§10.21.1προελθὼν οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἡρακλείας—ἐπυνθάνετο γὰρ παρὰ αὐτομόλων τοὺς συνειλεγμένους ἐς Πύλας ἀπὸ ἑκάστης πόλεως— ὑπερεφρόνει τε τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ καὶ ἦρχεν ἐς τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν μάχης ἅμα ἀνίσχοντι τῷ ἡλίῳ, οὔτε Ἕλληνα ἔχων μάντιν οὔτε ἱεροῖς ἐπιχωρίοις χρώμενος, εἰ δὴ ἔστι γε μαντεία Κελτική.
Marching forward, therefore, from Heracleia—for he had learned from deserters about those who had assembled at Pylae from each city—he looked down upon the Greek force and began the battle on the following day at the rising of the sun, neither having a Greek seer nor using his native sacrifices, if indeed there is any Celtic divination.
ἐνταῦθα οἱ Ἕλληνες ἐν σιγῇ τε ἐπῄεσαν καὶ ἐν κόσμῳ· καὶ ὡς ἀφίκοντο ἐς χεῖρας, οὔτε σφίσιν οἱ πεζοὶ τοσοῦτο ἀπὸ τῆς τάξεως ἐξέθεον ὥστε τὴν φάλαγγα ἐπιταράσσειν τὴν οἰκείαν καὶ οἱ ψιλοὶ μένοντες κατὰ χώραν τά τε ἀκόντια ἔπεμπον καὶ ὅσα ἀπὸ τῶν τόξων ἢ σφενδονῶν.
Thereupon the Greeks advanced in silence and in order; and when they came to close quarters, the infantry did not charge so far out of their line as to throw their own phalanx into confusion, while the light-armed, remaining in their places, discharged their javelins and whatever was shot from bows or slung from slings.
§10.21.2τὰ δὲ ἱππικὰ ἀμφοτέροις ἀχρεῖα ἐγένετο ἅτε οὐ στενοῦ μόνον χωρίου τοῦ μετὰ τὰς Πύλας ὄντος ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὸ αὐτοφυοῦς πέτρας λείου καὶ διὰ τῶν ῥευμάτων τὸ συνεχὲς τὰ πλείονα καὶ ὀλισθηροῦ.
The cavalry proved useless to both sides, since the place behind Pylae was not only narrow, but also smooth owing to the natural rock, and for the most part continually slippery because of the water-currents.
τοῖς δὲ Γαλάταις τὰ μὲν τῆς σκευῆς ἀσθενέστερα ἦν—θυρεοὺς γὰρ τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους εἶχον, καὶ ἄλλο σφίσιν οὐκ ἦν ὅπλον σκέπη σώματος—, πλέον δὲ ἔτι ἐμπειρίᾳ τῇ ἐς τὰ πολεμικὰ ἀπέδεον.
For the Galatians, their defensive equipment was rather weak—for they had only their native shields, and no other armor served them as a protection for the body—and even more they were lacking in experience in matters of war.
§10.21.3οἱ δὲ ἐν ὀργῇ τε ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐναντίους καὶ θυμῷ μετὰ οὐδενὸς λογισμοῦ καθάπερ τὰ θηρία ἐχώρουν· καὶ οὔτε πελέκεσι διαιρουμένους ἢ ὑπὸ μαχαιρῶν ἡ ἀπόνοια τοὺς ἔτι ἐμπνέοντας ἀπέλειπεν, οὔτε ὅσοι βέλεσι καὶ ἀκοντίοις διεπείροντο, ὑφῄρουν τοῦ θυμοῦ, μέχρι οὗ παρέμενεν ἡ ψυχή·
But they advanced against their opponents with rage and fury without any reason, like wild beasts; and neither did madness leave those still breathing though they were being cut open by battle-axes or swords, nor did those who were pierced through by arrows and javelins diminish their fury as long as their life remained.
οἱ δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῶν τραυμάτων τὰ δόρατα οἷς ἐβέβληντο ἀνασπῶντες ἠφίεσάν τε ἐς τοὺς Ἕλληνας καὶ ἐχρῶντο ἐκ χειρός.
Some even pulled the spears, with which they had been struck, out of their wounds and threw them at the Greeks, or used them in hand-to-hand combat.
§10.21.4ἐν τούτῳ δὲ οἱ ἐπὶ τῶν τριήρων Ἀθηναῖοι μόγις μὲν καὶ οὐκ ἄνευ κινδύνου, παραπλεύσαντες δὲ ὅμως διὰ τῆς ἰλύος, ἣ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐπέχει τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ τὰς ναῦς ὅτι ἐγγύτατα τῶν βαρβάρων σχόντες, βέλεσί τε παντοίοις ἐς τὰ πλάγια καὶ τοξεύμασιν ἐς αὐτοὺς ἐχρῶντο.
In the meantime, the Athenians on the triremes, with difficulty indeed and not without danger, nevertheless sailed along through the mud which occupies most of the sea, and bringing their ships as close as possible to the barbarians, plied them on their flanks with all kinds of missiles and arrows.
