Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Henry Dale (Translator), 5.83

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[1] The following winter, when the Lacedaemonians were aware of their building the walls, they marched against Argos, both themselves and their allies, excepting the Corinthians; communication being also held with them from Argos itself. The leader of the army was Agis, son of Archidamus, king of the Lacedaemonians.

[2] With regard, then, to the advantages which they thought they had secured in the city itself, nothing more came of them; but the walls that were being built, they took and demolished. And having taken Hysiae, a town in the Argive territory, and put to the sword all the free-men they got into their hands, they returned, and dispersed to their respective cities.

[3] After this, the Argives, in their turn, marched against the Phliasian country, and laid it waste before they returned, because they harboured their exiles; for the greater part of them had settled there. ¹

[4] The Athenians ravaged, too, during the same winter a part of Macedonia also, charging Perdiccas with the league he had entered into with the Argives and Lacedaemonians; and with the fact, that when they had prepared to lead an army against the Thrace-ward Chalcidians and Amphipolis, under the command of Nicias son of Niceratus, he had proved false to his allies, and the armament was chiefly broken up in consequence of his having deserted the cause. He was therefore proclaimed an enemy. And thus the winter ended, and the fifteenth year of the war.

History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides. Henry Dale (Translator). London. 1851.

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Current edition First1KGreek

History of the Peloponnesian War (English) (Thucydides. The history of the Peloponnesian War, Volume 1-2. Dale, Henry, translator. London: Heinemann and Henry G. Bohn, 1851-1852.)

Editions (1)

Ἱστορίαι Perseus (Thucydides. Historiae, Vol 1-2. Jones, Henry Stuart, editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1910. (1942 printing).) — 5.83 focus

[1] τοῦ δ’ ἐπιγιγνομένου χειμῶνος Λακεδαιμόνιοι ὡς ᾔσθοντο τειχιζόντων, ἐστράτευσαν ἐς τὸ Ἄργος αὐτοί τε καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι πλὴν Κορινθίων· ὑπῆρχε δέ τι αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐκ τοῦ Ἄργους αὐτόθεν πρασσόμενον. ἦγε δὲ τὴν στρατιὰν Ἆγις ὁ Ἀρχιδάμου Λακεδαιμονίων βασιλεύς.

[2] καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως δοκοῦντα προϋπάρχειν οὐ προυχώρησεν ἔτι· τὰ δὲ οἰκοδομούμενα τείχη ἑλόντες καὶ καταβαλόντες καὶ Ὑσιὰς χωρίον τῆς Ἀργείας λαβόντες καὶ τοὺς ἐλευθέρους ἅπαντας οὓς ἔλαβον ἀποκτείναντες ἀνεχώρησαν καὶ διελύθησαν κατὰ πόλεις.

[3] ἐστράτευσαν δὲ μετὰ τοῦτο καὶ Ἀργεῖοι ἐς τὴν Φλειασίαν καὶ δῃώσαντες ἀπῆλθον, ὅτι σφῶν τοὺς φυγάδας ὑπεδέχοντο· οἱ γὰρ πολλοὶ αὐτῶν ἐνταῦθα κατῴκηντο.

[4] κατέκλῃσαν δὲ τοῦ αὐτοῦ χειμῶνος καὶ Μακεδόνας Ἀθηναῖοι, Περδίκκᾳ ἐπικαλοῦντες τήν τε πρὸς Ἀργείους καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους γενομένην ξυνωμοσίαν, καὶ ὅτι παρασκευασαμένων αὐτῶν στρατιὰν ἄγειν ἐπὶ Χαλκιδέας τοὺς ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης καὶ Ἀμφίπολιν Νικίου τοῦ Νικηράτου στρατηγοῦντος ἔψευστο τὴν ξυμμαχίαν καὶ ἡ στρατεία μάλιστα διελύθη ἐκείνου †ἀπάραντος †· πολέμιος οὖν ἦν. καὶ ὁ χειμὼν ἐτελεύτα οὗτος, καὶ πέμπτον καὶ δέκατον ἔτος τῷ πολέμῳ ἐτελεύτα.

