mantinea successfully rehabilitates their reputation among the Greeks, while the Argive allies take advantage of the Spartan festival to invade Epidaurus and build a wall of circumvallation.

§5.75.1τῆς δὲ μάχης μελλούσης ἔσεσθαι καὶ Πλειστοάναξ ὁ ἕτερος βασιλεὺς ἔχων τούς τε πρεσβυτέρους καὶ νεωτέρους ἐβοήθησε, καὶ μέχρι μὲν Τεγέας ἀφίκετο, πυθόμενος δὲ τὴν νίκην ἀπεχώρησεν.
When the battle was about to take place, Pleistoanax, the other king, also marched to their relief with the older and younger men; and he reached as far as Tegea, but turned back upon hearing of the victory.
§5.75.2καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ Κορίνθου καὶ ἔξω Ἰσθμοῦ ξυμμάχους ἀπέστρεψαν πέμψαντες οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀναχωρήσαντες καὶ τοὺς ξυμμάχους ἀφέντες (Κάρνεια γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐτύγχανον ὄντα) τὴν ἑορτὴν ἦγον.
The Lacedaemonians also sent and turned back the allies from Corinth and from beyond the Isthmus, and themselves returned home and dismissed their allies, as they happened to be celebrating the Carnea, and kept the festival.
§5.75.3καὶ τὴν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων τότε ἐπιφερομένην αἰτίαν ἔς τε μαλακίαν διὰ τὴν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ ξυμφορὰν καὶ ἐς τὴν ἄλλην ἀβουλίαν τε καὶ βραδυτῆτα ἑνὶ ἔργῳ τούτῳ ἀπελύσαντο, τύχῃ μέν, ὡς ἐδόκουν, κακιζόμενοι, γνώμῃ δὲ οἱ αὐτοὶ ἔτι ὄντες.
And the charge which was at that time brought against them by the Greeks, both of cowardice because of the disaster in the island, and of general mismanagement and dilatoriness, they wiped out by this single deed; for they were now thought to have been degraded by fortune, indeed, but in spirit to be still the same as ever.
§5.75.4τῇ δὲ προτέρᾳ ἡμέρᾳ ξυνέβη τῆς μάχης ταύτης καὶ τοὺς Ἐπιδαυρίους πανδημεὶ ἐσβαλεῖν ἐς τὴν Ἀργείαν ὡς ἐρῆμον οὖσαν καὶ τοὺς ὑπολοίπους φύλακας τῶν Ἀργείων ἐξελθόντων αὐτῶν διαφθεῖραι πολλούς.
On the day before this battle, it had also happened that the Epidaurians, with their whole force, invaded the Argive territory, believing it to be deserted, and killed many of the Argive guards who had been left behind when the main body marched out.
§5.75.5καὶ Ἠλείων τρισχιλίων ὁπλιτῶν βοηθησάντων Μαντινεῦσιν ὕστερον τῆς μάχης καὶ Ἀθηναίων χιλίων πρὸς τοῖς προτέροις ἐστράτευσαν ἅπαντες οἱ ξύμμαχοι οὗτοι εὐθὺς ἐπὶ Ἐπίδαυρον, ἕως οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι Κάρνεια ἦγον, καὶ διελόμενοι τὴν πόλιν περιετείχιζον.
After the battle, three thousand Elean hoplites having come to the aid of the Mantineans, and also one thousand Athenians in addition to the former force, all these allies marched immediately against Epidaurus, while the Lacedaemonians were keeping the Carnea, and, dividing the city among themselves, began to build a wall of circumvallation.
§5.75.6καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι ἐξεπαύσαντο, Ἀθηναῖοι δέ, ὥσπερ προσετάχθησαν, τὴν ἄκραν τὸ Ἡραῖον εὐθὺς ἐξειργάσαντο.
The others, indeed, desisted, but the Athenians immediately completed the part assigned to them, namely, the wall at the promontory of the Heraeum.
καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ξυγκαταλιπόντες ἅπαντες τῷ τειχίσματι φρουρὰν ἀνεχώρησαν κατὰ πόλεις ἕκαστοι.
Thereupon they all left a joint garrison in the fortification and withdrew, each to their respective cities.
καὶ τὸ θέρος ἐτελεύτα.
And the summer ended.

Notes

  1. §5.75.1τούς τε πρεσβυτέρους καὶ νεωτέρους — These comparative adjectives refer to the oldest (late fifties to early sixties) and the youngest (under twenty) age classes, who fell outside the standard age limits for active field service and were normally reserved for home defense. It indicates that Pleistoanax marched out with these reserve forces.
  2. §5.75.3τύχῃ μέν, ὡς ἐδόκουν, κακιζόμενοι, γνώμῃ δὲ οἱ αὐτοὶ ἔτι ὄντες — A participial construction modifying the subject of the main clause (the Lacedaemonians) to explain the rehabilitation of their reputation. The passive participle κακιζόμενοι means "being degraded/deemed cowards by fortune (in the eyes of others)," contrasted with γνώμῃ δὲ ... ὄντες ("but in spirit being still the same"). This construction explains that their victory proved they had only suffered from bad luck, while their inner character remained unchanged.
  3. §5.75.4τῇ δὲ προτέρᾳ ἡμέρᾳ ξυνέβη τῆς μάχης ταύτης — The impersonal verb ξυνέβη takes two accusative-with-infinitive clauses (ἐσβαλεῖν and διαφθεῖραι) as its subject. The genitive τῆς μάχης ταύτης depends on the temporal dative τῇ προτέρᾳ ἡμέρᾳ, meaning "on the day before this battle."
  4. §5.75.5Ἠλείων τρισχιλίων ὁπλιτῶν βοηθησάντων... καὶ Ἀθηναίων χιλίων — A genitive absolute construction. In the second part (καὶ Ἀθηναίων χιλίων), the participle βοηθησάντων (or a similar verb of motion) is omitted, carrying over from the first part. These two clauses explain the background circumstances under which the allies (οὗτοι) launched their expedition.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §5.75.1-5.75.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.75.1-5.75.6

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