Ἀρτάβαζος δὲ ὁ Φαρνάκεος ἀνὴρ ἐν Πέρσῃσι λόγιμος καὶ πρόσθε ἐών, ἐκ δὲ τῶν Πλαταιικῶν καὶ μᾶλλον ἔτι γενόμενος, ἔχων ἓξ μυριάδας στρατοῦ τοῦ Μαρδόνιος ἐξελέξατο, προέπεμπε βασιλέα μέχρι τοῦ πόρου.
ὡς δὲ ὃ μὲν ἦν ἐν τῇ Ἀσίῃ, ὁ δὲ ὀπίσω πορευόμενος κατὰ τὴν Παλλήνην ἐγίνετο, ἅτε Μαρδονίου τε χειμερίζοντος περὶ Θεσσαλίην τε καὶ Μακεδονίην καὶ οὐδέν κω κατεπείγοντος ἥκειν ἐς τὸ ἄλλο στρατόπεδον, οὐκ ἐδικαίου ἐντυχὼν ἀπεστεῶσι Ποτιδαιήτῃσι μὴ οὐκ ἐξανδραποδίσασθαι σφέας.
οἱ γὰρ Ποτιδαιῆται, ὡς βασιλεὺς παρεξεληλάκεε καὶ ὁ ναυτικὸς τοῖσι Πέρσῃσι οἰχώκεε φεύγων ἐκ Σαλαμῖνος, ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ ἀπέστασαν ἀπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων· ὣς δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι οἱ τὴν Παλλήνην ἔχοντες.
Artabazos meanwhile the son of Pharnakes, a man who was held in esteem among the Persians even before this and came to be so yet more after the events about Plataia, was escorting the king as far as the passage with six myriads of that army which Mardonios had selected for himself; and when the king was in Asia and Artabazos on his march back came near to Pallene, finding that Mardonios was wintering in Thessaly and Macedonia and was not at present urgent with him to come and join the rest of the army, he thought it not good to pass by without reducing the Potidaians to slavery, whom he had found in revolt: for the men of Potidaia, when the king had marched by them and when the fleet of the Persians had departed in flight from Salamis, had openly made revolt from the Barbarians; and so also had the others done who occupy Pallene.
ἐνθαῦτα δὴ Ἀρτάβαζος ἐπολιόρκεε τὴν Ποτίδαιαν. ὑποπτεύσας δὲ καὶ τοὺς Ὀλυνθίους ἀπίστασθαι ἀπὸ βασιλέος, καὶ ταύτην ἐπολιόρκεε· εἶχον δὲ αὐτὴν Βοττιαῖοι ἐκ τοῦ Θερμαίου κόλπου ἐξαναστάντες ὑπὸ Μακεδόνων. ἐπεὶ δὲ σφέας εἷλε πολιορκέων, κατέσφαξε ἐξαγαγὼν ἐς λίμνην, τὴν δὲ πόλιν παραδιδοῖ Κριτοβούλῳ Τορωναίῳ ἐπιτροπεύειν καὶ τῷ Χαλκιδικῷ γένεϊ, καὶ οὕτω Ὄλυνθον Χαλκιδέες ἔσχον.
So upon this Artabazos began to besiege Potidaia, and suspecting that the men of Olynthos also were intending revolt from the king, he began to besiege this city too, which was occupied by Bottiaians who had been driven away from the Thermaian gulf by the Macedonians. So when he had taken these men by siege, he brought them forth to a lake and slew them there; and the city he delivered to Critobulos of Torone to have in charge, and to the natives of Chalkidike; and thus it was that the Chalkidians got possession of Olynthos.
ἐξελὼν δὲ ταύτην ὁ Ἀρτάβαζος τῇ Ποτιδαίῃ ἐντεταμένως προσεῖχε· προσέχοντι δέ οἱ προθύμως συντίθεται προδοσίην Τιμόξεινος ὁ τῶν Σκιωναίων στρατηγός, ὅντινα μὲν τρόπον ἀρχήν, ἔγωγε οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν (οὐ γὰρ ὦν λέγεται), τέλος μέντοι τοιάδε ἐγίνετο· ὅκως βυβλίον γράψειε ἢ Τιμόξεινος ἐθέλων παρὰ Ἀρτάβαζον πέμψαι ἢ Ἀρτάβαζος παρὰ Τιμόξεινον, τοξεύματος παρὰ τὰς γλυφίδας περιειλίξαντες καὶ πτερώσαντες τὸ βυβλίον ἐτόξευον ἐς συγκείμενον χωρίον.
ἐπάιστος δὲ ἐγένετο ὁ Τιμόξεινος προδιδοὺς τὴν Ποτίδαιαν· τοξεύων γὰρ ὁ Ἀρτάβαζος ἐς τὸ συγκείμενον, ἁμαρτὼν τοῦ χωρίου τούτου βάλλει ἀνδρὸς Ποτιδαιήτεω τὸν ὦμον, τὸν δὲ βληθέντα περιέδραμε ὅμιλος, οἷα φιλέει γίνεσθαι ἐν πολέμῳ, οἳ αὐτίκα τὸ τόξευμα λαβόντες ὡς ἔμαθον τὸ βυβλίον, ἔφερον ἐπὶ τοὺς στρατηγούς· παρῆν δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Παλληναίων συμμαχίν.
