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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §6.5.1-6.5.3

Founding of Himera, Camarina, and other cities

Passage 621 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The passage details the foundation of Himera, Acrae, Casmenae, and Camarina, as well as the destruction of Camarina and its subsequent refoundations by Hippocrates and the Geloans.

§6.5.1καὶ Ἱμέρα ἀπὸ Ζάγκλης ᾠκίσθη ὑπὸ Εὐκλείδου καὶ Σίμου καὶ Σάκωνος, καὶ Χαλκιδῆς μὲν οἱ πλεῖστοι ἦλθον ἐς τὴν ἀποικίαν, ξυνῴκισαν δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐκ Συρακουσῶν φυγάδες στάσει νικηθέντες, οἱ Μυλητίδαι καλούμενοι·
And Himera was founded from Zancle by Euclides, Simus, and Sacon; most of those who came to the colony were Chalcidians, but refugees from Syracuse who had been defeated in a factional strife, called the Mylitidae, also settled with them.
καὶ φωνὴ μὲν μεταξὺ τῆς τε Χαλκιδέων καὶ Δωρίδος ἐκράθη, νόμιμα δὲ τὰ Χαλκιδικὰ ἐκράτησεν.
Their language was mixed between that of the Chalcidians and the Dorians, but the Chalcidian institutions prevailed.
§6.5.2Ἄκραι δὲ καὶ Κασμέναι ὑπὸ Συρακοσίων ᾠκίσθησαν, Ἄκραι μὲν ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτεσι μετὰ Συρακούσας, Κασμέναι δ’ ἐγγὺς εἴκοσι μετὰ Ἄκρας.
Acrae and Casmenae were founded by the Syracusans: Acrae seventy years after Syracuse, and Casmenae nearly twenty years after Acrae.
§6.5.3καὶ Καμάρινα τὸ πρῶτον ὑπὸ Συρακοσίων ᾠκίσθη, ἔτεσιν ἐγγύτατα πέντε καὶ τριάκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν μετὰ Συρακουσῶν κτίσιν· οἰκισταὶ δὲ ἐγένοντο αὐτῆς Δάσκων καὶ Μενέκωλος.
Camarina also was first founded by the Syracusans, almost a hundred and thirty-five years after the founding of Syracuse; and Dascon and Menecolus became its founders.
ἀναστάτων δὲ Καμαριναίων γενομένων πολέμῳ ὑπὸ Συρακοσίων δι’ ἀπόστασιν, χρόνῳ Ἱπποκράτης ὕστερον Γέλας τύραννος, λύτρα ἀνδρῶν Συρακοσίων αἰχμαλώτων λαβὼν τὴν γῆν τὴν Καμαριναίων, αὐτὸς οἰκιστὴς γενόμενος κατῴκισε Καμάριναν.
But when the Camarinaeans were driven out by the Syracusans in a war caused by their revolt, Hippocrates, tyrant of Gela, some time later received the land of the Camarinaeans as ransom for Syracusan prisoners of war, and having himself become the founder, resettled Camarina.
καὶ αὖθις ὑπὸ Γέλωνος ἀνάστατος γενομένη τὸ τρίτον κατῳκίσθη ὑπὸ Γελῴων.
And having been driven out again by Gelon, it was resettled for the third time by the Geloans.

Notes

  1. 6.5.1τῆς τε Χαλκιδέων καὶ Δωρίδος — The feminine article `τῆς` agrees with the implied noun `φωνῆς` (language) from the preceding `φωνή`, governing the genitives `Χαλκιδέων` and `Δωρίδος`. It expresses "between the dialect of the Chalcidians and that of the Dorians."
  2. 6.5.3ἀναστάτων δὲ Καμαριναίων γενομένων — A genitive absolute construction where the adjective `ἀνάστατος` (driven out) is used predicatively with `γενομένων` in agreement with the subject of the clause, `Καμαριναίων`, meaning "when the Camarinaeans had been driven out."
  3. 6.5.3λύτρα — The neuter plural accusative `λύτρα` (ransom) functions as an appositive to the direct object `τὴν γῆν` (the land) or as a predicative accusative with the participle `λαβών`, meaning "receiving the land... as a ransom" for the Syracusan captives.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §6.5.1-6.5.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.5.1-6.5.3

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