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Herodotus · Histories §5.72.1-5.72.4

Cleomenes' Invasion of Athens and Retreat from the Acropolis

Passage 841 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Cleomenes enters Athens, banishes many households, and attempts to take control of the state, but is forced to withdraw after being besieged on the acropolis by the Athenians, fulfilling a divine omen that forbade Dorians from entering the temple.

§5.72.1Κλεομένης δὲ ὡς πέμπων ἐξέβαλλε Κλεισθένεα καὶ τοὺς ἐναγέας, Κλεισθένης μὲν αὐτὸς ὑπεξέσχε, μετὰ δὲ οὐδὲν ἧσσον παρῆν ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας ὁ Κλεομένης οὐ σὺν μεγάλῃ χειρί, ἀπικόμενος δὲ ἀγηλατέει ἑπτακόσια ἐπίστια Ἀθηναίων, τά οἱ ὑπέθετο ὁ Ἰσαγόρης.
When Cleomenes, sending messengers, tried to banish Cleisthenes and the accursed, Cleisthenes himself withdrew secretly; nevertheless, Cleomenes appeared in Athens with no large force, and upon his arrival, he banished seven hundred Athenian households, which Isagoras had suggested to him.
ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσας δεύτερα τὴν βουλὴν καταλύειν ἐπειρᾶτο, τριηκοσίοισι δὲ τοῖσι Ἰσαγόρεω στασιώτῃσι τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐνεχείριζε. §5.72.2ἀντισταθείσης δὲ τῆς βουλῆς καὶ οὐ βουλομένης πείθεσθαι, ὅ τε Κλεομένης καὶ ὁ Ἰσαγόρης καὶ οἱ στασιῶται αὐτοῦ καταλαμβάνουσι τὴν ἀκρόπολιν.
Having done this, he next attempted to dissolve the Council, and tried to entrust the government to three hundred of Isagoras' partisans. But since the Council resisted and refused to obey, Cleomenes, Isagoras, and his partisans seized the acropolis.
Ἀθηναίων δὲ οἱ λοιποὶ τὰ αὐτὰ φρονήσαντες ἐπολιόρκεον αὐτοὺς ἡμέρας δύο· τῇ δὲ τρίτῃ ὑπόσπονδοι ἐξέρχονται ἐκ τῆς χώρης ὅσοι ἦσαν αὐτῶν Λακεδαιμόνιοι.
The rest of the Athenians, being of one mind, besieged them for two days; and on the third day, as many of them as were Lacedaemonians departed from the country under a truce.
ἐπετελέετο δὲ τῷ Κλεομένεϊ ἡ φήμη. §5.72.3ὡς γὰρ ἀνέβη ἐς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν μέλλων δὴ αὐτὴν κατασχήσειν, ἤιε ἐς τὸ ἄδυτον τῆς θεοῦ ὡς προσερέων· ἡ δὲ ἱρείη ἐξαναστᾶσα ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου, πρὶν ἢ τὰς θύρας αὐτὸν ἀμεῖψαι, εἶπε ὦ ξεῖνε Λακεδαιμόνιε, πάλιν χώρεε μηδὲ ἔσιθι ἐς τὸ ἱρόν· οὐ γὰρ θεμιτὸν Δωριεῦσι παριέναι ἐνθαῦτα. ὁ δὲ εἶπε ὦ γύναι, ἀλλʼ οὐ Δωριεύς εἰμι ἀλλʼ Ἀχαιός. §5.72.4ὃ μὲν δὴ τῇ κλεηδόνι οὐδὲν χρεώμενος ἐπεχείρησέ τε καὶ τότε πάλιν ἐξέπιπτε μετὰ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων· τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους Ἀθηναῖοι κατέδησαν τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ, ἐν δὲ αὐτοῖσι καὶ Τιμησίθεον τὸν Δελφόν, τοῦ ἔργα χειρῶν τε καὶ λήματος ἔχοιμʼ ἂν μέγιστα καταλέξαι.
Thus the omen was fulfilled for Cleomenes. For when he went up to the acropolis, intending indeed to occupy it, he was entering the adytum of the goddess to address her; but the priestess, rising from her seat before he passed through the doors, said: "Lacedaemonian stranger, go back and do not enter the temple; for it is not lawful for Dorians to enter here." And he said: "Woman, but I am not a Dorian, but an Achaean." He, paying no heed to the omen, made the attempt, and then was driven out again with the Lacedaemonians; but the Athenians imprisoned the others under sentence of death, among whom was Timesitheus of Delphi, of whose deeds of hand and of courage I could tell most great things.

Notes

  1. §5.72.1ὡς πέμπων ἐξέβαλλε — The conjunction ὡς introduces a temporal or causal clause. The verb ἐξέβαλλε is in the imperfect tense, representing an attempted action ('tried to banish') rather than a completed event, accompanied by the participle πέμπων ('sending messengers') to denote the means.
  2. §5.72.1ἀγηλατέει — Historical present of ἀγηλατέω, meaning 'to drive out as accursed'. It carries a religious nuance of expelling a 'pollution' (ἄγος) from the state, distinct from a simple exile.
  3. §5.72.3πρὶν ἢ τὰς θύρας αὐτὸν ἀμεῖψαι — The conjunction πρὶν ἤ ('before') introduces an accusative and infinitive construction. αὐτόν is the subject accusative of the infinitive ἀμεῖψαι, while τὰς θύρας is its direct object.
  4. §5.72.4τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ — An elliptical expression where a feminine noun is omitted after the feminine accusative singular article τὴν. It generally implies 'with a view to death' or 'under penalty of death' (qualifying an implied noun like δέσμευσιν, 'imprisonment', or δίκην, 'trial').
  5. §5.72.4ἔχοιμʼ ἂν ... καταλέξαι — A potential optative with ἄν (ἔχοιμ' ἂν). Combined with the construction ἔχω + infinitive ('to be able to do something'), it expresses the speaker's ability to relate these deeds in a polite or potential tone ('I should be able to tell').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.72.1-5.72.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.72.1-5.72.4

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