History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides. Friedrich Haase (Translator). Paris. 1869.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides. Friedrich Haase (Translator). Paris. 1869.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Historia Belli Peloponnesiaci (Latin) (Historia Belli Peloponnesiaci. Haase, Friedrich, translator. Paris: Firmin Didot, 1869.)
θέρους —Thuc. divides the year into θέρος, consisting of about eight months (Elaphebohon to Pyanepsion) and χειμών, consisting of about four (Maimacterion to Anthesterion).
ἅμα τῷ σίτῳ ἀκμάζοντι —‘just when the corn was ripening’; about the middle of May, 428 B.C., before the harvest ( καρποῦ ξυγκομιδή).
ἐγκαθεζόμενοι —the form serves as an aorist as well as a present.
ὥσπερ εἰώθεσαν —sc. γίγνεσθαι, in the two previous invasions. The plan had been started by Pericles.
ὅπῃ παρείκοι —impers., though strictly ὁ θεός is the subject implied.
τὸν πλεῖστον ὅμιλον —cf. II. 31 ὁ ἄλλος ὅμιλος ψιλῶν, ‘the main body.’ Outside Thuc. ὅμιλος is found only in Herod., in tragedy, and in late authors.—The wasting of the country was a tedious task that would devolve naturally on the light-armed troops.
εἶργον τὸ μή —for the constr., which is common with verbs and phrases signifying prevention ( Aesch. PV. 252 ἐξελυσάμην βροτοὺς | τὸ μὴ . . μολεῖν, and often in Aesch.) cf. VI. 1 διείργεται τὸ μὴ ἤπειρος εἶναι (where the MS. οὖσα is shown by many imitations of the sentence by later authors to be a mistake).
τῶν ὅπλων = τοῦ στρατοπέδου, strictly the space in front of the quarters where the arms were stacked; here the word marks the fact that the light-armed could not with safety be withdrawn from the hoplites. 10. τὰ ἐγγὺς τῆς πόλεως—i.e. houses, trees, vineyards: we are not to suppose that the Athenians cropped their lands annually for the benefit of the Peloponnesian invaders.
οὗ —the gen. as in μισθὸς τριῶν μηνῶν. The enemy remained in Attica about thirty days: the longest invasion, that of 430 B.C., lasted forty days, the shortest, in 425 B.C., fifteen days.
Λέσβος ἀπέστη —the gravity of this event lay in the fact that Lesbos and Chios were the only two islands in the Aegean that retained the position of independent allies of Athens. These furnished manned ships, but not infantry or money. For the narrative see Introd. p. xiii.
Μηθύμνης —Methymna, the second town in Lesbos, was under a democracy, Mytilene under an oligarchy.
βουληθέντες agrees κατὰ σύνεσιν with Λέσβος: this change, in the case of peoples, is especially common in Thuc.; and cf. c. 67, 3 ἠλικία . . ῶν. So with στρατιά, στράτευμα.
τῶν . . τήν serve for all three pairs of nouns.
χῶσιν —the harbours were to be turned into λιμένες κλῃστοί ( II. 94, 4): walls were carried across the mouth on artificial moles, and the narrow opening left could be closed with a chain.
ἐπέμενον —showing why they had put off the revolt. The constr. with ἐπιμένειν is here double: (1) τὴν . . ποίησιν τελεσθῆναι, as in VII. 20 περιέμενε τὸν Χαρικλέα . . παραλαβεῖν: (2) ὅσα . . ἔδει ἀφικέσθαι, an accusative clause. (It is objected that Thuc. elsewhere uses ἐπιμένειν only as intrans., but he uses e.g. μένω and ὑπο‐ in both ways; and why not ἐπι‐?)
τοξότας —as mercenaries.
μεταπεμπόμενοι ἦσαν —cf. I. 99 ἦσαν . . ἄρχοντες, II. 80 ἦσαν . . ξυμπροθυμούμενοι. Of course, the periphrasis with pres partic. is much less common than with perf., but it is not different in principle. Passages like II. 67 οὗ ἦν στράτευμα πολιορκοῦν ‘where there was a blockading army’ are quite different, the partic. not belonging to the verb. In yet another case, like I. 38 τοῖς πλείοσιν άρέσκοντές ἐσμεν, the partic. is a predicative adj.
ἰδίᾳ —in contrast with what the government was doing κοινῇ.
κατά —often of the motive or reason, e.g. II. 87 ξυμπαραγενομένων κατὰ φιλίαν.
πρόξενοι —the fact that there were more representatives of Athens than one at Mytilene might show that the office was hereditary in a family, but more probably the title of πρόξενος καὶ εὐεργέτης had been granted by Athens to members of different Mytilenean families. Aristotle in Pol. 1304 a says that Dexander ἦρξε τῆς στάσεως καὶ τοὺς Ἀθηναίους παρώξυνε πρόξενος ὤν: he had a private quarrel with a member of the aristocratic party; from this small matter πολλῶν ἐγένετο ἀρχὴ κακῶν. In any case it would have been the duty of the Proxenus to inform Athens of movements in Mytilene unfavourable to her interests even before the war; but doubtless the quarrel was now an exasperating motive to him, and led directly to the outbreak of stasis, for it was a dispute about property and intermarriage between families of the opposed parties.
ξυνοικίζουσι —i.e. attempting to make the island into a single πόλις under one government, and in this case, an oligarchy.
ξυγγενῶν — Lesbos being of Boeotian (Aeolic) origin. To intervene on behalf of kinsmen was under all circumstances deemed justifiable among Greek states.
εἰ μή τις —‘unless they mean to,’ the fut. indic. marking the urgency; cf. VIII. 91 εἰ μή τις ἤδη φυλάξεται.
νόσου —during 430 and 429 B.C.
ἄρτι καθισταμένου —‘just becoming established’ (i.e. settled, chronic). Cf. I. 1 ἀρξάμενος ( ξυγγράψαι) εὐθὺς καθισταμένου. If we render thus, it makes no difference whether Thuc. means the ten years' or the twenty-seven years' war. In either case, ἀκμάζοντος shows that ‘in its infancy’ is wrong. But Classen's ‘in the middle period’ seems impossible: for it is inconceivable that καθισταμένου τοῦ πολέμοι should mean either ‘just beginning,’ as he understands I 1, or ‘in the middle’ at will. In V. 25 εὐθὺς ἄλλη ταραχὴ καθίστατο the verb means not merely ‘arose,’ but ‘tended to become permanent,’ applying to a period, not to a moment. ἀκμάζοντος—ἄρτι does not extend to this. A period of ἀκμή is of course meant. Athens was now beginning to feel the strain on her finances (see c. 19 ); and her position in Chalcidice was very precarious. (Vollgraff proposes to add ἤδη before ἀκμάζοντος, but this is not necessary.)
μεῖζον μέρος νέμοντες —‘attaching greater importance to their wish that it was not true’ (than to the allegations). For ἀληθῆ cf. I. 8 πλωιμώτερα ἐγένετο νἐμειν μέρος or μοῖραν several times in tragedy: Aesch. PV. 294 , Soph. Trachin. 1238 , Eur. Supp. 241 ; cf. τὸ ἴσον νέμειν I. 71, ἔλασσον νἐμειν VI. 88, πλέον ν. Eur. Hec. 868 , c. 48, 1.
παρασκευήν refers of course to the preparations of c. 2, 2 (cf. c. 2, 3).
δείσαντες —ingressive.
ἐξαπιναίως —like ἐξαπίνης, found only in Thuc. and Xen. among Attic prose writers (for ἐξαίφνης or αἰφνιδίως).
περὶ Πελοπόννησον πλεῖν —both in 431 and 430 B.C. when the Pel. invaded Attica (II. 23, 56), a fleet had been sent out to make descents on the coast of the Peloponnese, as a counter-move. For the operations of this year see c. 16, 1; for those of 426 B.C. see cc. 91, 94.
Μαλόεις was a local name of Apollo in Lesbos; its origin is unknown.
πανδημεί —the whole people together, not by families or clans.
ἐλπίδα εἶναι like εἰκός ἐστι, is commonly followed by pres. or aor. infin.
ἐπειχθέντας is conditional.
ἢν μὲν ξυμβῇ . . εἰ δὲ μή —a common idiom, found already in Homer; cf. e.g. Plato, Prot. 325B ἐὰν μὲν ἑκὼν πείθηται· εἰ δὲ μή.
εἰπεῖν —this depends on the sense of ‘order’ implied in the passage; cf. Andoc. de Myst. 20 ὁ γὰρ νόμος οὕτως εἷχεν· εἰ μὲν τἀληθῆ μηνύσειέ τις, εἶναι τὴν ἄδειαν, εἰ δὲ τὰ ψευδῆ, τεθνάναι. Of course εἰπεῖν = κελεῦσαι. (This passage is brief and peremptory in tone: its dramatic manner is quite characteristic, and there is no ground for suspecting the text.)
παρὰ σφᾶς —put briefly for παρὰ σφᾶς παραγενόμεναι καὶ παροῦσαι: similarly παρεῖναι is often found with εἰς or ἐπί with accus.; but there is no precise parallel to the present case.
ἐς φυλακὴν ἐποιήσαντο —so VIII. 1 ἐς άσφάλειαν ποιεῖσθαι. Cf. Andoc. de Myst. 117 θυγατέρες αἳ ἐγίγνοντο ἔς τε ἐμέ καὶ Λέαγρον.
διαβάς .—the sentence, containing five participles, is an example of what Dionysius calls τὸ πυκνόν of Thucydides; Cicero speaks of him as pressus, Quintilian as densus. The participles that denote closely connected parts of the same action are joined by καί.
ἐπιτυχών = ὡς ἐπέτυχε.
πλῷ χρησάμενος —‘after a good passage.’ πλῷ = εὐπλοίᾳ, as in I. 137 . (Some make πλῷ χρησάμενος merely = πλεύσας, but Antiphon V. 24 πλοῦς ἡμῖν ἐγίγνετο καὶ ἀνήγετο πλοῖα ἄπαντα seems decisive.)
οὔτε . . τε —a common idiom (cf. neque . . que or et), by which emphasis is thrown on the second clause.
τά τε ἄλλα . . ἐφύλασσον —‘and besides ( τὰ ἄλλα, adverbial) having protected with rapidly constructed defences all round the half-finished (works) of the walls and docks they guarded them.’ This is the best way of taking this puzzling sentence. None of the changes in the text that have been proposed is an improvement.
περί is an adverb = πέριξ, as in Homer (Wilamowitz on Eur. HF. 1035 ).
οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι —the subject of the subord. verb is put at the head of the sentence to contrast the action of Athenians and Lesbians sharply; a good parallel occurs at VII. 32 οἱ δὲ . . πρέσβεις . . ἐπειδὴ . . ἔμελλον ἄξειν τὸν στρατόν, ὁ Νικίας . . πέμπει. The imperf.,
ἑώρων (sc. τὰ γιγνόμενα), is used because the action overlaps that of ἀπήγγειλαν.
ἀπαράσκευοι qualifies πολεμεῖν, and is therefore co-ordinate with ἐξαίφνης: cf. e.g. I. 39 προύχοντα καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἀσφαλοῦς, and c. 13, 2 θᾶσσον γεγένηται καὶ ἀπαράσκευος .
ἔκπλουν τινα —for the use of τις cf. II. 22 ἱππομαχία τις βράχεια ἐγένετο.
ναυμαχίαν —both dat. and accus. seem to occur with ὡς ἐπί of intention; but the MSS. often vary, as here.
πρὸ τοῦ λιμένος —i.e. that harbour which was used by the fleet (cc. 3 , 6; 6, 1), in which their ships had lam. (Steup's suggestion that τοῦ ἑτέρου λ. should be read is unnecessary.) Presently they were driven back into this same harbour. The northern harbour is meant. See Introd. P. xiv.
ὀλίγον is accus. of space (cf. 104, 2); of time II. 8 ὀλίγον πρὸ τούτων.
τὸ παραυτίκα . . ἀποπέμψασθαι —‘get the ships withdrawn for the time being,’ i.e. in order to gain time.
καί ‘accordingly.’
τῶν διαβαλλόντων —see c. 2, 3. The partic. becomes a subst, as in οἱ ἐπαγόμενοι II. 2, οἱ προδιδόντες II. 5.
τὰς ναῦς is not object of πείσειαν, but only subject of ἀπελθεῖν, τὰς ναῦς ἀπελθεῖν being an exact citation of the proposal they would make in the Ecclesia, which was to be for a permanent withdrawal. The constr. is strange, however, and ποιήσειαν has been proposed.
ἐν τῇ Μαλέᾳ πρὸς β. πῆς πόλεως —the Malea that is known is the SE. point of Lesbos, 70 stadia from the city. A solution of the difficulty has been found, Introd. p. XV. (Those who suppose that the SE. point of the island is meant, take πρὸς β. τῆς πόλεως with ἀποστέλλουσι. But from the narrative that follows, it is clear the A. were lying to the north of the city (esp. c. 6, 1); and it is not likely they were so far distant as 70 stades. Some are driven to suspect that ἐν τῇ Μαλέᾳ may be corrupt or spurious.)
τοῖς is neut., and
προχωρήσειν is epexegetic.
διὰ τοῦ πελάγους —crossing the Aegean directly instead of sailing down the coast of Asia Minor, between Chios and Erythrae, before crossing among the islands. The alternative routes are clearly explained in Odyssey III. 170 f. and the risks of that across the μέσον πέλαγος are indicated. (Cf. Tozer, Islands of the Aegean, p. 170.)
αὐτοῖς prob. = the Lesbians, and is dat. commodi with ἔπρασσον, as in V. 76, where those acting for Sparta at Argos are called οἱ τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις πράσσοντες. (Others take αὐτοῖς with ἥξει, or refer it to the Lacedaemonians.)
ἐβεβοηθήκεσαν —‘were there to aid.’ Thuc. is remarkably partial to the pluperf., as e.g. I. 128 ἐνεγἑγραπτο, ‘the contents of the letter were.’
Ἴμβριοι καὶ Λήμνιοι —closely associated with the Athenians throughout the war. The islands had been secured for Athenian ‘cleruchs’ by Miltiades; and along with Scyros they were regarded as very peculiarly the possessions of Athens.
πανδημεί —equivalent to πανστρατιᾷ in this connexion, as II. 31, 1 clearly shows.
στρατόπεδον —north of the city, where the fleet was lying.
οὐκ ἔλασσον ἔχοντες describes a state of things, like κραποῦντες, vικῶντες.
ἐπηυλίσαντο —‘did not encamp on the field,’ which was necessary to maintain a disputed victory (Bloomfield). What they did and what they felt are here balanced by οὔτε . . οὔτε.
ἐκ Πελοποννήσου καὶ μετ’ ἄλλης —this appears to stand for εἰ πρ. τι ( παρασκευῆς) ἐκ Π. καὶ ἄλλοθεν, ‘to try their fortune with remforcements from the Pel. and elsewhere, if any should come.’ Bloomfield and others have supposed that καί is intensive here, ‘again with fresh preparations’; but with the order of the text, the sense would necessarily be that some reinforcement had already come from Peloponnese. As for μετ’ ἄλλης, they might hope for ships from Megara, Leucas or Ambracia: Thebes had none.
αὐτοῖς . . ἀφικνεῖται —the dat. with verbs of motion—which is strictly a dat. of mterest rather than of motion—is common in poetry, but does not occur in Attic prose outside Thuc.; cf. e.g. Aesch. PV. 35 δ’ ἀλλ’ ἦλθεν αὐτῷ Ζηνὸς ἄγρυπνον βέλος .
μετὰ τὴν μάχην ὕστερον —i.e. they did not get there immediately after the arrival of the A. fleet (c. 4, 1), but only after the battle (§ 2).
οἱ δέ —co-ordinate with οἱ μὲν ἡσύχαζον.
οὐδὲν ἰσχυρὸν ἀπό —‘no sign of energy on the part of.’
περιορμισάμενοι τὸ πρὸς νότον —‘changing their position and casting anchor south.’ As Malea πρὸς βορέαν remained still in their hands as a ναύσταθμον, it is evident that a part only of the ships was sent to this new station.
τὸ πρὸς νότον is adverbial as IV. 23 περιώρμουν πλὴν τὰ πρὸς τὸ πέλαγος.
ἑκατέρωθεν τῆς πόλεως —explaining δύο. Logically Thuc. should have written στρατόπεδον, as there was but one on either side.
μὴ χρῆσθαι —epexegetic.
ναύσταθμον —the roadstead where the supply-ships lay.
μᾶλλον means rather than the new στρατόπεδον south of the town.
ἀγορά is Kruger's probable alteration for ἀγορᾶς, on the analogy of such phrases as ἀγορὰν παρέχειν, VII. 39 τὴν ἀγορὰν τῶν πωλουμένων . . ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν κομίσαι. The idea of a site seems always present, and ἀγορά is not a synonym of τὰ ὤνια or τὰ πωλούμενα.
τά is probably subject, not adverbial accus., so that we have the pass. of τὸν περὶ Μ. πόλεμον ἐπολέμουν: cf. VIII. 18 τὸν πόλεμον κοινῆ? πολεμούντων (imper.). The act. of πολεμῶ does not seem to occur with an adverbial accus.
περὶ Πελοπόννησον —in the previous year the Pelo ponnesians had attempted an offensive war on a considerable scale in Acarnania, which, with the exception of Oeniadae, was in alliance with Athens. The idea was, to suppress the influence of Athens in the NW. (Naupactus, Zacynthus, Cephallenia, as well as Acarnania); and so to put an end to the harassing expeditions of Athenian fleets περὶ Πελοπόννησον. But the scheme failed completely; and a squadron under Phormio that had been stationed at Naupactus in 430 B.C. to close the Corinthian gulf to Peloponnesian trade, gained two brilliant victories. After the departure of the enemy's fleet, Phormio made an expedition into Acarnania, but was prevented by severe weather from attacking Oeniadae. Early in the spring of this year (428), Phormio returned to Athens; and it is evident that he was now dead or out of health. His statue was placed on the Acropolis and an inscription in his honour was set up at Delphi. (For περὶ some MSS. give ἐς: and perhaps ἐς τὰ περὶ Π. was the original form; cf. II. 7, 3. See, however, c. 3, 2.)
σφίσι as direct reflexive, referring to the nearer subject, is an Ionic use.
Λακωνικῆς depends on χωρία.
ἀναστήσας —the verb occurs in a similar connexion in II. 68 and 96; in IV. 90 άναστήσας Ἀθηναίους πανδημεί.
κατὰ τὸν Ἀχελῷον —‘by way of the A.’; not the technical use of κατά meaning ‘down’ a stream (cf. Aeschines II. 124 εἰσπλεῖν κατὰ τὸν Λυδίαν ποταμόν); Oeniadae was an important town on a hill in marshy ground near the SW. coast of Acarnania W. of the mouth of the Achelous. Cobet conjectured άνά for κατά.
φρουρῶν —the contrast with αὐτόθεν suggests that these were not Leucadians.
ἀποπλεύσαντες —i.e. the ships withdrew to Acarnania, and from there the negotiation was carried on.
Δωριεύς —a Rhodian athlete, who won prodigious fame and became the typical Olympic victor. He was son of the Diagoras for whom Pindar wrote the seventh Olympian. Besides three Olympian victories he won many at the Isthmian and Nemean games. (References to his career: VIII. 35, Xen. Hell. I. 5, Pausan. II. 7. )
καθεστός —MS. evidence and analogy favour the form in ‐ός for the neut.; but etymology ( ‐άος) and the ancient grammarians are for ‐ώς.
τοὺς γάρ —cf. I. 40 τὸν νόμον μὴ καθιστάναι ὤστε τοὺς ἑτέρων ἀφισταμένους δέχεσθαι.
ἐν ἡδονῇ ἔχουσι —so ἐν αἰτίᾳ, ἐν ὀργῇ, ἐν ὀρρωδίᾳ etc., cf. c. 34 , 3 and ἐν ἡδονῇ εἶναι I. 99.
χείρους —think worse of them for being traitors.
οὐκ ἄδικος . . ἐστιν, εἰ τύχοιεν —like I. 120 ἀνδρῶν σωφρόνων ἐστίν, εἰ μὴ ἀδικοῖντο, ἡσυχάζειν. Here οὐκ ἄ. . . . ἐστιν= δίκαιόν ἐστι χείρους ἡγεῖσθαι, and in such cases (see Goodwin, MT. § 555) the opt. is not seldom found. The idiom should certainly not be regarded as abnormal. Cf. e.g. Plato, Gorg, 482 B ἔγωγε οἶμαι κρεῖττον εἶναι . . διαφωνεῖν χορὸν ᾧ χορηγοίην. Bayfield on Antig. 666 collects passages from Soph. Presently
διακρίνοιντο is by assimilation to τύχοιεν.
γνώμῃ —‘feeling,’ ‘sentiment’;
εὐνοίᾳ ‘loyalty’ to each other. These words, so frequent in Thuc. and orators, have various shades of meaning; and of γνώμη it would be rash to say that we can always be sure of its precise significance— Classen has discussed γνώμη at length in his Intr.—but here the parallel παρασκευὴ καὶ δύναμις show that the two are closely similar in sense ( εὔνοια is the intellectual aspect of γνώμη); and c. 10 ἐν τῷ διαλάσσοντι τῆς γνώμης καὶ αἱ διαφοραὶ τῶν ἔργων, where the meaning of γνώμη is fixed by μετ’ ἀρετῆς δοκούσης and ὁμοιό τροποι, bears this out. ( εὔνοια of course implies ‘between equals’ here, not loyalty to a superior.) Cf. also c. 12, 1.
μηδέ τῳ —here and again at c. 67, 2 there should undoubtedly be only a comma before μηδέ. Thuc. never uses οὐδέ, μηδέ=‘and not,’ unless a neg. clause precedes; and it is quite plain from what precedes— οὐκ ἄδικος αὔτη ἡ ἀξίωσις, viz. χείρους ἡγεῖσθαι, εἰ τύχοιεν—that ὃ . . οὐκ ἦν and μηδέ τῳ χείρους δόξωμεν εἶναι adhere closely together.
ἐν τοῖς δεινοῖς —for Athens; often used of the troubles of war.
περὶ γὰρ τοῦ δικαίου καὶ ἀρετῆς —to be asking for a ξυμμαχία when you have just abandoned one is a position that needs some justification; so first they will show that they were not guilty of ἀδικία (cf. c. 12, 2) since they were in danger of being ‘enslaved,’ and that they were actuated by the highest of motives, by ἀρετή, unselfishness, regard for others, in that they wanted to ‘free Greece.’ Hence their διπλῆ ἀπόστασις (c. 13, 1) might well commend them to their hearers.—Only one article is used because τὸ δίκαιον and ἀρετή are the two motives combined in the διπλῆ ἀπόστασις.
πρῶτον —this ‘first’ point—the question of political morality—occupies in point of fact most of the speech.
βέβαιον —always of two terminations in Thuc. Stobaeus gives βεβαίαν here: βέβαιον ἂν has been suggested.
μετ’ ἀρετῆς δοκούσης ἐς ἀλλήλους γίγνοιντο —the subject, as Bloomfield saw (and so Steup), is ἰδιῶται καὶ πόλεις: many edd. from Poppo onwards understand φιλία καὶ κοινωνία, but ἐς ἀλλήλους is a serious objection to this. It does not seem, how ever, that a case has been made out for explaining γίγνεσθαι μετά ‘to behave with’ (majority of edd.); in the parallels proposed, such as κατὰ ξυλλόγους γίγνεσθαι, the verb means ‘to come into a certain condition or situation’: and as γενέσθαι μετά τινος=‘to be in the company of’ (e.g. Dem. L IV. 34 ), so μετ’ ἀρετῆς γίγνεσθαι should mean ‘range themselves with,’ and so, ‘to adopt,’ ‘work with’ άρετή: ἀρετὴ (as above) δοκοῦσα ἐς ἀλλήλους=‘the supposition or assumption of mutual unselfishness, that each in his dealings with the other is acting unselfishly.’ So we may render ‘unless both begin with the assumption that the other is behaving unselfishly.’
τἆλλα ὁμοιότροποι εἶεν —‘and in all other respects (besides that just mentioned) be like minded.’ Goller thought φίλοι was to be supplied out of φιλία as subj. to γίγνοιντο. Vollgraff thinks γίγνοιντο spurious and alters δοκούσης to δοκήσεως with Herwerden, so that μετ’=‘besides’ and καί =‘also.’ γίγνοιντο and εἶεν are both needed, and are distinct m meaning. So long as the union between Lesbos and Athens was to further the resistance to Persia, both parties to the compact held to the belief that the other was actuated by άρετή: but when Athens began to pursue another purpose, Mytilene gave up this belief, and the inherent difference of intention became manifest.
ἐν γὰρ τῷ διαλλάσσοντι τῆς γνώμης —‘ in animorum discrepantia’; the neut. partic. as abstract subst. (cf. the corresponding διαφοραί) is a favourite device of Thuc., though rare in other prose; Xen. Cyr. IV. 5, 39 τὸ ἐλλεῖπον. Cf. e.g. II. 59 τὸ ὀργιζόμενον τῆς γνώμης, VII. 68 τῆς γνώμης τὸ θυμούμενον, for ὀργή and θυμός. Thuc. likes to show the quality at work. The constr., as Krüger says, is freely imitated by late authors.
καθίστανται —‘become manifest’; cf. on c. 3
ξυμμαχία ἐγένετο —referring to the transference of the hegemony of the allies from Sparta to Athens in 476 B.C. ( I. 95 ). In reality this transference was an ἀπόστασις from the Spartan alliance ( Ath. Pol. c. 23 ); and the anxiety of Sparta to be quit of the war against Persia ( ἀπαλλαξείοντες τοῦ Μηδικοῦ πολέμου I. 95 ) was not shown until after the transference took place. Samos, Chios and Lesbos were at the head of the movement in favour of Athens (Plut. Arist. c. 23 ). (This passage well illustrates the freedom with which Greek orators habitually manipulate history when they refer to the past.)
ἀπολιπόντων ἐκ —this use of άπολείπειν seems to result from such phrases as ἀπολείπειν τὴν ξυμμαχίαν (c 9), so that the full sense is ἀπολιπόντων ( ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀπελθόντων).
Ἀθηναίοις and
τοῖς Ἕλλησι depend on ξύμμαχοι εγενόμεθα: τοῖς Ἕλλησι is the exaggeration of rhetoric; for in reality they entered the Delian confederacy.
μέχρι —‘so long as,’ a very rare use, not noted in L. & S.; Xen. Hell. I. 1, 6.
ἐπαγομένους —this word, very common in Thuc., regularly means ‘to invite,’ ‘call in.’ But here, in contrast with ἀνιέντας, it is slightly different, ‘procure for themselves,’ as in ἐπαγωγὴ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων (Herbst).
ἀδεεῖς —‘free from anxiety.’
διὰ πολυψηφίαν —with ἀδύνατοι ὄντες. Each constituent state had a vote in the synod of the League, but the allies were unable to combine against Athens through their disagreements.
