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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §12.47.1-12.47.5

Siege of Plataea and Naval Campaign of Phormio

Passage 141 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The Athenian general Phormio secures control of the sea at Naupactus and King Archidamus of Sparta besieges Plataea, while military operations between the Athenian and Spartan alliances take place in Thrace and Acarnania.

§12.47.1Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ Φορμίωνα στρατηγὸν προχειρισάμενοι μετὰ εἴκοσι τριήρων ἐξαπέστειλαν.
The Athenians, having appointed Phormio as general, sent him out with twenty triremes.
οὗτος δὲ περιπλεύσας τὴν Πελοπόννησον εἰς Ναύπακτον κατῆρε, καὶ θαλαττοκρατῶν τοῦ Κρισαίου κόλπου διεκώλυσε ταύτῃ πλεῖν τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους.
And he, having sailed around the Peloponnese, put in at Naupactus, and controlling the sea in the Crisaean Gulf, prevented the Lacedaemonians from sailing in this direction.
Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ δύναμιν ἀξιόλογον ἐξέπεμψαν μετʼ Ἀρχιδάμου τοῦ βασιλέως· οὗτος δὲ παρελθὼν τῆς Βοιωτίας εἰς Πλαταιὰς ἐστρατοπέδευσε.
The Lacedaemonians sent out a considerable force with their king Archidamus; and he, passing through Boeotia, encamped in Plataea.
μελλόντων δʼ αὐτῶν δῃοῦν τὴν χώραν, καὶ παρακαλούντων τοὺς Πλαταιεῖς ἀποστῆναι τῶν Ἀθηναίων, ὡς οὐ προσεῖχον αὐτοῖς, ἐπόρθησε τὴν χώραν καὶ τὰς κατʼ αὐτὴν κτήσεις ἐλυμήνατο.
When they were about to lay waste the country and were urging the Plataeans to revolt from the Athenians, since they paid no heed to them, he ravaged the country and destroyed the properties in it.
§12.47.2μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τὴν πόλιν περιτειχίσας ἤλπιζε τῇ σπάνει τῶν ἀναγκαίων καταπονήσειν τοὺς Πλαταιεῖς· οὐδὲν δʼ ἧττον καὶ μηχανὰς προσάγοντες καὶ διὰ τούτων σαλεύοντες τὰ τείχη καὶ προσβολὰς ἀδιαλείπτως ποιούμενοι διετέλουν.
After these events, having walled in the city, he hoped to wear down the Plataeans by the scarcity of provisions; nevertheless, they also continued bringing up engines, shaking the walls with them, and making continuous assaults.
ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐδὲ διὰ τῶν προσβολῶν ἠδύναντο χειρώσασθαι τὴν πόλιν, ἀπολιπόντες τὴν ἱκανὴν φυλακὴν ἐπανῆλθον εἰς Πελοπόννησον.
But when they were unable to capture the city even by these assaults, leaving a sufficient garrison, they returned to the Peloponnese.
§12.47.3Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ στρατηγοὺς καταστήσαντες Ξενοφῶντα καὶ Φανόμαχον ἀπέστειλαν ἐπὶ Θρᾴκην μετὰ στρατιωτῶν χιλίων.
The Athenians, having appointed Xenophon and Phanomachus as generals, sent them to Thrace with a thousand soldiers.
οὗτοι δὲ παραγενηθέντες εἰς Σπάρτωλον τῆς Βοττικῆς ἔτεμον τὴν χώραν, καὶ τὸν σῖτον ἐν χλόῃ διέφθειραν.
And they, having arrived at Spartolus of Bottiaea, ravaged the territory and destroyed the grain in the blade.
προσβοηθησάντων δὲ τοῖς Βοττιαίοις Ὀλυνθίων, ἡττήθησαν ὑπὸ τούτων μάχῃ· ἀνῃρέθησαν δὲ τῶν Ἀθηναίων οἵ τε στρατηγοὶ καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν οἱ πλείους.
But when the Olynthians came to the aid of the Bottiaeans, they were defeated by them in battle; and both the generals of the Athenians and the majority of the soldiers were slain.
§12.47.4ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις Λακεδαιμόνιοι πεισθέντες ὑπὸ Ἀμβρακιωτῶν ἐστράτευσαν εἰς Ἀκαρνανίαν.
While these things were taking place, the Lacedaemonians, persuaded by the Ambraciots, made an expedition into Acarnania.
ἡγούμενος δὲ τούτων Κνῆμος εἶχε στρατιώτας πεζοὺς χιλίους καὶ ναῦς ὀλίγας· προσλαβόμενος δὲ καὶ παρὰ τῶν συμμάχων στρατιώτας τοὺς ἱκανοὺς ἧκεν εἰς τὴν Ἀκαρνανίαν καὶ κατεστρατοπέδευσε πλησίον πόλεως τῆς ὀνομαζομένης Στράτου.
Cnemus, who was leading them, had a thousand infantry soldiers and a few ships; and having also taken sufficient soldiers from the allies, he came into Acarnania and encamped near the city named Stratus.
§12.47.5οἱ δὲ Ἀκαρνᾶνες συστραφέντες καὶ τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐνεδρεύσαντες πολλοὺς ἀπέκτειναν, καὶ συνηνάγκασαν τὸν Κνῆμον ἀπαγαγεῖν τὴν δύναμιν εἰς τοὺς ὀνομαζομένους Οἰνιάδας.
But the Acarnanians, having gathered together and ambushed the enemy, killed many of them, and forced Cnemus to withdraw his force to the place named Oeniadae.

Notes

  1. 12.47.1μελλόντων δʼ αὐτῶν δῃοῦν τὴν χώραν — The subject of the genitive absolute construction 'μελλόντων δʼ αὐτῶν... καὶ παρακαλούντων...' is αὐτῶν, referring to the Lacedaemonians. Although the main verb ἐπόρθησε is singular with Archidamus as its subject, both represent the collective action of the Lacedaemonian forces.
  2. 12.47.2προσβολὰς ἀδιαλείπτως ποιούμενοι διετέλουν — The verb διατελέω is used with supplementary participles (here προσάγοντες, σαλεύοντες, and ποιούμενοι) to express a continuous action, meaning 'they continued to...' or 'kept on doing.'
  3. 12.47.4ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις — The preposition ἅμα is used with a dative noun and participle (τούτοις πραττομένοις) to express simultaneity, meaning 'at the same time these things were being done.'

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §12.47.1-12.47.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:12.47.1-12.47.5

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