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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §8.18.1-8.18.3

Terms of the First Spartan-Persian Alliance Treaty

Passage 826 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The first treaty of alliance between the Lacedaemonians and the Persian King (represented by Tissaphernes), specifying the recognition of the King's ancestral territories, the cutoff of Athenian revenue, joint warfare, and mutual protection against rebellion.

§8.18.1‘ἐπὶ τοῖσδε ξυμμαχίαν ἐποιήσαντο πρὸς βασιλέα καὶ Τισσαφέρνην Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι.
'On the following terms the Lacedaemonians and their allies made an alliance with the King and Tissaphernes.
ὁπόσην χώραν καὶ πόλεις βασιλεὺς ἔχει καὶ οἱ πατέρες οἱ βασιλέως εἶχον, βασιλέως ἔστω· καὶ ἐκ τούτων τῶν πόλεων ὁπόσα Ἀθηναίοις ἐφοίτα χρήματα ἢ ἄλλο τι, κωλυόντων κοινῇ βασιλεὺς καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι ὅπως μήτε χρήματα λαμβάνωσιν Ἀθηναῖοι μήτε ἄλλο μηδέν.
Whatever territory and cities the King holds and the King's ancestors held, let them be the King's; and as for whatever money or anything else used to come to the Athenians from these cities, let the King and the Lacedaemonians and their allies jointly prevent the Athenians from receiving either money or anything else.
§8.18.2καὶ τὸν πόλεμον τὸν πρὸς Ἀθηναίους κοινῇ πολεμούντων βασιλεὺς καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι· καὶ κατάλυσιν τοῦ πολέμου πρὸς Ἀθηναίους μὴ ἐξέστω ποιεῖσθαι, ἢν μὴ ἀμφοτέροις δοκῇ, βασιλεῖ καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις καὶ τοῖς ξυμμάχοις.
And let the King and the Lacedaemonians and their allies wage the war against the Athenians in common; and it shall not be permitted to make an end of the war against the Athenians unless it seems good to both parties, namely to the King, and to the Lacedaemonians and their allies.
§8.18.3ἢν δέ τινες ἀφιστῶνται ἀπὸ βασιλέως, πολέμιοι ὄντων καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις καὶ τοῖς ξυμμάχοις· καὶ ἤν τινες ἀφιστῶνται ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ τῶν ξυμμάχων, πολέμιοι ὄντων βασιλεῖ κατὰ ταὐτά. ’
And if any rebel against the King, let them be enemies to the Lacedaemonians and their allies as well; and if any rebel against the Lacedaemonians and their allies, let them be enemies to the King in like manner.'

Notes

  1. §8.18.1κωλυόντων — The third-person plural active imperative ending in -ντων. This archaic or formal imperative form is characteristic of legal and treaty documents. Similar forms appear later with πολεμούντων in §8.18.2 and ὄντων in §8.18.3.
  2. §8.18.1ὁπόσην χώραν καὶ πόλεις — An attraction of the antecedent (χώραν καὶ πόλεις) into the relative clause introduced by ὁπόσην. Semantically, this combined noun phrase serves as the subject of the main imperative verb ἔστω.
  3. §8.18.2ἢν μὴ ἀμφοτέροις δοκῇ — The dative pronoun ἀμφοτέροις (to both parties) refers to the two contracting parties of the treaty: the King on one side, and the Lacedaemonians with their allies on the other. It stipulates that peace cannot be made unless both sides agree.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §8.18.1-8.18.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.18.1-8.18.3

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