Hide browse bar Your current position in the text is marked in blue. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position:
chapter:
chapter 1-5chapter 3chapter 4chapter 5chapter 6-17chapter 6chapter 7chapter 8chapter 9chapter 10chapter 11chapter 12chapter 13chapter 14chapter 15chapter 16chapter 17chapter 18-21chapter 18chapter 19chapter 20chapter 21chapter 22-5chapter 22chapter 23chapter 24chapter 25chapter 26-30chapter 26chapter 27chapter 28chapter 29chapter 30chapter 31-2chapter 31chapter 32chapter 33-41chapter 33chapter 34chapter 35chapter 36chapter 37chapter 38chapter 39chapter 40chapter 41chapter 42chapter 43-5chapter 43chapter 44chapter 45chapter 46-50chapter 46chapter 47chapter 49chapter 50chapter 51-60chapter 52chapter 53chapter 54chapter 55chapter 56chapter 57chapter 58chapter 59,chapter 60chapter 61-70chapter 61chapter 62chapter 63chapter 64chapter 65chapter 66chapter 67chapter 68chapter 69chapter 70chapter 71-2chapter 71chapter 72chapter 73chapter 74-84chapter 74chapter 75chapter 76chapter 77chapter 78chapter 79chapter 80chapter 81chapter 82chapter 83chapter 84chapter 85-93chapter 85chapter 86chapter 86Achapter 86Bchapter 86Cchapter 87chapter 88chapter 89chapter 90chapter 91chapter 92chapter 93chapter 94-101chapter 94chapter 95chapter 96chapter 97chapter 98chapter 99chapter 100chapter 101chapter 102-8chapter 102chapter 103chapter 104chapter 105chapter 106chapter 107chapter 108chapter 109-17chapter 109chapter 110chapter 111chapter 112chapter 113chapter 114chapter 115chapter 116chapter 117chapter 118-20chapter 118chapter 119chapter 120chapter 121-4chapter 121chapter 122chapter 123chapter 124chapter 125-31chapter 125chapter 126chapter 127chapter 128chapter 129chapter 130chapter 131chapter 132-6chapter 132chapter 133chapter 134chapter 135chapter 136chapter 137-40chapter 137chapter 138chapter 139chapter 140
This text is part of:
ἀπείθησαν, ‘were let go like runners’ (cf. vii. 122). δρόμῳ. The thrice-repeated statement that the Athenians charged at the double (§§ 2, 3) is not to be explained away as an inference from the festival of the Boedromia (A. Mommsen, Feste Athen. 176) or by making δρόμῳ the opposite of βάδην (ix. 57. 1), ‘quick’ and ‘slow’ march. On the other hand, an orderly and effective charge after a mile's run in full armour would be beyond the power of any large body of soldiers, however well trained. The ‘mile’, however, is probably an inference from the distance between the Athenian position near Vrana and the place where they charged the Persians near the Soros. No doubt the advance was rapid, but only for the last 200 yards, when within bowshot, would the Attic hoplites charge at full speed. I have shown (C.Q. xiii (1919), pp. 40-2) that in accounts of battles βάδην means ‘at foot's pace’, and δρόμῳ ‘at the double’.
καὶ πάγχυ is best taken (Stein) with μανίην . . . ἐπέφερον (cf. viii. 10. 1 n. and the common use of τὸ κάρτα, i. 71. 2 = haud dubie): others would join it here with ὀλεθρίην. ἵππου ... τοξευμάτων (ix. 49. 3). The existence at Athens of a class of ἱππεῖς, and the alleged furnishing of two horsemen by each naucrary, might seem to prove that Athens possessed cavalry. But Helbig has shown (Les Ἱππεῖς Athéniens, p. 191 f.) from vases, &c., that these knights were, at least till 478 B. C., equipped not as true cavalry but as mounted infantry. Hence Athens depended on Thessalian horse in 510 B. C. (v. 63), and in 490 B. C. had certainly no cavalry fit to meet the Persian (cf. also ix. 40, 68, 69). At Salamis (Plut. Them. 14; Aesch. Pers. 460) the Athenians had archers, and at Plataea (ix. 22. 1, 60. 3) a regular corps of bowmen. The barbarians' astonishment at the absence of these forces may fairly be held to imply the presence of archers on their side otherwise unmentioned. For the cavalry cf. App. XVIII, § 8.
πρῶτοι ... ἀνέσχοντο. The statement, taken literally, is an exaggeration, disproved by the conduct of the Greeks in resisting the conquest of Ionia (i. 169) and in the Ionic revolt (v. 2, 102, 110, 113; vi. 28). Yet the fear of the Mede is proved by Theognis 764 πίνωμεν χαρίεντα μετ᾽ ἀλλήλοισι λέγοντες ι μηδὲν τὸν Μήδων δειδιότες πόλεμον (cf. 775), and the first occasion on which the Greeks won a clear victory in the open field might well be described by an Athenian as the first occasion on which Greeks dared to face the Mede (cf. Introd. § 32 (2)). The Persians had borrowed the Medic dress (cf. i. 135; vii. 62).
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
Purchase a copy of this text (not necessarily the same edition) from Amazon.com
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.