ἐδουλώθησαν —i.e. became subject allies. Cf. I. 98 πρώτη αὕτη πόλις ξυμμαχὶς (Naxos) παρὰ τὸ καθεστηκὸς ἐδουλώθη.
παραδείγμασι τοῖς προγιγνομένοις χ. —‘drawing our proofs (that they were no longer πιστοί) from what was previously happening,’ i.e. ‘taking warning from the line of action that they had adopted.’ παράδειγμα is an example by which a conclusion may be supported. τοῖς προγιγνομένοις=‘the line of conduct that they were pursuing previously, and had not ceased to pursue.’ (The aor. or perf. partic. is conjectured here as in I. 23 τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἡγοῦμαι μεγάγους γιγνομένους . . ἀναγκάσαι ἐς τὸ πολεμεῖν, which alludes to the conduct of Athens during the same period—between the formation of the Confederacv to the beginning of the war—from a different point of view. In both places the pres. partic., describing something still in progress, seems better.)
οὐ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν . . . μὴ δρᾶσαι τοῦτο —to understand this sentence, it is necessary to realize that δρᾶσαι refers, not to the future, but to the past, as in c. 40, 5 ἐνθυμηθέντες ἂ είκὸς ἦν αὐτοὺς ποιῆσαι κρατήσαντας ὑμῶν. The sense is ‘it was not likely that they . . would not have treated those who were left in this way, if only they had found any opportunity.’ We should have been ‘enslaved’ had circumstances been favourable to Athens: cf. I. 98 ( ἐδουλώθησαν) καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὡς ἑκάστῃ ξυνέβη. (Dobree's δυνηθεῖεν makes the ref. to the future.)
βεβαιότεροι —the personal constr. often found with ἄξιος, δίκαιος, ἱκανός.
καὶ πρὸς τὸ πλέον . . ἀντισουμένου —(I should prefer to insert ἂν before ἀντισουμένου, see Introd. p. xlii). The text means ‘since in contrast, moreover, with the majority who were already yielding, we alone still tried to keep on an equal footing with them.’ These words do not add much to what has been already said in ὑποχειρίους . . ὁμιλοῦντες, but, as Classen put it, refer to the conduct of the Lesbians as viewed by Athens.
τὸ ἡμέτερον , not ἡμεῖς, is used for the sake of the verbal contrast with τὸ πλέον. μόνου, if the text is sound, is (as Steup points out), not a proper antithesis to τὸ πλέον, and it is an awkward anticipation of the next clause, ἄλλως . . ἐρημότεροι.
τὸ δὲ ἀντίπαλον δέος —‘it is reciprocity of apprehension alone,’ as distinct from one-sided δέος. There is no objection to δέος, and no inconsistency with the opening words of c. 12, if the emphasis be put on ἀντίπαλον, as on προύχων in the next sentence, and if μόνον be taken as qualifying ἀντίπαλον rather than πιστόν.
γάρ —‘for in that case.’
ὅσον — quatenus, ‘so far as.’
ἐς τὴν ἀρχήν ‘with a view to their empire.’ (I see no reason whatever for rejecting these words, as Kruger and Steup do. They give the true object of the Athenian policy, and the mention of ἀρχή is appropriate enough in the presence of those who so strongly disliked it; cf. I. 75, with II. 8. )
γνώμης μᾶλλον ἐφόδῳ ἢ ἰσχύος —‘by means of policy and not of force.’
τὰ πράγματα . . καταληπτά —‘they might make themselves masters of the situation.’
ἅμα μέν .—this is the λόγος εὐπρεπής that they used as evidence that they were upright. The allies whom we attacked, they eould say, must have been in the wrong; otherwise those who have a vote in the confederacy equal to ours would never have been found at our side. The
μή is due to the protest implied in μ. ὲχρῶντο. If ἄκοντας is right, it must be put briefly for ἄκοντας ἂν ὄντας, ‘but would have been unwilling, unless’ etc. But this, even if possible, is extremely awkward, whereas ἑκόντας, read in a good scholium on this passage, gives the natural constr. and sense.
ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ = ἅμα: so IV. 73.
τὰ κράτιστα —for τοὺς κρατίστους.
[τὰ] τελευταῖα —it is clear that τὰ κράτιστα is object of λιπόντες, and τελευται—α is predicative; so that as there is no parallel for the article, it should be omitted.
τοῦ ἄλλου —neut. collective, and gen. abs.
αὐτῶν —in contrast with πρὸς ὅ τι χρὴ στῆναι (aid from others): πρὸς ὅ τι χρὴ στῆναι = ἡμᾶς τοὺς δυναμένους ἡγήσασθαι αὐτῶν (schol.). For the simple ἵστασθαι ‘rally’ with πρός cf. IV. 56 πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνων γνώμην ἕστασαν.
ἐχειρώσαντο —sc. τοὺς ξυμμάχους.
τό τε ναυτικόν —“a third reason is here given for the policy of the Athenians, of leaving the M. still independent,— namely, the apprehension of danger from driving them to unite their navy with that of the Peloponnesians” (Bloomfield).
καθ’ ἓν γενόμενον —standing alone this phrase would certainly mean ‘concentrating,’ ‘becoming united,’ as is proved by such passages as Xen. Hell. V. 2, 16 πῶς είκὸς ὑμᾶς τῆς μὲν Βοιωτίας ἐπιμεληθῆναι ὅπως μὴ καθ’ ἓν εἴη, πολὺ δὲ μείζονος ἁθροιζομένης δυνάμεως ἁμελῆσαι; This would give no point here, since the whole fleet is of course meant by τὸ ναυτικόν. The accepted meaning ‘uniting with others’ is only to be got through the addition, ἢ . . προσθέμενον, which must be regarded as an explanation. (Steup suggests that προσθέμενον should be removed, so that καθ’ ἓν γ. can be taken with the datives. I do not think it a likely note—in fact there is a scholium, ἐς ταὐτὸ ξυνελθόν, here—but I do think there is a difficulty, and possibly the first ή should be removed.)
τὰ δὲ καί —‘to some degree also’; a fourth and minor reason why the M. retained their independence. The schol. divides θεραπεία into flattery of the Athenian people and gifts to the leaders of the demos; no doubt these are included.
οὐ . . ἂν ἐδοκοῦμεν δυνηθῆναι = οὐκ ἂν ἐδυνήθημεν, ὡς ἐδόκει. δοκοῦμεν, read by Kruger ( ἔτι δοκοῦμεν Steup) is simpler, but the imperf., referring to the time of the revolt, does not exclude the pres., and cf. c. 13 ἐνομίζομεν ἀποστήσεσθαι.
τοῖς —‘what had happened.’
τίς —‘what form of trustworthy friendship or freedom was this turning out to be?’ i.e. how could we put any confidence in a friendship or a freedom like that? (Dion. Hal. Antiq. VI. 78 τίς οὖν ἡ τοιαύτη φιλία καὶ πίστις, ἐν ᾗ παρὰ γνώμην άλλήλους θεραπεύειν ἀναγκασθησόμεθα ; seems to have found ἡ, not ἢ, after αὕτη in his MS., and our MSS. have ἡ.)
παρὰ γνώμην —‘without sincerity,’ οὐκ ἀπὸ γνώμης ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ γλώσσης μόνον.
ὑπεδεχόμεθα —this word can be used of every kind of reception or welcome afforded to a ξένος, short of rejection: e.g. in Lycurgus § 133 οὐδεμία πόλις αὐτὸν εἴασε παρ’ αὑτῇ μετοικεῖν is repeated in the form τοῦτον δὲ τίς ἂν ύποδέξαιτο πόλις;
ὅ τε . . πίστιν βεβαιοῖ, ἡμῖν τοῦτο . . ἐχυρὸν παρεῖχε — passages sometimes cited as parallel to this (as II. 40 δ τοῖς ἄλλοις άμαθία μὲν θράσος, λογισμὸς δὲ ὄκνον φέρει and IV. 125 ὄπερ φιλεῖ μέγιστα στρατόπεδα ἀσαφῶς ἐκπλήγνυσθαι) bear little resemblance to it. If πίστιν, which Stahl bracketed, is sound, we should assume, with Kruger, a conflation of relative with epexegetic clause— ὃ εὔνοια βεβαιοῖ with εὔ. πίστιν βεβαιοῖ. A schol. already takes this view; and unless the text is corrupt, no other explanation can be entertained. (The other scholium is a mere paraphrase, but its conclusion— διὰ τοῦτο ἄπιστος ἦν ἡ φιλία ἀμφοτέρων—shows that the writer discerned that in the whole passage, from τίς οὖν to παραβήσεσθαι ἔμελλον, the underlying idea, not clearly expressed, is that of a πίστις ἄπιστος. Both πιστή above and πίστιν here have been removed by critics more intent, perhaps, on the language than on the thought. ξύμμαχοι ὑπὸ δέους πιστοί are ξύμμαχοι ἄπιστοι.)
παράσχοι —representing ὁποτέρους ἂν παράσχῃ in past sequence. 10
ἀσφάλεια —‘sense of security.’
καί —‘as a consequence’ of the θάρσος.
διὰ . . μέλλησιν refers to δοκοῦμεν ἀδικεῖν: this might be a reason for objecting that they should have waited till some wrong was inflicted on them.
τὰ δεινά =‘methods of coercion’; for the whole cf. I. 25 κατὰ τὴν Φαιάκων προενοίκησιν τῆς Κερκύρας .
εἰ γὰρ δυνατοί .—with the text before us, which (except for ἀντιμελλῆσαι) follows the MSS., we must render, ‘had we been in a position both to intrigue like them and to delay like them (i.e. to put off our attack, but at the same time to have our plan of attack ready), what need was there for us to remain, nevertheless, at their mercy?’ The M. might of course defer the attack, but if they waited for the Athenians to attack they were lost. This is fairly satisfactory, the only difficulty being that ἐκ τοῦ ἴσου and ἐκ τοῦ ὁμοίου (‘just as we were,’ aeque atque fuimus) have no correspondence. It is in connexion with the next sentence that doubts arise. (1) ἐπιχειρεῖν clearly corresponds to ἀντεπιβουλεῦσαι, and προαμύνασθαι to ἀντιμελλῆσαι (or ἀντεπιμελλῆσαι); (2) the statement ‘we need not have remained in their power’ is hardly equivalent to ‘we need not have revolted because we should have retained our independence’; (3) ἐπ’ ἐκείνοις εἶναι looks suspicious before έπ’ ἐκείνοις ὄντας. A great many changes have been proposed, and those of Heilmann and Kruger indicated in the crit. note and adopted by Classen give a much better correspondence and an improved sense. Yet I do not feel that the objections to the MS. reading are decisive. The general sense is: we cannot be blamed for taking the first move merely because they delayed to take action against us.
τοιαύτας —the asyndeton when a demonstrative pron. sums up what precedes is common.
αἰτίας is ‘grievances’ (Cornford), not synonymous with προφάσεις.
σαφεῖς τοῖς ἀκούουσι γνῶναι as in κάλλιστον ίδεῖν τοῖς φίλοις Xen. Oec. VIII. 6 ; but an unusual kind of example. The words are appropriate to a pleader.
εἰκότως —‘reasonably.’
βουλομένους —what is to be supplied?
ἀποστήσεσθαι δ. ἀπόστασιν —the figura etymologica, as in VI. 56 τοὺς τὴν πομπὴν πέμψοντας, VIII. 58 κοινῇ πὸν πόλεμον πολεμούντων. It is usually said that Thuc. plays upon the double meaning of ἀφίστασθαι here. (1) ‘abstain from.’ (2) ‘revolt from.’ With Poppo and Classen I cannot think this is so. The passage clearly corresponds to c. 10 , 3 ξύμμαχοι ἐγενόμεθα οὐκ . . Ἀθηναίοις, ἀλλὰ . . τοῖς Ἔλλησι, and the M. had ‘revolted from’ the Greeks who formed the Delian league just as much as they had ‘revolted from’ the Athenians. Nor is the view of the majority borne out by ἡ μέντοι ἀπόστασις κτλ.
ξὺν κακῶς ποιεῖν —referring to καταδούλωσις τῶν Ἑλλήνων c. 10. Cf. Xen. An. V. 5, 21 ἂν μέν τις εὖ ποιῇ, ἀντ’ εὖ ποιεῖν ( ἀντευποιεῖν MSS.), ἂν δὲ κακῶς, ἀλέξασθαι (Stallbaum on Plato, Gorg. 520 E).
προποιῆσαι = προ‐διαφθεῖραι.
χρή —sc. ὑμᾶς .
ᾗ καὶ μᾶλλον i.e. in addition to the δίκαιον and ἀρετή (c. 10, 1) or doing so.
βοήθειαν ἀποστέλλειν —the M. really suggest two plans, both of which were adopted (c. 15 , 1; 16, 3; cf. 25, 1), viz. (1) that a fleet shall be sent to Lesbos, and (2) that there shall be another invasion of Attica, though there had already been one this year. But the second proposal is put forward only as according with the interest of Sparta (either the enemy will not resist you, or—if they do—they must withdraw from the Peloponnese (cf. § 3) as well as from Lesbos, § 4). The second proposal only was at first carried out, but it did not have the desired effect (c. 16 , 2). In the following year, accordingly, both schemes were to be carried out concurrently (c. 26 ), but even then the Pel. were slack about no. 1 (c. 27 , 1). (I see no ground for thinking the text deficient here, as Steup supposes. The two courses are not proposed as alternatives, and, on the other hand, they are with good reason not announced as two parts of a scheme for helping Lesbos.)
καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ —this point is explained in what follows: so far it has not been touched upon. To this
καιρὸς . . πρότερον refers.
ἐφθάραται —the old plur. terminations in ‐αται, ‐ατο, are rarely found in Attic prose, as Xen. An. IV. 8 , 5: Thuc. varies.
αἱ μέν —see c. 7 .
περιουσίαν νεῶν ἔχειν —a number large enough to protect the harbours and coast of Attica without recalling those that were out. This forecast was entirely falsified by the event; but it might very well be entertained because (1) in spite of the fall of Potidaea (in 429 B.C.), no Athenian fleet had been sent out to the Peloponnese in 429; (2) only thirty ships had been sent out this year in answer to the Spartan invasion of Attica, whereas in 431 and 430 the number had been 100; (3) late in 429 a Peloponnesian fleet had made an abortive attempt to seize the Piraeus: reflexion on the result of this mismanaged affair may have led them, with good reason, to underrate the naval resources of Athens.
ἐπεσβάλητε —‘make an additional invasion’: τὸ δεύτερον emphasizes the ἐπ‐.
ᾧ γὰρ δοκεῖ . . παρέξει —‘if anyone is thinking that L. is far away, the advantage will be given to him close at hand’; that will come home to him.
ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ ἔσται —‘will turn on Attica, but (on the country) through which . . ,’ i.e. ἐν τῇ ξυμμαχικῇ; the issue depends on the action of the ξύμμαχοι The need is to transfer the resources (cf. ὠφελίαν . . ὠφελεῖται) of the ξύμμαχοι from the Athenian to the Spartan side. Cf. Tac. Hist. II. 28 sin victoriae columen in Italia verteretur.
οἱ πρὶν δουλεύοντες —i.e. those who were made ὐποτελεῖς before us.
βοηθησάντων —a remarkable ex of the gen. abs. where the subject of the verb is the same; cf. c. 112 , 6.
εἴχετε —‘have up till now’ is the meaning given by Poppo; but ‘had’ before the war is more natural, and more in accordance with the action of Sparta.
ἐλευθεροῦντες —a good point: at the outbreak of the war the Lac. had claimed to be ‘the liberators of Greece.’
ἐς ὑμᾶς —‘with regard to you . .’
ἴσα καί —adverbial, as ὁμοίως καί.
ἴδιον . . παραβαλλομένους —instead of the external accus. usual with παραβάλλομαι, i.e. τὰ σώματα, we have here the internal accus., κίνδυνον.
τὴν ἐς τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἐσβολήν —‘as regards the suggested (c. 13, 4) iuvasion.’ ἐσβολήν is the ‘accusative of anticipation,’ for which cf. I. 33, 3 τὸν δὲ πόλεμον . . εἴ τις ὑμῶν μὴ οἴεται ἔσεσθαι. In both these instances the verb that follows ( ποιησόμενοι, ἔσεσθαι) of course supplies a governing word to the accus. as in V. 36 τὸ Πάνακτον ἐδέοντο Βοιωτοὺς ὅπως παραδώσουσι, and in general. But sometimes the accus. has no strict regimen, but the constr. is changed in the dependent clause, as in the well-known case Aristoph. Av. 1269 δεινόν γε τὸν κήρυκα . . εἰ μηδέποτε νοστήσει πάλιν.
παροῦσι . . ἔφραζον ‘gave them orders while they were on the spot,’ i.e. did not wait to send round after the delegates had left.
κατὰ τάχος and
τοῖς δύο μέρεσιν belong to ίέναι: cf. II. 10 ξυνῆ?σαν τὰ δύο μέρη . . ἐς τὸν Ἰσθμόν. The dat. is sociative, as constantly with words like στρατός and ναῦς. The subject of ἔφραζον and ἀφίκοντο is ‘the Lacedaemonians’ only. 3/4ths= τὰ τρία μέρη; but 3/8ths= τῶν ὀκτὼ τὰ τρία μέρη. ὡς ποιησόμενοι belongs to ἁφίκοντο as well as to ἔφραζον.
καὶ (‘and then’)
ὁλκοὺς (cf. ἐφ‐ολκίον, a boat towed, νεωλκεῖν, to beach a vessel with a ὁλκός. The instrument for pushing heavy weights was called ἕλιξ, but it was not invented till Archimedes)
παρεσκεύαζον —the ships which had been used against Phormio in the Corinthian gulf (at Lechaeum) were to be hauled over the Isthmus along the track, called δίολκος, to the Saronic gulf. The ships must have been put on some kind of truck. The exact nature of the ὁλκοί is unknown; possibly they were rollers fixed in the δίολκος. ὑπερφέρειν, διαφέρειν, διακομίζειν and διέλκειν are used of this.
οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι ξύμμαχοι —the ‘exclusive’ use of ἄλλος.
ἐν καρποῦ ξυγκομιδῇ like ἐν παρασκευῇ εἶναι: ( ἐν)
ἀρρωστίᾳ like ἐν ἀθυμίᾳ εἶναι.
διὰ κατάγνωσιν ἀσθενείας σφῶν = διὰ τὸ καταγνῶναι σφῶν ἀσθένειαν, i.e. σφῶν depends on κατάγνωσιν. On what the ‘imputation’ was based can be seen from c. 13.
τὸ ἐπὶ Λέσβῳ ναυτικόν —the suggestion of the speaker in c. 13 was απ’ αμφοτέρων (Lesbos and Peloponnese) ἀποχωρήσονται: but what is mentioned in c. 7, 3 had meantime occurred.
αὐτοί —these, as the restriction shows, consisted of the ζευγῖται and θῆτες. The two higher classes served on board only in times of great danger.
παρὰ τὸν Ἰσθμὸν ἐπίδειξιν ἐποιοῦντο ‘made a demonstration along the coast of.’ With ἀναγαγόντες instead of the ordinary ἀναγαγόμενοι cf. Herod. VI. 12 ἀνάγων τὰς νέας.
ἀποβάσεις —the plan of making descents on the enemy's coasts as a counter-move to the invasion of Attica had been started by Pericles.
ἄπορα νομίζοντες —‘thinking (the situation) difficult,’ a characteristic use of the neut. plur. without subst., as in I. 8 πλωιμώτερα ἐγένετο.
καὶ αἱ περὶ τὴν Π. τριάκοντα νῆες ‘the thirty ships that were about (off the W. coast) the Pel. as well.’ If the text is sound, the thirty ships of c. 7 must surely be meant: it is true that c. 7, 3 shows that the majority of these ships, at any rate, were no longer ravaging the coasts; but the Lac. are misled by an inaccurate report. Chambry, however, suggests that the eighteen ships referred to in c. 7, 3 had subsequently rejoined the other twelve; if so, it is strange that Thuc. has omitted to mention this.—The edd. who delete τριάκοντα point out that from c. 13, 3 it is clear the Lac. knew already about the doings of this earlier fleet. But (1), the Lesbian speaker does not say that the fleet was actually ravaging the coasts; and (2) in any case, if c. 13, 3 is in point here, so is c. 13, 4, and there the expectation is that the fleet will be withdrawn. Why should not the Lac. have fresh information—inaccurate—that the expectation had been falsified? The second
καί =‘also,’ i.e. as well as the new fleet which was making ἀποβάσεις (§ 2). Those who omit τριάκοντα understand the fleet of 100 ships mentioned just before. This is of course possible, but the passage admits of a simple explanation as it stands; and it is hardly likely that the 100 ships could so soon be reported as ravaging the coasts.
τὴν περιοικίδα —land belonging to the περίοικοι in Messenia seems to be meant.
ὕστερον —it was not sent at once, c. 25. ὅ τι πέμψουσιν—ὅστις because of the purpose.
ἐπήγγελλον —a technical word for sending out a formal notice, which may amount to a command. Cf. περιαγγἐλλω.
ναύαρχον —an office held for a year. The admiral in war was almost as important as the kings, who eommanded the land-forces. His power increased when the Spartan navy became greater.
εἶδον —sc. ἀναχωρήσαντας: cf. e.g. II. 11 δῃοῦν μᾶλλον ἢ τὴν ἑαυτῶν δρᾶν, sc. δῃουμένην.
κατὰ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον ὅν —i.e. καθ’ ὄν, according to a common idiom; cf. Soph. OC. 748 ἐς τοσοῦτον αίκίας πεσεῖν | ἔδοξ’, ὅσον πέπτωκεν ἥδε .
ἐν τοῖς πλεῖσται δή —for the fem. cf. c. 82, 1 ( στάσις) ἐν τοῖς πρώτη ἐγένετο. Pre-eminence is not necessarily implied in any of the examples of this idiom, and Herbst is perhaps right in saying that prominence only is meant. The latter must be the point here, because of παραπλήσιαι δὲ καὶ ἔτι πλείους.
δή heightening the superlative is not elsewhere added to this idiom.
αὐτοῖς —with ἐγένοντο.
ἐνεργοὶ †κάλλει makes no sense. ἐνεργός, though not elsewhere applied to ships, is well suited to them, ‘on active service,’ ‘in commission’; and it may be that the note in Hesychius αἱ μὴ ἀργαί alludes to this passage. But κάλλει must be corrupt, for the rendering ‘effective by their fine condition’ is not possible. Herbst's conjecture ς/ καὶ λ/, i.e. 230, is plausible; but in order to make up so great a total, he assumes a fleet of sixty ships for guarding the eoast of Attica. Were this so, we should surely have heard of it at c. 16, 2 among the reasons that caused the Pel. to abandon the invasion; and even though we are left to collect the number of ships at sea in 428 B.C., this large item in the total must have been mentioned somewhere. Still, the interpolator may have reckoned the total at 230 by the same proeess, whatever it was, that led him to 250 for 431 B.C. below. The number, however, does not come in naturally after ἐν τοῖς πλεῖσται. A very good sense would be got by μιᾷ πόλει (Widmann).
τήν τε γὰρ Ἀττικήν —referring to the first year of the war; but there is no mention of such a fleet in the account of that year.
περὶ Πελοπόννησον —this fleet had been sent out by Pericles as a counter-stroke to the invasion of Attica.
χωρὶς δέ —‘besides,’ sc. ἦσαν, which is implied in the context.
τοῦτο —i.e. the sending out of these armaments. In a somewhat similarly vague way
μετὰ Ποτειδαίας is used for μετὰ τῆς Ποτειδαίας πολιορκίας, with which should be compared II. 13 ἐς Ποτείδαιαν ἀπανηλώθη, ‘money was spent on the siege of P.’ It is strange that the expenses of the army at Potidaea, as distinct from the expenses of the fleet there, should be brought in so vaguely.
δίδραχμοι —half a drachma a day was the ordinary pay for a hoplite: here it is one drachma for the hoplite and one for his servant.
ἐλάμβανε —we should expect ἕκαστος ἐλάμβανον or ἐλάμβανεν. It is the omission of a singular subject to which the verb is attracted that is remarkable: edd. note that this omission is frequent in Herod.
ὧν οὐκ ἐλάσσους —when Potidaea revolted in 432 B.C., 3000 Athenian hoplites had been sent to besiege it. It seems that the permanent force was maintained at this number throughout the siege.
οἳ προαπῆλθον —these 1600 had been sent to blockade Potidaea from the south ( I. 64 ) soon after the revolt. They were withdrawn from Chalcidice before the place fell.
τὸν αὐτὸν μισθόν —viz. one drachma per man, or double the ordinary wage ( VI. 31 ).
τοσαῦται δή —referring still to the παραπλησίαι καὶ ἔτι πλείους (§ 1); so that the digression extends to the end of the chapter.
ὅν —see c. 17, 1.
Μήθυμναν —see c. 2, 1.
ὡς προδιδομένην —‘in the belief that it was going to be betrayed’; cf. Aristoph. Pax 408 προδίδοτον τὴν Ἑλλάδα. MT. § 32.
ἐπίκουροι —for these mercenaries see c. 2, 2.
καταστησάμενοι . . βεβαιότερα —cf. I. 118 τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐγκρατεστέραν κατεστήσαντο.
πληγέντες —in an old poetical meaning, found several times in Thuc.
ταῦτα . . κρατοῦντας . . ἱκανοὺς ὄντας —the partic. phrase in apposition to ταῦτα, as in Soph. Antig. 17
οὐδὲν οἶδ’ ὑπέρτερον | οὔτ’ εὐτυχοῦσα μᾶλλον οὔτ’ ἀτωμένη, Philoc. 1355 πῶς ταῦτ’ έξανασχήσεσθε, τοῖσιν Ἄτρεως | έμὲ ξυνόντα παισίν ;
εἴργειν —‘isolate.’
αὐτερέται
—it was unusual in Thuc.'s day for fighting men to serve as rowers: in Homeric times it was usual; cf.
Il. 2.719
ἐρέται δ’ ἐν ἑκαστῃ πεντήκοντα
ἐπεμβάσαν, τόξων εὖ εἰδότες ἶφι μάχεσθαι.
ἐγκατῳκοδόμηται —see crit. note. The verb means to build into a wall. Clearly the forts were built at the same time as the wall at the points strong by natnre. If the perf. is right, we must take it as historic, like the presents, and render ‘there are forts built in at various points,’ so that the perf. points to the condition of the wall and forts when completed. But as no parallel to such a use of the perf. is known, the plup. should probably be read (I do not think ἧ? for οἷ necessary; but these forms are often confused in MSS.).
ἀμφοτέρωθεν is explained by καὶ ἐκ γῆς καὶ ἐκ θαλάττης.
καὶ αὐτοί —bringing their own contribution into connexion with that levied from the allies.
