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Herodotus · Histories §5.77.1-5.77.4

Athenian Victories and the Dedicated Bronze Chariot

Passage 846 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The Athenians defeated the Boeotians who came to assist the Chalcidians, and on the same day crossed to Euboea, defeating the Chalcidians and establishing colonists on their land. The ransom from the captives was used to dedicate a bronze chariot on the Acropolis.

§5.77.1διαλυθέντος ὦν τοῦ στόλου τούτου ἀκλεῶς, ἐνθαῦτα Ἀθηναῖοι τίνυσθαι βουλόμενοι πρῶτα στρατηίην ποιεῦνται ἐπὶ Χαλκιδέας.
When this expedition had thus been ingloriously disbanded, the Athenians, wishing to take vengeance, first made an expedition against the Chalcidians.
Βοιωτοὶ δὲ τοῖσι Χαλκιδεῦσι βοηθέουσι ἐπὶ τὸν Εὔριπον.
The Boeotians, however, came to the aid of the Chalcidians at the Euripus.
Ἀθηναίοισι δὲ ἰδοῦσι τοὺς Βοιωτοὺς ἔδοξε πρότερον τοῖσι Βοιωτοῖσι ἢ τοῖσι Χαλκιδεῦσι ἐπιχειρέειν.
When the Athenians saw the Boeotians, they decided to attack the Boeotians before the Chalcidians.
§5.77.2συμβάλλουσί τε δὴ τοῖσι Βοιωτοῖσι οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ πολλῷ ἐκράτησαν, κάρτα δὲ πολλοὺς φονεύσαντες ἑπτακοσίους αὐτῶν ἐζώγρησαν.
The Athenians engaged with the Boeotians and gained a great victory; having slain very many, they took seven hundred of them alive.
τῆς δὲ αὐτῆς ταύτης ἡμέρης οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι διαβάντες ἐς τὴν Εὔβοιαν συμβάλλουσι καὶ τοῖσι Χαλκιδεῦσι, νικήσαντες δὲ καὶ τούτους τετρακισχιλίους κληρούχους ἐπὶ τῶν ἱπποβοτέων τῇ χώρῃ λείπουσι.
On this very same day, the Athenians crossed over to Euboea and engaged with the Chalcidians as well; having conquered these also, they left four thousand settlers (cleruchs) in the land of the "horse-breeders".
οἱ δὲ ἱπποβόται ἐκαλέοντο οἱ παχέες τῶν Χαλκιδέων.
Now the "horse-breeders" was the name given to the wealthy among the Chalcidians.
§5.77.3ὅσους δὲ καὶ τούτων ἐζώγρησαν, ἅμα τοῖσι Βοιωτῶν ἐζωγρημένοισι εἶχον ἐν φυλακῇ ἐς πέδας δήσαντες· χρόνῳ δὲ ἔλυσαν σφέας δίμνεως ἀποτιμησάμενοι.
All of these whom they took alive, they kept in custody bound in fetters together with the captive Boeotians; but in time they released them, having ransomed them at two minae a head.
τὰς δὲ πέδας αὐτῶν, ἐν τῇσι ἐδεδέατο, ἀνεκρέμασαν ἐς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν· αἵ περ ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἦσαν περιεοῦσαι, κρεμάμεναι ἐκ τειχέων περιπεφλευσμένων πυρὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ Μήδου, ἀντίον δὲ τοῦ μεγάρου τοῦ πρὸς ἑσπέρην τετραμμένου.
Their fetters, in which they had been bound, they hung up on the Acropolis; these were still preserved even down to my time, hanging from the walls scorched with fire by the Mede, opposite the chamber that faces toward the west.
§5.77.4καὶ τῶν λύτρων τὴν δεκάτην ἀνέθηκαν ποιησάμενοι τέθριππον χάλκεον· τὸ δὲ ἀριστερῆς χειρὸς ἕστηκε πρῶτον ἐσιόντι ἐς τὰ προπύλαια τὰ ἐν τῇ ἀκροπόλι· ἐπιγέγραπται δέ οἱ τάδε. " ἔθνεα Βοιωτῶν καὶ Χαλκιδέων δαμάσαντες παῖδες Ἀθηναίων ἔργμασιν ἐν πολέμου, δεσμῷ ἐν ἀχλυόεντι σιδηρέῳ ἔσβεσαν ὕβριν· τῶν ἵππους δεκάτην Παλλάδι τάσδʼ ἔθεσαν. "
And from the tenth part of the ransom, they made and dedicated a bronze four-horse chariot; this stands on the left hand as you first enter the Propylaea on the Acropolis, and it has this inscription: "Having conquered the nations of the Boeotians and Chalcidians in the deeds of war, the sons of the Athenians quenched their insolence in a dark iron chain; from a tithe of these they dedicated these horses to Pallas."

Notes

  1. 5.77.1Ἀθηναίοισι δὲ ἰδοῦσι τοὺς Βοιωτοὺς ἔδοξε — The dative participial phrase `Ἀθηναίοισι ἰδοῦσι` ("to the Athenians having seen") serves as the logical subject of the impersonal verb `ἔδοξε` ("it seemed good / they decided"). The subsequent infinitive phrase `πρότερον ... ἐπιχειρέειν` ("to attack earlier") expresses the content of this decision.
  2. 5.77.2ἐπὶ τῶν ἱπποβοτέων τῇ χώρῃ — The preposition `ἐπί` with the genitive `τῶν ἱπποβοτέων` modifies the dative `τῇ χώρῃ` ("the land"), meaning "in the land belonging to (literally, lying upon the possession of) the horse-breeders." It specifies the physical location with a nuance of territorial acquisition.
  3. 5.77.3δίμνεως ἀποτιμησάμενοι — The genitive `δίμνεως` (Ionic form of `δίμνως`, "of two minae") is a genitive of price or value. Used with the middle participle `ἀποτιμησάμενοι` ("having assessed for themselves"), it indicates the rate at which the captives were valued for ransom.
  4. 5.77.4τὸ δὲ ἀριστερῆς χειρὸς ἕστηκε πρῶτον ἐσιόντι — The dative participle `ἐσιόντι` ("to one entering") is a dative of reference or standpoint. The genitive `ἀριστερῆς χειρός` ("on the left hand") is a genitive of place or direction.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.77.1-5.77.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.77.1-5.77.4

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