Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Theodor Braun (Translator), 3.17

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Niemals haben die Athener so viel stattliche Schiffe zu
gleich im Dienst gehabt wie zu der Zeit, wo diese hundert in
See gingen; höchstens etwa bei Beginn des Krieges hatten sie
ebenso viele, vielleicht gar noch mehr. Hundert nämlich dienten
zur Bedeckung von Attika, Euboia und Salamis; weitere
hundert befanden sich in den peloponnesischen Gewässern; dazu
kamen die bei Potidäa und auf sonstigen Stationen, so daß
sie in dem einen Sommer im ganzen zweihuudertfuufzig Schiffe
zugleich im Dienst hatten. Namentlich dadurch aber und durch
Potidäa waren ihre Kassen allmählich leer geworden. Bei der
Belagerung von Potidäa erhielt der Hoplit täglich zwei
Drachmen, eine für sich und eine für seinen Diener. Ihre
Zahl betrug gleich anfangs dreitausend, und so hoch blieb sie
bis zu Ende der Belagerung. Dazu noch die sechzehnhundert
unter Phormion, die jedoch schon vorher wieder abzogen. Der
selbe Sold wurde sämtlichen Schiffen gezahlt. So war das
Geld bei ihnen schon vorher nach und nach draufgegangen,
und nun hatten sie gar diese gewaltige Flotte ausgerüstet.

History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides. Theodor Braun (Translator). Leipzig. 1917.

Current edition First1KGreek

Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs (German) (Thucydides. Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs. Braun, Theodor, translator. Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1917.)

Editions (1)

Ἱστορίαι Perseus (Thucydides. Historiae, Vol 1-2. Jones, Henry Stuart, editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1910. (1942 printing).) — 3.17.1 focus

[1] [καὶ κατὰ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον ὃν αἱ νῆες ἔπλεον ἐν τοῖς πλεῖσται δὴ νῆες ἅμ’ αὐτοῖς ἐνεργοὶ † κάλλει ἐγένοντο, παραπλήσιαι δὲ καὶ ἔτι πλείους ἀρχομένου τοῦ πολέμου.

[2] τήν τε γὰρ Ἀττικὴν καὶ Εὔβοιαν καὶ Σαλαμῖνα ἑκατὸν ἐφύλασσον, καὶ περὶ Πελοπόννησον ἕτεραι ἑκατὸν ἦσαν, χωρὶς δὲ αἱ περὶ Ποτείδαιαν καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις χωρίοις, ὥστε αἱ πᾶσαι ἅμα ἐγίγνοντο ἐν ἑνὶ θέρει διακόσιαι καὶ πεντήκοντα.

[3] καὶ τὰ χρήματα τοῦτο μάλιστα ὑπανήλωσε μετὰ Ποτειδαίας.

[4] τήν τε γὰρ Ποτείδαιαν δίδραχμοι ὁπλῖται ἐφρούρουν (αὑτῷ γὰρ καὶ ὑπηρέτῃ δραχμὴν ἐλάμβανε τῆς ἡμέρας), τρισχίλιοι μὲν οἱ πρῶτοι, ὧν οὐκ ἐλάσσους διεπολιόρκησαν, ἑξακόσιοι δὲ καὶ χίλιοι μετὰ Φορμίωνος, οἳ προαπῆλθον· νῆές τε αἱ πᾶσαι τὸν αὐτὸν μισθὸν ἔφερον. τὰ μὲν οὖν χρήματα οὕτως ὑπανηλώθη τὸ πρῶτον, καὶ νῆες τοσαῦται δὴ πλεῖσται ἐπληρώθησαν.]

Translations (10)

The History of the Grecian War Perseus (Thucydides. The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury. Hobbes, Thomas. translator. London: John Bohn, 1843.) — 3.17.1 focus

[1] About the time that this fleet was out, they had surely the most galleys (besides the beauty of them) together in action in these employment; yet in the beginning of the war they had both as good and more in number.

[2] For a hundred attended the guard of Attica, Euboea, and Salamis; and another hundred were about Peloponnesus, besides those that were at Potidaea and other places, so that in one summer they had in all two hundred and fifty sail.

[3] And this, together with Potidaea, was it that most exhausted their treasure.

[4] For the men of arms that besieged the city had each of them two drachmes a day, one for himself and another for his man, and were three thousand in number that were sent thither at first and remained to the end of the siege, besides sixteen hundred more that went with Phormio and came away before the town was won. And the galleys had all the same pay. In this manner was their money consumed and so many galleys employed, the most indeed that ever they had manned at once.

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.) — 3.17.1 focus

[1] If at the time that this fleet was at sea, Athens had almost the largest number of first-rate ships in commission that she ever possessed at any one moment, she had as many or even more when the war began.