τότε πρῶτον —probably meaning that the extraordinary war-tax was aetually levied for the first time (cf. τότε πρῶτον in I. 96 ) in 428 B.C., though the arrangements for it existed before. Some think that Thuc. means for the first time in this war. There is no evidence that the tax had ever been levied before. (About the details of the εἰσφορά before the age of Demosth. little is known, but the burden fell mainly on the rich, being ‘a progressive income-tax on property.’ The amount was fixed by the Ecclesia. Gilbert, Inn. Gesch. 129 f. gives good reasons for supposing that Cleon took the initiative in promoting the vote before the Eeclesia. See also Neil on Aristoph. Eq. 771 , 923.)
διακόσια τάλαντα —in apposition to ἐσφοράν.
ἀργυρολόγους ναῦς —to eollect an ἐσφορά—not, in this ease, arrears of tribute. The sending out of such ships is expressly attributed to Cleon in Eq. 1070. (
Λυσικλέα —this Lysicles does not belong to the family of Habronichus ( I. 91 ), but is the προβατοπώλης of obscure origin whose connexion with Aspasia brought him into prominenee; Aristoph. Eq. 132 , 765, Plutarch, Per. 24.)
πεμπτὸν αὐτόν —meaning that Lysicles had the ehief command. The large number of στρατηγοί sent is probably due to the difficulty and delicacy of the mission.
Αναιιτῶν —cf. c. 32.
ἄλλης —‘as well.’
ἔτι γάρ —about the middle of September in the previous year the Pel. had turned the siege of Plataea into a blockade They had withdrawn the greater part of their army, leaving a garrison to guard half their lines, while the other half was guarded by the Boeotians.
τῷ τε σίτῳ ἐπιλείποντι —equivalent to τῇ σιτοδείᾳ. ἐπιλιπόντι all MSS.: other aecounts are not deeisive in favour of the present.
τιμωρίας = βοηθείας, as often in Thuc. The Athenians had promised to help Plataea when the siege began, but their hands had since been full owing to the plague, the siege of Potidaea and the revolt of Lesbos. See further, Introd. p. xvi.
ἐσηγησαμένων —cf. VI. 99 οὐχ ἥκιστα Ἑρμοκράτους ἐσηγησαμένου.
ἀνδρὸς μάντεως —together.
ἐστρατήγει —the opinion of a general supported by a μάντις would carry great weight.
ἀπώκνησαν . . τὸν κίνδυνον —cf. c. 30, 4.
ἐς δὲ . . . μάλιστα —the phrase with prep. stands as subject of the verb. In Andoc. I. 37 εἰς τριακοσίους is presently repeated in the form μάλιστα τριακοσίους. For ἐς and μάλιστα often used together cf. e.g. c. 90, 3 περί and μάλιστα, Dem. XX I. 154, περί and ἴσως, Herod. III. 159 μάλιστα ἐς.
ἐνέμειναν —as in ἐμμένειν τοῖς ὅρκοις etc.
τρόπῳ τοιῳδε is added κατὰ σύνεσιν.
ξυνεμετρήσαντο —it is possible to supply τὸ τεῖχος or τὰς κλίμακας, but § 4 strongly favours the latter.
ἐξαληλιμμένον —‘whitewashed.’ The ἐξ‐ probably denotes completion: the whitewashing had not been finished at one part of the wall.
ἠριθμοῦντο . . ἀριθμοῦντες —for the rapid passage from mid. to act. ef. II. 9 ναυτικὸν παρείχοντο . . πεζὸν παρεῖχον.
ἐς ὃ ἐβούλοντο τοῦ τείχους —sc. καθορᾶν, or perhaps rather ὁρᾶν : τοῦ τείχους agrees with καθορωμένου, and ἐς ὃ έβουλοντο=‘as far as they wanted to see it,’ i.e. a sufficiently wide piece was visible. The objection to this is that ἐς ὅ for ὁσον or ἐς ὅσον does not oecur elsewhere. In Herod. ές ὅ means ‘until’ with aorist or hist. pres. or iterative imperf.; but in Thuc. V. 66 ἐς ὃ ἐμέμνηντο= so far as (of time), a use not found elsewhere; and it is possible by Gk. usage of a prep. and neuter adj. or pron., that the phrase should denote time or place: e.g. ἐξ ὀλίγου of time II. 11, of place II. 91, and so with ἐκ πολλοῦ. Two other views of this passage, not involving change of the text, must be noticed: ( a) taking τοῦ τείχους as agreeing with καθορωμἐνου ‘as the wall was completely visible to the desired point’ i e. to the foot of the wall, viewed from above; but we should expect this meaning to be expressed directly and clearly. ( b) Taking τοῦ τείχους as depending on ἐς ὅ, ‘as they easily looked down upon the part of the wall that they wished to see,’ i e. καθορωμένου ( τούτου) ἐς ὃ τοῦ τείχους ἑβούλοντο ( ὁρᾶν). This is very awkward and we should expect καθορῶντες. The alterations proposed are ( a) ὅσον for ἐς ὅ, Stahl, or ( b) to insert an infin., as ἀναβῆναι after ἐβούλοντο (Stein).
τὴν ξυμμέτρησιν . . ἔλαβον —for the periphrasis with λαβεῖν cf. e.g. Soph. Phil. 1078 φρόνησιν λαβεῖν. Presumably the height arrived at by the majority was accepted as correet.
τῆς πλίνθου —collective; so in II. 9, 4 λίθοις καὶ κεράμῳ, cf. e. 74, 1, II. 76 κάλαμος. The meaning is that, having counted the layers, they found the height of the wall by multiplication.
οἰκοδομήσει —Thue. is partial to nouns in ‐σις· ὀλόφυρσις, ξυμμέτρησις, κατάφευξις etc.
πρός —‘on the side towards,’ an idiomatic use common with localities, πρὸς τοῦ λιμένος, τοῦ ποταμοῦ and so on.
τὸ οὖν μεταξὺ τοῦτο —‘this intervening space was oceupied with buildings assigned as quarters to the sentries.’ So Stahl, who views τὸ μεταξύ as subjeet, and οἰκήματα as internal accus., as in τὸ ἐναντίον ὄνομα μετωνόμασται I. 122. Steup agrees with this rendering, but he is inelined to retain οἱ ἑκκαίδεκα πόδες and he regards οἰκήματα as pred. nom. Another view, which is to be rejected, is that τὸ μεταξὺ τοῦτο is adverbial accus., ‘in this space,’ and οἰκήματα subject of ᾠκοδόμητο: the constr. is then very strained, and the perf. partic. διανενεμημένα unnatural, implying that the quarters were distributed before they were built.
ἦν ξυνεχῆ —I agree with Steup in rendering ‘it was (all) continuous,’ without any definite subject, as in I. 8 πλωιμώτερα ἐγένετο, and cf. II. 3 ἁμάξας . . ἐς τοὺς ὁδοὺς καθίστασαν, ἵν’ ἀντὶ τείχους ᾖ, for it was not only the guards' quarters, but the two parallel walls as well that ‘looked like one thick wall.’
διὰ δέκα δὲ ἐπάλξεων —‘at an interval of ten,’ i.e. with the plur., ‘at intervals of ten,’ as in Isoer. IV. 46 αἱ πανηγύρεις διὰ πολλοῦ χρόνου συλλεγεῖσαι .
ἰσοπλατεῖς —cf. ἰσομηκής, ἰσοπαχής, ἰσοπληθής.
καὶ τὸ ἔξω —for καὶ ἐς τὸ ἔξω, cf. c. 44 περἱ τοῦ μέλλοντος μᾶλλον . . ἢ τοῦ παρόντος. The first καί, ‘and,’ is deleted by Herbst, but the predicative οἱ αὐτοί can eome in the second clause.
παρὰ πύργον —Thuc. might have written παρὰ τοὺς πύργους, but the art. is omitted and the sing used collectively as in II. 13 παρ’ ἔπαλξιν, for which we might have παρὰ τὰς ἐπάλξεις. (This is better than ‘past a tower,’ because of δῑ αὐτῶν .)
παρεσκεύαστο —impers., as often.
τηρήσαντες —cf. τηρεῖν ἄνεμον I. 65, τ. πορθμόν (‘passage’) VI. 2.
τάφρον —between the town and the τεῖχος. See Introd. p. xix.
προσέμειξαν —‘reached.’
ἀνά occurs only twice in Thuc., here and IV. 72 : with the temporal use here cf. Herod. VIII. 123 ἀνὰ τὸν πόλεμον τοῦτον. “In the local sense espeeially, but also in the temporal, ἀνά frequently occurs in Homer and Herod. The constr. is eommon in Xenophon, but seems to oceur in no other Attic prose writer” (C. F. Smith).
ψόφῳ depends on ἀντιπαταγοῦντος only, κατακουσάντων being absolute, like προϊδόντων. The gen. abs., in spite of the aceus. ( φύλακας), is eommon in Gk.
μή belongs to both partic. and verb.
αἴσθησιν παρέχοι —cf. II. 4 αἴσθησις ταχεῖα ἐπεγένετο.
τὸν ἀριστερὸν μόνον πόδα —instead of both feet, as would normally have been the case. The plain statement of Thuc. therefore is that by leaving off the right sandal the men expected to get a firmer footing in the mud. (The schol. says ὑπεδέδεντο τὸν μὲν ἕνα τῶν ποδῶν δῑ ἀσφάλειαν, τὸν δὲ ἕτερον γυμνὸν εἶχον διὰ κουφότητα, and many edd. follow this view; but this is eertainly not what Thuc. says, and it is not a question of what we might think to be the effeet of sandals or no sandals. Thuc. took it that the right foot was meant to get the firmer hold.)
προσέμισγον πρὸς τὰς ἐπάλξεις —I should prefer a comma at προσέμισγον, because πρὸς τὰς ἐπάλξεις does not go closely with the verb, but is added to make κατὰ μεταπύργιον clear. (As Steup says, the towers had no battlements, so that πρὸς τὰς ἐπάλξεις does not refer to the wall as a whole. But there is no need to alter the text with him.)
μετὰ δὲ αὐτὸν . . ἀνέβαινον —this still refers to the ψιλοὶ δώδεκα, and merely repeats the previous ἀνέβαινον with the addition of the intention of this party: on reaching the top they were to turn to left and right. The awkward repetition is due to the breaking of the thread of the previous sentence by the words καὶ πρῶτος ἀνέβη .
ἀντιλαμβανόμενος is absolute.
δοῦπον —as the rarer word this may be right, but ψόφον is an early variant.
βοή —‘an alarm.’
ἐπὶ τὸ τεῖχος —the garrison troops came out and made for their posts at the wall. See Introd. p. xviii.
ὅ τι ἦν —contrast v. 54 ῃδει δὲ οὐδεὶς ὅποι στρατεύουσιν. Goodwin, MT. § 674 3
καὶ ἅμα . . προσέβαλον —this gives another reason why they did not know ὄ τι ἦν τὸ δεινόν: hence strictly we should have καὶ ὅτι οἱ κτλ.: cf I. 110 τοῦτον δὲ διὰ μέγεθός τε τοῦ ἕλους οὐκ ἐδύναντο ἑλεῖν, καὶ ἅμα μαχιμώτατοί εἰσι τῶν Αἰγυπτίων οἱ ἕλειοι.
τῶν Πλαταιῶν —partitive gen., which Thuc., differing from other authors, often puts between an art. and partic., as I. 9 οἱ τὰ σαφέστατα Πελοποννησίων δεδεγμένοι, ib. 48 ταῖς ἄριστα τῶν νεῶν πλεούσαις, and below, c. 36, 5.
ἐκ τοὔμπαλιν ἤ —cf. τοὐναντίον ἤ, which generally shows a variant reading ᾖ. In Xen. Anab. III. 5, 13 εἰς τοὔμπαλιν ἢ πρὸς Βαβυλῶνα is probably incorrect, but the text shows the idiom.
ἐθορυβοῦντο μὲν οὖν —‘thus, remaining at their post (on the wall), they were in a state of excitement. yet not one dared to move from his own station, but they were at a loss to make out what was happening.’ ἑαυτῶν goes back to the subject of ἐθορυβοῦντο. ἑαυτῶν here is to be preferred to αὐτῶν: but in c. 91, 2 τοὺς Μηλίους οὐκ ἐθέλοντας ἐς τὸ αὐτῶν ξυμμαχικὸν ἰέναι ἐβούλοντο προσαγαγέσθαι, the pers. pron. may be right, since ipsorum, not suum may be meant.
ἐχώρουν ἔξω τοῦ τείχους —i.e. they descended from the wall on the outer side, supposing that the alarm meant that some force was approaching from Athens. In the darkness and excitement these 300 had not communicated with the men in the towers who had raised the alarm. 44 φρυκτοὶ πολέμιοι—λαμπάδες πολεμίους δηλοῦσαι schol.
ὅπως ἀσαφῆ . . ᾖ καὶ μὴ βοηθοῖεν —the timehonoured example of interchange of subj and opt after a past tense. Cf. VI. 96 ἐξέκριναν ὅπως εἴησαν φύλακες καὶ . . . παραγίγνωνται, where no difference of meaning can be detected. See M.T. § 321. Analogous is the interchange of moods in c. 113, 2.
οἱ δ’ ὑπερβαίνοντες —all who were attempting to escape, whatever they were doing, are regarded as one body; but presently they are divided into οἱ μέν, those already on the wall, and οἱ δέ, those who were still below. The result is a very ugly sentence. 4. ἑκατέρου—see c. 22, 3.
τάς τε διόδους —Steup, following Poppo, renders ‘and,’ making the parenthesis extend from ὠς to ἐπιβοηθεῖν, because, if τε is regarded as correlative to καί, the sense of τάς τε διόδους . . ἐπιβοηθεῖν is absurdly repeated in κάτωθεν (i.e. ἀπὸ τῶν διόδων) εἶργον. It will be noticed that, if ἐφύλασσον μηδένα δῑ αὐτῶν ἐπιβοηθεῖν were absent, the sentence would be perfectly iegular in outline: οἱ δ’ ὑπερβαίνοντες τάς τε διόδους ἐνστάντες καὶ κλίμακας προσθέντες, οἱ μὲν καὶ κάτωθεν (i.e. ἀπὸ τῶν διόδων) καὶ ἄνωθεν (i.e. ἀπ’ ἄκρων τῶν πύργων ) εἶργον κτλ. I think that this is a sign, not that the interrupting words are spurious— they are quite in Thuc.'s manner—but that Thuc. wrote them without working out the sentence to its end, as if after πλείους he had intended to continue, not with οἱ μέν, but in the form ἀπὸ τῶν πύργων τοὺς ἐπιβοηθοῦντας ἄνωθεν εἶργον βάλλοντες: on reaching πλείους, he shifted his plan and as the general subject was to be kept up, bifurcated the sentenee with οἱ μὲν . . οἱ δέ, instead of making a separate sentence of the οἰ δέ clause. This view of the matter is confirmed by the ugly repetition of κλίμακας προσθέντες and πλείους in different senses.
δῑ αὐτῶν —coming from the other πύργοι through the passages to the μεταπύργιον over which the P. were escaping.
πλείους —as in c. 22, 4 init.
οἱ μέν includes those in the δίοδοι and those on the top of the πύργοι.
κάτωθεν καὶ ἄνωθεν —with εἶργον.
οἱ δ’ —those who were at the foot of the wall.
αἰεί —as Kruger says, this belongs to the partic, and the verb alike.
τῆς τάφρου —for this outer trench see c. 24, 2.
παρὰ τὸ τεῖχος —‘by the wall,’ on the outside.
κωλυτὴς γίγνοιτο —a favourite periphrasis with Thuc., especially with nouns in ‐της; examples occur in ec. 2, 40, 58, 59; with διδάσκαλος c. 42 ; with ἡγεμών c. 105.
πάντες —meaning οἱ πλείους of § 1.
οἱ τελευταῖοι —best taken by itself, between commas, i.e. ‘as they were the last,’ like οἱ δ’ . . οἱ πλείους above. But Steup makes οἱ τελευταῖοι partitive apposition to οἱ . . πύργων and joins χαλεπῶς οἱ τελευταῖοι κ. The men on the towers waited till the rest were safely across.
τὰ γυμνά —the unprotected side.
βιαίως —like βιαιότερον ἀναγαγόμενοι II. 33, ‘hard pressed.’
οἷος ἀπηλιώτου —sc. ὄντος, as in Soph. OC. 83 ὡς ἐμοῦ μόνης πέλας, se. οὔσης. It is very rarely that the partic. is omitted in gen. abs where the noun does not itself suggest a partie. as in Soph. OT. 966 ὧν ὑφηγητῶν, sc. ὄντων: but the omission is softened in this case by the analogy of the gen. of time, as in νυκτός .
ἢ βορέου —perhaps a marginal note, intended to fill up the sense of μᾶλλον. (It has been suggested (1) that βορέου should be ehanged to εὔρου, or (2) that μᾶλλον should be transposed before ἤ.) But possibly two propositions are eompressed into one; and the full sense is ‘as it is when the wind is east: it is, in fact, more watery then than when the wind is north.’ (So Chambry, Rév. de phil. '97.)
ὑπονειφομένη —ef. Herod II. 13 ὕεται ἡ χώρη, Xen. Hell. II. 4, 13 νειφόμενοι ἀπῆλθον: for ὑ. is properly ‘being thinly besnowed.’
ἐγένετο . . ἡ διάφευξις —cf. VII. 41 τὴν κατάφευξιν ἐποιοῦντο ‘were seeking refuge.’ The idea of success is contained in δια‐. (I eannot agree with Classen that ἐγένετο here means ‘proved suceessful’: that sense is confined in Attic to old phrases like ἐγένετο τὰ ἱερά, cf. ἐ. τὰ διαβατήρια V. 55. In VI. 74 and VIII. 57 γίγνεσθαι=merely ‘take place.’ καὶ ἡ διάφευξις=‘the means of suecessful escape too (as well as the difficult crossing)’ was mainly owed to (i.e. more than to any other cause: meaning that it was a narrow thing).
διὰ τοῦ χειμῶνος τὸ μ. —the order as in Herod.; cf. e.g. I. 32 μετὰ τῆς ξυμμαχίας τῆς αἰτήσεως.
τὸ τοῦ Ἀνδροκράτους ἡρῷον —shrine of a Plataean ‘hero,’ a well-known landmark on the road, evidently in Plataean territory and not far from the Asopus. Introd. p. xix.
ἥκιστ’ <ἄν> —after such words as μάλιστα the accidental omission of ἄν is so frequent in some MSS. where the error is obvious that it seems unlikely that νομίζω σε ποιῆσαι can= ‘I think you may do it.’ Cf. Xen. Oec. 11, 14 ἡνίκα for ἡνίκ’ ἄν, 18, 1 πότερα for πότερ’ ἄν, Mem. IV. 3, 8 μάλιστα for μάλιστ’ ἄν, in whieh instances the verb, being in opt., betrays the error. In our passage if ἥκιστα is read, we should render ‘thinking that the enemy had not formed a suspicion.’
σφᾶς —subjeet of τραπέσθαι.
πρὸς Κιθαιρῶνα καὶ Δρυὸς κεφαλάς —i.e. making for the pass of the Oak's Heads from which they would descend to Attica. For the roads see Introd. p. xix.
τὴν πρὸς τὸ ὄρος —they turned SE. and crossed Cithaeron at a point E. of the road taken by the enemy. It is not meant that they actually touched— Ὑσιάς τ’ Ἐρυθράς θ’ αἳ Κιθαιρῶνος λέπας νέρθεν κατῳκήκασιν. (Eur. Bacchae, 751.)
πλειόνων —c. 20, 2.
κατὰ χώραν ἐγένοντο —‘went to their station.’ κατὰ χώραν usually with μένειν ( certa sede manet); with ἐᾶν Demosth. XX VII. 60. For γενέσθαι κατά ef. καθ’ ἓν γ. ‘to concentrate’; τὴν χάλαζαν εὐχόμενοι μὴ καθ’ ἑαυτοὺς γ. Demosth. IX. 33.
ἐσπένδοντο — σπονδὰς ἐζήτουν ποιεῖσθαι schol. With the internal accus. ἀναίρεσιν cf. c. 109 ἀναχωρησιν ἐσπείσαντο ἄπασι.
πλεύσας ἐς Πύρραν καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς πεζῇ —two stages in the scheme by which διαλαθὼν ἐσέρχεται: and so πεζῇ ‘by land’ is co-ordinated with πλεύσας, and is equivalent to πεζῇ ἐλθών.
ῃ ὑπερβατὸν ἦν —edd. do not agree whether this means (1) that the ‘torrent-bed’ interrupted the Athenian wall, or (2) that the wall, though unbroken, was lower at this point. ὑπερβατόν hardly admits of (1). A third suggestion (3) is that ὑποβατόν should be read, meaning that Salaethus crawled under the wall through an outlet. As for (2), if we eompare c. 18, 4-6, it seems strange that the A. should have been so simple as to leave the wall low at the χαράδρα: but Thuc. has omitted some detail that would have made things clear—as he is apt to do. See Introd. p. XV.
προέδροις — τοῖς ἄρχουσι schol. For the
νῆες see c. 16.
προαποπεμφθῆναί τε —cf. I. 87 εἶπον ὅτι . . δοκοῖεν . ., βούλεσθαι δὲ . .
τούτων ἕνεκα . . ἐπιμελησόμενος —cf. I. 80 ἐμπειρίᾳ . . νομίσαντα.
πρὸς τοὺς Ἀθηναίους —from passages like V. 44 πρὸς τοὺς Ἀ. μᾶλλον εἶχον τὴν γνώμην it is clear that ὥστε ξυμβαίνειν does not govern these words, but is an epexegesis.
δύο καί can hardly be right, as the number is repeatedly given as 40, e.g. cc. 25 and 29, and the suggestion that the two Lesbian triremes (cc. 4 and 5) are here ineluded is not probable. Rather than suppose that a eommentator wrongly added in the two Peloponnesian ships mentioned in cc. 5, 4 and 25, 1, I prefer to think we have a confusion as the outcome of mistaking μ’ (40) for β’ (2).
ἄρχοντα . . προστάξαντες is a phrase in Thuc. for appointment to a special command, and even the order is exactly as in VII. 19 : so ἄρχοντα for ἔχοντα is a certain correction.
ναύαρχος means that he held the annual office of high admiral.
ἀμφοτέρωθεν —through the dispatch of the ships and the invasion.
ταῖς ναυσὶν . . καταπλεούσαις —the transl. ‘send out a fleet against the ships sailing to M.’ is impossible, because (1) the partic. cannot be attributive unless ναυσίν is placed after Μυτιλήνην, and (2) ἐπιβοηθεῖν+dat.=‘hasten to help.’ Hence either we must alter the text—Steup brackets καταπλεούσαις —or, better, render ‘when they were sailing.’ So Stahl refers ταῖς ν. καταπλεούσαις to the Athenians and renders ‘sail with their ships to M. and come to help,’ as if we had καταπλέοντες.
νεωτέρου ‘too young.’ The
δέ after πατρός is not justified by the constr., since no description of Cleomenes has preceded; hence Krüger suggests that ἐπίτροπος has fallen out after ἔτι. There may, however, be a slight anacoluthon.
[καὶ]—εἴ τι ἐ. is clearly added as an explanation to τὰ . . τετμημένα.
μετὰ τὴν δευτέραν —i.e. that of 430 B.C., see last n. on c. 1. The present invasion is the fourth.
ἐπιμένοντες —equivalent to προσδοκῶντες, hence fut. infin.: the aor. inf. in c. 2 expresses result, not expectation; cf. Soph. Trach. 1176 μὴ ἐπιμεῖναι τοὐμὸν ὀξῦναι στόμα.
ἐπεξῆλθον with τέμνοντες, ‘pressed forward with,’ not ‘over-ran.’
ὁπλίζει —to make hoplites of them, the defensive armour, shield and breastplate, had to be distributed.
κατὰ ξυλλόγους γ. —these meetings were, of course, informal.
οἱ ἐν τοῖς π. — οἱ τὰ τῆς πόλεως πράττοντες.
ἀποκωλύειν —the MSS. give fut., but the infin. after δύναμαι and its equivalents is prolate.
Ἀθηναίοις μέν —the conditions are stated in the loose form frequently found in treaties, etc.: (1) two points in favour of the A. are connected; (2) some supply ἐξεῖναι to άποστέλλειν, but it is better to make the latter depend directly on ὥστε; (3) δῆσαι, ete. also depend on ὥστε.
ἐν ὅσῳ = μέχρι οὗ, cf. e. 52, 3. It is a similar constr. to that in Tityre, dum redeo. Classen saw a combination of (1) ἐν ὅσῳ ἂν ἀπῶσι and (2) ἕως ἂν πάλιν ἔλθωσι.
ὅμως —in spite of the guarantee; cf. c. 49, 1 n. (Vollgraff brackets as a dittography from βωμούς.) καθίζειν ἐπὶ βωμόν, άναστήσας (= ἀναστῆναι πείσας), and κατατίθεσθαι ἐς are technical in this connexion. With ἀναστήσας ὤστε μὴ ἀδικῆσαι cf. ἀναστήσαντες ἐφ’ ᾦ μηδὲν κακὸν ποιήσουσιν I. 126.
μέχρι οὗ without ἄν, as in Herod. ( μέχρι οὗ is not nsed in verse). M.T. § 620.
προσεκτήσατο —the common object, as usual, accommodated to the partic., πέμψας .
ἐνδιέτριψαν —Steup thinks that we should read ἐνδιατρίψαντες or remove, mainly because τοὺς μὲν . . ἑάλωκεν gives the result of the slowness in both parts of the voyage; more prob. Thuc. would have written ἐκομίσθησαν below, but altered the form of the sentence at that point to add the result of κομισθέντες in λανθάνουσι τοὑς Ἀθηναίους—for the ships could not have been detected by the Athenians ἐκ τῆς πόλεως so long as they were on the Peloponnesian eoast (there was no Athenian fleet out there now).
τοὺς μὲν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως Ἀ. —those remaining at home in contrast with those at Lesbos. (The attempt to fix upon any definite fleet seems to be a mistake. Ships in port may, of course, be meant.)
πρὶν δὴ τῇ Δήλῳ ἔσχον —though no actual neg. precedes, the whole effect is neg.; cf. c. 104, and M.T. § 635. With the dat. constr., whieh is poetical, for ἐς or κατά, cf. c. 5 αὐτοῖς . . ἀφικνεῖται, (which is nearer to the dat. of interest), and c. 33, 4. After leaving Delos they had no fear of A. ships.
Ἰκάρῳ καὶ Μυκόνῳ —the goal ultimately reached is mentioned first, as not uncommonly.
ἡμέραι δὲ . . ἑαλωκυίᾳ —lit. ‘M. now reekoned seven days’; cf. I. 13, 4, Herod. II. 145 Ἡρακλέϊ ὅσα φασὶ ἐ=ναι ἔτεα ἐς Ἄμασιν, Xen. Hell. II. 1, 27 ἡμέρα ἦν πέμπτη ἐπιπλέουσι τοῖς Αθηναίοις. The insertion of μάλιστα even with small numbers is a mannerism of Thuc.
ἐκ τῶν παρόντων —‘under the circumstances.’
ὥσπερ ἔχομεν —‘as we are,’ without change of plan, here implying ‘at once,’ but not always so: the meaning implied depends on the context.
