Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 6.31

Adolf Wahrmund (Translator)

History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides. Adolf Wahrmund (Translator). Stuttgart. 1864.

Sponsored by University of Leipzig.

Funding provided by European Social Fund Saxony.

Current edition First1KGreek

Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs (German) (Thucydides. Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs. Wahrmund, Adolf, translator. Stuttgart: Krais and Hoffmann, 1864.)

Editions (1)
Ἱστορίαι Perseus (Thucydides. Historiae, Vol 1-2. Jones, Henry Stuart, editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1910. (1942 printing).) — 6.31.1 focus
Translations (9)
The History of the Grecian War Perseus (Thucydides. The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury. Hobbes, Thomas. translator. London: John Bohn, 1843.) — 6.31.1 focus
History of the Peloponnesian War Perseus (Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Crawley, Richard, translator. London and Toronto: J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd.; New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1914.) — 6.31.1 focus
Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs First1KGreek (Thucydides. Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs. Braun, Theodor, translator. Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1917.) — 6.31 focus
Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponèse First1KGreek (Thucydides. Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése, Vol. 1-2. Zévort, Marie Charles, translator. Paris: Charpentier, 1852.) — 6.31 focus
Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése First1KGreek (Thucydides. Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése. Bétant, Élie-Ami, translator. Paris: Librairie de L. Hachette, 1863.) — 6.31 focus
History of the Peloponnesian War First1KGreek (Thucydides, Vol. 1-4. Smith, Charles Foster, translator. London and Cambridge, MA: Heinemann and Harvard University Press, 1919-1923.) — 6.31.1 focus
History of the Peloponnesian War First1KGreek (Thucydides. The history of the Peloponnesian War, Volume 1-2. Dale, Henry, translator. London: Heinemann and Henry G. Bohn, 1851-1852.) — 6.31.1 focus
Historia Belli Peloponnesiaci First1KGreek (Historia Belli Peloponnesiaci. Haase, Friedrich, translator. Paris: Firmin Didot, 1869.) — 6.31.1 focus
La storia di Tucidide First1KGreek (Thucydides. Della storia di Tucidide volgarizzata libri otto. Anonymous translator. Florence: Tipografia Galileiana, 1835.) — 6.31 focus