[2] At that time one hundred guarded Attica , Euboea , and Salamis ; a hundred more were cruising round Peloponnese , besides those employed at Potidaea and in other places; making a grand total of two hundred and fifty vessels employed on active service in a single summer.

[3] It was this, with Potidaea , that most exhausted her revenues—

[4] Potidaea being blockaded by a force of heavy infantry (each drawing two drachmae a day, one for himself and another for his servant), which amounted to three thousand at first, and was kept at this number down to the end of the siege; besides sixteen hundred with Phormio who went away before it was over; and the ships being all paid at the same rate. In this way her money was wasted at first; and this was the largest number of ships ever manned by her.

Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs First1KGreek (Thucydides. Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs. Wahrmund, Adolf, translator. Stuttgart: Krais and Hoffmann, 1864.) — 3.17 focus

Um die Zeit, als diese Schiffe auf die Fahrt gingen, ¹²³.
hatten die Athener die größte Anzahl trefflicher Fahrzeuge zugleich in
Thätigkeit, obwohl zu Anfang des Krieges eine nahezu gleiche, wenn
nicht eine größere Zahl vorhanden war Denn Attika und Euböa
und Salamis wurden durch hundert Fahrzeuge bewacht, und in den
peloponnesischen Gewässern kreuzten andere hundert, und außerdem
waren noch die bei Potidäa und an andern Punkten aufgestellten
vorbanden, so daß in dem einen Sommer im Ganzen nicht weniger als
zweihundertundsünszig Schiffe im Dienst waren und dieser
Umstand vorzüglich und die Belagerung von Potidäa waren es, was den
Schatz angriff; denn vor Potidäa wurde der-Dienst durch
Schwerbewaffnete versehen, welche Tag für Tag zwei Drachmen Löhnung
empfingen, eine für den Mann selbst, die andere für seinen Diener.
Und dieser waren Anfangs dreitausend, die auch in gleicher Anzahl
bis zu Ende der Belagerung blieben, und dazu noch die sechszehn-
hundert bei Phormio, welche früher abzogen. Auf sämmtlichen Schiffen
wurde aber dieselbe Löhnung gezahlt. Die Gelder also wurden gleich
Anfangs auf diese Weise in Anspruch genommen, und an Schiffen
war das die größte Zahl, welche je von ihnen bemannt wurde.

Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponèse First1KGreek (Thucydides. Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése, Vol. 1-2. Zévort, Marie Charles, translator. Paris: Charpentier, 1852.) — 3.17 focus

XVII. Au moment où ces vaisseaux tenaient la mer, les Athéniens avaient sous voiles l’une des flottes les plus belles et les plus nombreuses qu’ils eussent jamais équipées. (Ils avaient cependant possédé des arme- ments aussi considérables, et même un peu plus, au commencement de la guerre.) Cent vaisseaux gardaient l’Attique, l’Eubée et Salamine ; cent autres croisaient autour du Péloponnèse, sans compter ceux qui étaient à Potidée et ailleurs ; de sorte que, dans un seul été, le nombre total des bâtiments en mer s’élevait à deux cent cinquante. L’entretien de cette flotte et le siége de Potidée contribuèrent surtout à épuiser le trésor ; car chacun des hoplites qui bloquaient cette place recevait deux drachmes par jour, une pour lui, une pour son homme de service ; ils avaient, dès l’origine, été au nombre de trois mille, et jamais il n’y en eut un moindre nombre occupé au siége. Il y avait eu aussi seize cents hoplites sous les ordres de Phormion ; mais ils ne restèrent pas jusqu’à la fin. Tous les vaisseaux recevaient la même solde : ainsi se consumèrent les trésors de l’État, et tel fut le nombre excessif des vaisseaux équipés.

Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése First1KGreek (Thucydides. Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése. Bétant, Élie-Ami, translator. Paris: Librairie de L. Hachette, 1863.) — 3.17 focus

Jamais, depuis le début de cette guerre, les Athéniens n’avaient eu à la fois en activité une flotte plus magnifique et plus nombreuse. Cent vaisseaux gardaient l’Attique, l’Eubée et Salamine; cent autres croisaient autour du Péloponèse, sans compter ceux qui étaient à Potidée ou ailleurs ; de sorte que, dans ce seul été, Athènes eut à flot deux cent cinquante navires. Les irais nécessités par leur entretien, de même que par le siège de Potidée, contribuèrent surtout à épuiser le trésor. Chacun des hoplites qui assiégeaient Potidée recevait, pour lui et son valet, deux drachmes par jour¹. Ils étaient trois mille dès l'origine, nombre qui fut maintenu pendant toute la durée du siège (!e renfort amené par Phormion était de seize cents hommes, mais ils repartirent avant la fin). Cette même solde était payée à tous les vaisseaux ². Telle fut la grandeur de cet armement naval, cause première de rembarras des finances.