ἀνδρῶν depends on τὸ ἀφύλακτον, equivalent to τῶν; the gen. with neut. adj. or partic. as noun is a common constr. with Thuc.
καὶ πάνυ —‘most certainly,’ ‘undoubtedly,’ as in II. 11 καὶ πἀνυ ἐλπίζειν: here in contrast with είκὸς δέ . .
καὶ ἡμῶν ἡ ἀλκὴ τ. μάλιστα οὖσα —the version ‘where our strength chiefly lies’ is open to the objections (1) that the fleet was not stronger thau the Athenian fleet at Lesbos; that could not for a moment be maintained after Phormio's exploits; and (2) that the strength of the Pel. fleet, being unknown to A., could be no reason why there should be πολὺ τὸ ἀφύλακτον on the part of the enemy. Another rendering is ‘where defence happens to be in the main our rôle,’ but I cannot find that ἀλκή is ever used for ‘the defensive’ in opposition to ‘attack’; it means, on the contrary, ‘defence or resistance’ in opposition to ‘flight or submission’—something positive, not negative. In spite of the objections, the first rendering is prob. right; the reasoning that Thuc. puts into the mouth of speakers is not always exact: the strength of the Pel. is not intended to be compared with that of the A., and should have been referred to iu an independent sentence, but the love of antithesis has led to the connexion of ἐκεῖνοί τε . . καὶ ἡμῶν. τυγχἀνει οὖσα marks the circumstance as unusual, and the real comparison is between the military aud naval strength of Alcidas.
ὡς —‘conscious that.’
τὸ καινὸν τοῦ πολέμου lit. ‘the strangeness of war is just this sort of thing’; i.e. the carelessness of the victor with the corollary of a sudden and wholly unexpected attack. In φυλάσσοιτο and ἐνορῶν only the carelessness of the victor is kept in view, but that the corollary is included in τὸ τοιοῦτον is proved (1) by the vague inclusive pron. in place of τοῦτο, (2) by τὸ καινόν, which could not mean τὸ ἀφύλακτον merely, but must include τὸ ἀπροσδόκητον. (Steup conjectures τὸ κοινόν, ‘where war shows itself notoriously impartial’: this makes the sentence easier to understand, but I do not think καινόν impossible Many edd. see in τὸ καινόν a reference only to sudden attack— τὸ προσπεσεῖν ἄφνω. I do not understand how καὶ τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐνορῶν can be explained on this view. τὸ κενόν, ‘the vanity,’ is as tolerable as τὸ καινόν in itself, but is more likely to be a mistake for τὸ καινόν than vice versa.)
ὅ —governed by φυλάσσοιτο and ἐνορῶν, or perhaps—in strictness— αὐτό is supplied from it to ἐνορῶν, for the position of τε does not make this impossible.
οἱ Λέσβιοι —for these see cc. 4, 4, 5, 4.
ἐλπίδα δ’ εῖναι —sc. ἀποστῆσαι.
ἀκουσίως —i.e. ‘no one was unwilling to see them come,’ the adverb applying to οὐδενί, not to the subject of ἀφῖχθαι: cf. Soph. Antig. 70 ἐμοῦ γ’ ἂν ἡδέως (sc. ἐμοὶ) δρῴης μέτα.
καὶ τὴν πρόσοδον . . ὑφέλωσι —parallel to ἀποστήσωσιν, ‘(that) they might gradually draw away this which was the main source of A. revenue.’ Not ‘ one of the chief sources’; and the position of ταύτην renders a second τήν unnecessary. The φόρος from the Carian and Ionian cities is meant; they had been grouped together and treated as one since 436 B.C., and the lists in CIA. vol. i. show that this combined φόρος was the largest item in the Athenian πρόσοδοι. ( ἢν before ὑφέλωσι can scarcely be right: the loss of the φόρος would be the necessary outcome of the revolt of Ionia, and could hardly be stated as an independent condition of what follows, however that be understood.)
καὶ ἄμα . . . δαπάνη γίγνηται —‘and at the same time, in case the Athenians should blockade them (in the Ionian port), the Athenians might be put to expense.’ (A majority of MSS. gives ἢν ἐφορμῶσιν αὐτοῖς—or αὐτοὺς—δαπάνη σφίσι γίγνηται, i.e. ‘if the Peloponnesians should blockade the Athenians, they (the Pel.) might have a fund to draw on, viz. the φόρος.’ The objections to this are, as I think, ( a) ἢν ἐφορμῶσιν αὐτοῖς is too vague: surely the Lesbians and Ionians cannot be thinking here of a blockade of the Attic coast—c. 15, 1 —and an undertaking of such magnitude—see c. 16, 1— could not possibly be suggested in this casual way—and the alternative explanation, that the proposal is that Alcidas shall ‘maintain a squadron of observation in Ionian waters,’ with a victorious Athenian fleet of equal numbers at Mytilene—cf. especially c. 33, 1—is out of the question. ( b) It is true that δαπάνη can mean ‘money for spending,’ where the context makes the drift clear, but it is hardly possible that δαπάνη τινὶ γίγνεται can mean anything but δαπανᾶται ὑπό τινος, according to the idiom; and there is force in Kruger's remark that the previous sentence here decidedly suggests the idea of ‘loss.’)
Πισσούθνην —Ionia and Caria were included in his satrapy. As Persia claimed and did not receive tribute from the Greek cities, it was by no means unlikely that the satrap might be induced to aid the enemies of Athens.
τὸ πλεῖστον τῆς γνώμης εἶχε —‘strongly inclined to,’ ‘regarded it as decidedly best,’ like the Herodotean πλεῖστος γνώμην εἰμί.
Μυτιλήνης ὑστερήκει —‘too late for’ means here ‘too late to help,’ as in Xen. Ages 2, 1 ὡς ὑστερήσειε τῆς πατρίδος.
παρέπλει —down the coast of Ionia.
ἐς τὴν Ἔφεσον —though part of the Athenian empire, E. could not hinder the fleet from entering the harbour.
Σαμίων —the Samian exiled oligarchs living on the coast opposite Samos; cf. c. 19.
οὐ καλῶς τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἐλευθεροῦν —that she was the Liberator of Greece was the claim of Sparta in the war, her ἀξίωσις τῆς ἀρετῆς ( I. 69 ). The most striking comment on this claim comes in Xen. Hel, III. 5, 13, in the speech of a Theban at Athens thirty years after this time: οὓς ὑμῶν ἀπέστησαν φανεροί εἰσιν έξηπατηκότες· ἀντὶ γὰρ ἐλευθερίας διπλῆν αὐτοῖς δουλείαν παρεσχήκασιν.
εἰ διέφθειρεν —(1) εἰ in the sense of ὅτι or ἐπεί, (2) for διέφθειρεν, where we expect διαφθείρει, see M. T. § 691.
χεῖρας ἀνταιρομένους —so Herod, VII. 209, Xen. Cyr. V. 4, 26 ἐἀν τις ὅπλα ἀνταίρηταί σοι.
ὁρῶντες γάρ —showing how it came that Alcidas had so many prisoners. The connexion is a little loose.
μὴ . . παραβαλεῖν —the inf. appears to be fut,; the μή is produced by the preceding neg. and might have been omitted; the constr. is unusual. παραβάλλω intrans., as with δια‐, ἐς‐, etc.
ὤφθη —pluperf. in sense; he must have touched at Clarus while sailing from Embaton to Ephesus.
Σαλαμινίας καὶ Παράλου —for the two state triremes see a dict. of antiquities.
τῆς Ἐρυθραίας —see c. 29.
καὶ ὥς —although, by the defenceless condition of Ionia, it was easy to stay.
ἅμα with reference to παραπλέοντες.
αὐτάγγελοι δέ —it is better, with Classen, to regard ἀτειχίστου . . πόλεις as a parenthesis, and this sentence as a direct continuation from καὶ πανταχόθεν.
οὐκέτι ἐν καταλήψει ἐφαίνετο —sc. ὁ Ἀλκίδας, ‘was clearly no longer to be caught’; cf. VI. 60 ὡς οὐκ ἐν παύλῃ ἐφαίνετο ( τὸ πρᾶγμα). (I do not venture to disturb this traditional explanation; but I think it possible that Paches is the subject of ἐφαίνετο, and that ἐν κ. ἐ. means ‘was clearly likely to catch him’; cf. c. 15 ἐν καρποῦ ξυγκομιδῇ ἦσαν.)
μετεώροις —sc. ταῖς Ἀλκίδου ναυσίν.
οὐδαμοῦ ἐγκαταληφθεῖσαι . . παρασχεῖν —‘they were not caught any where and (so) compelled to entrench themselves and to cause the Athenians the trouble of guarding and blockading them.’ For παρέχειν with words denoting trouble cf. VII. 70 ἔκπληξίν τε καὶ ἀποστέρησιν τῆς ἀκοῆς παρέχειν, and πράγματα π.
πάλιν —‘back,’ see ἐπανεχώρει, ‘turned back,’ above.
κατῴκηντο —cf. I. 120 ἐν πόρῳ κατῳκημένους. Thuc. uses the mid. forms only in the perf. and pluperf.; so Herod. Notium was the port of Colophon. Aristotle tells us that Colophon and Notium were not well suited to form a single state: hence στάσις. It was an exaggerated case, he says, of Athens and the Piraeus; and the Piraeus is more democratic than the city. Now Colophon had been under an oligarchy of the rich; and at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, this oligarchy, it appears, wanted to get the city out of the hands of Athens, and invited in the ‘barbarians,’ favouring, apparently, reunion with Persia. The majority migrated to Notium, but a fresh στάσις broke out, and one party got help from the satrap Pissuthnes and was joined by the oligarchs from Colophon. The expelled democrats now sought aid from Paches. (We do not know who Itamanes was.) κατὰ στάσιν ἰδίαν—ἰδίαν cannot mean ‘intestine,’ and ἰδίᾳ, ‘by one of the parties,’ is very probable; cf. c. 2 It is possible, however, that ἰδίαν means ‘confined to Colophon,’ not extending to Notium
μάλιστα —‘about.’ The date is 430 B.C.
οἱ μὲν . . οἱ δέ —partitive apposition.
ἐπικούρους Ἀρκάδων —i.e. Arcadian μισθοφόροι. They served as mercenaries already in the Persian wars, and are familiar as such in the expedition of the Ten Thousand. The mercenaries must have been in the service of Pissuthnes.
ἐν διατειχίσματι —a place divided by a wall from the rest of the town. διατειχίζειν is ‘to separate by a wall.’ With the force from Pissuthnes came also the pro-Persian party from Colophon, which was now part of the citizen body cf Notium.
ὑπεξελθόντες τούτους —for the accus. Kiuger quotes Eurip. frag. Alcmene ὅμως ἀγῶνα τόνδε δεῖ μ’ ὑπεκδραμεῖν.
ὁ μέν after προκαλεσάμενος involves an anacoluthon, like that of Il. VI. 509 ὁ δ’ ἀγλαίηφι πεποιθὼς | ῥίμφα ἐ γοῦνα φέρει; but it is not usual in Homer. Here we have a sing. nom. followed by two contrasted subjects. For the opposite form, a plur. nom. followed by only one subject, cf. Il. III. 211 ἄμφω δ’ ἑζομένω γεραρώτερος ἦεν Ὀδυσσεύς.
προσδεχομένων —the subst. to be supplied, as in I. 3 ἐπαγομένων αὐτούς, II. 52 ἐναποθνῃσκόντων (sc. ἀνθρώπων). Cf. c. 55, 1.
οἰκιστάς —the ‘oecists’ or ‘founders’ settled the government and started the new colony, as was usual. Cf. VI. 5 οἰκιστὴς γενόμενος κατῴκισε Καμάριναν.
τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς —the dat. of accompaniment, frequent with words like στρατός and ναῦς.
παρεχόμενον —‘propose,’ ‘put forward.’
γνώμας ἐποιοῦντο —‘offered various opinions’ or ‘made proposals,’ in the Assembly, of course.
ἐπικαλοῦντες —anacoluthon, as though a personal constr. had preceded. Cf. II. 53 θεῶν φόβος οὐδεὶς ἀπεῖργε, τὸ μὲν κρίνοντες , VI. 24 ἔρως ένέπεσε . . εὐελπίδες ὄντες, Eur. Hec. 971 αἰδώς μ’ ἔχει . . τυγχάνουσα.
τήν τε ἄλλην . . καὶ προσξυνελάβοντο —(1) they reproached them with revolting under specially grave circumstances, οὐκ ἀρχόμενοι; (2) their rage was largely due to the appearance of a Pel. fleet on the Ionian coast. As the sentence stands it is illogical, since τήν τε ἄλλην should be followed by something like καὶ ὅτι τὰς ναῦς ἐπηγἀγοντο. (As to Classen's insertion of καί after ἀπόστασιν—on whieh there has been some subtle argument—we may regard it as possible, but scarcely necessary.) For the change from partic. to finite verb cf. V. 61 βουλόμενοι ἄλλως τε . . καὶ ὅμηροι ἦσαν. It is frequent in Herod.
προσξυνελάβοντο —for this reading ef. IV. 47 ξυνελάβοντο τοῦ τοιούτου οὐχ ἥκιστα οἱ στρατηγοὶ κατἀδηλοι ὄντες. The emphasis is, of course, on the partic. ( τολμήσασαι), as often.
οὐκ ἐλάχιστον is adverbial. The other reading, προσξυνεβάλετο, ‘contributed,’ τὸ ἐ. (sc. μέρος) τῆς ὁρμῆς being object,—cf. Ath. Pol. 19 συνεβάλλετο οὐκ έλάττω μοῖραν τῆς ὁρμῆς—is defended by IV. 25 αἴτιον δὲ ἦν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι προειπόντες and VIII. 9 αἴτιον δὲ ἐγἐνετο . . οὶ πολλοὶ οὐκ εἰδότες, but the present instance goes further.
οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ βραχείας διανοίας —‘it was no small design, they thought, that had led them to revolt,’ viz. the design of bringing about a revolt of Ionia with the aid of the Pel. fleet.
ἄγγελον —pred. to τριήρη.
ὠμὸν . . αἰτίους —in the tragic style, and unusually rhythmical for Thuc. ( πέφευγε τὸ εἶδος, says Hermogenes): the sentence breaks into two corresponding halves after πόλιν, μέγα being elided and ἢ οὐ, of course, counting as one long. μᾶλλον ἢ οὐ—ἤ implies a negative, and any sentence implying a neg. is apt to be strengthened by an expressed neg. ( M.T. § 815): cf. II. 62 οὐδ’ εἰκὸς χαλεπῶς φέρειν μᾶλλον ἢ οὐ . . ὀλιγωρῆσαι.
πρέσβεις —c. 28.
τῶν Ἀθηναίων —the order as in c. 22, 5.
παρεσκεύασαν — ‘got them to.’
οἱ ἐν τέλει are the ‘government,’ i.e., presumably, the Strategi, who, in time of war, could have a special meeting of the Ecclesia summoned.
αὖθις γνώμας προθεῖναι —‘allow a fresh debate’: to re-open a matter that had been settled in a recent meeting of the Ecclesia seems to have rendered the person responsible to impeachment; but the Ecclesia, as the sovereign power, could by a majority of course do anything, provided that the Prytanies and the president of the meeting consented to submit a proposal for discussion. (The evidence on the point is doubtful; but the account here given reconciles the various passages that bear on it.)
ἔνδηλον ἦν —the personal constr., esp. common with δῆλος.
τινας —‘persons’: after τοὺς ἐν τέλει we should expect αὐτούς; but the speakers, rather than the officials, are referred to A special Assembly ( σύγκλητος ἐκκλησία) was summoned for the purpose. (G. Gilbert, B. zur innern Geschichte Athens, 142, assigns the debates on Mytilene to the end of the official year 428-7. It is probable that Cleon was in that year Strategus, having replaced Lysicles the προβατοπώλης, who had been killed in Caria in the winter. Busolt, however, places the debates in the first prytany of the following year, 427-6, wheu Cleon and those like him were replaced in the strategia by Nicias and Laches, men strongly opposed to Cleon. In either case, it is obvious that party-feeling must have run very high just at this time.
τὴν προτέραν —sc. γνώμην, ‘proposal,’ from γνῶμαι above:
νικᾶν is ‘to carry,’ as in νικᾷ ἕτερον ψήφισμα Φιλοκρἀτης, Aeschin, III. 63. (I do not think that the sense of γνώμη shifts here from ‘views’ to ‘decree,’ and that consequently τῇ προτέρᾳ ‘on the previous day’ should be read.)
βιαιότατος —this is the first time that Thuc. mentions Cleon, though he had been rising for some time. The views of him expressed by ancient authors, whether as politician or as orator, are almost uniformly unfavourable. As regards Thuc.'s opinion of him, and the following speech, see Introd. p. xxxvii.
δημοκρατίαν —object of ἔγνων, but in sense subj. of ἄρχειν. ἀδύνατον, ‘incapable of,’ the neut. as in Homer's οὐκ ἀγαθὸν πολυκοιρανίη.
ἐν —of the cause.
ἀδεὲς καὶ ἀνεπιβούλευτον give the same thing from two sides: you neither fear your neighbour nor cause him to fear you.
ὅ τι ἂν . . ἁμάρτητε ἢ . . ἐνδῶτε —we know too little of the working of the Athenian empire to specify acts of clemency on the part of Athens. From what we do know we should say that Athens was severe enough; but we must remember that the standard of the times was very different from ours: any right that Athens did not take from her allies she regarded as a privilege granted to them.
οἴκτῳ is parallel to λόγῳ πεισθέντες; supply αὐτοῖς to ἐνδῶτε.
ἐπικινδύνως . . ἐς ὑμᾶς —the emphasis is on this: hence the disloeation of the order. Tr. ‘you think that such weakness does not . . bring danger to you.’
οὐκ ἐς τὴν . . χάριν —‘without gaining the gratitude’; they take a concession as a sign of weakness.
τυραννίδα ἔχετε τὴν ἀρχήν —repeating words attributed to Pericles at II. 63.
καὶ πρὸς . . ἀρχομένους —paralleI to τυραννίδα, the constr. with πρός (after ἀρχή) like φιλία or πόλεμος πρός.
οἵ —very weakly supported by MS. evidence. There is a similar case at IV. 10, where the MSS. give τὸ δυσέμβατον ἡμέτερον νομίζω· μενόντων μὲν ἡμῶν ξύμμαχον γίγνεται, but Dionysius quotes the passage with ὃ μενόντων etc. Without the rel., we must assume an epexegesis of ἄκοντας ἀρχομένους with asyndeton.
ἐξ ὧν . . περιγένησθε —for ἐξ ἐκείνων ἄ, internal accus. to π., ‘as a consequence of the superiority you have established over them by strength (hinting at the successive reductions to the status of tributary subjects) and not by their willing obedience.’
εὔνοια as Arist. Eth. IX. 5, 3 says, δῑ ἀρετὴν καὶ ἐπιείκειάν τινα γίνεται, ὅταν τῳ φανῇ καλός τις ἢ ἀνδρεῖος.
ὧν ἂν δόξῃ πέρι —for περὶ ἐκείνων ἃ ἃν δόξῃ, ‘as regards measures that we have passed.’ Thus the neut. nom. ἅ is here attracted as in VII. 67 βλάπτεσθαι ἀφ’ ὧν ἡμῖν παρεσκεύασται. In ( ἃ) ἂν δόξῃ the allusion is to ψηφίσματα passed in the Ecclesia.
χείροσι νόμοις . . ἀκύροις —it has been thought that there is an allusion here to definite νόμοι that forbade a psephism to be reconsidered, perhaps within some fixed period (cf. n. on c. 36, 5); but the reference seems more general. (The objection that Cleon would, if there were such an allnsion, definitely threaten a γραφὴ παρανόμων has not much force, for (1) Thuc. does not deal in the technicalities of Attic legal procedure, which were not of sufficiently ‘universal’ interest for him, with his view of history; and (2) in VI. 14 sqq., where Nicias alludes to some rules about the re-discussion of a psephism, Alcibiades, in his rejoinder, makes no capital out of the rules at all—does not even allude to the point.) Arnold thought that the psephism under revision is itself meant under νόμοι, and that the confusion is meant to be intentional on Cleon's part. It is best, I think, to consider the passage intentionally vague and rhetorical: revision of psephisms leads easily to revision of laws in a democracy. This general application is borne out by ἀμαθία τε κτλ., which would be an odd addition to a clause containing a precise reference.
κρείσσων ἐστίν —the personal constr.: ‘it is better for a state to have.’ (This explanation is strongly supported by ὠφελιμώτερον (sc. πόλει) and ἄμεινον οἰκοῦσι τὰς πόλεις. Classen says ‘is stronger’; but the point is what is good for a state, not what a state can do.)
ἀμαθία μετὰ σωφροσύνης —‘ignorance when combined with self-restraint,’ no doubt a hit at the πεπαιδευμένοι, and the sentiment so outrageous to an educated Athenian, that we must assume that it was really uttered by Cleon in substance. For the evil results of ἀμαθία note the following passage (Euripides, frag.): γνώμαις γὰρ ἀνδρὸς εὖ μὲν οἰκοῦνται πόλεις εὖ δ’ οἶκος, εἴς τ’ αὖ πόλεμον ἰσχύει μέγα· σοφὸν γὰρ ἓν βούλευμα τὰς πολλὰς χέρας νικᾷ σὺν ὄχλῳ δ’ ἀμαθία πλεῖστον κακόν. σωφροσύνη and ἀκολασία are often contrasted in the language of popular philosophy: εὑρήσετε τὴν μὲν ἀκολασίαν . . τῶν κακῶν αἰτίαν γιγνομένην, τὴν δὲ σωφροσύνην τῶν ἀγαθῶν, Isocr. de pace § 119. In οἵ τε φαυλότεροι κτλ. we meet a sentiment that is frequent in Euripides.
πρός —‘as compared with.’
τῶν τε νόμων σοφώτεροι —hence they despise the laws: a reference back to μηδὲ γνωσόμεθα etc.
τῶν τε αἰεὶ . . περιγίγνεσθαι —the τε . . τε puts the contempt for laws and the opposition to all counsel on the same footing as joint parts of their conduct. περιγίγνεσθαι, ‘to get the better’ of it, by opposing it.
ὡς ἐν ἄλλοις μείζοσιν . . γνώμην —‘as though they could not find any greater subject on which to display their talent’; the subject in debate is just the one, they think, on which they are qualified to give an opinion. (Cf. VII. 64 οὐκ ἂν ἐν ἄλλῳ μᾶλλον καιρῷ ἀποδειξἀμενος .)
ἀδυνατώτεροι δὲ . . λόγον —in form exactly parallel to the preceding clause; but τοῦ καλῶς εἰπόντος is certainly possessive gen. to λόγον, together with which it refers to τῶν αἰεὶ λεγομένων ἐς τὸ κοινόν above. To ἀδυνατώτεροι supply ἢ οἱ ξυνετώτεροι.
ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου —‘fair,’ free from personal bias, cf. c. 42; more often ‘on equal terms.’ For ἀγωνιστής as a ‘rhetorical prize-fighter,’ Bloomfield cites several exx. 34
ὀρθοῦνται —‘have a prosperous course’; cf. particularly II. 60 πόλιν ὀρθουμένην )( σφαλλομένην. Here ὀρθοῦνται τὰ πλείω corresponds to πολλὰ σφάλλουσι τὰς πόλεις above. There is an exactly similar passage in Soph. Antig. 673 -6. (The rendering ‘judge rightly’ is certainly wrong.)
ὥς —for οὕτως, usually only with καί, οὐδέ, μηδέ, in prose.
παρὰ δόξαν —‘contrary to our opinion,’ not, as in the other cases in Thuc., ‘unexpectedly.’ (The conjecture παρὰ τὸ δόξαν, ‘contrary to what has been decided,’ is plausible; but I agree with Bloomfield that this is not really in point here: it is not borne out by τῶν αἰεὶ λεγομένων . . περιγίγνεσθαι and τοῦ καλῶς εὶπόντος μέμψασθαι λόγον.)
ἀμβλυτέρᾳ —‘with anger more dulled,’ when there is delay.
ἀμύνεσθαι —for ( τὸ) ἀμύνεσθαι as in Aesch. Ag. 191 παρ’ ἄκοντας ἦλθε σωφρονεῖν, and elsewhere in Thuc. The addition of κείμενον (and perhaps ὄν) makes the omission ugly and unusual. Cf. the schol. εί τὸ ἀμύνεσθαι τῷ παθεῖν ἐγγὺς τεθείη.
ἀντίπαλον ὂν . . ἀναλαμβάνει —‘is most adequate when it recovers satisfaction’: the main emphasis on the partic., as often. If ὄν is omitted, ἀντίπαλον agrees with τιμωρίαν—cf. ἀμβλυτέρᾳ τῇ ὀργῇ above—and both form and sense are improved. (Hude reads τοῦ παθεῖν, takes κείμενον as accus. abs., ‘when it is proposed to take vengeance,’ and makes ὁ παθών subj. of ἀναλαμβάνει, omitting ὄν with Haase. But what is the point of saying κείμενον ἀμύνεσθαι where the sense calls for ἀμυνόμενος?) Some think ὰναλαμβάνει should be λαμβάνει or ἂν λαμβάνοι, as in δίκην, τιμωρίαν, λαμβάνειν.
θαυμάζω δέ .—there might be reason in opposing the vote, if it were shown that either (1) the revolt is advantageous to Athens; or (2) though troublesome to us, it is indirectly a gain because it does harm to the allies and renders them less an object of fear to us.
τὸ πάνυ δοκοῦν —‘the universal opinion of men’: he must try to prove a paradox. (According to another view, the allusion is to the psephism. But (1) τὸ πάνυ δοκοῦν, ‘what is generally agreed upon,’ would hardly be a true description of the vote; and (2) τὸ δόξαν would certainly be natural.)
κέρδει —a suggestion of bribery: the charge was a common one against public men, and was often true. The contrast in
ἢ . . ἤ is between an opponent who wants to show his skill in oratory and one who is bribed to mislead.
ἐκπονή· σας is co-ordinate with πιστεύσας, and ἐπαιρόμενος gives the motive that prompts him ἐκπονεῖν.
τὸ εὐπρεπὲς τοῦ λόγου —‘what is plausible in the words.’ The whole of this section is a hit at the bad side of the new rhetoric: it is piquant, because Cleon himself indulges in rhetoric freely; this elaborate comparison to an ἀγών of rival rhetoricians is itself full of it.
θεαταὶ μὲν . . ἔργων —‘spectators of words and hearers of deeds’ is an artificial way of saying: you are content to take the facts from what the orators say, and look on at the debates, thus inverting the natural order of things at an ἀγών, in which one would watch the athletes' deeds and listen to the literary men's words: so badly do you, who are at once the directors and the people attending, manage the ἀγῶνες. (The explanations usually given of this passage do not seem to me to give an intelligible meaning to the whole: ( a) κακῶς ἀγωνοθετεῖν does not mean ‘to be wrong in instituting a contest,’ but ‘to do so in the wrong way’; cf. the second and third failings— ἀπατᾶσθαι ἄριστοι and ζητοῦντες ἄλλο τε κτλ.: all indicative of a topsy-turvy mind and ( b) only with the latter meaning—which is a natural one—does οἵτινες κτλ. given an intelligible reason.)