Notes on the current edition

History of the Peloponnesian War

1. 51) Vergl. II, 56 und 58.
2. 415
v.
Chr.
3. 52) Vergl. Anm. II. Buch III.
4. 53) Sonst gewöhnlich nur drei Obolen. (Die Drachme hat K Obolen. l OboloS
l Sgr. Is/4 Pf.) Der Komiker Theopomp (kollin IX, K4) sagt: mit zwei Obolen
Sold ernährte der Soldat eine Frau, mit 4 Obolen befände er sich vollends glücklich.
5. 54) Der Staat lieferte den Rumpf des Schiffes, Sold und Verpflegung. Der
SchiffSherr (Trierarch) hatte das Takelwerk u. dgl. zu beschaffen.
6. 55) Die Dreirudrer (Trieren) sind von zweierlei Art, entweder schnelle,
eigentliche Kriegsschiffe, oder Soldatenfchifse. hier Lastschiffe für Schwerbewaffnete
genannt. Die letzteren sind mit Landtruppen überfüllt, welche zum Uebersetzen
eingenommen werden, und deßhalb undehülslich, daher sie nur im Nothfall und dann
schlechter fochten. Auf vierzig solchen Fahrzeugen werden Slvv Schwerbewaffnete übergesetzt,
welche mit ihren Dienern über 25V Mann aus ein Schiff, ohne die Rudermannschast,
ausmachen. Selten sind die Schwerbewaffneten in einem solchen Fall zugleich die
Ruderer. Böckh, Staatshaushalt der Athener I, S. 386 f.
7. 56) Die Bemannung der schnellen Trieren besteht t) aus den Soldaten, welche zur
Vertheidigung derselben bestimmt sind (Epibaten) und 2) aus den Matrosen. Diese sind
entweder beim Steuer. Segeln, Tauwerk. Pumpen n. dgl. beschäftigt, oder sie sind
eigentliche Ruderer. Die aus der obersten der drei Ruderbänke sitzenden, welche also
die längsten Ruder und die schwerste Arbeit hatten, hießen Thraniten, die aus der
mittleren Zygiten, auf der unteren Thalamiten.
8. 57) Abbildungen von Göttern, Herden, Thieren u. dgl., gleichsam Wappen der
Schiffe, nach denen sie benannt wurden. (Kr.)
9. 415
v.
Chr.
10. 58) Dies war nicht immer der Fall. Bei AristophaneS, Ritter 1369 ff., wo in
dieser Beziehung Besserung versprochen wird, heißt es:
Wie Einer auf der Kriegerlist' einmal
Notirt ist, also bleibt'S, trotz aller Gönner;
Kein Iota soll daran geändert werden.
und Frieden N79 ff.:
.... die gottverwünschten Rottenherrn —
— Kaum zu HauS dann eingetroffen, thun sie Nicht? als Scheußliche»,
Schreiben uns in ihre Rotten, löschen uns hinwiederum,
Schreiben wieder, löschen wieder. »Morgen wird in's Feld gerückt.-
Keine Zehrung kauft der Nachbar, nicht geworden hält er sich;
Plötzlich vor PandionS Säule tretend, ließt der arme Schelm
Seinen Namen, und läuft entsetzt, mit Essigblicken, hin und her.
Also thun sie uns dem Landvolk; minder schlimm dem Städtervolk —
Doch sie sollen Rechenschaft noch. will'S ein Gott, ablegen mir!
D. h. die Aushebung der Dienstplfichtigen geschah nach Gunst; der bestochene Rotten-
Herr (Tariarch) gab diesen frei. schrieb jenen auf. löschte den AuSgehobenm wieder u.f. w.
Viele wußten daher nicht genau, ob sie zum Kriegsdienst ausgehoden waren oder nicht.
Die Namen derjenigen, die wirklich eintreten sollten, waren auf Säulen geschrieben,
deren zwölf in Athen waren. Mancher, der frei zu sein glaubte, oder glücklich durch-
-gekommen, fand nun zufällig, als schon die Zeit da war, wo ausgerückt werben sollte,
seinen Namen auf einer solchen Säule. Zu diesem Schreck kam nun die
Nothwendigseit, sofort sich marschfertig zu machen. Minckwitz zu Ar.
11. Auch die Schiffsherrn betrogen gelegentlich den Staat; sie verstopften einige
Ruderlöcher in dem vom Staat gelieferten SchiffSrumpf, sparten also die Auslagen für die
Ruder und steckten den StaatSsold für die ausgefallenen Ruderer selbst ein. Aristoph.
Frieden V. 1228 ff.
12. 415 v.
Chr.

Commentary

Commentary on Thucydides: Book 6 (Thucydides, Book VI. Marchant, Edgar C., editor. London: Macmillan and Company, 1909.) focus

τὸ πρὸς βορέαν τοῦ κύκλου τεῖχος —either ‘a wall to wards the north of the fort,’ or ‘the wall north of the fort.’ It is not clear whether τὸ πρὸς β. agrees with τεῖχος or not. Thuc. distinguishes κύκλος from ἀποτείχισμα.

αἰεί —with παρέβαλλον.

βραχύτατον —the distance from the κύκλος to Trogilus ( ἐπὶ τὴν ἐτέραν θάλασσαν) would be about a mile and a half, and the same from the κύκλος to the harbour.

ἐγίγνετο = ἔμελλον ἔσεσθαι, Schol.

ὑποτειχίζειν —‘build an intercepting wall’; cf. ὑπομόσαι . ἀποκλῄσεις γίγνεσθαι—ἀποκλῄσεις is subject of ( ἔμελλον). The plur. may allude to the fact that, as the A. were building two walls, Syr. would be shut in in two directions.

ἐπιβοηθοῖεν —sc. οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι. ‘If they sent to prevent them while they were building.’

