Today's Passage
This passage describes two separate military operations during the early years of the Peloponnesian War (likely 429 BCE).
Crawley Translation (1910)
About the same time towards the close of the summer, the Ambraciot forces, with a number of barbarians that they had raised, marched against the Amphilochian Argos and the rest of that country. The origin of their enmity against the Argives was this. This Argos and the rest of Amphilochia were colonized by Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus. Dissatisfied with the state of affairs at home on his return thither after the Trojan War, he built this city in the Ambracian Gulf, and named it Argos after his own country. This was the largest town in Amphilochia, and its inhabitants the most powerful. Under the pressure of misfortune many generations afterwards, they called in the Ambraciots, their neighbours on the Amphilochian border, to join their colony; and it was by this union with the Ambraciots that they learnt their present Hellenic speech, the rest of the Amphilochians being barbarians. After a time the Ambraciots expelled the Argives and held the city themselves. Upon this the Amphilochians gave themselves over to the Acarnanians; and the two together called the Athenians, who sent them Phormio as general and thirty ships; upon whose arrival they took Argos by storm, and made slaves of the Ambraciots; and the Amphilochians and Acarnanians inhabited the town in common. After this began the alliance between the Athenians and Acarnanians. The enmity of the Ambraciots against the Argives thus commenced with the enslavement of their citizens; and afterwards during the war they collected this armament among themselves and the Chaonians, and other of the neighbouring barbarians. Arrived before Argos, they became masters of the country; but not being successful in their attacks upon the town, returned home and dispersed among their different peoples.
Such were the events of the summer. The ensuing winter the Athenians sent twenty ships round Peloponnese, under the command of Phormio, who stationed himself at Naupactus and kept watch against any one sailing in or out of Corinth and the Crissaean Gulf. Six others went to Caria and Lycia under Melesander, to collect tribute in those parts, and also to prevent the Peloponnesian privateers from taking up their station in those waters and molesting the passage of the merchantmen from Phaselis and Phoenicia and the adjoining continent. However, Melesander, going up the country into Lycia with a force of Athenians from the ships and the allies, was defeated and killed in battle, with the loss of a number of his troops.
Modern Translation
Around this same time, as summer drew to a close, the Ambraciot forces, together with numerous barbarian allies they had recruited, launched a campaign against Amphilochian Argos and the surrounding region. The roots of their hostility toward the Argives stretched back generations. Amphilochian Argos and the entire region had been founded by Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus. Upon returning from the Trojan War and finding conditions at home unsatisfactory, he established this city on the Ambracian Gulf, naming it Argos after his homeland. This became Amphilochia's largest and most influential city. Many generations later, when hardship struck, the inhabitants invited their neighbors, the Ambraciots from the Amphilochian frontier, to join their settlement. Through this partnership with the Ambraciots, they acquired the Greek language they now spoke, while the other Amphilochians remained barbarian-speaking. Eventually, the Ambraciots drove out the Argives and seized control of the city. In response, the Amphilochians allied themselves with the Acarnanians, and together they appealed to Athens for help. The Athenians dispatched Phormio as commander with thirty warships. Upon his arrival, they stormed Argos, enslaved the Ambraciots, and established joint Amphilochian-Acarnanian control of the city. This marked the beginning of the alliance between Athens and Acarnania. The Ambraciots' hatred for the Argives originated from this enslavement of their fellow citizens. During the current war, they assembled this force from their own ranks, the Chaonians, and other neighboring barbarian peoples. Reaching Argos, they gained control of the countryside but failed to capture the city itself, ultimately withdrawing and dispersing to their respective territories.
These events concluded the summer campaign. When winter arrived, the Athenians dispatched twenty ships to patrol around the Peloponnese under Phormio's command. He established his base at Naupactus, monitoring all naval traffic attempting to enter or exit Corinth and the Crissaean Gulf. Six additional vessels sailed to Caria and Lycia under Melesander's command, tasked with collecting tribute from these regions and preventing Peloponnesian privateers from establishing bases there to harass merchant ships traveling from Phaselis, Phoenicia, and the nearby mainland. However, when Melesander led a combined force of Athenians from his ships and allied troops inland into Lycia, he suffered defeat in battle and was killed along with many of his soldiers.
Historical Context
This passage describes two separate military operations during the early years of the Peloponnesian War (likely 429 BCE). The first involves a complex regional conflict in northwestern Greece centered on Amphilochian Argos, where historical grievances between Ambraciots and Amphilochians intersect with the larger war between Athens and Sparta. Ambracia was allied with Corinth and thus the Peloponnesian League, while the Amphilochians had secured Athenian support. The second operation shows Athens projecting naval power both defensively (Phormio blockading the Corinthian Gulf) and offensively (Melesander collecting tribute in Asia Minor). These actions demonstrate Athens' strategic reliance on naval supremacy and tribute collection to sustain its war effort, while also revealing the vulnerability of land operations, as shown by Melesander's defeat in Lycia.
Key Themes
Annotations & References
Phormio's Naval Strategy
Phormio was one of Athens' most brilliant naval commanders. His positioning at Naupactus gave Athens control of the entrance to the Corinthian Gulf, effectively bottlenecking Corinthian naval movements and protecting Athenian interests in northwestern Greece. His earlier victories in this region had established Athenian naval dominance.
Learn more →Greek Colonization and Identity
The distinction between 'Hellenic' (Greek-speaking) and 'barbarian' populations illustrates the complex ethnic landscape of ancient Greece. The Amphilochians' adoption of Greek language through contact with Ambraciots shows how Hellenization occurred through colonization and cultural exchange, not just conquest.
Learn more →Athenian Tribute System
Melesander's mission to collect tribute in Caria and Lycia exemplifies the Athenian Empire's financial structure. Athens required regular tribute payments from allied and subject cities to fund its military operations, especially its expensive navy. This system was both a source of power and resentment.
Learn more →Mythological Foundations
Amphilochus, the mythical founder of Argos, was associated with prophecy and the Trojan War cycle. Ancient cities often claimed legendary founders to establish prestige and legitimacy. This mythological connection linked peripheral Amphilochia to the Greek cultural mainstream.
Learn more →Parallel Ancient Sources
Diodorus Siculus: Library of History (12.60)
Diodorus provides a parallel account of Phormio's operations in the Corinthian Gulf, emphasizing his tactical brilliance and the strategic importance of Naupactus for Athenian control of western waters.
Read passage →Strabo: Geography (10.2.21)
Strabo discusses the geography and ethnography of Amphilochia, providing details about the region's mixed Greek and barbarian population that complement Thucydides' account.
Read passage →Pausanias: Description of Greece (10.38.4)
Pausanias mentions Amphilochus and his role in founding cities after the Trojan War, providing mythological context for the historical conflicts Thucydides describes.
Read passage →Discussion Questions
- How does the transformation of Amphilochian Argos from 'barbarian' to 'Hellenic' through language adoption reflect broader patterns of cultural identity and change in the ancient Greek world?
- What does the failure of Melesander's land operation in Lycia reveal about the limitations of Athenian power, despite their naval supremacy?
- How do cycles of violence and revenge, as seen in the Ambraciot-Argive conflict, perpetuate themselves across generations, and what parallels might we draw to modern conflicts?
- Why might Thucydides include the mythological founding story of Amphilochus when he generally avoids mythological explanations elsewhere in his work?