ὡς δυνατὰ γίγνεσθαι —‘as practicable’: sc. ὄντα, cf. VI. 40 τοὺς λόγους ὡς ἔργα δυναμένους κρινεῖ.
τὰ δὲ π. ἤδη —sc. σκοποῦντες.
οὐ τὸ . . ἀκουσθέν ‘not taking what has been done as more trustworthy through having seen it, than what you have heard (about it).’ (It has been objected to ὄψει that we need ἀκροάσει or ἀκοῇ to contrast with it; but the whole clause corresponds to ὡς δυνατὰ γίγνεσθαι, and = ὡς τὸ ἀκουσθὲν πιστότερον ὂν ἢ τὸ ὀφθέν; τὸ ἀκουσθέν itself contains the contrast to ὄψει: instead of saying τὸ ὀφθέν, Thuc. says τὸ δρασθέν in order to introduce again the contrast between ἔργα and λόγοι —δρασθέν and ἀκουσθέν.)
ἐπιτιμησάντων —the readiness of speakers to criticize adversely the action of public men, if opponents, is often insisted on; but it is odd that Cleon, who was ever ready to censure, should talk so.
μετὰ καινότητος —equivalent to a dat, of cause, as I. 32 μὴ μετὰ κακίας, δόξης δὲ μᾶλλον ἁμαρτίᾳ: cf. c. 42, 1.
ἀπατᾶσθαι ἄριστοι — sc. ὄντες, co-ordinate with κακῶς ἀγωνοθετοῦντες, the second way in which you are αἴτιοι· εὐπαρἀγωγος εἶ, θωπευόμενός τε χαίρεις κἀξαπατώμενος, Aristoph. Eq. 1115 .
μετὰ δεδοκιμασμένου —sc. λόγου, ‘when an approved argument is stated’; ξυνέπεσθαι means ‘go with the speaker.’ (Another way is to take ξυνέπεσθαι μετά closely together, ‘to follow the lead of’: I prefer the former.)
δοῦλοι ὄντες —the whole down to ἀποβησόμενα is epexegetic of ἄριστοι ( ὄντες ).
καὶ μάλιστα μέν —co-ordinate with δοῦλοι ὄντες. βουλόμενοι would have made the sentence more symmetrical, but cf. already Iliad IX. 656 οἱ δὲ ἕκαστος ἑλὼν . . ἴσαν.
ἀνταγωνιζόμενοι τοῖς τοιαῦτα λέγουσι —i.e. τοῖς τοιούτοις ῥήτορσι, who applaud that one of their number who happens to be speaking; ‘vying with speakers who use such arguments,’ viz. ἄτοπα. (It is objected to τοιαῦτα that it cannot be referred to τὰ ἄτοπα only, after what has preceded. But it is to be noted that ὑπερόπται δὲ τῶν εἰωθότων is merely parenthetical: had there been a μέν after δοῦλοι, the objection would have been serious.)
τῇ γνώμῃ —not to lag behind the rest ‘in insight.’ To understand ‘plan’ or ‘purpose’ of the speaker ( γνώμῃ governed by ἀκολουθῆσαι) is not so good, because it is the external form, not the meaning, that rivets their attention.
ὀξέως with λέγοντος, because λέγοντός τι cannot here mean ‘says something important or sensible.’ On the other hand, ὀξέως, when taken with λέγοντος, is rendered ‘shrewdly,’ ‘cleverly’; but (1) ὀξύ, adj., would be natural, and (2) it seems that λέγειν ὀξέως means not ‘speak shrewdly’ but ‘speak rapidly’; it is only with words denoting mind that βραδύς, ὀξύς mean ‘slow,’ ‘quick’ of wit. I should prefer to render ‘when any one is speaking rapidly.’
προεπαιvέσαι — sc. δοκεῖν, generally understood ‘to approve’ it before it is uttered, but perhaps ‘to be first with their approval.’
πρόθυμοι εἶναι —this may depend on ἀνταψωνιζόμενοι or, more probably, on δοκεῖν, but, in either ease, ( εἶναι) βραδεῖς does not give very good sense, and can hardly be excused on the ground that the main emphasis falls on πρόθυμοι εἶναι; for—to mention only one objection— προαισθέσθαι and προνοῆσαι are plainly meant to be equal in importance. We require εἰωθότες to make sound sense. The best solution proposed is to consider καί before προαισθέσθαι and εἶναι as spurious: the whole would then be closely connected with προεπαινέσαι.
ζητοῦντές τε —again going back to αἴτιοι δ’ ὑμεῖς, ‘seeking something different—one might almost say— from the world in which we live;’ dreamers.
ἁπλῶς τε —a resumption of the substance of the whole sentence.
σοφιστῶν θεαταῖς καθημένοις —‘men sitting as spectators at a display of sophists,’ as shown in the Protagoras, for example.
ὧν —neut. (
θεαταῖς is pred.; but as the comparison is between θεαταί and βουλευόμενοι, καθημένοις is possibly, as Lincke says, interpolated.)
μίαν πόλιν —cf. c. 113, 6.
οἵτινες —the dat. antecedent omitted. Distinguish between οἵτινες μή and οἵτινες οὐ below.
νῆσον . . μετὰ τειχῶν —thus secure against enemies. The contrast to the previous sentence is stated in inverse order: subjection—compulsion; security—freedom. This is a common arrangement of clauses in Thuc.
ἐν ῳ —of their condition.
καὶ αὐτοί —independently of our help.
ἐπανέστησαν μᾶλλον ἢ ἀπέστησαν —an armed rising contrasted with a secession; but the application of the contrast to the circumstances of Lesbos is not exact, since ἐπανάστασις implies a dominant power, which Athens ex hypothesi was not.
μέν γε —‘secession anyhow,’ whatever be the truth about ἐπανάστασις. For the suppression of the δέ-clause after this combination cf. Aristoph. Ach. 154 τοῦτο μέν γ’ ἤδη σαφές. (Append. i., Neil, Aristoph. Equites).
βίαιόν τι πασχόντων —this is far-fetched; and the implied contrast about ἐπανάστασις would too obviously not hold: hence the statement of it is suppressed.
καίτοι —‘surely.’
καθ’ αὑτούς —‘by themselves,’ not μετὰ τῶν πολεμιωτάτων στάντες.
κτώμενοι —probably conative.
παράδειγμα δὲ αὐτοῖς —as παράδειγμα means example, both as a warning and as an encouragement, it might have been applied to both clauses with οὔτε; but the second has taken an independent form, cf. c. 96, 3.
τῶν πέλας —‘of others.’
τὰ δεινά —often of the dangers of war.
τὸ μέλλον —‘the future’ )( παροῦσα.
μακρότερα . . βουλήσεως —‘having come to hope for what was beyond their strength, but less than their ambition.’ Clearly what they hoped for was the destruction of Athenian power— ἐζήτησαν ἡμᾶς διαφθεῖραι. But how was this ‘less than they wanted’? what more could they want? Probably we have here a sample of Cleon's exaggeration and abuse, and no definite meaning is to be looked for. It is enough for his purpose that the Lesbians had wanted to revolt sooner than they did (c. 2 ). (Herbst's explanation, Zu Thuk. p. 82, that μακρότερα means the power of Mytilene, and ἐλάσσω that of Athens, seems far-fetched, and his rendering of τῆς βουλήσεως is scarcely intelligible.)
ἐν ᾦ —‘the moment that.’
γάρ —justifying the charge that they put might before right. They had suffered no wrong, and they chose a time when Athens was in difficulties.
αἷς ἂν . . ἔλθῃ —the clause forms the object to τρέπειν. μάλιστα καὶ δῑ ἐλαχίστου, ‘most fully and most suddenly,’ refers to the moment just alluded to in ἐν ᾧ ᾠήθησαν; it was καιρὸς ὡς οὔπω πρότερον, c. 13, 3. The revolt was not really the unpremeditated thing that Cleon represents it to have been. The
ἀπροσδόκητος εὐπραξία refers to the difficulties in which Athens was. (The objection to δῑ ἐλαχίστου that the change of fortune on the part of the Mytilenaeans was not sudden, but was gradually brought about by the events of the war, rests on a confusion of facts and the rhetorical presentment of them.)
τὰ δὲ πολλὰ . . εὐτυχοῦντα ἀσφαλέστερα —‘in most things prosperity according to calculation is safer than prosperity that is a surprise.’ It is an extraordinary explanation that makes τὰ πολλά, after the schol., adverbial accus., and κατὰ λ. εὐτυχοῦντα equivalent to τὰ . . εὐτυχοῦντα. The constr. intended is clearly ἀσφαλέστερά ( ἐστι) τὰ πολλὰ εὐτυχοῦντα= εἰ εὐτυχεῖ: cf. II. 13 ( ἔφη) τὰ πολλὰ κρατεῖσθαι. And there is no doubt about the reading being right: εὐτυχία, a stable condition, is in contrast with εὐπραξία. a single event (cf. I. 33 ); a calm life unmarred by misfortune constituted εὐτυχία (cf. II. 44 ). Of course παρὰ δόξαν ( εὐτυχοῦντα) gives a different and paradoxical meaning to εὐτυχία. This doctrine of Cleon seems to be based upon the philosophy of life professed by his opponent Nicias. Cf. V. 16, of Nicias, διασώσασθαι τὴν εὐτυχίαν .
ὡς εἰπεῖν ῥᾷον —‘almost more easily.’
χρῆν δέ —they would never have gone so far in their indulgence in ὕβρις had we long ago kept a tighter hand on them.
μηδὲν διαφερόντως τῶν ἄλλων —the adverb (EM) is better than διαφέροντας, and has, at any rate, as much MS. support as χρῆν just before, and it has, in addition, the support of the text of the schol. and of Dio Cassins.
καὶ ἄλλως — ‘in other cases as well,’ making the application general.
τοῖς μὲν ὀλίγοις . . τὸν δὲ δῆμον —the oligarchical government had caused the revolt.
οἷς γ’ ἐξῆν —as this sentence refers especially to the δῆμος, it would be better, perhaps, to put πάντες . . ἐπέθεντο in a parenthesis—unless, with Stahl, we understand πάντες ( οί τοῦ δήμου) and ὁμοίως ( τοῖς ὀλίγοις).
πάλιν ἐν τῇ πόλει εἶναι —‘reinstated in their rights.’ For the sense of πόλις cf. IV. 106 πόλεώς τε. στερισκόμενοι.
βεβαιότερον —sc. τοῦ μεθ’ ἡμῶν κινδύνου.
τῶν τε ξυμμάχων σκέψασθε . . τίνα οἴεσθε ὅντινα οὐ —(1) the old explanation of this passage (given by Goller, for instance) was that τίνα οἴεσθε ὅντινα ού was equivalent to ἕκαστον. c. 46, 2, where τίνα οἴεσθε ἥντινα οὐ is independent, is strongly against this. Classen said that οἴεσθε merely repeats σκέψασθε owing to the length of the sentence; and this is accepted by subsequent edd. Classen's view involves also an anacoluthon, since σκέψασθε would be followed by τίς ὄστις οὐ with ind., not by τίνα ὅντινα οὐ. Against this view is to he urged ( a) the complication of the constr. introduced by σκέψασθε, ( b) the gen. τῶν τε ξυμμάχων, which, as Classen says, depends not only on τοῖς . . ἀποστᾶσι, but also on τίνα οἴεσθε ὅντινα οὐ, so that Thuc. had a clear view of the constr. from the start. It is not unlikely that σκέψασθε is meant to be parenthetical. (2) τίς ὄστις οὐ is treated as a single word.
παθείν —a second subject to ᾖ.
ἀποκεκινδυνεύσεται —‘we shall find exposed to utmost peril.’
τῆς ἔπειτα προσόδου, δῑ ἣν ἰσχύομεν —the relative clause applies to τῆς προσόδου only, the revenue generally, not to τῆς ἔπειτα π., the future revenue; hence ἐκεῖθεν or ἐπετείου has been conjectured for ἔπειτα, which the schol. already had in the text. Neither conjecture wholly removes the difficulty; and so δῑ ἣν ισχύομεν is thought by some to have been brought in here from the very similar passage in c. 46, 3. It would be better to read ἰσχύσομεν, ‘through which we may support our power.’
τὸ λοιπόν is pleonastic after ἔπειτα, and perhaps belongs to δῑ ἣν ἰσχύσομεν.
στερήσεσθε —‘will have to go without.’
προθεῖναι —of the orators.
πιστήν —‘hope relying on (the speaker's) eloquence,’ is contrasted with ‘hope gained by bribery (of the speaker),’ cf. c. 38, 2; one speaker's eloquence, another's venality, may prompt him to take up the cause of Lesbos.
ξυγγνώμην ἁμαρτεῖν ἀνθρωπίνως λήψονται —‘that they will be excused for having erred humanly,’ i.e. through human frailty not deliberately: πῶς ἂν τό γ’ ἄκον πρᾶγμ’ ἂν εἰκότως ψέγοις; Soph. OC. 977 . 4
ἄκοντες —the οὐ applies to this also, but is attracted to the verb.
ξύγγνωμον = ξυγγνώμης ἄξιον, as also, perhaps, in IV. 98, but not elsewhere.
τότε —supply διεμαχεσάμην (the same idiom in I. 86 and VI. 60 ). But μὴ λύειν τὰ π., which came into question only in the second meeting, causes some difficulty. We must assume either (1) that the sentence is developed as it proceeds, μὴ λύειν τὰ π. not being supplied with τότε, or else, (2) that πρῶτον ( διεμαχεσάμην) means that Cleon had already in the previous meeting seen that there would be an agitation for revision. (I prefer the second solution. Brevity would excuse προδεδογμένα as applied to a vote to be passed. The voting at the first meeting must have been close; and c. 36, 3 suggests anxiety about getting it carried out. Krüger had noticed that τότε πρῶτον is unsatisfactory according to the usual explanation: I think there must be a point in πρῶτον, as in Aristoph. Eq. 339 πρῶτα διαμαχοῦμαι.)
ἐπιεικείᾳ —‘generosity,’ ‘consideration for others.’
τοὺς ὁμοίους —variously rendered as ‘like minded,’ or ‘situated as we are,’ i.e. equals, not subjects. For the latter, it is claimed that ἐξ ἀνάγκης points to unwilling subjects; and sentiment so arrogant might well be attributed to Cleon.
ἕξουσι . . ἀγῶνα —sarcastic, implying ‘if they must have their ἀγών’; cf. c. 38, 4.
καὶ μή — there is implied prohibition, hence μή The choice of the constr. is no doubt influenced by the previous καὶ μή.
τὸ παθεῖν εὖ —the excellent return they will get is a bribe from the Mytilenaeans. It appears that a few years later Cleon himself was said to have made something out of the troubles of Mytilene.
καὶ τὸ λοιπόν —‘in the future as in the past.’
ὁμοίως . . ὑπολειπομένους —the conjecture ὁμοίως seems to be clearly right. Even when ὁμοίους is rendered ‘consistent’ and taken as pred, with ὑπολειπομένους, it remains very awkward that ἐπιτηδείους and πολεμίους imply ἡμῖν, whereas ὁμοίους must imply ἑαυτούς. The previous ὁμοίους used in a quite different sense in this series of closely connected sentences is against the adj. ὁμοίως τε καὶ οὐδὲν ἧσσον is a Thucydidean way of saying ‘just as must as before.’
πειθόμενοι μέν —the steps of the argument, which is difficult to follow to ἀνδραγαθίζεσθαι and has given rise to much discussion, are as follows: (1) if you punish M., you will act as Justice and Interest alike demand; (2) it may be said that Justice is on their side and against you ( εἰ γάρ); (3) even if it is, you must follow the dictates of Interest ( εἰ δὲ δή).
οὐ χαριεῖσθε —because they will still hate you.
δικαιώσεσθε —‘you will punish yourselves’ (instead of them) by proclaiming to all that you have no right to exert authority. εἰ γάρ—γάρ does not introduce the reason for the preceding statement, but = ‘it is true that,’ as in c. 43, 5 (Stahl in Rhein. Mus. 1901). οὐ χρεών is acc. abs. On the form of condition (cf. I. 38, VI. 92 ) Goodwin points out that it is “a perfectly natural combination, each part having its proper force.” If they were justified, you must have no right to your empire: εἰ δὲ δὴ . . κολάζεσθαι (mid ) proceeds on this assumption. If you persist in ruling ( τοῦτο δρᾶν), even though you have no right to do so, then your interests require that you punish them, as you have others. The only alternative ( ἤ=‘otherwise’) is, you must give up empire; you must run no risks ( ἐκ τοῦ ἀκινδύνου= ἀκινδύνως) and play an honourable part.
παύεσθαι . . ἀνδραγαθίξεσθαι — Cleon echoes words attributed to Pericles at II. 63. ἀνδραγαθίζομαι was, it would seem, in use among the aristocrats who favoured a peace policy; cf. for the noun with ‘a political or social reference’ c. 57, 1, 64, 4 (Neil, Append. to Aristoph. Eq.).
τῇ τε αὐτῇ ζημίᾳ —viz. as that by which τά τε δίκαια . . καὶ τὰ ξύμφορα ποιήσετε—the one I recommend. ( a) This is usually explained, after the schol., ‘the same that they would have inflicted on you had they succeeded.’ But (1) it is unlikely that ζημία would be used without explanation, of the destruetion Mytilene had sought to bring on Athens: and (2) τῇ αύτῇ can only be so explained by the assumption that the sentence, simple in form, is strangely confused in thought. We need such an addition as in II. 67 τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀμύνεσθαι οἶσπερ καὶ . . ὑπῆρξαν. ( b) Steup explains ‘the same as you agreed to yesterday,’ but this seems a strange way of saying ‘uphold your decision.’ Also the reference in τῇ αὐτῇ should be found in the context immediately preceding; c. 62 τῇ μέντοι αὐτῇ ἰδέᾳ. VII 39, 1. The reference in the version given above is. it is true. a little remote. but εἰ δὲ δὴ . . ἀνδραγαθίζεσθαι is practically parenthetical.
οἱ διαφεύγοντες —cf. οἱ διαβάλλοντες c. 4, οἱ ἐπαγόμενοι II. 2, οἱ προδιδόντες II. 5. The temporal force is lost, and the partic. becomes a substantive. But the plot is referred to in aorist, as having preceded the escape.
ἐπεξέρχονται καὶ διολλύναι —‘follow up (the wrong they inflict) even to the length of destroying their enemy utterly.’ The MSS. have διόλλυνται, which can only yield a very artificial sense. Their own utter destruction is not what they seek. The inf. is of purpose.
ὑφορώμενοι ‘eyeing with misgiving.’ All edd. refer to the famous ‘odisse quem laeseris’ of Tac. for the sentiment.
ὁ γὰρ . . παθών —this applies to Athens, which has been attacked ἄνευ προφάσεως. ‘He who has been injured needlessly is more dangerous when he has escaped (the plot to destroy him), than an enemy on equal terms,’ i.e. where equal offence has been given on both sides. Mytilene knew Athens would be implacable if she escaped.
γενόμενοι . . τῇ γνώμῃ —‘place yourselves in thought as near (the moment of) the injury as possible, and (think) how.’ γ. τῇ γνώμῃ= διανοηθέντες ( I. 143 ). (Possibly τότ’ is lost after παντός.) 44
ἀνταπόδοτε ‘repay.’ Cf. “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord: I will repay.”
πρὸς τὸ παρὸν αὐτίκα with μαλακισθέντες, ‘at their present plight,’ for τὸ αὐτίκα παρόν: the position of the adv. is not very rare in tragedy, e.g. Aesch. PV. 1013 τῷ φρονοῦντι μὴ καλῶς (Jebb on Soph. OT. 1294 ). Here αὐτίκα gains emphasis in contrast with ποτέ by its position. For the pleonasm edd. compare I. 95 ἐν τῷ τύτε παρόντι, I. 123 τῶν ἔπειτα μελλόντων. ( παραυτίκα has been conjectured for παρὸν αὐτίκα, and τότε for ποτέ.) 48
παράδειγμα σαφὲς καταστήσατε . . ζημιωσόμενον —for the partic., as with δηλοῦν, δῆλον or φανερὸν ποιεῖν, cf. Soph. El. 24 σαφῆ σημεῖα φαίνεις ἐσθλὸς εἰς ἡμᾶς γεγώς . τόδε—ὅδε referring to what precedes, as often in speeches.
Διόδοτος —not elsewhere heard of.
μεμφομένους —equivalent to μεμφομένους καὶ ἀξιοῦν‐ τας, the brachylogy being made easier by the preceding τοὺς προθέντας τὴν δ., the persons censured.
δύο . . ὀργήν —some make τάχος τε καὶ ὀργήν subj. of εἶναι, removing the comma, comparing cc. 40, 2, 57, 3, 75, 1. The parallels do not seem to prove the point.
τὸ μέν = τάχος. This passage is directly aimed at Cleon, who had deprecated χρόνου διατριβήν, thus showing his own follv, and had displayed the vehemence to which the ignorant and shallow-minded are pione.
γίγνεσθαι ‘to be found.’
μὴ διδασκάλους τῶν πραγμάτων γ. —‘are not to explain affairs,’ i.e. how they are to be conducted.
λόγοι personified, like πειθώ. διαμάχομαι as in c. 40.
ἰδίᾳ τι αὐτῷ διαφέρει —‘he has some private interest.’
φράσαι —‘give guidance.’
τι αἰσχρὸν πεῖσαι —‘to carry a disgraceful proposal.’ Cf. c. 59, 2. οὐκ . . ἡγεῖται—οὐ can appear after εἰ . . μέν, provided the indic. is used, as in I. 121 εἰ οἱ μὲν . . οὐκ ἀπεροῦσιν, Xen. Anab. VII. 1, 29 εἰ βάρβαρον μὲν πόλιν οὐδεμίαν ἠθελήσαμεν κατασχεῖν.
εὖ δὲ διαβαλών —Cleon got a name for skill in διαβολή, as several passages in Aristoph. Equites show.
χαλεπώτατοι δὲ . . ἐπίδειξίν τινα —‘most difficult to meet are those in particular ( καί) who by anticipation impute (to an opponent) a sort of rhetorical display to get money.’ χαλεπώτατοι does not mean to exclude the εὖ διαβαλών, who also—as the καί shows—is χαλεπώτατος as imputing to his opponent a desire to display his rhetorical skill; cf. c. 38, 2. But those who say that bribery is the motive are singled out. The emphasis is on ἐπὶ χρήμασι, which accordingly is in an unusual order: it belongs to ἐπίδειξιν. The point of τινα is that an ἐπίδειξις proper was not delivered in the Ecclesia.
ἀξυνετώτερος . . ἀδικώτερος —‘judged more of a fool than a knave.’ The double compar. as regularly where two qualities in the same ohject are contrasted: ἰὼ στρατηγοὶ πλέονες ἢ βελτίονες.
μετὰ ἀξυνεσίας —‘besides his (seeming) folly,’ a characteristic substitute for μετὰ τοῦ ἀξύνετος γίγνεσθαι.
ἂν πεισθεῖεν —viz. the state. The change to plur. is made easy by the intervention of τῶν πολιτῶν.
ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου ‘on equal terms,’ is parallel to ἐκφοβοῦντα.
σώφρονα —a very moderate criticism of the dangerous tendency now manifesting itself in Athenian public life, since the death of Pericles, to give too much weight to the πιθανώτατοι (c. 36, 6). σώφρων was esp. associated with those opposed to extreme democracy; cf. c. 62, 4. For τῷ πλεῖστα εὖ βουλεύοντι, ‘he whose connsel is generally good,’ we should expect, at first sight, something like τῷ πιστὰ ξυμβουλεύοντι (conjectnred by Weil), ‘he whose counsel is followed,’ in contrast with τὸν μὴ τυχόντα γνώμης, in the sense, ‘he whose advice is rejected’; cf πείσας and μὴ τυχών in § 3, κατορθῶν and ἐπιτυχών below. But in stating the principle that ought to be followed, the moderate Diodotus criticizes what the people professed to wish, viz. to reward good (not merely persuasive) counsellors. But in rewards the persuasive was mistaken for the good. And τὸν μὴ τυχόντα γνώμης is no doubt intentionally ambiguous, for, in contrast with πείσας, it does mean ‘he who fails to carry his opinion’; but, in contrast with τῷ εὖ βουλεύοντι, ‘not fortunate in his advice’ means ‘ wrong’ ‘Who fails in counsel’ will keep up the two meanings. Cf. Aesch. PV. 204 τὰ λῷστα βουλεύων πιθεῖν . . οὐκ ἠδυνήθην. (The intentional ambiguity of this passage has escaped notice.)
ἀλλὰ μηδ’ ἐλασσοῦν —‘but not to curtail . . either,’ as might happen in the case of his being charged with corruption.
οὐχ ὅπως . . ἀλλὰ μηδέ — non modo ( non) . . sed ne . . quidem. For the sentiment cf. Demosth. III. 18 οὐ λέγει τις τὰ βέλτιστα; άναστὰς ἄλλος ειπάτω, μὴ τοῦτον αἰτιάσθω.
πρὸς χάριν —‘to please’ the people.
ὀρέγοιτο —sc. ἥκιστα ἄν. τῷ αὐτῷ is explained by χαριζόμενος κτλ.
καὶ ὑποπτεύηται —‘if a mere suspicion that a man is speaking for gain, and is offering the best advice in spite of it.’ We cannot render ‘ though he offers the best advice, he does so for gain,’ as is commonly done, for the μέν-clause must be our though (cf. Jebb on Soph. OC. 1536 ). But there is no need to supply δοκῇ from ὑποπτεύηται to suit the δέ-clause if we notice that μὲν . . δέ is inserted merely for the sake of a verbal antithesis, and that the sense is simply κέρδους ἕνεκα τὰ βέλτιστα λέγειν.
φθονήσαντες . . κερδῶν —‘feeling jealous of the uncertain impression of his gains,’ i.e. jealous of his supposed gains. That his advice is helpful is ex hypothesi certain.
τῆς πόλεως ἀφαιρούμεθα —the same constr. c. 58, 1.
καθέστηκε δέ —‘it has come to this, that.’
ἀπὸ τοῦ εὐθέος is opposed to ἀπάτῃ below.
τὰ δεινότατα . . πεῖσαι —‘to get the most atrocious proposals adopted.’
μόνην τε πόλιν —‘so we are the only state which it is impossible to benefit openly, without recourse to deception.’ It is disputed whether μόνην πόλιν means (1) ‘a state alone,’ as distinct from the individual citizens, or (2) ‘(ours) is the only state which,’ as pred. to ἡμᾶς supplied. The latter is surely right, for (1) Athens is contrasted with ἡ σώφρων πόλις in c. 42, 5, and this contrast is kept up through c. 43, 1, and (2) there is no suggestion in the context that the state is more suspicious than the individual.
