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Herodotus · Histories §5.64.1-5.64.2

Cleomenes' Invasion and Siege of the Pelasgian Wall

Passage 833 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The Lacedaemonians send a larger land expedition led by King Cleomenes to Athens, which defeats the Thessalian cavalry and besieges the tyrants in the Pelasgian wall.

§5.64.1μετὰ δὲ Λακεδαιμόνιοι μέζω στόλον στείλαντες ἀπέπεμψαν ἐπὶ τὰς Ἀθήνας, στρατηγὸν τῆς στρατιῆς ἀποδέξαντες βασιλέα Κλεομένεα τὸν Ἀναξανδρίδεω, οὐκέτι κατὰ θάλασσαν στείλαντες ἀλλὰ κατʼ ἤπειρον·
Thereafter, the Lacedaemonians prepared a larger expedition and sent them off against Athens, having appointed King Cleomenes, the son of Anaxandrides, as commander of the army, sending them no longer by sea, but by land.
§5.64.2τοῖσι ἐσβαλοῦσι ἐς τὴν Ἀττικὴν χώρην ἡ τῶν Θεσσαλῶν ἵππος πρώτη προσέμιξε καὶ οὐ μετὰ πολλὸν ἐτράπετο, καὶ σφεων ἔπεσον ὑπὲρ τεσσεράκοντα ἄνδρας· οἱ δὲ περιγενόμενοι ἀπαλλάσσοντο ὡς εἶχον εὐθὺς ἐπὶ Θεσσαλίης.
To those who invaded the Attic territory, the Thessalian cavalry first engaged, and before long was routed, and more than forty men of them fell; the survivors departed immediately for Thessaly just as they were.
Κλεομένης δὲ ἀπικόμενος ἐς τὸ ἄστυ ἅμα Ἀθηναίων τοῖσι βουλομένοισι εἶναι ἐλευθέροισι ἐπολιόρκεε τοὺς τυράννους ἀπεργμένους ἐν τῷ Πελασγικῷ τείχεϊ.
And Cleomenes, having arrived at the city, together with those of the Athenians who wished to be free, besieged the tyrants shut up in the Pelasgian wall.

Notes

  1. 5.64.2τοῖσι ἐσβαλοῦσι — The dative demonstrative pronoun (or article used as a relative pronoun in Ionic) `τοῖσι` is combined with the participle `ἐσβαλοῦσι`, serving as the dative object governed by the subsequent verb `προσέμιξε` (to engage with).
  2. 5.64.2ὡς εἶχον — The verb `ἔχω` followed by an adverb (here the relative adverb `ὡς`) expresses a state of being, forming an idiomatic expression meaning 'just as they were' or 'immediately'.
  3. 5.64.2Ἀθηναίων τοῖσι βουλομένοισι — The genitive `Ἀθηναίων` is a partitive genitive qualifying the dative participial phrase `τοῖσι βουλομένοισι` (those who wished) governed by the preposition `ἅμα`, meaning 'those of the Athenians who wished to be free'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.64.1-5.64.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.64.1-5.64.2

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