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.) — 3.17.1 focus

[1] At the time when these ships were at sea about the largest number the Athenians ever had at once were on active service, though there were as many or even more at the beginning of the war.

[2] For one hundred ships were guarding Attica, Euboea and Salamis, and another hundred were cruising off the Peloponnesus, besides those at Potidaea and in other places, so that the number in service at the same time in a single summer was all told two hundred and fifty. It was this effort, together with Potidaea, that chiefly exhausted their resources of money.

[3] For in the siege of Potidaea the hoplite received a wage of two drachmas a day, one for himself and one for his attendant;

[4] and there were at first three thousand of these, and the number was not less than this throughout the siege, besides sixteen hundred who came with Phormio, but went away before the siege was over; and the sailors on the ships all drew the same pay as the soldiers. It was in this way, then, that their money was exhausted at first, and this was the largest number of ships manned by them.

History of the Peloponnesian War First1KGreek (Thucydides. The history of the Peloponnesian War, Volume 1-2. Dale, Henry, translator. London: Heinemann and Henry G. Bohn, 1851-1852.) — 3.17.1 focus

[1] ¹ At the time that this squadron was at sea, they had about the largest number of ships they had ever possessed at once, ² in effective and fine condition : (though they had as many, or even more, at the beginning of the war.)

[2] For a hundred kept guard round Attica, Euboea, and Salamis, while another hundred were cruising about the Peloponnese, besides those at Potidaea and in other places; so that altogether there were two hundred and fifty [in service] in the course of that one summer. And it was this, in conjunction with Potidaea, that most exhausted their revenues.

[3] For at Potidaea the number of heavy-armed that kept guard at two drachmas a day,

[4] (for each man received one for himself and another for his servant,) was at first three thousand; and not fewer than these remained there to the end of the siege, besides one thousand six hundred with Phormio, who went away before it was concluded while all the ships, too, received the same pay. In this way then was their money heedlessly lavished at first; and such was the largest number of ships manned by them.

Historia Belli Peloponnesiaci First1KGreek (Historia Belli Peloponnesiaci. Haase, Friedrich, translator. Paris: Firmin Didot, 1869.) — 3.17.1 focus

[1] Atque eo tempore, quo naves istae navigabant, facile plurimae naves simul ipsis erant, usu formaque insignes, pares tamen numero vel etiam plures hqjus belli initio.

[2] Nam Atticam et Euboeam et Salaminem centum naves custodiebant, et aliae centum circa Peloponnesum erant, praeterea vero eae, quae ad Potidaeam et aliis in locis erant, ut numerus omnium navium una aestate fuerit ducentarum et quinquaginta.

[3] Atque hoc potissimum pecunias absumpsit una cum Potidaea. Nam et Potidaeam obsidebant milites binas drachmas diurnas merentes (etenim sibi quisque unam, alteram pro famulo in diem accipiebat), ter mille quidem, qui primi ad eam obsidendam missi erant, nec pauciores, qui in ejus obsidione permanserunt, donec eam expugnarunt, sexcenti vero et mille eum Phormione, qui ante urbis expugnationem discesserunt; et universae naves idem stipendium accipiebant.

[4] Pecunie igitur ita primum consumptae sunt, et tantus navium maximus numerus est instructus.

Vier Staatsreden aus Thucydides First1KGreek (Thucydides. Vier Staatsreden aus Thucydides. Gürsching, Heinrich, translator. Augsburg: Wirth, 1856.) — 2.35.1 focus

[1] Wenn es bisher bei den Rednern an dieser Stätte fast allgemeiner Brauch geworden, den Mann zu rühmen, der mit der Bestattung diese Rede verband, weil an dem Grabe gefallener Krieger ein ehrendes Wort sich zieme, so würde ich es für hinreichend gehalten haben, dass man Helden der That mit einer festlichen Handlung ehre, — wie das denn der Staat durch die Bestattung gethan hat, deren Zeugen ihr so eben gewesen — und würde die Verherrlichung so vieler Männer nicht einem Einzelnen und der zufälligen Wirkung seines Vortrags anheimgegeben haben.

