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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §8.24.1-8.24.6

Athenian Invasions of Chios and Domestic Turmoil

Passage 832 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Athenians defeated a Lacedaemonian force near Miletus and repeatedly beat the Chians, devastating their prosperous island. Facing ruin and domestic conspiracy to surrender to Athens, the Chian magistrates summoned Astyochus to quietly defuse the plot.

§8.24.1τοῦ δ’ αὐτοῦ θέρους οἵ τ’ ἐπὶ Μιλήτῳ Ἀθηναῖοι ταῖς εἴκοσι ναυσὶν ἐν τῇ Λάδῃ ἐφορμοῦντες ἀπόβασιν ποιησάμενοι ἐς Πάνορμον τῆς Μιλησίας Χαλκιδέα τε τὸν Λακεδαιμόνιον ἄρχοντα μετ’ ὀλίγων παραβοηθήσαντα ἀποκτείνουσι καὶ τροπαῖον τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ὕστερον διαπλεύσαντες ἔστησαν, ὃ οἱ Μιλήσιοι ὡς οὐ μετὰ κράτους τῆς γῆς σταθὲν ἀνεῖλον·
During the same summer, the Athenians at Miletus, who with their twenty ships were lying at anchor off Lade, made a landing at Panormus in the Milesian territory, killed Chalcideus, the Lacedaemonian commander, who had come to the rescue with a few men, and crossing over three days later, erected a trophy, which the Milesians demolished on the ground that it had been set up without control of the country.
§8.24.2καὶ Λέων καὶ Διομέδων ἔχοντες τὰς ἐκ Λέσβου Ἀθηναίων ναῦς, ἔκ τε Οἰνουσσῶν τῶν πρὸ Χίου νήσων καὶ ἐκ Σιδούσσης καὶ ἐκ Πτελεοῦ, ἃ ἐν τῇ Ἐρυθραίᾳ εἶχον τείχη, καὶ ἐκ τῆς Λέσβου ὁρμώμενοι τὸν πρὸς τοὺς Χίους πόλεμον ἀπὸ τῶν νεῶν ἐποιοῦντο· εἶχον δ’ ἐπιβάτας τῶν ὁπλιτῶν ἐκ καταλόγου ἀναγκαστούς.
And Leon and Diomedon, having the Athenian ships from Lesbos, carried on the war against the Chians from their ships, starting from the Oenussae, the islands in front of Chios, and from Sidussa and Pteleum, the fortresses they held in the Erythraean territory, and from Lesbos; and they had on board as marines hoplites drafted by compulsion from the muster-roll.
§8.24.3καὶ ἔν τε Καρδαμύλῃ ἀποβάντες καὶ ἐν Βολίσκῳ τοὺς προσβοηθήσαντας τῶν Χίων μάχῃ νικήσαντες καὶ πολλοὺς διαφθείραντες ἀνάστατα ἐποίησαν τὰ ταύτῃ χωρία, καὶ ἐν Φάναις αὖθις ἄλλῃ μάχῃ ἐνίκησαν καὶ τρίτῃ ἐν Λευκωνίῳ.
And landing both at Cardamyle and at Boliscus, they defeated in battle those of the Chians who came to the rescue and, having killed many of them, laid waste the places in those quarters; and they won another victory in a battle at Phanae, and a third at Leuconium.
καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο οἱ μὲν Χῖοι ἤδη οὐκέτι ἐπεξῇσαν, οἱ δὲ τὴν χώραν καλῶς κατεσκευασμένην καὶ ἀπαθῆ οὖσαν ἀπὸ τῶν Μηδικῶν μέχρι τότε διεπόρθησαν.
After this, the Chians no longer came out to fight, while the Athenians ravaged their land, which was beautifully cultivated and had been untouched by war from the time of the Persian Wars until then.
§8.24.4Χῖοι γὰρ μόνοι μετὰ Λακεδαιμονίους ὧν ἐγὼ ᾐσθόμην ηὐδαιμόνησάν τε ἅμα καὶ ἐσωφρόνησαν, καὶ ὅσῳ ἐπεδίδου ἡ πόλις αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον, τόσῳ δὲ καὶ ἐκοσμοῦντο ἐχυρώτερον.
For the Chians are the only people I know of, besides the Lacedaemonians, who have been both prosperous and prudent at the same time, and the more their city grew in greatness, the more securely they ordered their government.
§8.24.5καὶ οὐδ’ αὐτὴν τὴν ἀπόστασιν, εἰ τοῦτο δοκοῦσι παρὰ τὸ ἀσφαλέστερον πρᾶξαι, πρότερον ἐτόλμησαν ποιήσασθαι ἢ μετὰ πολλῶν τε καὶ ἀγαθῶν ξυμμάχων ἔμελλον ξυγκινδυνεύσειν καὶ τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ᾐσθάνοντο οὐδ’ αὐτοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας ἔτι μετὰ τὴν Σικελικὴν ξυμφορὰν ὡς οὐ πάνυ πονηρά σφῶν [βεβαίως ] τὰ πράγματα εἴη·
And even as to the revolt itself—if they are thought to have acted in this contrary to what was safer—they did not venture to make it until they were to share the danger with many brave allies, and when they perceived that even the Athenians themselves, after the Sicilian disaster, no longer denied that their own affairs were in a thoroughly desperate state.
εἰ δέ τι ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρωπείοις τοῦ βίου παραλόγοις ἐσφάλησαν, μετὰ πολλῶν οἷς ταὐτὰ ἔδοξε, τὰ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ταχὺ ξυναναιρεθήσεσθαι, τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ξυνέγνωσαν.
And if they made some miscalculation through the unforeseen accidents of human life, they made this mistake in common with many others who shared the same opinion, namely, that the power of the Athenians would be quickly destroyed.
§8.24.6εἰργομένοις οὖν αὐτοῖς τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ κατὰ γῆν πορθουμένοις ἐνεχείρησάν τινες πρὸς Ἀθηναίους ἀγαγεῖν τὴν πόλιν·
When, therefore, they were excluded from the sea and were being ravaged by land, some attempted to bring the city over to the Athenians.
οὓς αἰσθόμενοι οἱ ἄρχοντες αὐτοὶ μὲν ἡσύχασαν, Ἀστύοχον δὲ ἐξ Ἐρυθρῶν τὸν ναύαρχον μετὰ τεσσάρων νεῶν, αἳ παρῆσαν αὐτῷ, κομίσαντες ἐσκόπουν ὅπως μετριώτατα ἢ ὁμήρων λήψει ἢ ἄλλῳ τῳ τρόπῳ καταπαύσουσι τὴν ἐπιβουλήν.
The magistrates, becoming aware of this, remained quiet themselves, but fetched Astyochus, the admiral, from Erythrae with the four ships which were with him, and considered how they might put an end to the conspiracy in the mildest way, either by taking hostages or in some other manner.
καὶ οἱ μὲν ταῦτα ἔπρασσον.
And they were occupied with these matters.