Translations (9)

The History of the Grecian War Perseus (Thucydides. The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury. Hobbes, Thomas. translator. London: John Bohn, 1843.) — 5.83 focus

[1] The next winter the Lacedaemonians, understanding that they were fortifying, came to Argos with their army, they and their confederates all but the Corinthians; and some practice they had beside within the city itself of Argos. The army was commanded by Agis, the son of Archidamus, king of the Lacedaemonians.

[2] But those things which were practising in Argos and supposed to have been already mature did not then succeed. Nevertheless they took the walls that were then in building and razed them to the ground; and then, after they had taken Hysiae, a town in the Argive territory, and slain all the freemen in it, they went home and were dissolved every one to his own city.

[3] After this, the Argives went with an army into Phliasia, which when they had wasted, they went back. They did it because the men of Phlius had received their outlaws; for there the greatest part of them dwelt.

[4] The same winter the Athenians shut up Perdiccas in Macedonia [from the use of the sea], objecting that he had sworn the league of the Argives and Lacedaemonians; and that when they had prepared an army, under the command of Nicias, the son of Niceratus, to go against the Chalcideans upon Thrace and against Amphipolis, he had broken the league made betwixt them and him, and by his departure was the principal cause of the dissolution of that army, and was therefore an enemy. And so this winter ended, and the fifteenth year of this war.

History of the Peloponnesian War Perseus (Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Crawley, Richard, translator. London and Toronto: J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd.; New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1914.) — 5.83 focus

[1] The winter following the Lacedaemonians, hearing of the walls that were building, marched against Argos with their allies, the Corinthians excepted, being also not without intelligence in the city itself; Agis, son of Archidamus, their king, was in command.

[2] The intelligence which they counted upon within the town came to nothing; they however took and razed the walls which were being built, and after capturing the Argive town Hysiae and killing all the freemen that fell into their hands, went back and dispersed every man to his city.

[3] After this the Argives marched into Phlius and plundered it for harboring their exiles, most of whom had settled there, and so returned home.

[4] The same winter the Athenians blockaded Macedonia , on the score of the league entered into by Perdiccas with the Argives and Lacedaemonians, and also of his breach of his engagements on the occasion of the expedition prepared by Athens against the Chalcidians in the direction of Thrace and against Amphipolis , under the command of Nicias, son of Niceratus which had to be broken up mainly because of his desertion. He was therefore proclaimed an enemy. And thus the winter ended, and the fifteenth year of the war ended with it.

Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs First1KGreek (Thucydides. Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs. Wahrmund, Adolf, translator. Stuttgart: Krais and Hoffmann, 1864.) — 5.83 focus

Im folgenden Winter zogen die Lakedämonier, als sie von
dem Mauerbau gehört hatten, selbst und mit ihren Bundesgenossen,
ausgenommen die Korinther, gegen Argos zu Felde. Auch in Argos
.selbst wirkte eine kleine Partei für sie. Agis, des Archidamos Sohn,
König der Lakedämonier, führte das Heer. Was man nun von der
Mitwirkung jener in der Stadt erwartete, führte noch zu keinem
Erfolge; die neugebauten Mauern jedoch nahmen die Lakedämonier und
rissen sie nieder, und dergleichen nahmen sie auch Hysiä/ einen Platz
im Argivischen, wobei sie alle Freigebornen tödteten, die in ihre
Gewalt sielen, und dann sich wieder in ihre Städte zerstreuten. Danach
machten auch die Argiver ihrerseits einen Zug in das Gebiet von
Phlius und zogen wieder ab, nachdem sie es verwüstet, weil dort ihre
Flüchtlinge Aufnahme gefunden hätten; die Mehrzahl derselben
wohnte nämlich daselbst.

