Herodotus, Histories 1.62.2 · 1.62.2
Too late to matter
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οὗτοι μὲν δὴ συνηλίζοντο, Ἀθηναίων δὲ οἱ ἐκ τοῦ ἄστεος, ἕως μὲν Πεισίστρατος τὰ χρήματα ἤγειρε, καὶ μεταῦτις ὡς ἔσχε Μαραθῶνα, λόγον οὐδένα εἶχον· ἐπείτε δὲ ἐπύθοντο ἐκ τοῦ Μαραθῶνος αὐτὸν πορεύεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸ ἄστυ, οὕτω δὴ βοηθέουσι ἐπʼ αὐτόν.
These, then, were gathering together; but the Athenians from the city, while Pisistratus was raising the money, and afterward when he had taken Marathon, took no notice at all; but when they learned that he was marching from Marathon against the city, then indeed they came out against him.
Word by word
The setting
While Pisistratus raises money and then takes Marathon, the Athenians in the city pay him no mind, until he starts marching on them.
A note on this passage
Herodotus marks the Athenians' indifference with a flat phrase, logon oudena eichon, "they took no account at all," while Pisistratus first raises money and then takes Marathon, a plain within sight of the city border. A city watching a coup assemble on its own territory and shrugging is one of the chapter's quieter, stranger details.
Only when he starts poreuesthai epi to asty, "marching against the city," does the verb for the Athenians change, to boētheousi, literally "they run to the rescue, they rush to defend." Herodotus times their alarm to the one moment that actually threatens them directly, not the money, not the territory, but the march itself.
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