διὰ τὰς περινοίας —‘excessive shrewdness,’ by which it thinks it detects self-interest in the honest speaker. The word only here.
ἀνθ‐υποπτεύεται —‘is in return suspected.’
χρὴ δὲ . . σκοπούντων —‘but in dealing with the most important interests and in such a case as this it ought to be assumed that we speakers take a somewhat wider forecast than you whose view is circumscribed,’ i.e. whose judgment is formed in a short debate
τι with περαιτέρω, as in μᾶλλόν τι. ἐν τῷ τοιῷδε : its possible meanings are ‘at such a time,’ and ‘in such a case.’
ὑπεύθυνον —a speaker was liable to the γραφὴ παρανόμων.
πρὸς ἀνεύθυνον . . ἀκρόασιν —‘as opposed to your attention to it, which is irresponsible.’
σωφρονέστερον ἂν ἐκρίνετε —‘you would be more circumspect (cf. c. 42, 5) in your decisions’ ( II. 40, 2).
πρὸς ὀργὴν ἥντιν’ ἂν τύχητε —‘in the anger of the moment.’ Grammatieally ζημιοῦντες is supplied to τύχητε, and πρός, according to a common idiom, is repeated to ἥντινα; but no doubt the speaker would not be conscious of such ellipse. ἥντινα without ἄν is according to epic idiom; but it is very probable that ἥντιν’ ἂν is the true reading. (No other emendation is to be thought of: ἤν τι ἀτυχῆτε is impossible, if only because ἀτυχεῖν in this context means ‘to fail in a request’ Nor must σφαλέντες be supplied to τύχητε: for this would mean that punishment is inflieted in the same mood as that in which the error was committed. But that is not the point.)
εἰ = ὅτι .
ἤν τε καὶ . . ἐᾶν —for εἶεν most edd. accept ἐᾶν= ‘(I shall not bid you) spare them.’ ἔχοντας, se. ἀποφήνω, is a conjecture for ἔχοντες, and unsatisfactory. The correction is uncertain, and it is doubtful if οὐ κελεύσω can be supplied legitimately. It is likely that something is lost before εἶεν: e.g. Bergk suggested οὐ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἄξιοι ἂν ξυγγνώμης. ( εἶεν as exelamatory which Classen, with some doubt, kept, is impossible. Its use is in assent to what precedes and in passing on to a new point it is not appropriate here.)
τοῦτο ὅ is rendered ‘as for this that.’ (1) There is no authority for this phrase used adverbially in this way: hence the conjecture τούτου, governed by τἀναντία. Otherwise we must assume an anacoluthon. (2) But CG read τοῦτο ᾧ, and quite possibly this is right. τοῦτο ἀντισχυριζόμενος ᾧ Κλέων ἰσχυρίζεται=‘while maintaining this in opposition to what C. maintains’ (cf. τοῖς ἐγκλήμασι ἀντεροῦντες I. 73 ). περὶ τοῦ . . ἔχοντος is then epexegetic of τοῦτο, just as ἐς τὸ λοιπὸν . . ἔσεσθαι is of ᾦ (= ἐκείνῳ ὅ). Both insist on the future, but one on τὸ ξυμφέρον, the other on τὸ καλόν.
προθεῖσι —depending on ξυμφέρον ( ὑμῖν), eonditional.
πρός —‘in view of.’
τῶν δικαίων —‘arguments of justice,’ as in Demosth. de Cor. 6, 9. To
δεῖν and
χρησίμως ἕξουσιν supply ἡμῖν.
τῷ ἐπιβουλεύματι —instrumental.
πόλις τε ἀφισταμένη —‘so in the case of a state.’
τῇ δοκήσει —‘in its own opinion.’ An effective reply to Cleon's argument from the fact that M. had taken Athens at a disadvantage.
τούτῳ —revolt.
ἐπεὶ . . γε —not a common combination; Iliad IX. 425 ἐπεὶ οὔ σφισιν ἥδε γ’ ἑτοίμη, Pind. Ol. IX. 40 ἐπεὶ τό γε λοιδορῆσαι θεοὺς ἐχθρὰ σοφία. The γε merely emphasizes διεξεληλύθασι.
προστιθέντες —‘continually adding to them.’ For
εἴ πως with a perf. preceding see M.T. § 489, esp. Aristoph. Av. 120 .
παραβαινομένων —there are two tenable explanations of this: (1) impersonal gen. abs. as in I. 116 ἐσαγγελθέντων M. T. § 848, ‘transgressions being committed’; (2) sc. τῶν μεγίστων ἀδικημάτων, which would be internal accus. to παραβαίνω in the act. form, as in ἀδικῶ ἀδίκημα. The matter is rendered impossible of certain solution by the perplexing καὶ τοῦτο παρα· βαίνεται. We expect, of course, the sense ‘mild penalties being disregarded,’ and presently, ‘the death penalty is disregarded,’ but how this can be got out of the Gk. as it stands is not apparent, unless we take an etymological sense of παραβαίνω, ‘pass by,’ which is found occasionally in the orators, and interpret τοῦτο below as put loosely for ἡ ζημία τοῦ θανάτου. Against this is not so much the fact that Thuc. does not elsewhere use παραβαίνω thus, but much more that παραβαίνω ζημίαν is stranger than any instance in the orators and that the proximity of ἀδικημάτων makes it unnatural.
καὶ τοῦτο ὅμως παραβαίνεται —the conjectures are (1) κἀν τούτῳ (Kruger) ‘and under these circumstances,’ with παραβαίνεται impers. But it should be ἐν τούτοις (cf. Jebb on Soph. Ant. 39 ); ἐν τούτῳ=‘meanwhile,’ or ‘in this point.’ (2) καὶ ταῦτα, sc. τὰ ἀδικήματα (Hude; cf. 2 above). I should prefer καὶ ταὐτά ‘and the same offences are committed.’
δεινότερον . . δέος —‘a terror more terrible’; cf. VII 68 ἐχθροὶ καὶ ἔχθιστοι.
ἢ τόδε γε —‘else this,’ with emphasis on the second alternative (Neil on Aristoph. Eq. 413 ). Notice τόδε after τούτου, not very rare; e.g. Soph. Ant. 296 .
ἡ μὲν πενία —to πενία is opposed the power— ἐξουσία —that results from wealth. A poor man is emboldened by necessity, as a rich man is made covetous by insolence and pride.
αἱ δ’ ἄλλαι ξυντυχίαι . . κινδύνους —‘the other condi tions of life,’ as they arise—temporary rather than permanent: these fill men with a sudden passion ( ὀργῇ), ‘as each ( ξυντυχία) is overpowered by some irrepressible power’—such e.g. as an overwhelming desire for independence. ὀργῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων coriesponds to τὴν τόλμαν παρέχουσα and τὴν πλεονεξίαν π. of the other clauses, while ἀνήκεστόν τι corresponds to ἀνάγκη and ὕβρις καὶ φρόνημα. Of the many alterations proposed, only τὸν ἄνθρωπον for τῶν ἀνθρώπων needs notice. It is not an improvement; for there is a point in τῶν ἀ., ‘passion in those men’ whom they befall, always there, like πλεονεξία and τόλμα, and ready to be called out by a favourable ξυντυχία. ( Not ‘mankind,’ which would here be άνθρώπων, as ὀργῇ is without article. It has been proposed to refer έκάστη τις to ὀργῆ?, but this would leave ξυντυχίαι too vague, and there would be little point in ἑκάστη τις.)
ἐπὶ παντί —‘in every case’ of those just alluded to; cf. ἐπ’ οὐδενὶ τῶν τοιούτωι Demosth. XX I. 65.
ὁ μέν —first comes Desire, next Hope—and then the attempt. Note the personification here.
τὴν . . ἐπιβουλὴν ἐκφροντίζων —‘thinking out the plot.’ The schol. has ἐγχείρησιν on this word, so that the writer of it must have found ἐπιβολήν, ‘attempt,’ which most MSS. give, the only objection to which is that the subst. is not found elsewhere in this sense before Polybius.
τὴν εὐπορίαν τῆς τύχης —‘suggesting the ready help of Chanee.’ Hope deludes them into a fancy that at the critical moment Chance will favour them. Though a subjective gen. does not occur with εὐπορία elsewhere, τῆς τύχης is plainly subjective here; cf. VII. 61 τὸ τῆς τύχης κἂν μεθ’ ἡμῶν ἐλπίσαντες στῆναι , V. 113. ( τύχη cannot=‘success’ here, cf. § 7, nor ‘their fortunes.’)
ὄντα ἀφανῆ —i.e. ἔρως and ἐλπίς, ‘because (not though) unseen.’ Were they φανεραί, men would see that they could not be counted upon. As it is, πλεῖστα βλάπτουσι by luring them on. Cf. v. 103 ἐπὶ τὰς ἀφανεῖς ( ἐλπίδας) καθίστανται, and the next sentence.
ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς —besides ἔρως and ἐλπίς .
καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὑποδεεστέρων —‘even with insufficient means.’
οὐχ ἧσσον —i.e. even more than men.
περὶ τῶν μεγίστων τε —sc. κινδυνεύουσι. For the τε, which, though found only in C, is probably right, cf. IV. 80 ἑτοίμων ὄντων τρέφειν τε καὶ ἐπὶ ἀποστάσει σφᾶς ἐπικαλουμένων.
μετὰ πάντων . . ἐδόξασεν —‘each individual acting with the whole community . . rates himself considerably above the reality,’ i.e. exaggerates his own strength. The reading of the best MSS. is αὐτῶν for αὑτόν. For δοξάζω with personal obj. cf. Xen. Cyr. V. 5, 46 ἀλκιμώτατος δοξάζεται εἶναι. ἐπὶ πλέον τι together.
ἁπλῶς —c. 38, 7.
πολλῆς εὐηθείας, ὅστις —‘(it is a mark) of much simplicity, if anyone supposes.’ Cf. Xen. Hell. II. 3, 51 νομίζω προστάτου ἔργον εἶναι οἵου δεῖ, ὃς ἂν . . μὴ ἐπιτρέπῃ. It would be more usual to have πολλὴ εὐήθειά ( ἐστιν) ὅστις, or εὐηθέστατον ὅστις.
ἐχεγγύῳ —affording a good ἐγγύη, security that other states will not follow the example of Mytilene.
βουλεύσασθαι —‘come to a decision.’
οὐκ —redundant.
ὅτι ἐν βραχυτάτῳ —notice the regular order with ὅτι and ὡς+superl.
καὶ ἀποστᾶσα —‘when revolt has actually taken place.’
τὴν δαπάνην ἀποδοῦναι καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ὑποτελεῖν —here, naturally, the least is made of the terms dealt out by Athens to revolted allies who submitted. Independent allies, when reduced after revolting, had also to pull down their walls and to hand over their ships to Athens. In I. 98 Thuc. gives a summary of the treatment dealt out to them much less favourable to Athens. By ὑποτελεῖν is meant φόρου ὑποτελεῖς εἶναι.
τίνα οἴεσθε ἥντινα —see on c. 39, 7.
παρατενεῖσθαι —‘be strained to the utmost extremity.’
τὸ αὐτὸ δύναται —cf. I. 141 τὴν αὐτὴν δούλωσιν δύναται.
τῆς προσόδου . . ἀπ’ αὐτῆς —the art. not repeated with a verbal substantive ( πρόσοδος—προσιέναι). The words necessary to complete the sense of the subst. generally follow it, as in I. 18 τὴν κατάλυσιν ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος, but occasionally precede, as in II. 18 κατὰ τὴν ἄλλην πορείαν ἡ σχολαιότης.
τῷδε —viz. τῇ προσόδῳ.
ἀκριβεῖς —‘exacting’; so in I. 99 Thuc. says ἀκριβῶς ἔπρασσον of Athens in relation to her allies. ἐς χρημάτων λόγον—ἐς λ. is ‘on the score of.’ The phrase occurs also in Lysias (XIX. 61), and εἰς χρήματα is found.
ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων τῆς ἐπιμελείας —‘by practical precautions.’ Some render ‘by taking care of our actions’; but the former seems more natural, and cf. VI. 40 ἔργῳ φυλασσομένη.
ἐλεύθερον by right;
βίᾳ ἀρχόμενον in fact. βίᾳ= ‘in its despite’; cf. I. 43 μὴ ξυμμάχους δέχεσθε βίᾳ ἡμῶν, 68. Diodotus alludes to the true position of Lesbos; cf. c. 10.
πρός —‘to the side of.’
τούτου —i.e. τοῦ ἀφίστασθαι.
ὅτι ἐπ’ ἐλάχιστον —viz. of the inhabitants.
τοῦτο —internal aecus., ‘in this.’
ἀποστήσασι —sc. τὴν πόλιν.
τῆς ἀντικαθισταμένης —‘which is ranging itself against us.’
ἐς πόλεμον ἐπέρχεσθε —either ἔρχεσθε ἐς πόλεμον or ἐπέρχεσθε alone would be usual. Here we must supply αὐτῇ, and take ἐς of the end in view.
εἰ with fut. indic., ‘if you are going to.’
ἀδικήσετε . . κτείνοντες —‘you will be guilty of the crime of’; a legal use.
καταστήσετε —‘bring about,’ unusual without a predicative adj.; cf. (Classen) IV. 92 πολλὴν ἄδειαν κατεστήσαμεν.
προδειξάντων —‘as you will have published abroad.’
καὶ εἰ ἠδίκησαν, μὴ προσποιεῖσθαι —‘even if they did wrong, to pass it over.’ μὴ προσποιεῖσθαι , dissimulare, which occurs in several authors, is on the principle of οὔ φημι .
ὅ —‘the element.’ Thuc. is partial to the neut. sing. collective for a masc. plur.
δικαίως —i.e. as strict justiee allows.
δεῖ refers to interest, as in § 4.
τὸ Κλέωνος .—made in c. 40, 4: ‘Cleon's claim, namely the identity of justice and expediency in the punishment, is found to be impossible of being realized at once in such a punishment,’ viz. ἐν τῷ διαφθεῖραι. The sentence is illogical, for either τὸ αὐτό or ἅμα should have been omitted.
τάδε —viz. the proposals about to be made.
πλέον νείμαντες —see c. 3, 1 n.
οὐδὲ ἐγώ —see c. 40, 2.
προσάγεσθαι —middle, as regularly in this sense; the indef. subject must be supplied.
ἀπέπεμψεν —see c. 37, 1.
καθ’ ἡσυχίαν —‘calmly.’
τοῖς πολεμίοις —thinking of the Peloponnesians. That Athens should show wisdom (1) calmly judging the guilty, (2) acquitting the democratic party, would be more effective against her enemies than a hasty exercise of brute strength, of vis consili expers.
πρὸς τοὺς ἐναντίους is to be taken with κρείσσων ἐστί.
ἐπιών —‘if he goes to work.’
ἀντιπάλων —‘equally matched’ (here, in argument), a common meaning of ἀντίπαλος in Thuc.
ἦλθον μὲν ἐς ἀγῶνα ὅμως τῆς δόξης —‘engaged in a conflict of opinion after all,’ i.e. in spite of the revulsion of feeling (c. 36 ). ὅμως, as Poppo pointed out ( Proleg. i. p. 290) implies a clause which is omitted; and, in spite of the remoteness of reference, the interpretation seems warranted by such passages as c. 28, and VII. 1. Some render τῆς δόξης ‘about the decree,’ but the gen. should express the feeling, as in νῦν ἀγὼν εὐψυχίας Eur. Med. 403 , and βούλευμα or ψήφισμα would be expected for ‘decree’ here.
προτέρας —the best MSS. have δευτέρας, as the result, no doubt, of an unfortunate conjecture, based on εἰ φθάσειαν below.
οἴνῳ . . πεφυραμένα —‘barley-meal kneaded with wine . .,’ into cakes, μᾶζαι, of the kind called οἰνοῦτται. φυρᾶν, not φύρειν, is the form of the word in this sense.
ὅσον . . ἀνεγνωκέναι —‘as for him to have read,’ like ὅσον ἀποζῆν in I. 2. ὅσον practically= ὤστε.
ὑστέρα αὐτῆς —as this is predicative, the ἐπι‐ in the verb is pleonastic, if, as elsewhere, the verb=‘is brought into port after.’ It is possible that ἐπι‐ implies haste, as in ἐπιβοηθεῖν: we expect such an allusion here, and Steup suggests αὐτίκ’ for αὐτῆς.
παρὰ τοσοῦτον . . ἦλθε —this and similar phrases— παρὰ μικρὸν ἐλθεῖν, παρ’ οὐδὲν ἐ.—are followed either by gen. or, more often, infin.; e g. Herod. IX. 33 παρ’ ἕν πάλαισμα ἔδραμε νικᾶν. παρὰ τοσοῦτον=‘within, up to, so short a distance.’ κίνδυνος means the danger of destruction, and the gen. is the same as with ἐγγύς.
ἀπέπεμψεν —to Athens; see cc. 28, 35, 48.
χιλίων —the number is astonishing, and nothing approaching it is suggested by anything in the preceding narrative. Hence it is thought that *<*>α= χιλίων is a corruption of Λ’= τριάκοντα.
κλήρους . . ποιήσαντες —i.e. the late owners became hereditary tenants and paid an annual sum to the Athenian ‘cleruchs.’ Thuc. (and Ephorus, as copied by Diodorus X II. 55 ) assume that all the land was thus divided, except that of Methymna: this would bring each κλῆρος to about 96 acres (as Chuton says); but, of course, not the whole of the κλῆρος would be under eultivation. Apparently all the land was owned by oligarchs. The new κλῆροι would, of eourse, cut across the boundaries of former estates.
κληρούχους —2700 poor citizens chosen by lot They doubtless served to form a garrison; but in 412 B.C. there cannot have been anything like this number of Athenians in Lesbos ( VIII. 22 ); it is assumed that many of the cleruchs subsequently returned to Athens.
ἑκάστου with κλήρου. The mid. denotes a reciprocal arrangement.
ἀργυρίον is prob. object of φέρειν, and
δύο μνᾶς with the gen. is in appos. to it.
τὰ ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ —several places called Ἀκταῖαι πόλεις—Antandros being one. These became tributary allies.
Νικίου —first mention of him in Thuc.
ἣ κεῖται . . ἐχρῶντο δὲ αὐτῇ —it is not usual to have the rel. repeated in the second clause ( VI. 4 τὸ χωρίον οὗ νῦν ἡ πόλις ἐστὶ καὶ ὃ πρῶτον ἐτειχίσθη), unless the one is pos., the other neg., as in II. 43 οὐκ ἐν ᾧ κεῖνται μᾶλλον, ἀλλ’ ἐν ᾧ ἡ δόξα καταλείπεται. In the second clause the rel. is often replaced by the required case of αὐτός. A similar omission or substitution is frequent in Lat., esp. in Livy, as XX III. 8 cum quo steterat nec eum patria maiestas sententia dcpulerat. So, too, in Engl., as Hooker ‘ Whom though to know be life, and joy to make mention of His name,’ Macanly ‘ To whom she seemed to listen, but did not hear them.’
τὴν φυλακὴν . . εἶναι —Athens had at least one φρούριον at Salamis, and a few ships there maintained a not very efficient blockade of the port of Megara.
τούς τε Πελοποννησίους —parallel to τοῖς τε Μεγαρεῦσιν . . ἐσπλεῖν, and probably, like that clause, depending on τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις φυλακὴν εἶναι= τοὺς Ἀθηναίους φυλάσσεσθαι. This κατὰ σύνεσιν constr. cannot be paralleled in prose, but it would be ordinary in tragedy: see Jebb on Soph. Antig. 216 . Thus τοὺς Π. is the anticipatory accus., for ὅπως οἰ Πελοποννήσιοι κτλ.: the differing constr., first ὅπως, then infin., after a single verb, is not unusual. (Several emendations have been proposed, of which πρός τε Πελ., depending on φυλακὴν εἶναι and τούς τε Πελ. σκοπῶν are worth notice.)
μὴ ποιῶνται . . αὐτόθεν —viz. from Nisaea, the harbour of Megara. The allusion in αὐτόθεν is not quite the same as in the previous case.
τὸ πρὶν γενόμενον —‘the previous incident’ occurred in the autumn of 429 B.C. The Pel. intended to surprise the Piraeus, but contented themselves with a descent on Salamis, which caused great alarm at Athens, and led at once to measures for the protection of the Athenian harbours ( II. 93 ).
ἑλὼν οὖν . . προύχοντε —when, as in the case of Megara ( I. 103 ), a city had long walls running down to its harbour, it was usual to prolong the walls aeross the mouth, and to leave only a small passage between two towers, forming what was called a κλῃστὸς λιμήν. ἀπὸ τῆς Νισαίας προύχοντε are to be taken together. The order is unusual, but (1) ἀπὸ τῆς N. gains prominence by its position (cf. Jebb on Soph. Antig. 325 ), (2) it is certainly not stranger than II. 7 πρὸς ταῖς αὐτοῦ ὑπαρχούσαις ἐξ Ἰταλίας καὶ Σικελίας τοῖς τἀκείνων ἑλομένοις, where ἐξ . . Σικελίας goes with ἑλομένοις. (If taken with ἑλών, ἀπὸ τῆς N. is rendered either ( a) ‘on the side toward N.,’ or ( b) ‘on the side away from N.’ But (1) in either case δύο πύργω then raises a difficulty, because they are then both on the island, and above, it was one tower: (2) neither meaning has really been proved possible: in the passages quoted for ( b) ἀπό=‘at a distance from’ with a verb of rest. If not taken with προύχοντε, ἀπὸ τῆς N. would naturally=‘starting from N.,’ with N. for a base; (3) with ( a) it is impossible to explain καὶ τὸ ἐκ τῆς ἠπείρου, which must denote a different place from ἀπὸ τῆς N.)
ἐς τὸ μεταξὺ τῆς νήσου —supply καὶ τῆς ἠπείρου, as in Dem. de Cor. 26 τὸν μεταξὺ χρόνεν τῶν ὅρκων, ‘the interval between (that time, and) the oaths,’ Aristoph. Av. 187 ἐν μέσῳ δήπουθεν ἀήρ ἐστι γῆς, and often. Sometimes the other limit is expressed. (It might mean ‘to the part of the island lving between,’ as Isocr. IV. 70 ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ τῆς χώρας, but on the whole this seems less likely.)
ἀπετείχιζε καὶ τὸ ἐκ τῆς ἠ. —‘he proceeded to build a wall on the side facing the mainland as well,’ apparently at the island end of the bridge. The καί refers to πρῶτον.
καὶ ἐν τῇ νήσῳ τεῖχος —the καί refers to ἀπετείχιζε τὸ ἐκ τῆς ἠπείρου. (We cannot be confident about the interpretation of these operations at Mmoa, because (1) the account— as is often the case with Thuc. when he writes of topographical details—is not clear, and (2) the coastline has changed, and there is no longer an island at all.)
πολιορκεῖσθαι —‘endure the siege,’ a use of the inf. frequent with ἀδικεῖσθαι, and found occasionally both in Greek and Latin.
εὶρημένον γὰρ ἦν —sc. βίᾳ μὴ ἑλεῖν. But this is just what the Pel. had tried to do in 429 B.C.: their views had changed.
ὅσα πολέμῳ χωρία ἔχουσιν —the original intention of Sparta had been to destroy the Athenian empire: since the failure at Lesbos they expect much less. That failure had evidently strengthened the peace party at Sparta.
λέγοντα —as in VII. 3; contrast II. 85 πέμπουσι ξυμβούλους κελεύοντες.
εἰ βούλονται . . οὐδένα —in this perplexing sentence, it is best (1) to make παραδοῦναι and χρήσασθαι depend on βούλονται: (2) to make τους τε . . οὐδένα the apodosis to this protasis. Then (1) τε . . δέ eorrespond ( I. 11, 1, 25, 3, VI. 83, 1, VII. 81, 3, and in other authors not very seldom); (2) κολάζειν=‘they are ready to punish,’ unless we accept the conjeeture κολάσειν. For the outline of the syntax cf. VII. 3 προπέμπει . . λέγοντα, εἰ βούλονται ἐξιέναι . . ἑτοῖμος εἶναι σπένδεσθαι. (It is impossible to render εἰ ‘whether,’ as though λέγοντα were ἐρωτῶντα.)
ἐν ὅσῳ —cf. c. 28, 1.
ἀγαθόν τι —the second τι is not impossible, but, in view of 53, 2, 68, 1, it is improbable.
προτάξαντες σφῶν αὐτῶν is generally rendered ‘having appointed as their advocates,’ but, in view of VI. 100 τριακοσίους σφῶν αύτῶν . . προύταξαν (cf. c. 112 below), Hude is probably right in taking the gen. as partitive.
Αἰειμνήστου —a eelebrated man, who had commanded the Plataeans at Marathon and Plataea.
πιστεύσαντες . . οἰόμενοι . . καὶ . . δεξάμενοι . .
ἡγούμενοι —this series of partieiples is perplexing, and their relation depends on whether (1) the sentence is meant to be antithetic, so that πιστεύσαντες καὶ δεξάμενοι form a pair, and οἰόμενοι and ἡγούμενοι stand in causal relation to these respectively; or (2) οἰόμενοι καὶ ἡγούμενοι give the two grounds of πιστεύσαντες, and ἐν (with the MSS.) ἄλλοις δεξάμενοι is subord. —either conditional or causal—to ἡγούμενοι: or (3) the sentence is developed as it proceeds, so that ( a) οἰόμενοι καὶ δεξάμενοι—with either ἐν or ἂν ἄλλοις—give the cause of ἐποιησάμεθα, and ἡγούμενοι gives the cause of δεξάμενοι: or (4) with δεξάμενοι subord. to ἡγούμενοι, πιστεύσαντες is similarly subord. of condition to οἰόμενοι. I decidedly prefer (3), because it gives a form of sentence to which Thuc. is certainly partial (Hache, de Partic. Thucyd. ii.); the main verb is followed by a partic.—here οἰόμενοι καὶ δεξάμενοι—that gives the cause; then this partic. itself develops another causal to itself; cf., for instance, c. 110 ἀγγέλλεται τοὺς Ἀμπρακιώτας ἐπιβοηθεῖν, βουλομένους . . ξυμμεῖξαι, εἰδότας οὐδέν. The order of πιστεύσαντες tells against (1) and (4), and (2) is very artificial. The incoherence of § 1 is doubtless intentional, as in the case of the opening of Soph. Antig.
ἐν δικασταῖς οὐκ ἂν ἄλλοις δεξάμενοι —the MSS. have ἐν άλλοις, and for the repetition of the prep. in apposition VI. 68 ἦλθον ἐπὶ τὴν μητρόπολιν ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς is quoted. But (1) in that passage and others like it, such as Lysias VI. 14 ἐν Ἀρείῳ πάγῳ, ἐν τῷ σεμνοτάτῳ δικαστηρίῳ, we have a second noun added to explain the first (cf. Jebb on Soph. Trach. 695 ): this is not so with ἐν ἄλλοις here (so Kruger). (2) Taking constr. (3) as explained in the last note, ἂν δεξάμενοι, ‘would have consented to appear before no other judges,’ gives a better sense than δεξάμενοι.