τοῖσι δὲ στρατηγοῖσι ἐπιλεξαμένοισι τὸ βυβλίον καὶ μαθοῦσι τὸν αἴτιον τῆς προδοσίης ἔδοξε μὴ καταπλῆξαι Τιμόξεινον προδοσίῃ τῆς Σκιωναίων πόλιος εἵνεκα, μὴ νομιζοίατο εἶναι Σκιωναῖοι ἐς τὸν μετέπειτα χρόνον αἰεὶ προδόται.
Having taken this city Artabazos set himself to attack Potidaia with vigour, and as he was setting himself earnestly to this work, Timoxeinos the commander of the troops from Skione concerted with him to give up the town by treachery. Now in what manner he did this at the first, I for my part am not able to say, for this is not reported; at last however it happened as follows. Whenever either Timoxeinos wrote a paper wishing to send it to Artabazos, or Artabazos wishing to send one to Timoxeinos, they wound it round by the finger-notches of an arrow, and then, putting feathers over the paper, they shot it to a place agreed upon between them. It came however to be found out that Timoxeinos was attempting by treachery to give up Potidaia; for Artabazos, shooting an arrow at the place agreed upon, missed this spot and struck a man of Potidaia in the shoulder; and when he was struck, a crowd came about him, as is apt to happen when there is fighting, and they forthwith took the arrow and having discovered the paper carried it to the commanders. Now there was present an allied force of the other men of Pallene also. Then when the commanders had read the paper and discovered who was guilty of the treachery, they resolved not openly to convict Timoxeinos of treachery, for the sake of the city of Skione, lest the men of Skione should be esteemed traitors for all time to come.
ὃ μὲν δὴ τοιούτῳ τρόπῳ ἐπάιστος ἐγεγόνεε· Ἀρταβάζῳ δὲ ἐπειδὴ πολιορκέοντι ἐγεγόνεσαν τρεῖς μῆνες, γίνεται ἄμπωτις τῆς θαλάσσης μεγάλη καὶ χρόνον ἐπὶ πολλόν. ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ βάρβαροι τέναγος γενόμενον παρήισαν ἐς τὴν Παλλήνην.
ὡς δὲ τὰς δύο μὲν μοίρας διοδοιπορήκεσαν, ἔτι δὲ τρεῖς ὑπόλοιποι ἦσαν, τὰς διελθόντας χρῆν εἶναι ἔσω ἐν τῇ Παλλήνῃ, ἐπῆλθε πλημμυρὶς τῆς θαλάσσης μεγάλη, ὅση οὐδαμά κω, ὡς οἱ ἐπιχώριοι λέγουσι, πολλάκις γινομένη. οἱ μὲν δὴ νέειν αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐπιστάμενοι διεφθείροντο, τοὺς δὲ ἐπισταμένους οἱ Ποτιδαιῆται ἐπιπλώσαντες πλοίοισι ἀπώλεσαν.
αἴτιον δὲ λέγουσι Ποτιδαιῆται τῆς τε ῥηχίης καὶ τῆς πλημμυρίδος καὶ τοῦ Περσικοῦ πάθεος γενέσθαι τόδε, ὅτι τοῦ Ποσειδέωνος ἐς τὸν νηὸν καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα τὸ ἐν τῷ προαστείῳ ἠσέβησαν οὗτοι τῶν Περσέων οἵ περ καὶ διεφθάρησαν ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης· αἴτιον δὲ τοῦτο λέγοντες εὖ λέγειν ἔμοιγε δοκέουσι. τοὺς δὲ περιγενομένους ἀπῆγε Ἀρτάβαζος ἐς Θεσσαλίην παρὰ Μαρδόνιον. οὗτοι μὲν οἱ προπέμψαντες βασιλέα οὕτω ἔπρηξαν.
He then in such a manner as this had been discovered; and when three months had gone by while Artabazos was besieging the town, there came to be a great ebb of the sea backwards, which lasted for a long time; and the Barbarians, seeing that shallow water had been produced, endeavoured to get by into the peninsula of Pallene, but when they had passed through two fifth-parts of the distance, and yet three-fifths remained, which they must pass through before they were within Pallene, then there came upon them a great flood-tide of the sea, higher than ever before, as the natives of the place say, though high tides come often. So those of them who could not swim perished, and those who could were slain by the men of Potidaia who put out to them in boats. The cause of the high tide and flood and of that which befell the Persians was this, as the Potidaians say, namely that these same Persians who perished by means of the sea had committed impiety towards the temple of Poseidon and his image in the suburb of their town; and in saying that this was the cause, in my opinion they say well. The survivors of his army Artabazos led away to Thessaly to join Mardonios. Thus it fared with these who escorted the king on his way.
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