Notes

  1. 8.24.1ὡς οὐ μετὰ κράτους τῆς γῆς σταθέν — The combination of the conjunction ὡς with the passive participle σταθέν (aorist passive participle of ἵστημι, neuter singular nominative agreeing with the relative pronoun ὅ, which refers to τροπαῖον) expresses the subjective reason or allegation of the Milesians for their action. μετὰ κράτους means 'with effective control,' indicating that the trophy was destroyed because the Athenians had set it up without permanently holding the territory.
  2. 8.24.4ὧν ἐγὼ ᾐσθόμην — The relative pronoun ὧν (genitive plural feminine) is governed by the verb of perception αἰσθάνομαι (ᾐσθόμην), which takes a genitive, or depends on an omitted antecedent. This forms a restrictive clause based on Thucydides' personal observation ('as far as I have perceived,' 'within my knowledge').
  3. 8.24.5τὰ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ταχὺ ξυναναιρεθήσεσθαι, τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ξυνέγνωσαν — The infinitive phrase τὰ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ταχὺ ξυναναιρεθήσεσθαι (that the power of the Athenians would be quickly destroyed) serves as indirect discourse representing the content of οἷς ταὐτὰ ἔδοξε (those who held the same opinion). The verb ξυνέγνωσαν (3rd person plural aorist of συγγιγνώσκω) can be interpreted either as (1) 'they shared the mistake (with many others)' or (2) 'they (the historians or people) condoned/excused their error.' In this context, the latter is highly appropriate, meaning that their mistake was pardoned or viewed leniently because it was based on an expectation shared by almost everyone at the time.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §8.24.1-8.24.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.24.1-8.24.6

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