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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §8.63.1-8.63.4

Astyochus at Samos and the Athenian Crisis

Passage 871 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Astyochus attempts to attack Samos upon learning of the Athenian fleet's departure but retreats due to their refusal to fight, while the Athenians at Samos, reacting to the fall of democracy at Athens, resolve to exclude Alcibiades and sustain the war with their own resources.

§8.63.1ἐν τούτῳ δὲ οἱ Χῖοί τε θαλασσοκράτορες μᾶλλον ἐγένοντο καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ Μιλήτῳ καὶ ὁ Ἀστύοχος πυθόμενος τὰ περὶ τῆς ναυμαχίας καὶ τὸν Στρομβιχίδην καὶ τὰς ναῦς ἀπεληλυθότα ἐθάρσησεν.
Meanwhile, the Chians became more dominant at sea; and those in Miletus and Astyochus, on hearing the news about the sea-fight and that Strombichides and his ships had departed, recovered their confidence.
§8.63.2καὶ παραπλεύσας δυοῖν νεοῖν Ἀστύοχος ἐς Χίον κομίζει αὐτόθεν τὰς ναῦς καὶ ξυμπάσαις ἤδη ἐπίπλουν ποιεῖται ἐπὶ τὴν Σάμον· καὶ ὡς αὐτῷ διὰ τὸ ἀλλήλοις ὑπόπτως ἔχειν οὐκ ἀντανήγοντο, ἀπέπλευσε πάλιν ἐς τὴν Μίλητον.
Astyochus, sailing along the coast with two ships to Chios, brought the fleet away from there, and with all his ships now made an attack upon Samos; but when they would not put out to meet him because they suspected one another, he sailed back again to Miletus.
§8.63.3ὑπὸ γὰρ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον καὶ ἔτι πρότερον ἡ ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις δημοκρατία κατελέλυτο.
For about this time, and even earlier, the democracy in Athens had been overthrown.
ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οἱ περὶ τὸν Πείσανδρον πρέσβεις παρὰ τοῦ Τισσαφέρνους ἐς τὴν Σάμον ἦλθον, τά τε ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ στρατεύματι ἔτι βεβαιότερον κατέλαβον καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν Σαμίων προυτρέψαντο τοὺς δυνατωτάτους ὥστε πειρᾶσθαι μετὰ σφῶν ὀλιγαρχηθῆναι, καίπερ ἐπαναστάντας αὐτοὺς ἀλλήλοις ἵνα μὴ ὀλιγαρχῶνται·
Indeed, when the envoys around Pisander came to Samos from Tissaphernes, they secured their hold even more firmly on the army itself, and urged the most powerful of the Samians themselves to attempt to establish an oligarchy with them, even though they had risen in rebellion against one another to avoid being ruled by an oligarchy.
§8.63.4καὶ ἐν σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἅμα οἱ ἐν τῇ Σάμῳ τῶν Ἀθηναίων κοινολογούμενοι ἐσκέψαντο Ἀλκιβιάδην μέν, ἐπειδήπερ οὐ βούλεται, ἐᾶν (καὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἐπιτήδειον αὐτὸν εἶναι ἐς ὀλιγαρχίαν ἐλθεῖν), αὐτοὺς δὲ ἐπὶ σφῶν αὐτῶν, ὡς ἤδη καὶ κινδυνεύοντας, ὁρᾶν ὅτῳ τρόπῳ μὴ ἀνεθήσεται τὰ πράγματα, καὶ τὰ τοῦ πολέμου ἅμα ἀντέχειν καὶ ἐσφέρειν αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων οἴκων προθύμως χρήματα καὶ ἤν τι ἄλλο δέῃ, ὡς οὐκέτι ἄλλοις ἢ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ταλαιπωροῦντας.
At the same time, the Athenians at Samos, conferring among themselves, resolved to leave Alcibiades alone since he did not wish to join them (for indeed he was not a suitable person to enter an oligarchy), but that they themselves, as being already in danger, should see to it that their affairs should not be let slide, and at the same time should hold out in the war and zealously contribute money and whatever else might be necessary from their own private fortunes, on the ground that they were no longer laboring for others but for themselves.

Notes

  1. §8.63.1οἱ ἐν τῇ Μιλήτῳ καὶ ὁ Ἀστύοχος ... ἐθάρσησεν — Although there are plural and singular subjects (οἱ ἐν τῇ Μιλήτῳ and ὁ Ἀστύοχος), the main verb ἐθάρσησεν and the participle πυθόμενος are in the singular, agreeing with the nearest subject, ὁ Ἀστύοχος.
  2. §8.63.3καίπερ ἐπαναστάντας αὐτοὺς ἀλλήλοις — The participle ἐπαναστάντας (from ἐπανίστημι) with καίπερ refers to the internal rebellion in Samos (8.21), and the accusative αὐτούς refers back to the object of προυτρέψαντο, namely the Samians or the most powerful among them.
  3. §8.63.4Ἀλκιβιάδην μέν ... ἐᾶν ... αὐτοὺς δὲ ... ὁρᾶν — The coordinates infinitives ἐᾶν, ὁρᾶν (and the following ἀντέχειν, ἐσφέρειν) depend on the main verb ἐσκέψαντο, expressing the content of their resolution. Ἀλκιβιάδην is the object of ἐᾶν, while αὐτούς is the subject accusative of ὁρᾶν. The final participle ταλαιπωροῦντας agrees in the accusative with this subject.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §8.63.1-8.63.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.63.1-8.63.4

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