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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §6.52.1-6.52.2

Camarina's Rejection and Athenian Retreat to Catana

Passage 668 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Athenians, receiving reports from Camarina, sail to Syracuse and Camarina, but the Camarinaeans refuse to receive them due to their oaths; after a brief skirmish in Syracusan territory, they withdraw to Catana.

§6.52.1ἐσηγγέλλετο δὲ αὐτοῖς ἔκ τε Καμαρίνης ὡς, εἰ ἔλθοιεν, προσχωροῖεν ἄν, καὶ ὅτι Συρακόσιοι πληροῦσι ναυτικόν.
Meanwhile, messages were brought to them from Camarina that, if they should come, the Camarinaeans would join them, and also that the Syracusans were manning a fleet.
ἁπάσῃ οὖν τῇ στρατιᾷ παρέπλευσαν πρῶτον μὲν ἐπὶ Συρακούσας· καὶ ὡς οὐδὲν ηὗρον ναυτικὸν πληρούμενον, παρεκομίζοντο αὖθις ἐπὶ Καμαρίνης, καὶ σχόντες ἐς τὸν αἰγιαλὸν ἐπεκηρυκεύοντο.
Therefore, they sailed along the coast with their entire army, first to Syracuse; and when they found no fleet being manned, they coasted back again to Camarina, and putting in at the beach, they sent heralds to negotiate.
οἱ δ’ οὐκ ἐδέχοντο, λέγοντες σφίσι τὰ ὅρκια εἶναι μιᾷ νηὶ καταπλεόντων Ἀθηναίων δέχεσθαι, ἢν μὴ αὐτοὶ πλείους μεταπέμπωσιν.
But the Camarinaeans would not receive them, saying that they were bound by oaths to receive the Athenians only when they sailed in with a single ship, unless they themselves should send for more.
§6.52.2ἄπρακτοι δὲ γενόμενοι ἀπέπλεον· καὶ ἀποβάντες κατά τι τῆς Συρακοσίας καὶ ἁρπαγὴν ποιησάμενοι, καὶ τῶν Συρακοσίων ἱππέων βοηθησάντων καὶ τῶν ψιλῶν τινὰς ἐσκεδασμένους διαφθειράντων, ἀπεκομίσθησαν ἐς Κατάνην.
Having failed in their purpose, they sailed away; and landing on some part of the Syracusan territory and committing ravages, when the Syracusan cavalry came to the rescue and killed some of their light-armed troops who were scattered about, they withdrew to Catana.

Notes

  1. §6.52.1ἐσηγγέλλετο — An impersonal passive, or taking the subsequent ὡς and ὅτι clauses as its subject. Inside the ὡς clause, εἰ ἔλθοιεν, προσχωροῖεν ἄν represents a future-less-vivid (potential) conditional inside indirect discourse. In the ὅτι clause, the present indicative πληροῦσι is retained to preserve the original statement's vividness.
  2. §6.52.1τὰ ὅρκια εἶναι μιᾷ νηὶ καταπλεόντων Ἀθηναίων δέχεσθαι — An accusative with infinitive construction in indirect discourse dependent on λέγοντες. τὰ ὅρκια εἶναι ('that there were oaths') is further explained by the appositive infinitive δέχεσθαι ('to receive'). καταπλεόντων Ἀθηναίων is a genitive absolute (or modifying the logical subject of δέχεσθαι) meaning 'when the Athenians sail in', with μιᾷ νηὶ ('with a single ship') modifying it as means/accompaniment.
  3. §6.52.2τῶν Συρακοσίων ἱππέων βοηθησάντων καὶ τῶν ψιλῶν τινὰς ἐσκεδασμένους διαφθειράντων — Two participle clauses, βοηθησάντων and διαφθειράντων, form a genitive absolute with the shared subject τῶν Συρακοσίων ἱππέων. ἐσκεδασμένους is a perfect passive participle modifying τινὰς (the object of διαφθειράντων), meaning 'those who had been scattered.'

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §6.52.1-6.52.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.52.1-6.52.2

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