καμνόντων δὲ λόγου μειζόνως τῶν Κελτῶν καὶ ἅτε ἐν στενοχωρίᾳ μικρὰ μὲν δρώντων, διπλάσια δὲ καὶ τετραπλάσια πασχόντων, ἀναχωρεῖν ἐς τὸ στρατόπεδον ἐσήμαινόν σφισιν οἱ ἡγεμόνες.
Since the Celts were suffering beyond description and, being in a narrow space, were doing little harm but suffering double and fourfold, their commanders signaled to them to retreat to the camp.
οἱ δὲ ἀτάκτως καὶ σὺν οὐδενὶ ἀναστρέφοντες κόσμῳ πολλοὶ μὲν συνεπατήθησαν ὑπὸ ἀλλήλων, πολλοὶ δὲ ἐς τὸ τέλμα ἐμπεσόντες ἠφανίσθησαν κατὰ τοῦ πηλοῦ, καὶ ἀπώλεια οὐκ ἐλάσσων ἀναχωροῦσιν αὐτοῖς ἢ ἐν τοῦ ἀγῶνος συνέβη τῇ ἀκμῇ.
But as they turned back in disorder and with no discipline, many were trampled underfoot by one another, and many fell into the marsh and disappeared beneath the mud, so that a loss no less befell them as they retreated than had occurred at the height of the battle.
§10.21.5τοὺς μὲν δὴ Ἕλληνας τὸ Ἀττικὸν ὑπερεβάλετο ἀρετῇ τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην· αὐτῶν δὲ Ἀθηναίων Κυδίας μάλιστα ἐγένετο ἀγαθός, νέος τε ἡλικίαν καὶ τότε ἐς ἀγῶνα ἐλθὼν πολέμου πρῶτον.
On this day, the Attic force surpassed the Greeks in bravery; and of the Athenians themselves, Cydias proved the most valiant, being young in age and then entering a contest of war for the first time.
ἀποθανόντος δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν Γαλατῶν τὴν ἀσπίδα οἱ προσήκοντες ἀνέθεσαν τῷ Ἐλευθερίῳ Διί, καὶ ἦν τὸ ἐπίγραμμα· "
†ημαρλα δὴ ποθέουσα νέαν ἔτι Κυδίου ἥβην
ἀσπὶς ἀριζήλου φωτός, ἄγαλμα Διί,
ἇς διὰ δὴ πρώτας λαιὸν τότε πῆχυν ἔτεινεν,
εὖτʼ ἐπὶ τὸν Γαλάταν ἤκμασε θοῦρος Ἄρης.
When he was killed by the Galatians, his relatives dedicated his shield to Zeus of Freedom, and the inscription was: "Still longing for the young youth of Cydias, I am the shield of a glorious man, an offering to Zeus, through which for the very first time he then stretched his left arm, when impetuous Ares raged against the Galatian.
" §10.21.6τοῦτο μὲν δὴ ἐπεγέγραπτο πρὶν ἢ τοὺς ὁμοῦ Σύλλᾳ καὶ ἄλλα τῶν Ἀθήνῃσι καὶ τὰς ἐν τῇ στοᾷ τοῦ Ἐλευθερίου Διὸς καθελεῖν ἀσπίδας·
"This, indeed, had been inscribed before Sulla and his associates removed, along with other things at Athens, the shields in the portico of Zeus of Freedom.
τότε δὲ ἐν ταῖς Θερμοπύλαις οἱ μὲν Ἕλληνες μετὰ τὴν μάχην τούς τε αὑτῶν ἔθαπτον καὶ ἐσκύλευον τοὺς βαρβάρους, οἱ Γαλάται δὲ οὔτε ὑπὲρ ἀναιρέσεως τῶν νεκρῶν ἐπεκηρυκεύοντο ἐποιοῦντό τε ἐπʼ ἴσης γῆς σφᾶς τυχεῖν ἢ θηρία τε αὐτῶν ἐμφορηθῆναι καὶ ὅσον τεθνεῶσι πολέμιόν ἐστιν ὀρνίθων.
But at that time, at Thermopylae, the Greeks after the battle were burying their own dead and despoiling the barbarians, while the Galatians neither sent heralds to ask for the recovery of their dead, nor did they care whether they obtained burial in the earth or were devoured by wild beasts and by whatever birds are hostile to the dead.
§10.21.7ὀλιγώρως δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐς τῶν ἀπογινομένων ἔχειν τὰς ταφὰς δύο ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν τὰ ἀναπείθοντα ἦν, πολεμίους τε ἄνδρας ἐκπλῆξαι καὶ ὅτι ἔστι τεθνεώτων οὐ διʼ ἔθους οἶκτος αὐτοῖς.
And that they were negligent about the burial of those who died, there were, in my opinion, two reasons that convinced them: to strike terror into the enemy, and because pity for the dead is not customary with them.
ἀπέθανον δὲ παρὰ τὴν μάχην τεσσαράκοντα μὲν τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ, τοὺς δὲ τῶν βαρβάρων οὐχ οἷόν τε ἦν ἀκριβῶς ἐξευρεῖν· πολὺ γὰρ καὶ τὸ ἀφανισθὲν κατὰ τῆς ἰλύος ἐγένετο ἐξ αὐτῶν.
In the battle, forty of the Greek force died, but it was not possible to discover accurately the number of the barbarians, for a great part of them disappeared beneath the mud.