ὥσπερ καὶ ἐσμέν —‘as we are actually doing.’
ἡμαρτήκαμεν —the subj. perf., of what may turn out afterwards to have been the case, might have been used.
λόγον —i.e. μακρότερα εἰπεῖν, c. 52, 5.
τό τε ἐπερώτημα βραχὺ ὄν —accus. abs. co-ordinated with the preceding gen. abs, both expressing cause.
τὰ μὲν ἀληθῆ is obj. of ἀποκρίνασθαι; the infin. clause is subj. to γίγνεται. Hence
ἐναντία sc. ήμῖν, is for ἐναντίον, which is awkward after τὰ άληθῆ: some think ἐναντίον should be read. (The other view, that ἀποκρίνασθαι is epexegetic, ἀληθὴς ἀποκρίνασθαι, is most improbable, and ᾧ is then grammatically impossible.)
τὰ δὲ ψευδῆ —sc. ἀποκρίνασθαι.
ἔλεγχον ἔχει —‘can be confuted.’
εἰπόντας τι κινδυνεύειν —‘to say something and take our chance’=here ‘to say something if we must risk our lives’; the emphasis, as often in Gk. and Lat., on the partic., as in I. 20 βουλόμενοι δράσαντές τι καὶ (‘then’) κινδυνεῦσαι, Soph. OC. 1038 χωρῶν ἀπείλει ‘threaten, but go,’ Trach. 592 εἰδέναι χρὴ δρῶσαν ‘you must act, if you would know.’
ὁ μὴ ῥηθεὶς λόγος = τὸ τὸν λόγον μὴ ῥηθῆναι, a frequent constr. in Greek and Silver Latin; cf. c. 66, 3, Demosth. Olynth. III. 34 οἴκοι μἐνων βελτίων= τὸ μἐνειν αὐτὸν βέλτιόν ἐστι. See also c. 66, 3. The neg. in the phrase is regularly μή, whether the partic. is in attributive, or—as much oftener —in predicative position.
αἰτίαν —‘grievance,’ meaning probably ‘self-reproach,’ as in I. 140.
ἀγνῶτες . . ἐπεσενεγκάμενοι —the subject contracts, being first both parties, but then the Plataeans only: this freedom is characteristic of Thuc.
πρὸς εἰδότας πάντα λελέξεται —‘you know all that can be said.’
ἡμῶν with προκαταγνόντες as well as ἀρετάς, ‘having formed the prejudice against us, that our merits’; cf. c. 45, 1.
αὐτό —viz. τὸ ἥσσους εἶναι κτλ.
ἄλλοις χάριν φέροντες —‘gratifying others,’ viz. the Thebans. The subject of φέροντες would more naturally be the Lacedaemonians: if the text is sound— φερόντων has been conjectured—we recall the principle qui facit per alium facit per se.
δίκαια —cf. c. 44, 4.
πρὸς . . ἐς —no difference of meaning.
Θηβαίων = πρὸς τοὺς Θηβαίους.
φίλους νομίζοντας = εἰ φίλους νομίζετε ( ἡμᾶς).
τὰ δ’ ἐν τῇ εἰρήνῃ —adverbial. The art. covers πρός.
καὶ γάρ —(1) this could be taken together,= etenim, or (2) a correlative for καί could be sought in what follows, or (3) καί could be supposed to emphasize the concessive force of ἠπειρῶται ὄντες: most probably (1) is right, though some deny this use for Thuc.
μάχῃ —temporal, without ἐν; this dat. is used several times by Thuc. The Plataeans were always proud of the fact that the battle had been fought on their soil.
καὶ ὑμῖν . . ἰδίᾳ —as distinct from their services to the common cause.
ὅτεπερ δή —‘at the very time when,’ in 464 B.C.
τῶν . . ἀποστάντων depends on φόβος. For the position of the attrib. partic., not rare in Thuc. when other qualifying words are added, cf. II. 18 ἡ ἐν Ἰσθμῷ ἐπιμόνη γενομἐνη, c. 67, 3.
δεομένων γὰρ ξυμμαχίας —in 519 or 509 B.C. (see on c. 68, 5) Plataea, πιεζεύμενοι ὑπὸ Θηβαίων (Herod. VI. 108 ), applied to king Cleomenes to be admitted to alliance with Sparta.—Note (1) absence of noun with δεομένων, see c. 34, 3 n.: (2) gen. abs. though ἀπεώσασθε follows, a common sacrifice of form to sense in Herod. and Thuc.; for this variety cf. II. 5 ἀναχωρησάντων δὲ πάλιν (sc. αὐτῶν) ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀποδώσειν αὐτοῖς.
ἀποικούντων —for the case here cf. II. 8 ἐς τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους, ἄλλως τε καὶ προειπόντων .
ἐν . . τῷ πολέμῳ —viz. ‘this war,’ as often in Thuc.
ὑμῶν κελευσάντων —this occurred in 429 B.C, when the Peloponnesians marched against Plataea. The demand was that Plataea should either join the Lacedaemonian alliance or remain neutral.
εὖ παθών —what services Plataea had received from Athens before she ‘won the alliance’ of 519 (or 509) B.C. is not known.
τις of course, means the Plataeans.
πολιτείας μετέλαβεν —this passage and c. 63 clearly imply that Athenian citizenship in some form was granted to Plataeans settling at Athens since the original alliance; and Isocr. Piat. 51, Pan. 49, Lysias XX III. 2, and [Dem.] c. Neaer. do not make this assumption impossible. But in II. Thuc. speaks only of a ξυμμαχία between Plataea and Athens, and possibly Thuc. here anticipates. It is certain that citizenship was conferred on the Plataean refugees after the destruction of Plataea. For the ὧν omitted see c. 51, 1 n.
πολλὰ μὲν . . ἠδίκησαν, τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον . .
ξύνιστε —the form of the sentence shows that Θηβαῖοι is purposely placed in a prominent place; cf. what the Plataeans say at II. 71 μετὰ Θηβαίων τῶν ἡμῖν ἐχθίστων ἐπὶ δουλείᾳ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ἥκετε.
καταλαμβάνοντας —conative.
ἱερομηνίᾳ —the attack occurred τελευτῶντος τοῦ μηνός ( II. 2), but whether the holiday was connected with the new moon is unknown. The attempt was made at about ten o'clock ( περὶ πρῶτον ὕπνον) on the night, probably, of April 4, 431.
εἰ γάρ —‘if you are going to base your estimate of Justice on your present interest (which is, to favour Thebes) and their hostility.’ The repetition of the art. before ἐκείνων would be more usual; but it is not necessary. The position of τε is defended by the contrast between ὑμῶν and ἐκείνων. λαμβάνειν is here ‘to feel about’ a thing. (Stahl and Classen agree in this explanation, which is no doubt correct) For λαμβάνειν, ‘to feel about’ in a certain manner, cf. δῑ οἴκτου λ. ( Eur. Suppl. 194 ), and c. 59, 1.
ἠμεῖς —sc. ἦμεν, as the sense shows.
μείζονι —viz. than you now are, from the Athenians.
ἐν καιροῖς οἷς —i.e. ἐν οἷς, according to a common idiom, e.g. Dem. XIX. 342 ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ( ἐφ’) ἦσπερ νῦν ἐξουσίας . . μενεῖ. To ἐν καιροῖς, as to μείζω, the partic. must be supplied; cf. c. 30, 1: contrast c. 47, 5.
μᾶλλον —i.e. than now when their services are forgotten.
τὰ ξύμφορα . . αὑτοῖς —(‘arrange terms) which were to their own advantage in view of the invasion.’ πρὸς τὴν ἔ. belongs to ξύμφορα rather than to πράσσοντες: cf. II. 3 ῃ ἕκαστον ἐφαίνετο πρὸς τὰ παρόντα ξύμφορον ἔσεσθαι.
ἀσφαλείᾳ —‘securely,’ as in c. 82 ἀσφαλείᾳ δὲ τὸ ἐπιβουλεύεσθαι, ‘to make plans in security,’ Soph. OT. 51 ἀλλ’ ἀσφαλείᾳ τήνδ’ ἀνόρθωσον πόλιν.
ὧν —partitive.
ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς —i.e. because we have again chosen τὸ ἀγαθόν (cf. δικαίως presently) rather than τὸ ἀσφαλές (cf. κερδαλἐως).
τῶν ξυμμάχων τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς —lit. ‘when, while feeling ( ἔχουσι with ὑμῖν) lasting gratitude towards brave allies, what is perhaps ( που) your interest at the moment is also secured.’ The chief emphasis is, of course, on the participial phrase, which states the permanent condition or test of the righteousness of pursuing one's own interest. (The conjecture ἔχουσι for MSS. ἔχωσι, which cannot be satisfactorily explained, seems certain. For the dat. τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς depending on a dat. ἔχουσι cf. [Xen.] de Rep. Ath. 1 6 τοῖς ὁμοίοις σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἦν ἀγαθά ‘for those like theniselves.’ It is impossible to find a subject for ἔχωσι, and Mr. Spratt's rendering of τὴν χάριν ἔχωσι ‘command a recognition’ is incorrect. That this passage, however, is completely restored by reading ἔχουσι, it would be rash to assume.)
προσκέψασθε —as προ‐σκοπεῖν always implies a look into the future, there is much to be said for the conjecture προς‐σκέψασθε ‘consider besides’ here, for advice to consider the future has already been given in the preceding chapter. But as the Spartan reputation for ἀνδραγαθία was based on the venerated institutions of Lycurgus, they might be supposed to be specially sensitive about the future of that. 2
ἀνδραγαθίας —a merit for which Dorians especially valued themselves: here and at c. 64, 1 “the point is the special Dorian claim to an aristocratic strain of feeling and conduct” (Neil: see above on c. 40, 4). Perhaps ‘good breeding.’
μὴ τὰ εἰκότα —a neg. is not seldom placed before the article or preposition ( οὐκ ἐν ὀλίγῳ).
ἐπαινούμενοι —viz. as models of ἀνδραγαθία.
οὐδ’ —‘no more than you.’
ἐπιγνῶναι —after γνώσεσθε above, the ἐπι‐ can scarcely have its usual force, ‘to decide further’: the sense is probably merely ‘to arrive at a decision.’
τοὺς μὲν πατέρας . . ὑμᾶς δέ —‘if you, whose fathers . . ,’ the first clause being subord. to the second. Generally δεινόν is followed by εἰ in such cases.
τὸν τρίποδα —i.e. on the bronze pedestal of three intertwined serpents that supported the gold tripod set up at Delphi from the tithe of the Persian spoils dedicated to the Pythian god. It stood close to the altar before the temple. The pedestal was taken by Constantine to Byzantium, and still exists, with the names of the states inscribed on the lower part of the spiral. The tripod was appropriated by the Phocians. (Herod. IX. 81, with Stein's notes.)
πανοικεσίᾳ —after πόλιν and Πλάταιαν this means (as Steup points out) ‘with all its houses,’ not ‘household and all’ as in II. 16.
τοῦτο —referring to what precedes.
ἀπωλλύμεθα —Plataea was burnt by Xerxes. The rendering ‘we were all but destroyed’ is borne out by other passages; e.g. Andoc. de Myst. § 41.
ἐν —as in κρίνεσθαι έν
ἀγῶνας —‘hazards.’
τότε —referring to the siege of Plataea, τότε being frequently used of a well-known occasion.
περιεώσμεθα ‘we are outcasts.’
ράντων is probably masc.; cf. ἐκ παντὸς τοῦ ’Ελληνικοῦ above.
ἀτιμώρητοι —‘unsuccoured.’
βέβαιοι —‘faithful.’
ξυμμαχικῶν —i.e. the gods by whom the oath to be true to the alliance was taken.
τήν τε δωρεὰν . . πρέπει —‘and (we call on you) to ask in your turn the favour of them—that you do not kill men whom it disgraces you to kill.’ ἀντ‐απαιτῆ?σαι means, in answer to the favour they have asked of you—viz. κτείνειν ἡμᾶς. To this explanation rather than ‘in return for our services,’ εἴ τι ἐπείσθητε and ἀντὶ αἰσχρᾶς ( χάριτος) point, and this is the natural force of ἀντι‐, as in δρῶν ἀντιπάσχω χρηστά, and so on; cf. ἀντιλαβεῖν presently. The subj. of ἀνταπαιτῆσαι is ὑμᾶς, and αὐτούς means the Thebans. The μή after οὕς is because the rel. clause is subord. to an infin. In this series of four co-ordinate infin. clauses, the second and third have τε, the fourth has καί .
σὠφρονα —from us, in contrast with
αἰσχρᾶς from them.
κακίαν —‘ill-fame,’ character of κακοί, as e.g. in Soph. Ant. 924 quoted on c. 82, 8
κατ’ ἀνάγκην —as explained in c. 55, 1.
ὥστε καὶ . . ποιοῦντες . . καὶ προνοοῦντες —this is not clearly expressed, for the first participial clause states what follows from the previous sentence; but καὶ προνοοῦντες κτλ. contains a new point ( ἑκόντας . . προισχομένους), and should scarcely have been co-ordinated with ἄδειαν ποιοῦντες.
ποιοῦντες —supply ἡμῖν: it is not clear whether ἡμῶν is similarly to be supplied to προνοοῦντες .
νόμος the unwritten law; cf. cc. 66, 67. Prisoners who had not surrendered voluntarily were often killed. Appeals to the νόμος ἄγραφος, πάτριος νόμος, νόμιμα πάσης Ἐλλάδος are very frequent; and of course the Antigone is full of the άγραπτα κἀσφαλῆ θεῶν νόμιμα. In Xen. Mem. IV. 4, 19 Hippias defines the ἄγραφοι νόμοι as οἱ ἐν πάσῃ χώρᾳ κατὰ ταὐτὰ νομιζόμενοι.
ἐσθήμασι —robes burned as offerings, probably, and not worn by the officials. The plur., joined with νομίμοις and ἀπαρχάς in this connexion, is surely mentioned as part of the ἐναγίσματα. Plutarch in Aristides 21, giving an account of the ceremony as performed in his day, makes no mention of robes among the offerings; but the details may well have been modified by his time. On the contrary, he does say that the Provost wore a purple coat and carried a sword; but the present passage does not lead like a ref. to that. That clothes were burnt as offerings to the dead is well known, e.g. Eur. Hec. 573 .
ἐπιφέροντες —specially used of offerings to the dead; II. 34.
ξύμμαχοι . . γενομένοις —the object of the speaker is to emphasize the lasting effect of the old alliance and to say nothing of the alliance with Athens.
ὁμαίχμοις is an oldfashioned word, perhaps intended to recall the old times.
αὐθένταις —as having sided with the Persians. Another old-fashioned word.
ἱερά τε . . ἀφαιρήσεσθε —there are three difficulties here:—(1) ἐρημοῦτε, present, among a series of futures. This can hardly be defended by passages in which a single pres, and fut. are combined, such as II. 44 οὐκ ὀλοφύρομαι μᾶλλον ἢ παραμυθήσομαι. StahI reads ἐρημοῦντες after Goller; Steup proposes to leave the word out If sound we must render ‘you are making desolate.’ (2) What is the constr. of τῶν . . κτισάντων? The natural answer is that it depends on ἀφαιρήσεσθε (‘you will take from’), not on θυσίας. The objection, that the Plataeans will ex hypothesi be dead, is hardly serious, for τῶν . . κτισάντων includes the whole Plataean people of whom no small part was safe at Athens. Neither is there any need to render ἀφαιρήσεσθε ‘you will deprive,’ a sense that ἀφαιροῦμαι no where has when the object is inanimate. (3) Is ἱερά or θυσίας the object of τῶν . . κτισάντων? My reason for preferring θυσίας is that θυσίας τὰς πατρίους must refer to commemorative sacrifices to the gods founded after the victory of Plataea: otherwise the Lac. could have no interest in them, and the speaker could not seek to influence them by such an argument. These sacrifices are to the gods, and they were offered on behalf of Greece— ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἑλλάδος (Plut. Arist. 20, 21): hence the last sentence duly accords with ἠλευθερώθησαν οἱ Ἕλληνες and ἐκράτησαν ( οὶ *))ελληνες). (The νόμιμα τῶν Ἑλλήνων are not in question here.)
ἑσσαμένων —this archaic form in place of ἑσαμένων has by far the best MS. authority, and perhaps is meant to accord with ὁμαίχμοις and αὐθένταις.
τάδε —the conduct deprecated in the last c., which conduct is now summarized in οὔτε . . οὔτε.
οἴκτῳ σώφρονι λαβόντας —‘regarding (the case) with prudent compassion.’ The point of σώφρονι is given in ἀλλ’ . . ξυμπέσοι. The obj. of λαμβάνειν in this sense is omitted also in VI. 61.
ὡς . . ξυμπέσοι —the subj. of ξυμπέσοι—τὸ τῆς ξ.—is anticipated.
πρέπον —sc. ἐστί .
ὁμοβωμίους ; not found elsewhere; ‘having the same altars’ may mean either ‘worshipped at the same altar,’ of several gods worshipped together, or ‘having like altars’ throughout Greece; hardly ‘whose altars are common to all worshippers.’ The second suits the context best.
θ’ —this is a necessary addition, as the passage cannot make a fresh start at προφερόμενοι.
μὴ ἀμνημονεῖν —Cobet pronounced these words spurious: the only constr. they can fairly bear is with προφερόμενοι ὅρκους, but, as ἡμεῖς is the subj. of the other infins., this is awkward. ( ὤμοσαν would require fut. or aor. infin.: order and the addition of τῶν π. τάφων are against ἱκέται γιγνόμεθα.) τῶν π. τάφων is rendcred ‘by . . tombs,’ but the gen. can hardly be so understood with ἱκέται, on which it directly depends.
ὑμῶν —emphatic.
τοῖς ἐχθίστοις —sc. to your dead (not to us). “The dead are implored to prevent the Pl., their best friends, being surrendered to the Theb., their worst enemies” (Widmann). ᾗ . . ἐν τῇδε—ἐν should not be made to apply to ᾗ, as this kind of idiom ( Aesch. Sept. 1032 μητρὸς ταλαίνης κἀπὸ δυστήνου πατρός) is confined to poetry (Wilamowitz on Eur. HF. 237 ).
πράξαντες . . κινδυνεύομεν —a compressed form of ἐπράξαμεν, νῦν δέ κτλ. For νῦν we might have expected the εἶτα of inconsistency.
ὅπερ δέ —the rel. clause qualifies παυόμενοι, for which we might have had ποιοῦντες.
λόγου τελευτᾶν —epexegetic of ὅπερ. The gen. with τελευτᾶν again in c. 104. If you ‘ begin’ with a gen., you may naturally ‘ end’ with one.
μετ’ αὐτοῦ —viz. τοῦ τελευτᾶν.
ἐς τὰ αὐτὰ καταστήσαντας —i.e. as we were before we capitulated.
τὸν ξυντυχόντα —‘any that comes’; cf. ό τυχών.
ἱκέται ὄντες —‘as suppliants.’ The likeness of this peroration to the poignant appeals in Euripides should be noticed.
καὶ αὐτοί —‘they on their part’; I. 51, Xen. Hell. VII. 1, 7.
τὸ ἐρωτηθέν —cf. Xen. Mem. IV. 2, 23 τὸ ἐρωτώμενον ἀποκρίνεσθαι.
οὐδὲ ᾐτιαμένων —best taken as agreeing with αὑτῶν, ‘and moreover when they have not even been accused.’ The alternative, neut. depending on ἀπολογίαν, ‘of conduct that was far from being made a charge against them,’ produces tautology with ὧν οὐδεὶς έμέμψατο. καὶ ἅμα adds something of special importance, often in Thuc.; Xen. Cyr. I. 4, 25 καὶ διὰ τὸ φιλεῖν αὐτὸν καὶ ἄμα ἐλπίδας ἔχων.
πρὸς μὲν τά —cf. c. 82 ἐπἱ δὲ τῷ. This is the ordinary order when a prep. occurs with ὁ μέν or ὁ δέ, e.g. Isocr. II. 18 ἵνα τὰς μὲν φεύγωσι, πρὸς δὲ τὰς προθυμότερον ἔχωσιν.
κακία referring to the κατηγορία, δόξα to the ἀπολογία καὶ ἔπαινος of the Plat.: not ironical, as the schol., but the use noticed above, c. 58, 1.
τούτων is masc.; cf. ἡμετέρα and οὗτοι below.
ἡμῶν —the Boeotian migration from Thessaly.
ξυμμείκτους —Pelasgians, Thracians, Hyantians (Strabo).
ἡγεμονεύεσθαι —i.e. to acknowledge the ἡγεμονία of Thebes in Boeotia.
προσηναγκάζοντο —an attempt to make them observe τὰ πάτρια. See c. 65, 2.
οὐ belongs to μηδίσαι.
Ἀθηναίους —attraction to case of αὐτούς.
ἰδέᾳ —‘method.’
καίτοι . . εἴδει —‘you must surely consider the conditions under which.’
ἐτύγχανεν . . πολιτεύουσα —‘was in point of fact’: τυγχάνω, as often, not of a mere accident, but of the true state of things, as distinct from what might appear to be.
ἰσόνομον —where all the nobles are equal, and their rights are fixed by laws. But in a δυναστεία the few rulers are a law to themselves.
τῷ σωφρονεστάτῳ —‘the best order,’ i.e. an aristocracy or moderate democracy. No doubt this is said with reference to the constitution of Thebes, as existing in 427 B.C., with its two Boeotarchs and four assemblies confined to τοῖς κεκτημένοις πλῆθός τι χρημἀτων, as Theopompus or Cratippus says. (Several conjj. have been made on this unusual expression, e.g. τῷ σώφρονι πἀντων Herw.: τῷ σωφρονεστέρῳ Hude.)
τυράννου —for τυραννίδος: so δῆμος for δημοκρατία.
οὗτοι . . σχήσειν —‘these in the hope of winning power for themselves in yet greater degree.’
καὶ . . ἔπραξεν —‘so the city as a whole could not control her actions when she acted so, and it is not fair to blame her, for any crrors she fell into when she had no constitution.’
γοῦν —‘thus for example’; illustrative of the previous statement.
ἐπιόντων τήν τε ἄλλην Ἑλλάδα καὶ . . πειρωμένων —as τε cannot mean ‘and’ here, but must be correlative to καί, it is clear that ἐπιόντων governs τὴν . . Ἑλλάδα, and that the introduction of πειρωμένων changes the constr.; cf. cc. 67, 6, 94, 3 (so Steup).
ἐχόντων —after the battle of Oenophyta, 458 B.C. The battle of Coronea in 446 forced the A. to abandon Boeotia.
πάσης —‘any,’ inclusive, a common use of πᾶς and its derivative adverbs.
ἡμετέρᾳ —objective; II. 42 τὴν τῶν ἐναντίων τιμωρίαν .
τὰ πρὸς ἡμᾶς —adverbial, ἵνα ἡμᾶς τιμωροῖσθε.
ὑπάρχον —sc. μὴ ξυνεπιέναι. γε gives a causal sense to a partic.
προβάλλεσθε —as a defence; cf. I. 37 τὸ εὐπρεπὲς ἄσπονδον προβέβληνται.
γε —not a common use of γε, where it serves to connect, and at the same time throws feeling into the sentence: ‘Ah, yes.’
παρέχειν —sc. ὐμῖν.
δέ γε or δὲ . . γε is used to cap a previous statement or, while accepting it, to bring in a consideration on the other side; it is common in retort (Neil).
κατα‐προδοῦναι —‘ utterly to betray’; so prob. in καταδουλουμένους .
τοῖς δέ = ἐκείνοις δέ.
καίτοι . . ἀποδιδομένας —‘surely failure to return favours with like favours (cf. ἴσην above) is dishonourable; and not failure to return debts of gratitude that were justly incurred (cf. ὐμεῖς . . ἀδικούμενοι) but of which the payment leads to injustice’ (cf. τοῖς δὲ ἀδικοῦσιν). You should have waited till they were ἀδικούμενοι to return the service they had rendered to you.
ὅτι . . τἀναντία —‘because the A. did not either, and we did, from your wish’ etc. ἡμεῖς is much better than ὑμεῖς, giving antithesis to Ἀθηναῖοι, as in τοῖς μὲν . . τοῖς δέ: cf. c. 63, 3.
βουλόμενοι applies to the Plat.
ἀπὸ τούτων —emphatic resumption of the attracted rel.
ξυναγωνίζεσθε —‘continue their allies,’ in mockery.
Αἰγινήτας —Aegina was reduced in 457 B.C. to the status of a tributary ally.
ἄλλους τινάς —thought to be the Euboeans, who had fought at Plataea, and against whom Pericles may have employed the Plat. in 445 B.C.
διεκωλύετε —sc. ἄλλους καταδουλοῦσθαι.
περιτειχίζεσθαι —‘before the siege was begun.’
ἡμῶν —‘on our side.’ This demand had been made by K. Archidamus, but the Theb. adopt it.
τοῖς Ἕλλησι —the dat. of agent with other parts than perf. of pass. is not uncommon in Thuc.
ἀνδραγαθίαν —in remaining true to Athens.
οὐ . . ἐπεδείξατε —‘you have now shown not to belong to your nature.’ Thuc. does not use ἐπιδεικνύναι in this sense elsewhere, but other authors, e.g. the orators, do. It is prob. unnecessary to read ἀπεδείξατε or ὐπεδείξατε. Steup renders ‘you showed afterwards.’
ἐξηλέγχθη ἐς τὸ ἀληθές —‘has been conclusively demonstrated.’
ἀδικοῦμεν —‘are guilty,’ as often.
κοινά —‘common to.’ Plataea had remained outside the Boeotian league as reconstituted in 446 B.C., and of course had no representatives in the General Assembly of the league which met at Thebes.
καταστῆσαι —‘bring you into line with.’
πλείω παραβαλλόμενοι —they were οὐ τῶν ἀδυνατωτάτων ( II. 3 ); cf. § 2. For the verb cf. c. 14, 1.
φιλίως, οὐ πολεμίως κομίσαντες —cf. the αὐτοί and πολέμιοι of § 2, and c. 66 οὐ πολεμίως ἐπράσσομεν which show that the adverbs cannot apply merely to the Plat. and mean ‘with friendly, and not hostile intent to their fellow-citizens’; but must refer to the Theb. For this reason, and because κομίσαντες lacks an obj., Steup reads φιλίους and πολεμίους. But ‘in a friendly manner’ implies here ‘us as friends of Plataea,’ and κομίζειν is used like δέχεσθαι. It is not necessary to have an obj. expressed; cf. ἐπεκαλέσαντο above. The rest of the sentence shows that there is an intentional vagueness in the terms chosen: it was ‘a friendly transaction.’
ὑμῶν —partitive, in unusual position; cf. c. 22, 5. μηκέτι μᾶλλον γενέσθαι—χείρους and ἀμείνους have a political meaning here, and are scarcely felt as comparatives: hence μᾶλλον is natural; ‘should henceforth not get more so.’
