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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §5.81.1-5.81.2

Mantinea's Submission and Oligarchy in Argos

Passage 581 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Following Argos's defection, Mantinea also makes peace with Sparta and relinquishes its dominion over other cities, while Sparta and Argos jointly establish oligarchies in Sicyon and Argos, bringing the fourteenth year of the war to a close.

§5.81.1μετὰ δὲ τὴν τῶν Ἀργείων ἀπόστασιν ἐκ τῆς ξυμμαχίας καὶ οἱ Μαντινῆς, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἀντέχοντες, ἔπειτ’ οὐ δυνάμενοι ἄνευ τῶν Ἀργείων, ξυνέβησαν καὶ αὐτοὶ τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀφεῖσαν τῶν πόλεων.
After the defection of the Argives from the alliance, the Mantineans also, though at first they held out, afterwards finding themselves unable to do so without the Argives, themselves also came to terms with the Lacedaemonians and relinquished their dominion over the cities.
§5.81.2καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ Ἀργεῖοι, χίλιοι ἑκάτεροι, ξυστρατεύσαντες τά τ’ ἐν Σικυῶνι ἐς ὀλίγους μᾶλλον κατέστησαν αὐτοὶ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἐλθόντες, καὶ μετ’ ἐκεῖνα ξυναμφότεροι ἤδη καὶ τὸν ἐν Ἄργει δῆμον κατέλυσαν, καὶ ὀλιγαρχία ἐπιτηδεία τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις κατέστη.
And the Lacedaemonians and Argives, a thousand of each, having taken the field together, the Lacedaemonians themselves went and settled the affairs in Sicyon more in the hands of an oligarchy; and after that, both together now also put down the democracy in Argos, and an oligarchy suitable to the Lacedaemonians was established.
καὶ πρὸς ἔαρ ἤδη ταῦτα ἦν τοῦ χειμῶνος λήγοντος, καὶ τέταρτον καὶ δέκατον ἔτος τῷ πολέμῳ ἐτελεύτα.
These things took place towards the end of the winter, when spring was already approaching, and the fourteenth year of the war came to an end.

Notes

  1. 5.81.1τῶν πόλεων — Objective genitive. It refers to the dominion over the neighboring cities in Arcadia that Mantinea had brought under its hegemony during the earlier part of the Peloponnesian War.
  2. 5.81.2αὐτοὶ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἐλθόντες — Although the main verb is κατέστησαν (3rd person plural aorist) with 'Lacedaemonians and Argives' as the subject, the inserted participial phrase αὐτοὶ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἐλθόντες emphasizes that the Lacedaemonians themselves went and took the lead in the oligarchical transition in Sicyon.
  3. 5.81.2ἐς ὀλίγους μᾶλλον — Meaning 'into the hands of fewer men,' referring to a constitutional change towards oligarchy. The adverb μᾶλλον ('more' or 'rather') suggests that the existing government was modified or tightened into a stricter oligarchy rather than undergoing a complete, sudden overthrow.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §5.81.1-5.81.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.81.1-5.81.2

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