La storia di Tucidide First1KGreek (Thucydides. Della storia di Tucidide volgarizzata libri otto. Anonymous translator. Florence: Tipografia Galileiana, 1835.) — 3.17 focus

Nel tempo di questi fatti quando la flotta degli Ateniesi era in mare, ebbero essi navi daddovero in gran numero, belle del pari ed atte al servizio ; ma tante presso a poco, ed anco in maggior numero ne avevano al cominciar della guerra. Infatti cento guardavano l’Attica , PEubea e Salamina : altre cento incrociavano intorno al Peloponneso, senza quelle di Potidea e di altri luoghi : di sorte che in una sola estate erano tutte insieme dugento cinquanta : ciò che, unitamente alle spese di Potidea, diede principalmente fondo al denaro. Imperocché non solo aveva due dramme al giorno, una per sé l’altra pel fante, ciascuno dei soldati che guarnivano Potidea ( che in primo furono tremila nò meno furono quelli che rimasero sino al termine dell’assedio, essendo innanzi partiti i mille seicento con Formione), ma anche tutte le navi ricevevano il medesimo soldo. Così fu insensibilmente speso tanto denaro , e tal fu la moltitudine, a dir vero grandissima , delle navi armate.

Commentary

Commentary on Thucydides: Book 3 (Thucydides, Book III. Marchant, Edgar C., editor. London: Macmillan and Company, 1909.) focus

κατὰ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον ὅν —i.e. καθ’ ὄν, according to a common idiom; cf. Soph. OC. 748 ἐς τοσοῦτον αίκίας πεσεῖν | ἔδοξ’, ὅσον πέπτωκεν ἥδε .

ἐν τοῖς πλεῖσται δή —for the fem. cf. c. 82, 1 ( στάσις) ἐν τοῖς πρώτη ἐγένετο. Pre-eminence is not necessarily implied in any of the examples of this idiom, and Herbst is perhaps right in saying that prominence only is meant. The latter must be the point here, because of παραπλήσιαι δὲ καὶ ἔτι πλείους.

δή heightening the superlative is not elsewhere added to this idiom.

αὐτοῖς —with ἐγένοντο.

ἐνεργοὶ †κάλλει makes no sense. ἐνεργός, though not elsewhere applied to ships, is well suited to them, ‘on active service,’ ‘in commission’; and it may be that the note in Hesychius αἱ μὴ ἀργαί alludes to this passage. But κάλλει must be corrupt, for the rendering ‘effective by their fine condition’ is not possible. Herbst's conjecture ς/ καὶ λ/, i.e. 230, is plausible; but in order to make up so great a total, he assumes a fleet of sixty ships for guarding the eoast of Attica. Were this so, we should surely have heard of it at c. 16, 2 among the reasons that caused the Pel. to abandon the invasion; and even though we are left to collect the number of ships at sea in 428 B.C., this large item in the total must have been mentioned somewhere. Still, the interpolator may have reckoned the total at 230 by the same proeess, whatever it was, that led him to 250 for 431 B.C. below. The number, however, does not come in naturally after ἐν τοῖς πλεῖσται. A very good sense would be got by μιᾷ πόλει (Widmann).

τήν τε γὰρ Ἀττικήν —referring to the first year of the war; but there is no mention of such a fleet in the account of that year.

περὶ Πελοπόννησον —this fleet had been sent out by Pericles as a counter-stroke to the invasion of Attica.

χωρὶς δέ —‘besides,’ sc. ἦσαν, which is implied in the context.

τοῦτο —i.e. the sending out of these armaments. In a somewhat similarly vague way

μετὰ Ποτειδαίας is used for μετὰ τῆς Ποτειδαίας πολιορκίας, with which should be compared II. 13 ἐς Ποτείδαιαν ἀπανηλώθη, ‘money was spent on the siege of P.’ It is strange that the expenses of the army at Potidaea, as distinct from the expenses of the fleet there, should be brought in so vaguely.

δίδραχμοι —half a drachma a day was the ordinary pay for a hoplite: here it is one drachma for the hoplite and one for his servant.

ἐλάμβανε —we should expect ἕκαστος ἐλάμβανον or ἐλάμβανεν. It is the omission of a singular subject to which the verb is attracted that is remarkable: edd. note that this omission is frequent in Herod.

ὧν οὐκ ἐλάσσους —when Potidaea revolted in 432 B.C., 3000 Athenian hoplites had been sent to besiege it. It seems that the permanent force was maintained at this number throughout the siege.

οἳ προαπῆλθον —these 1600 had been sent to blockade Potidaea from the south ( I. 64 ) soon after the revolt. They were withdrawn from Chalcidice before the place fell.

τὸν αὐτὸν μισθόν —viz. one drachma per man, or double the ordinary wage ( VI. 31 ).

τοσαῦται δή —referring still to the παραπλησίαι καὶ ἔτι πλείους (§ 1); so that the digression extends to the end of the chapter.

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 3.17

Theodor Braun (Translator)

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