In demselben Winter hielten die Athener auch Makedonien
blokirt. Grund war, daß Perdikkas zum Bündniß der Argiver und
Lakedämonier geshcworen hatte. Auch hatte er, als die Athener einen
Zug gegen die Ehalkidier in den Thrakischen Gränzlanden und gegen
Amphipolis ausgerüstet, welchen Nikias, des Nikeratos Sohu, anführen
sollte, nicht als Verbündeter gehandelt, wodurch er die Hauptursache
wurde, daß dieß Heer ganz unverrichteter Dinge wieder auseinander
ging. Er galt also als Feind. So ging dieser Winter zu Ende und
damit das fünfzehnte Jahr dieses Krieges.

Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs First1KGreek (Thucydides. Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs. Braun, Theodor, translator. Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1917.) — 5.83 focus

Im nächsten Winter rückten die Lakedämonier, als sie
von dem Bau der Mauern hörten, mit ihren Bundesgenossen,
jedoch ohne die Korinther, vor Argos, wo sie immer noch ge
wisse Verbindungen hatten. Den Oberbefehl über das Heer
führte der lakedämonische König Agis, Archidamos' Sohn.
Ihre Hoffnung, daß man ihnen auch aus der Stadt selbst die
Hand bieten werde, ging allerdings nicht in Erfüllung; sie
bemächtigten sich jedoch der im Bau begriffenen Mauer und
brachen sie ab. Auch eroberten sie Hysiai, einen Ort im
Argeiischen, und töteten alle Freien, die ihnen in die Hände
sielen. Darauf zogen sie wieder ab und gingen auseinander,
jeder in seine Heimat. Bald nachher unternahmen auch die
Argeier einen Zug ins Phliasische, weil ihre Flüchtlinge in
Phlius Aufnahme gefunden und sich großenteils dort nieder
gelassen hatten. Nachdem sie das Land verheert, zogen sie
wieder ab. Die Athener aber schlossen in diesem Winter die
makedonishcen Küsten mit ihren Schiffen ein, weil sie Perdikkas
das inzwischen mit den Lakedämoniern und den Argeiern ein
gegangene Bündnis verdachten. Auch hatte er sie damals,
als sie unter Nikias, Nikeratos' Sohn, den Zug gegen die
thrakischen Chalkidier und Amphipolis vorhatten, als Bundes
genosse im Stich gelassen und die Unternehmung hauptsäch
lich durch seinen Abfall vereitelt. Sie betrachteten ihn also
jetzt als ihren Feind. Damit endete der Winter und das
fünfzehnte Jahr des Krieges..

Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponèse First1KGreek (Thucydides. Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése, Vol. 1-2. Zévort, Marie Charles, translator. Paris: Charpentier, 1852.) — 5.83 focus

LXXXIII. L’hiver suivant¹, les Lacédémoniens, informés de la construction des murs, marchèrent contre Argos avec leurs alliés, les Corinthiens exceptés; alors encore ils avaient dans Argos même quelques intelligences. Agis, fils d’Archidamos, roi des Lacédémoniens, commandait l’expédition. Mais le succès qu’ils attendaient de leurs intelligences dans la ville leur fit encore défaut; ils s’emparèrent des murs en construction et les rasèrent; ils prirent aussi Hysies², place del’Argie, où ils tuèrent tous les hommes libres qui leur tombèrent entre les mains; puis ils opérèrent leur retraite et se séparèrent.

Les Argiens, à leur tour, envahirent le territoire de Phlionte et ne se retirèrent qu’après l’avoir ravagé, parce qu’on y avait reçu leurs bannis; c’était là en effet que la plupart d’entre eux s’étaient établis. Le même hiver les Athéniens bloquèrent les côtes de Macédoine; ils reprochaient à Perdiccas d’être entré dans la ligue de Lacédémone et d’Argos, et d’avoir, — à l’époque où ils préparèrent une expédition contre les Chalcidiens de l’Épithrace et contre Amphipolis, sous la conduite de Nicias, fils de Nicostrate, — violé le contrat mutuel, et amené par son abstention la dissolution de leur armée. Ils le traitèrent donc en ennemi. L’hiver finit, et avec lui la quinzième année de la guerre.

Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése First1KGreek (Thucydides. Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése. Bétant, Élie-Ami, translator. Paris: Librairie de L. Hachette, 1863.) — 5.83 focus

L’hiver suivant, les Lacédémoniens, avertis de ces travaux, marchèrent contre Argos avec tous leurs alliés, sauf les Corinthiens, sous la conduite du roi Agis fils d’Archidamos. Ils avaient conservé dans Argos quelques intelligences ; mais le mouvement sur lequel ils comptaient n’eut pas lieu. En revanche, ils prirent et rasèrent les murs en construction. Ils s’emparèrent aussi d’Hysies en Argolide et mirent à mort tous les hommes libres qui tombèrent entre leurs mains ; après quoi ils se retirèrent, et chacun regagna ses foyers.

Les Argiens firent à leur tour une expédition contre Phlioute, dont ils ravagèrent le territoire. Ils en voulaient à cette ville pour avoir reçu leurs bannis ; c’est là en effet que la plupart d'entre eux avaient trouvé un asile.

Le même hiver, les Athénien? bloquèrent les côtes de la Macédoine ¹. Us ne pardonnaient pas à Perdiccas de s'être ligué avec Argos et Lacédémone, comme aussi d’avoir, à l’époque où Nicias fils de Nicératos se disposait à marcher contre Amphipolis et les Chalcidéens du littoral de la Thrace ², abandonné l’alliance et occasionné par sa retraite la dispersion de l’armée. Ils le traitèrent donc en ennemi. Là-dessus Thiver se termina, ainsi que la quinzième année de la guerre.

History of the Peloponnesian War First1KGreek (Thucydides, Vol. 1-4. Smith, Charles Foster, translator. London and Cambridge, MA: Heinemann and Harvard University Press, 1919-1923.) — 5.83 focus

[1] The following winter, when the Lacedaemonians became aware that they were fortifying Argos, they made an expedition thither, themselves and their allies, except the Corinthians; and there was also a party in Argos itself that was working in their interest. The commander of the army was Agis son of Archidamus, king of the Lacedaemonians.

[2] The support from the city which they expected to find ready failed them, but they seized and demolished the walls that were being built; and they also seized Hysiae, a place in Argive territory, slew all the free men whom they caught, and then withdrew and dispersed to their several cities.

[3] After this the Argives in their turn invaded Phliasia and ravaged it before they returned home, because the Phliasians had received fugitives of theirs, most of whom had settled there.

[4] Also during the same winter the Athenians shut off the Macedonians from the sea, charging Perdiccas with the league which he had made with the Argives and the Lacedaemonians; also that when they had prepared to lead an army against the Chalcidians in Thrace and against Amphipolis, under the command of Nicias son of Niceratus, he had been false to the alliance, and the expedition had been broken up chiefly because of his defection. Accordingly, he was regarded as an enemy. So this winter ended and with it the fifteenth year of the war.

Historia Belli Peloponnesiaci First1KGreek (Historia Belli Peloponnesiaci. Haase, Friedrich, translator. Paris: Firmin Didot, 1869.) — 5.83 focus

[1] Insequente hieme Lacedaemonii quum muros exstrui intellexissent, expeditionem adversus Argivos susceperunt quum ipsi tum socii praeter Corinthios; atque habebant etiam aliquod ab Argis auxilium, quod in ipsa urbe struebatur. Ducebat vero exercitum Agis Archidami filius Lacedaemoniorum rex.

[2] Verum illae quidem res, quae in urbe jam praeparatae esse videbantur, nequaquam successerunt, sed muros, qui adhuc aedificabantur, ceperunt et diruerunt, et Hysias agri Argivi oppidum ceperunt, et ingenuis omnibus, quos ceperunt, interfectis abierunt, et in suam quique civitatem se receperunt.

[3] Post haec et Argivi copias in agrum Phliasium duxerunt, eoque vastato abierunt, quia suos exsules receperant; illic enim eorum plerique domicilium fixerant.