σωφρονισταὶ . . οἰκειοῦντες —adopting Weil's view that γνώμης and σωμἀτων must be under the same governance, and that there must he a real antithesis between ἁλλοτριοῦντες and οἰκειοῦντες, tr. ‘seeking to regulate opinion and persons, not alienating their city (handing it over to strangers), but bringing it home to the union of their kinsmen’ (the Boeotian confederacy). It is usual to take τῶν σωμἀτων with τὴν πόλιν, ‘not depriving the city of your persons’: this is very strange for τὰ σώματα τῆς πόλεως ἀλλοτριοῦντες. σωφρονισταί of the party opposed to extreme democracy; cf. c. 82, 8. (For the antithesis of σῶμα and γνώμη, Andoc. de Red. 24.)
ἐχθροὺς . . ἐνσπόνδους —“sc. ὑμᾶς; not breaking your peaceful relations with any state, e.g. Athens, but putting you in them on a footing with every other state, i.e. Thebes. Plataea was still, as they sophistically say, to enjoy the σπονδαί, but not on conditions peculiar to herself. ἅπασι depends on ὁμοίως” (Prof. Lamberton).
προείπομέν τε —the account corresponds very closely with the narrative of the attempt on Plataca in II. 2 f.
πλήθους —often used of the majority.
μήτε . . ἐξελθεῖν —explaining τὰ ὁμοῖα.
οὓς μὲν . . ἀλγοῦμεν —the sentence takes an unexpected turn: instead of τοὺς μὲν ἀπεκτείνατε we get a comment on that action. The rel. in each case is causal, = ὅτι τοὺς μέν: cf. I. 68 τί δεῖ μακρηγορεῖν, ὧν (= ἐπεὶ ἡμῶν) τοὺς μὲν . . , IV. 26 ἀθυμίαν δὲ πλείστην ὁ χρόνος παρεῖχε, οὓς (= ὅτι αὐτοὐς) ᾤοντο ἐκπολιορκήσειν.
παρανόμως —see c. 58, 3.
κἀνταῦθα —this emendation of καὶ ταῦτα seems necessary, since ταῦτα τρεῖς ἀδικίας for ‘these as three wrongs’ is unexanipled.
λυθεῖσαν —for the constr. see on c. 53, 3.
κτείνειν —the pres. depends on the subst.: but the verb ( ὑπισχνοῦμαι) always has the fut. αὐτῶν—αὐτά referring to what has been mentioned, as often.
ἡμεῖς δέ —to supply εἰδῶμεν is grammatically necessary; ‘that we may know after your condemnation that we have yet more rightly taken vengeance on them.’ To ἔτι ὁσιώτερον we must surely supply ὐμῶν: you will act justly: we shall have acted yet more equitably We are the parties chiefly aggrieved. But it is said (already by Bloomfield) that for εἰδῶμεν we need ‘feel’ or ‘appear,’ since the Theb. do not discover anything from their own speech: hence 1. φανῆτε for εἰδῆτε Rauchenstein; or 2. take εἰδῆτε as a zeugma; or 3. read ἠμᾶς . . τετιμωρημένους Kr. But notice (1) the speech would lead to condemnation by the judges; (2) the condemnation would show the Theb. that their action had been justified. The only alternative, I think, is to supply ὦμεν, and to assume an assimilation of finite verb to the previous partic. clause, as Hude, who compares Xen. Mem. II. 3, 17.
ἀκούοντες —‘by the account of.’ ἀκούων, like κλύων, is often used where we expect an aor. partic.
διπλασίας ζημίας —the influence of the rel. does not extend to this clause.
οὐκ ἐκ προσηκόντων —i.e. contrary to what was to be expected of them.
ὧν —see on c. 2, 1 l. 3.
οἱ δὲ . . λελειμμένοι —‘others left behind in old age and their homes desolate.’ The emendation κατ· οἰκίας or καὶ αἱ οἰκίαι, is necessary. The latter is better, because οἰκίαι ἐρῆμοι should certainly be co-ordinate with οὶ δέ, so as to correspond with τὴν σφετἐραν ἐρημίαν.
τὰ ἐναντία —adverbial.
ἐπίχαρτοι —sc. ἄξιοί είσι.
δίκη κρίναντες together correspond to υίσει.
οὐκ ἀνταποδόντες —i.e. they will not have done so, because the penalty will be ἔννομα: whereas our suffering was ἄνομα (§ 6; cf. παρενόμησαν); the aor. partic. alluding to fut. perf. time as if the main verb were fut., cf. ἐκστρατευσἀμενοι c. 102. (Various changes have been proposed: (1) to alter ἀνταποδόντες to fut., pres., or ἂν άνταποδόντες, or to read ἀνταποδόντες ἐς νῦν: (2) or, keeping ἀνταποδόντες, to start a new sentence at καὶ οὐκ, placing ἔννομα γἀρ in parenthesis. It does not seem possible to separate the latter from πείσονται. It is best to suppose a slight break after κρίναντες, as though the rest were an afterthought.)
καὶ ἡμῖν —instead of a second obj. corresponding to καὶ τῷ νόμῳ, a new verb follows: cf. c. 71, 1.
ὧν πρόθυμοι γ. —see § 3.
τοῖς λόγοις —dat. of cause.
ὧν . . ὄντων depends on ἀπαγγελία.
ἔπεσι —‘fine phrases,’ = ῥήμασι.
κεφαλαιώσαντες —for the point see c. 52, 4.
πρὸς τοὺς ξύμπαντας —‘with referenee to all,’ i.e. (as Classen) ‘as a warning to all.’ A summary question followed by a decision will serve to check rhetorical defences. (Weil conjectures πρὸς τὸ ξύμπαν.)
ποιήσησθε —attraction to ὺμεῖς, as in I. 82 ὅσοι ὥσπερ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπιβουλευόμεθα.
εἰ . . πεπόνθασι is the ἐπερώτημα.
τὸν ἄλλον χρόνον —‘all along.’
δῆθεν —always ironical, signifying that this is not the true reason.
μετὰ τὸν Μῆδον —usually μετὰ τὰ Μηδικά.
καὶ (
ἠξίουν )
ὅτε . . οὐκ ἐδέξαντο —it is impossible to make grammar of the sentence with ὅτε . . ἃ . . ὡς in. Each word has been altered: the removal of ἃ seems most likely; ‘and particularly, when afterwards the offer that they made of remaining neutral according to that convention was refused.’
ἡγούμενοι —this gives the reason for νομιζοντες . . ἐδέξαντο.
τῇ . . βουλήσει —‘by their own just intention,’ i.e. they had tried their best to conform to the σπονδαί: it was the fault of the Plat. that the Lac. have fair grounds for regarding the σπονδαί at an end.
τὸ αὐτό —obj. of ἐρωτῶντες, so that παραγαγόντες καί breaks the constr.; cf. Soph Antig. 1279 τὰ δ’ ἐν δόμοις | ἔοικας ἤκειν καὶ τάχ’ ὄψεσθαι κακά, where τὰ δ’ ἐν δ. is governed by ὅψεσθαι.
ἠνδραπόδισαν —‘sold as slaves.’ From II. 78 we know that 110 women were among the besieged Plat. (all the others had found refuge at Athens) and that these were all slaves already.
Θηβαῖοι —removed by Classen, who maintained that the true subj. of ἔδοσαν is the Lac.; but cf. c. 58, 5 εί . . χώραν τὴν Πλαταιίδα Θηβαΐδα ποιήσετε. τὰ σφέτερα certainly seems to refer to the Thebans (cf. II. 2 ). (Herbst and Busolt defend the MS. reading.)
κατὰ στάσιν —the circumstances are unknown.
ἐκ τῶν θεμελίων —take with ᾠκοδόμησαν.
πρὸς τῷ Ἡραίῳ —the site of the Heraeum and remains of the νεὼς λίθινος have in all probability been discovered ( Am. J. of Archacol. 1891). It is likely that the temple previously existing was pulled down and replaced by the new one mentioned here.
καταγώγιον —for those who came to worship at the temple: otherwise they would have had no shelter after the destruction of the city.
πανταχῇ is put with διακοσίων ποδῶν (200 ft. square) by some edd., but more prob. belongs to κύκλῳ=‘all round,’ as in VII. 79.
οἰκήματα —for sleeping: they were in two stories.
τοῖς ἄλλοις —instrumental, with κατασκευάσαντες.
τείχει —i.e. inside the city. The sacred precinct lay ‘before the city’ (Herod. IX. 61).
καί —intensive.
ἄρτι τότε καθιστάμενον refers to the fall of Plat., not to the beginning of the siege. Cf. c. 3, 1.
τρίτῳ καὶ ἐνενηκοστῷ —519-427 B.C. But Grote showed that 509 B C. was the probable year of the alliance; hence it has been suggested that ἐνενηκοστῷ is due to an early error in an uncial MS., and that Thuc. wrote the uncial signs for ὀγδοηκοστῷ.
ἐπειδή —cf. I. 6 οὐ πολλα ἔτη ἐπειδὴ πέπαυται.
τότε —see c. 33, 1.
ἐκ τῶν )Αθηναίων —the other places in Thuc. in which ἐκ ‘on the part of,’ practically = ὐπό are I. 20, II. 49, V. 104, VI. 36. The use is Ionic; not found in ordinary Attic prose.
σποράδες —correl. with the preceding partic., as in c. 82, 1 οὐκ ἂν ἐχόντων πρόφασιν οὐδ’ ἑτοίμων παρακαλεῖν, but Classen points out that ἀπ’ αὐτῆς σπορἀδες goes more closely with κατηνέχθησαν, and regards καί before ἀπ’ as spurious.
Κυλλήνῃ —the port of the Eleans.
ξύμβουλον —because the ναύαρχος had shown his incompetence.
περὶ Ναύπακτον —see c. 7, 3.
πρὶν . . προφθάσωσι —the constr. is ὅπως δὲ προφθάσωσι (a second reason of the plan adopted), πρίν . . , but for the sake of the antithesis between δώδεκα . . παρόντων and πλέον τι ἐπι. the order is changed.
ἦλθον αὐτοῖς —see on c. 5.
ἐκ τῶν . . ναυμαχιῶν —there were two battles fought near the islands called Sybota. 250 of the principal Corcyreans were taken prisoners in the second battle, and were conveyed to Corinth, where they remained about five years.
ὀκτακοσίων —the ransom for not more than 250 men is very high, but the prisoners were very important. The price paid for a man varied very much, of course, as it does still. The lowest heard of is two minas (Herod. v. 77 ), the highest— in the case of an ambassador of Philip—nine talents. The sum here mentioned need not be thought so great as to rouse suspicion.
τοῖς προξένοις —i.e. the Corinthian representatives of Corcyra had gone bail for them.
ἀφικομένης . . ἀγουσῶν —edd. say ἀγουσῶν must be plur. because both ships had πρέσβεις on board. Yet we find pred. in sing. applying to several subjects; I. 42, 1, IV. 31, 2, VI. 31, 1, VII. 44, 6, 58, 4. For the attraction cf. e. 72, 2.
καταστάντων —sc. τῶν πρέσβεων.
ξυγκείμενα —it was a defensive alliance only.
πρότερον means before the convention with Athens, when Corcyra had been on good terms with the Pel., though not in alliance with any one.
ἦν γὰρ . . ὑπάγουσιν —the reason stated in advance in parenthesis; cf. c. 107, 3.
ἐθελοπρόξενος —only mentioned here; it prob. means that P. had not been appointed by Athens; and hence he could be prosecuted for his Athenian sympathies.
προειστήκει —unofficial leader.
χάρακας —‘vine-poles,’ Corcyra having many vineyards. The sites of the τεμένη are unknown. Alcinous is the Homeric king.
στατήρ —of silver, worth 2 1/2 Attic drachmas, the only form of stater coined in Corcyra.
ταξάμενοι ἀποδῶσιν —‘pay by a mutual arrangement,’ prob. on the instalment system.
τῷ τε νόμῳ ἐξείργοντο —nothing is to be supplied; ‘the law forced them, allowed them no escape.’ Cf. Herod. IX. 111 ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου ἐξεργόμενος.
τοὺς αὐτοὺς . . νομίζειν —i.e. to substitute a ξυμμαχία, offensive and defensive alliance, for the existing ἐπιμαχία .
τῆς αὐτῆς γνώμης —sc. ὄντες.
ταῦτα . . δουλωθεῖεν —for the position of the first καί see c. 67, 6. It is usual to supply from ταῦτα (i.e. what they had done) a οὕτως to ἥκιστ’ ἃν δ.: better, I think, without; ‘that it was not likely that they would be made slaves by the A.’
δέχεσθαι —the meaning of εἶπον passes into that of κελεύω.
ἀλλ’ ἤ — VII. 50, 3.
μιᾷ νηί —cf. II. 7.
ἡσυχάζοντας applies to the Corcyreans.
ὡς —‘as.’ They were to put matters in a good light.
ἀνεπιτήδειον —to Corcyra.
ἐπιστροφή —lest ‘notice’ should be taken by Athens, resulting in some action against Corcyra. The πρέσβεις must have completely won over part of the refugee friends of Peithias to their side, since it was thought necessary to intern them in Aegina (B. Schmidt).
ἐλθόντων —sc. τῶν πρέσβεων.
ὅσους ἔπεισαν —sc. τῶν ἐκεῖ καταπεφευγότων.
ὀλίγα —adverbial ace. like βραχέα and μεγάλα in c. 40, ἴσα in c. 14. The constr. is widely diffused in Thuc. The appeal to the slaves is a most unusual feature, and shows the extreme bitterness of the strife.
πλῆθος —of the ‘majority,’ as often.
ἡμέρας —the day referred to in c. 73.
χωρίων —this word is specially used of strategic positions.
κεράμῳ —collective, as e.g. in II. 4. So κάλαμος II. 76 ; in Livy XX III. 16 vallum ferre=vallos f.
δείσαντες —ingressive, ‘becoming afraid.’
αὐτοβοεί —said to be an archaie word.
νεωρίου —in the Harbour of Alcinous.
ξυνοικίας —situated between the Agora and the Acropolis. The gen. adjj. that follow refer to both οἰκίας and ξυνοικίας. No doubt some of the ὀλίγοι had invested money in the tenements, and let them out, like the plutocrat pork-butcher in the Knights of Aristophanes.
ἐκινδύνευσε . . διαφθαρῆναι —cf. c. 40, 5.
ὡς ἑκάτεροι —‘on either side,’ an idiomatic phrase, to be taken with ἡσυχἀσαντες, which is ingressive (A. G. Laird in Am. J. of Phil. 1906, p. 43).
Νικόστρατος —he had command of the Athenian squadron at Naupactus, from which he could reach Corcyra in a day. The Messenians had been settled in Naupactus after the Messenian Wars.
ἕπρασσε —conative.
δέκα —oligarchs.
οἱ τοῦ δήμου προστάται —a bronze plate found on the site of the Corcyrean Agora and now in the Brit. Mus. contains a decree of the Corcyrean Assembly ( ἁλία) appointing an Athenian ‘proxenus’ of Corcyra. Among the Corcyrean authorities mentioned in the decree, which is assigned to the 4th cent. B.C., oceurs προστάτας Γνάθιος. The προστάται therefore appear to have been a board of magistrates in Corcyra ( Anc. Gr. Inscr. in the Brit. Mus. Pl. ii. p. 50).
ξυμπέμψειν —sc. ἔφασαν, by an idiom to which Thuc. is partial.
τὸ Διοσκόρων ἱερόν —the site is unknown.
τῇ τοῦ μὴ ξυμπλεῖν ἀπιστίᾳ —‘by their distrust in sailing (i.e. in the proposal that they should sail) with them.’ The μή is added because the whole result is neg., as often; cf. II. 49 ἠ ἀπορία τοῦ μὴ ἡσυχάζειν, Plato, Apol. 38 D ἀπορία τοῦ μὴ ἐθέλειν.
οἱ ἄλλοι —oligarchs, not confined to those who had refused to go on board the five ships.
τὸ Ἥραιον —see the map, with notes. The removal from the shrine of Castor and Pollux to the Heraeum is to be accounted for by (1) supposing that the latter was the principal shrine of the city, and (2) the necessity of getting 400 men into the τέμενος. (Bloomfield's view that the Heraeum was superior in sanctity is fanciful.)
γίγνονται —of the sum-total, as often.
τὴν . . διακομιδήν —example of the liking Thuc. shows for a subst. derived from a verb.
Κυλλήνης —c. 69. For
ἐφ’ ὅρμῳ οὖσαι we say ‘which had lain at anchor’ (at Cyllene), οὖσαι being imperf. partic. ( MT. § 140). The MSS. have ἔφορμοι for ἐφ· ὅρμῳ, but there seems to be no authority for ἔφορμος as adj. ἐπέπλει—ἐπιπλεῖν is used of the commanders: ἐμπλεῖν below of the crcw.
πολλῷ θορύβῳ —the democratic authorities in Corcyra had received no warning of the approach of Alcidas. No organization for getting information of the movement of fleets existed.
τῶν ποιουμένων —not very common. for τῶν γιγνομένων.
Σαλαμινία καὶ Πάραλος —see c. 33, 2. They had been with Paches at Mytilene; but must have joined Nicostratus at Naupactus.
ἁθρόαις —with ταῖς . . τ.: the Athenians shrink from attacking the enemy thirty-three strong in the centre.
μὴ ὅπερ ἐν Ναυπάκτῳ γένοιτο —in 429 B.C. when the Athenian admiral Phormio with twenty ships gained a great suceess over forty-seven Peloponnesian ships by similar tactics. Then, too, the enemy had adopted a similar circular formation.
ὅτι μάλιστα with προκαταφυγεῖν, ‘as much as possible.’ It might be taken equally well with ἐβούλοντο, but the general sense of the passage favours the former.
ἑαυτῶν —cf. c. 13, 7.
τοιαύτη —cf. c. 97, 3. (Heitland's idea that there is some irony in τοιαύτη is quite groundless: ἦν δὲ οὐδεὶς κόσμος in c. 77 refers to only one incident in the battle.)
τοὺς ἐκ τῆς νήσου —see c. 75, 5.
κρατοῦντες —concessive.
ὄντας —see on ee. 2, 2; 80, 1.
Λευκίμμην —at SE. of the island, still called Leokimo.
τοῖς ἄλλοις —the other ὀλίγοι besides the ἱκέται.
ὅμως —in spite of the eonfusion.
μέχρι μέσου ἡμέρας —Thuc. generally uses μέσος as an adj., but Xen. often has μέσον as a noun.
ἀπέπλευσαν —to Sybota.
προσπλέουσαι ἀπὸ Λευκάδος —no doubt the fleet was not yet past Leucas when the signal was given. It appears presently (c. 81, 1) that Aleidas feared to sail round the island lest he should be seen by the Athenians. (It is not necessary to construe ἀπὸ Λευκἀδος with ἐφρυκτωρήθησαν, as many do. Aleidas could not know how far on its way from Leucas the Athenian fleet had got; and his fear was not wholly groundless.) This is the first mention of Eurymedon, who afterwards served in Sicily and was killed during the siege of Syracuse.
πυνθανόμενοι —‘on hearing of the strife and of the intention.’ Notice that the verb has a double constr. here. Commentators point out (1) that the Athenian fleet doubtless consisted to a large extent of ships returned from Lesbos: (2) that the news of the στάσις was carried to Athens by the ship mentioned in c. 70.
τῆς νυκτός —‘that night.’
τὸν Λευκαδίων ἰσθμόν —the isthmus connected Leucas with the mainland: there is now an artificial channel.
λαβόντες —if genuine, best considered pleonastic (with Stahl), as we say ‘took and brought.’ Some think it a gloss on εἴ τινα λάβοιεν below. To supply τὴν πόλιν (with L. Herbst) is forced, and involves an artificial, and highly improbable, explanation of the meaning. See crit. note.
τοὺς Μεσσηνίους —see c. 75, 1.
περιπλεῦσαι —from the harbour of Alcinous. The oligarchs who had been induced to embark would now be separated from their comrades in the Heraeum and the agora.
ἐπλήρωσαν —c. 80, 1.
ἀπεχρῶντο —very rare in this sense; cf. διαχρῆσθαι in c. 36.
τὰ γιγνόμενα —i.e. from the Heraeum on high ground they saw their comrades being led off to execution.
ὡς ἕκαστοι ἐδύναντο —the sing. might be expected, as in πάντες ἔφυγον ὅπη? ἐδύνατο ἕκαστος (Xen.), but the distinction is not always kept up.
παρέμεινε —it seems from this that Nicostratus had left by now. Thuc. has neglected to give his movements after his Messenians had been taken into the city.
σφῶν αὐτῶν —partitive.
ἐφόνευον —rare word outside Herod., tragedy, and late writers.
τὴν μὲν αἰτίαν . . καταλύουσιν —‘bringing the charge on the subverters of the democracy,’ i e. openly it was the oligarchs who were the object of their attack ( τήν does not need explanation in the context after δίκην ὑποσχεῖν above. Only oligarchs—and they not in all cases—were put on their trial.)
ἀπέθανον δέ —transition from partic. to finite constr., as often; II. 47 λεγόμενον μὲν . . ἐμνημονεύετο δέ, VII. 13 τῶν ναυτῶν μὲν ἀπολλυμένων, οἱ δὲ θεράποντες . . αὐτομολοῦσι, sc. τὰ χρήματα. Frequent throughout Gk.
ὑπὸ τῶν λαβόντων —‘by their debtors,’ with ἀπέθανον. The Gk. justifies another way (Bohme), viz with ὀφειλομένων, ‘by those who caught them,’ but the point is not so good.
πᾶσἀ τε ἰδἐα κατέστη θανάτου —Virgil's et plurima mortis imago ( Aen. II. 369); cf. Tac. H. III. 28 varia pereuntium forma et omni imagine mortium.
καὶ ἔτι περαιτέρω —sc. οὐδενὸς ὅτου οὐ, i.e. παντός, but the gen. is habitually omitted. Demosth. XL V. 73 has δεινόν, ὦ γῆ καὶ θεοί, καὶ πέρα δεινοῦ .
μᾶλλον —sc. ὠμὴ προχωρῆσαι.
ἐν τοῖς πρώτην —see on c. 17, 1.
ὡς εἰπεῖν —qualifying a sweeping statement (never apologizing for a metaphor): ‘I might almost say,’ ‘almost.’
τὸ Ἑλληνικόν —c. 57, 2.
ἐπάγεσθαι —“sense” constr., διαφορῶν οὐσῶν implying ‘attempting.’
καὶ ἐν μὲν εἰρήνῃ . . ἐπορίζοντο —the transition from μέν+partic. to δέ+finite verb here is considered perhaps the most extraordinary anacoluthon in Thuc. It is quite different from cases like c. 81, 4, since there is here no finite verb for the μέν-clause. To put a comma only at Λακεδαιμονίους instead of the usual full stop helps to some degree. ἐτόλμων for ἑτοἱμων (Vollgraff and Classen) is a conjecture worth notice.
οὐκ ἂν ἐχόντων —sc. αὐτῶν, the leaders of both parties in any given state.
ἑτοίμων —sc. ὄντων, an unusual ellipse except when the adj.+omitted partic. is supplementary to a verb, as in τετύχηκε τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα ἄλογον, sc. ὄν , I. 23.
αὐτούς —Athenians or Lac., as the ease might be.
πολεμουμένων —mase. from πολεμόω, of the Ath. and Lac. (to refer this to the two political parties is very strained).
καὶ ξυμμαχίας ἅμα . . αἱ ἐπαγωγαί —i.e. καὶ αἱ ἐπαγωγαὶ ἅμα ξυμμαχίας. The point of καὶ άμα is that parties no longer carried on their rivalry amongst themselves at home, but readily called in the help of allies too. ἐπαγωγαί is ‘opportunities for calling in.’ ἑκατέροις is ambiguous: it may be (1) by the Ath. and Lac., agent to ἐπορίζοντο, or (2) to either party in a state <*> then τοῖς . . βουλομένοις will be in limiting apposition to it. In either case τοῖς . . βουλομένοις is probably not dat. of agent.
τῇ . . προσποιήσει —the two ideas are parts of one whole, so that one art. suffices. The dat is that of motive, esp. common in Thuc., mostly with single words such as φιλίᾳ, ἔχθει, εὐνοίᾳ Thompson, At Syn. p. 150. σφίσιν αὐτοῖς is governed by προσποιήσει, ib. p. 155. The whole sentence has the appearance of a series of notes that have not been put into their final form.
γιγνόμενα refers to time absolutely present, not contemporary with the main verb. MT'. § 141.
μᾶλλον . . διηλλαγμένα —i.e. varying in intensity and in form: μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἡσυχαίτερα form the first idea, adv. and adj. being combined, as either is possible separately with γίγνεται. μᾶλλον καὶ ἡσυχαίτερα γίγνεται might also mean ‘it rises and falls in intensity’ on any given occasion, but the emphatic position of γιγνόμενα shows that it corresponds in sense to the emphatic ἔστι, not to the mere copula ἐστί.
ὡς ἄν —‘according as.’
ἐφιστῶνται —‘impose themselves,’ like a doom: κῆρες ἐφεστᾶσιν Il. XII. 326, Soph. OT. 776 , Eur. Hipp. 819 .
τοῦ καθ’ ἡμέραν —some think that βίου has fallen out before βιαίου, and certainly τὸ καθ’ ἡμέραν is odd; but cf. τὸ παρόν and τὰ παρόντα.
ὀργάς —‘dispositions.’
ἐστασίαζέ τε —this passage down to the end of c. 83 is severely criticized by Dionysius Hal. de Thuc. iud. cc 29 f. for its artificial and far-fetched expressions
τὰ ἐφυστερίζοντά που —‘the later cases,’ the cities that followed the example of discord set by others; a strange expression, as Dionysius says, but occasioned by τὰ τῶν πόλεων. Notice that ποῦἔν τινι πόλει.
πολὺ ἐπέφερε —‘brought on much,’ i.e. carried much further.
διανοίας —‘plans.’
τῶν . . ἀτοπίᾳ —lit. ‘through extreme ingenuity in their enterprises and strangeness in their revenges.’
ἀξίωσιν belongs to ἐς τὰ ἔργα, ‘in relation to facts,’ as well as to ὀνομάτων. It is not necessary to repeat the art. before ἐς because ἀξίωσις has another qualifying word.
τῇ δικαιώσει —by the arbitrary construction they put on them.
τὸ δ’ ἐμπλήκτως ὀξύ —‘impulsive rashness’: cf. Plutarch, Eum. 3 ἔμπληκτον καὶ φορᾶς μεστὸν ὀξείας.
ἀνδρὸς μοίρᾳ προσετέθη —‘was ascribed, or set down, to the part of a man.’
ἀσφαλείᾳ δὲ . . εὔλογος —this appears to have been obscure already to Dionysius, who, while commenting on what precedes and what follows, discreetly leaves this alone. The usual explanation is as follows: (1) ἀσφαλείᾳ is dat. of manner, in contrast with ἐμπλήκτως; (2) τὸ ἐπιβουλεύσασθαι= ‘reconsideration,’ or ‘further reflexion’; (3) the verb to be supplied is ