Humanitext Reader

Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §8.30.1-8.30.2

Athenian Reinforcements and Division of Forces for Chios and Miletus

Passage 838 of 917 · Greek

Summary

After receiving reinforcements at Samos, the Athenian forces decided by lot to divide their troops, blockading Miletus and launching an expedition against Chios.

§8.30.1τοῦ δ’ αὐτοῦ χειμῶνος τοῖς ἐν τῇ Σάμῳ Ἀθηναίοις προσαφιγμέναι γὰρ ἦσαν καὶ οἴκοθεν ἄλλαι νῆες πέντε καὶ τριάκοντα καὶ στρατηγοὶ Χαρμῖνος καὶ Στρομβιχίδης καὶ Εὐκτήμων, καὶ τὰς ἀπὸ Χίου καὶ τὰς ἄλλας πάσας ξυναγαγόντες ἐβούλοντο διακληρωσάμενοι ἐπὶ μὲν τῇ Μιλήτῳ τῷ ναυτικῷ ἐφορμεῖν, πρὸς δὲ τὴν Χίον καὶ ναυτικὸν καὶ πεζὸν πέμψαι. §8.30.2καὶ ἐποίησαν οὕτως·
During the same winter, the Athenians at Samos—for there had arrived from home thirty-five additional ships and generals Charminus, Strombichides, and Euctemon, and they had collected the ships from Chios and all the others—wished, after casting lots, to blockade Miletus with their fleet on the one hand, and on the other, to send both a fleet and land forces against Chios. And they did so.
Στρομβιχίδης μὲν γὰρ καὶ Ὀνομακλῆς καὶ Εὐκτήμων τριάκοντα ναῦς ἔχοντες καὶ τῶν ἐς Μίλητον ἐλθόντων χιλίων ὁπλιτῶν μέρος ἄγοντες ἐν ναυσὶν ὁπλιταγωγοῖς ἐπὶ Χίον λαχόντες ἔπλεον, οἱ δ’ ἄλλοι ἐν Σάμῳ μένοντες τέσσαρσι καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα ναυσὶν ἐθαλασσοκράτουν καὶ ἐπίπλους τῇ Μιλήτῳ ἐποιοῦντο.
For Strombichides, Onomacles, and Euctemon, having thirty ships and taking a part of the thousand hoplites who had come to Miletus, in troop-transports, sailed for Chios, which had fallen to their lot; while the others, remaining at Samos with seventy-four ships, held command of the sea and made descents upon Miletus.

Notes

  1. §8.30.1τοῖς ἐν τῇ Σάμῳ Ἀθηναίοις — Although the sentence begins with the dative case (τοῖς... Ἀθηναίοις), after the parenthesis (προσαφιγμέναι γὰρ...), the construction shifts to the nominative participle ξυναγαγόντες and the finite verb ἐβούλοντο, resulting in an anacoluthon.
  2. §8.30.2τῶν ἐς Μίλητον ἐλθόντων χιλίων ὁπλιτῶν μέρος — The noun μέρος (part, accusative direct object of ἄγοντες) is modified by the partitive genitive τῶν ἐς Μίλητον ἐλθόντων χιλίων ὁπλιτῶν (of the thousand hoplites who had gone to Miletus). This refers to the force mentioned in 8.25.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §8.30.1-8.30.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.30.1-8.30.2

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.