[4] Eadem hieme Athenienses Perdiccam in Macedonia intercluserunt, crimini dantes, et quod cum Argivis atque Lacedaemoniis societatem jurejurando interposito fecisset, et quod exerdtu ab ipsis praeparato, qui duceretur adversus Chalcidenses in Thracia habitantes et Amphipolin, Nicia Nicerati filio duce, societatem fefellisset, et quod exercitus ille potissimum propter ipsius discessum dissipatus esset; his igitur de causis hostis erat. Atque haec hiems sic finiebatur et quintus decimus hujus belli annus finiebatur.

La storia di Tucidide First1KGreek (Thucydides. Della storia di Tucidide volgarizzata libri otto. Anonymous translator. Florence: Tipografia Galileiana, 1835.) — 5.83 focus

Nel seguente inverno i Lacedemoni come seppero che si fabbricavano le mura ad Argo (ove tenevano segrete pratiche con alcuni ) marciarono contro essa insieme con gli alleati , tranne i Corintii, sotto la condotta di Archidamo re di Sparta. E quantunque le pratiche, che credevano già preparate in città , andassero a vuoto, nondimeno espugnarono e demolirono le mura che si andavano fabbricando , ed occuparono Isia castello del territorio argivo ; ed uccisa tutta la gente libera che avevano presa retrocederono , e si divisero per tornare ciascuno alla sua città. Gli Argivi anch’essi dopo questo fatto portarono le armi contro la Fliasia , nè si ritirarono se non dopo averla saccheggiata ; perchè vi erano stati ricevuti i loro banditi; la maggior parte de’quali si era stanziata colà. In questo medesimo inverno gli Ateniesi bloccarono in Macedonia Perdicca , accusandolo d’aver giurato lega con gK Argivi e co’ Lacedemoni ; e di aver mentito P alleanza quando ebbero'apparecchiato l’esercito sotto la coodotta di Nicia di Nicerato per andar contro i Calcidesi di Tracia , e contro Amfipoli, ove a motivo della sua ritirata principalmente erasi quell’esercito sbandato. E però era egli loro nemico. E in questo stato di cose finiva l’inverno , e l’anno decimoquinto della guerra.

Notes on the current edition

History of the Peloponnesian War

1. All the editors agree in thinking different parts of this sentence corrupt, and propose various emendations of it; but none of them, in my humble opinion, has struck at the root of the evil, which lies, I think, in the verb κατέκλῃσαν. The idea of the Athenians

blockading

a whole country so extensive as Macedonia appears too extravagant to be admitted; particularly as no proof is adduced of κατακλέιειν being ever used in such a sense; but it always refers to men being

shut up

in particular places. Until Bloomfield therefore brings forward an instance of its being so employed, he must not assume that his reading of the passage

yields an excellent sense, and one not open to any well-founded objection.

Krüger's conjecture κατελήισαν would suit the passage admirably; but Poppo observes that the active form of the compound verb is never used, and that the simple verb would be going too far from the traces of the common text. To rectify this evil, I venture to propose καὶ ἐλήϊσαν; retaining μακεδονίας as a partitive genitive, and adopting Göller's punctuation, and reading of περδίκκᾳ; so that the whole passage would run thus: καὶ ἐλήϊσαν δὲ τοῦ αὐτοῦ χειμῶνος καὶ μακεδονίας Ἀθηναῖοι, περδίκκᾳ ἐπίκαλ. κ. τ. λ. Though δέ after καί is not used so frequently by Thucydides as by Xenophon and some other writers, it occurs in three other places, if not more; namely, I. 132. 2; II. 36. 1; and VII. 56. 3, at the beginning of a paragraph in the last instance, in a manner exactly similar to what is proposed here. καὶ ἦν δὲ ἄξιος ὁ ἀγὼν κατά τε ταῦτα, κ. τ. λ. I may add, that this reading is perhaps confirmed by, or at any rate agrees very well with, the next notice we have of Perdiccas, VI. 7. 4, where it is again mentioned that the Athenians ἐκακούργουν τὴν περδίκκου.

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 5.83

Henry Dale (Translator)

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