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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §7.85.1-7.85.4

Surrender of Nicias to Gylippus and Capture of Prisoners

Passage 806 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Following the destruction of the Athenian army, Nicias surrenders to Gylippus and pleads for an end to the slaughter. While many survivors are taken captive either publicly or privately, and others escape to Catana, this defeat marks the heaviest toll of the entire war.

§7.85.1τέλος δὲ νεκρῶν τε πολλῶν ἐπ’ ἀλλήλοις ἤδη κειμένων ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ καὶ διεφθαρμένου τοῦ στρατεύματος τοῦ μὲν κατὰ τὸν ποταμόν, τοῦ δὲ καί, εἴ τι διαφύγοι, ὑπὸ τῶν ἱππέων, Νικίας Γυλίππῳ ἑαυτὸν παραδίδωσι, πιστεύσας μᾶλλον αὐτῷ ἢ τοῖς Συρακοσίοις·
At last, when many dead were already piled upon one another in the river, and the army was destroyed—part of it at the river, and the rest, if any escaped, by the cavalry—Nicias surrendered himself to Gylippus, trusting him more than the Syracusans.
καὶ ἑαυτῷ μὲν χρήσασθαι ἐκέλευεν ἐκεῖνόν τε καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους ὅτι βούλονται, τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους στρατιώτας παύσασθαι φονεύοντας.
He told him and the Lacedaemonians to do with himself whatever they pleased, but to stop slaughtering the rest of the soldiers.
§7.85.2καὶ ὁ Γύλιππος μετὰ τοῦτο ζωγρεῖν ἤδη ἐκέλευεν· καὶ τούς τε λοιποὺς ὅσους μὴ ἀπεκρύψαντο (πολλοὶ δὲ οὗτοι ἐγένοντο) ξυνεκόμισαν ζῶντας, καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς τριακοσίους, οἳ τὴν φυλακὴν διεξῆλθον τῆς νυκτός, πέμψαντες τοὺς διωξομένους ξυνέλαβον.
After this, Gylippus at once gave orders to take prisoners alive; and they collected all the survivors whom they had not secretly kept for themselves (and these were many), and sending pursuers after the three hundred who had passed through the guards during the night, they captured them.
§7.85.3τὸ μὲν οὖν ἁθροισθὲν τοῦ στρατεύματος ἐς τὸ κοινὸν οὐ πολὺ ἐγένετο, τὸ δὲ διακλαπὲν πολύ, καὶ διεπλήσθη πᾶσα Σικελία αὐτῶν, ἅτε οὐκ ἀπὸ ξυμβάσεως ὥσπερ τῶν μετὰ Δημοσθένους ληφθέντων.
Thus the part of the army gathered into the public stock was not large, but those secretly stolen away were numerous, and all Sicily was filled with them, since they had not been taken under any treaty as those with Demosthenes had been.
§7.85.4μέρος δέ τι οὐκ ὀλίγον καὶ ἀπέθανεν· πλεῖστος γὰρ δὴ φόνος οὗτος καὶ οὐδενὸς ἐλάσσων τῶν ἐν τῷ [Σικελικῷ] πολέμῳ τούτῳ ἐγένετο.
A not inconsiderable part also died; for this slaughter was indeed the greatest, and second to none of those in this Sicilian war.
καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις προσβολαῖς ταῖς κατὰ τὴν πορείαν συχναῖς γενομέναις οὐκ ὀλίγοι ἐτεθνήκεσαν.
In the other frequent attacks which had occurred during the march, not a few had also died.
πολλοὶ δὲ ὅμως καὶ διέφυγον, οἱ μὲν καὶ παραυτίκα, οἱ δὲ καὶ δουλεύσαντες καὶ διαδιδράσκοντες ὕστερον· τούτοις δ’ ἦν ἀναχώρησις ἐς Κατάνην.
Nevertheless, many escaped, some at the moment, others after being enslaved and escaping later; for these Catana was their place of refuge.

Notes

  1. 7.85.1διεφθαρμένου τοῦ στρατεύματος τοῦ μὲν κατὰ τὸν ποταμόν, τοῦ δὲ καί, εἴ τι διαφύγοι, ὑπὸ τῶν ἱππέων — Within the genitive absolute construction, the partition τοῦ μὲν ... τοῦ δὲ is placed in apposition to the main subject of the clause, τοῦ στρατεύματος. The optative εἴ τι διαφύγοι expresses a past general or iterative condition ('if any should escape'), with the main verb of destruction (such as διεφθαρμένου) understood in the second part of the correlation.
  2. 7.85.1ἑαυτῷ μὲν χρήσασθαι ἐκέλευεν ἐκεῖνόν τε καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους ὅτι βούλονται — The infinitive χρήσασθαι governs the dative ἑαυτῷ, while its subject accusative is ἐκεῖνόν τε καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους. The clause ὅτι βούλονται serves as a relative clause of generality ('whatever they wished'), describing the manner in which they might treat him.
  3. 7.85.2ὅσους μὴ ἀπεκρύψαντο — The middle voice of the verb (ἀπεκρύψαντο) possesses an indirect or reflexive force ('kept hidden for themselves'). This refers to the Syracusan soldiers hiding Athenian captives for their personal use as slaves, thereby keeping them from the public pool of prisoners.
  4. 7.85.3ὥσπερ τῶν μετὰ Δημοσθένους ληφθέντων — A brachylogy where the genitive construction following ὥσπερ is compressed. It stands in contrast with οὐκ ἀπὸ ξυμβάσεως, meaning 'not under a treaty, as was the case with those captured under Demosthenes' (where the capture had indeed been based on a treaty).

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §7.85.1-7.85.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.85.1-7.85.4

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