ἀντιπέμπειν αὐτοῖς —sc. ἐδόκει ἄμεινον εἶναι. At καὶ φθάνειν ἄν the passage is continued in O.O.

τὰς ἐφόδους —either ‘attacks’ on the wall which would be ‘checked’ by a stockade, or else the ‘approaches’ which would be ‘occupied’ before the wall itself was built. In either case the sense is the same: the σταυροί are to protect the builders, and are a temporary shelter.

ἀπὸ τῆς ς. πόλεως —from some point in the wall of Temenites.

κάτωθεν τοῦ κύκλου —‘south of the fort.’ The reasons for the choice were—(1) the A. would be prevented from reaching the Great Harbour, (2) the north was unsuitable, because the A. fleet was at Thapsus, and a counterwork there would be exposed on two sides to an attack, (3) the A. were busy at the north, and their attention was withdrawn from the south. (Leake, Arnold, Grote, Holm, and Classen place the wall at the south. But Göller, Dunbar, Didot, and Stahl place it north of the κύκλος, rendering κάτωθεν ‘on lower ground than.’ But (1) c. 100, 2 κατέφνγον ἐς τὸ προτείχισμα τὸ περὶ τὃν Τεμενίτην is against this. (2) If the wall was north of the κύκλος, why did the A. leave off building at the north wall after destroying the counterwork? They would have pressed on in that direction to prevent the Syr. from repeating their attempt to traverse the north wall. But if the Syr. built south, between the κύκλος and κρημνός, Nicias had a good reason for building at once across this space, instead of continuing on the northern wall. (3) As κάτωθεν can mean ‘south of,’ it is unlikely that Thuc. would have used it to describe a wall north of the κύκλος, as such a description would certainly mislead.)

ἐγκάρσιον —at right angles to the A. wall.

τοῦ τεμένους — i.e. in the Temenites, for which see c. 75, 1.

πύργους ξυλίνους —probably on the south side of the wall.

αἱ δὲ νῆες κτλ —this explains on the one hand how it was that the Syr. were not open to attack from the harbour, on the other why the A. were able to get provisions in spite of the Syr. counterwork and possession of the harbour.

ὅσα τε ἐσταυρώθη καὶ ᾠκοδομήθη — i.e. the ὑποτείχισμα consisted partly of palisading and partly of stone-work. The exact relations between the σταύρωμα and οἰκοδόμημα cannot be determined. Thuc. himself is not clear, for he speaks presently of φύλακα τοῦ οἰκοδήματος, and farther on alludes to part of the same people as οἱ ἐν τῷ σταυρώματι φυλάσσοντες. Observe that τε is misplaced.

μάχωνται —sc. οἱ Συρακόσιοι. τὴν καθ) αὑτούς—at the north.

τούς τε ὀχετοὺς . . διέφθειραν —the elaborate aqueducts of Syr., of which there are many remains, were partly open, partly underground.

ποτοῦ ὕδατος —belongs to ὀχετούς, but is attracted into the rel. clause.

τούς τε ἄλλους — i.e. those of the φυλή who were not ἐν τῷ σταυρώματι φυλάσσοντες.

ἐξαπιναίως —this and ἐξαπίνης, for ἐξαίφνης and αἰφνιδίως, are Ionic. For

εἰ ἐπιβοηθοῖεν see Index s. εἰ.

ἡ δὲ . . τὸ παρὰ τὴν πυλίδα —while a body of 300 picked men was making for the ὑποτείχισμα, or that portion of it that consisted only of palisading, a division of the army marched to another σταύρωμα—viz. ‘that by the postern gate’; but whether this πυλίς was in the walls of the city or in the ὑποτείχισμα is not stated. On the one hand there may well have been a gate in the ὑποτείχισμα to admit from one side to the other, and this may be one of the ἔφοδοι alluded to in c. 99, 2. But the 300 picked men would be sufficient to attack this, and it ought to be some gate through which help might come to those at the counterwork. Hence most probably it is a gate in the wall of Temenites, south of the point where the counterwork sprang from the wall; so that one division of the A. army marched north, the other south of the ὑποτείχισμα.

