dative of accompaniment

With αὐτός.—The idea of accompaniment is often expressed by αὐτός joined to the dative. This use is common when the destruction of a person or thing is referred to. Thus, τῶν ϝεῶν μία αὐτοῖς ἀνδράσιν one of the ships with its crew T. 4.14, εἶπεν ἥκειν εἰς τᾱ̀ς τάξεις αὐτοῖς στεφάνοις he bade them come to their posts, crowns and all X. C. 3.3.40. The article after αὐτός is rare; and σύν is rarely added (X. C. 2.2.9). Hom. has this dative only with lifeless objects.

Dative of Military Accompaniment.—The dative is used in the description of military movements to denote the accompaniment (troops, ships, etc.) of a leader: ἐξελαύνει τῷ στρατεύματι παντί he marches out with all his army X. A. 1.7.14. σύν is often used with words denoting troops (T. 6.62).

a. An extension of this usage occurs when the persons in the dative are essentially the same as the persons forming the subject (distributive use): ἡμῖν ἐφείποντο οἱ πολέμιοι καὶ ἱππικῷ καὶ πελταστικῷ the enemy pursued us with their cavalry and peltasts X. A. 7.6.29.

b. The dative of military accompaniment is often equivalent to a dative of means when the verb does not denote the leadership of a general.