τὸ σταύρωμα —sc. τοῦ ὑποτειχίσματος. CavallariHolm seem to identify this wrongly with τὸ σταύρωμα τὸ παρὰ τἡν πυλίδα .

τὸ προτείχισμα —see c. 75, 1. The Syr. probably rushed through the πυλίς, and the pursuers ran in after them, accompanied by some of the division that was marching on the σταύρωμα there. Among these last were some Argives (§ 3), who, being hoplites (c. 43, 2), were not among the ἐκλεκτοί of § 1.

τὴν . . ὑποτείχισιν = τὁ οἰκοδόμημα of § 1. On

διεφόρησαν see c. 91, 7

ἐτείχιζον τὸν κρημνόν —‘they proceeded to build a wall on the cliff,’ not ‘built a wall along the cliff,’ as Classen. This is the short piece of wall that ran from the κύκλος to the Portella del Fusco, and is more accurately described in § 3 as τὸ πρὸς τὸν κρημνόν. (Arnold, Grote, and Freeman understand ‘they fortified a point on the cliff,’ and assume that Nicias subsequently filled in the space between this new fort and the κύκλος with a wall which Thuc. does not mention. They increase the difficulty by placing the κύκλος too far north. Lupus, Stahl, and Fr. Muller read < ἐς> τὸν κρημνόν, but this is not necessary when the κύκλος is rightly placed, the distance now built being so short that the wall ‘ to the cliff’ can be fairly called a wall ‘ on the cliff.’)

ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἕλους —Lysimeleia, now Pantanelli.

τῶν Ἐπιπολῶν depends on ταύτῃ.

διὰ τοῦ ὁμαλοῦ —a lower level than Epipolae, but not so low as the marsh.

αὖθις —again they built out westward, and made another effort to prevent the A. from reaching the harbour, but this time on the lowest level. Probably the palisade and ditch were not completed.

τὸ πρὸς τὸν κρημνόν —see on § 2.

ἐκ τῆς Θάψου — it was a mistake to abandon Thapsus altogether.

περὶ ὄρθρον —cf. IV. 110 νυκτὸς ἔτι καὶ περὶ ὄρθρον. Phrynichus says ὄρθρος ἐστιν ἡ ὥρα τῆς νυκτὸς καθ) ἣν ἀλεκτρύονες ἄδουσιν. ἄρχεται δὲ ἐνάτης ὥρας καὶ τελευτᾷ εἰς διαγελῶσαν ἡμέραν .

καὶ διὰ τοῦ ἕλους —Classen takes this with διαβαδίσαντες, so that ᾗ πηλῶδες . . ἐπιθέντες is parenthetical; whereas Krüger joins it with ἐπιθέντες, which makes an awkward expression. Stahl renders ‘in fact over the marsh,’ apparently regarding it as an explanation of ἐς τὸ ὁμαλόν: but τὸ ὁμαλόν and τὸ ἕλος are different levels. Classen is probably right.

τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας —the Syr. line was facing towards the north, so that the right wing made for the city, the left ran along the left bank of the Anapus to the bridge by which the Helorine road crossed it (the Syr. had restored it since the incident mentioned in c. 66, 2); they hoped to reach Polichna, which was in the hands of the Syr.

οἱ . . λογάδες —see c. 100, 1.

ἦσαν γὰρ κτλ —this gives the reason for what follows, not for what preeedes.

αὐτοῖς =the Syr.

ξυνεφοβήθη —‘was also put to confusion,’ like the 300. Observe the correction φυλή for φυλακή of the MSS. In Xen. Hel. IV. 2 , 19 there is a false variant, φυλακαί for φυλαί.

Λάμαχος —see Intr. p. xiv.

ἑαυτῶν —the plur. is often so used where one general among several is mentioned.

εὐθὺς κατὰ τάχος — an instance of the tendency to multiply words, esp. adverbs, in order to obtain emphasis— e.g. πόθεν οἰκόθεν· αὐτοῦ ἐκεῖ. The same tendency is seen in Latin, esp. in comedy.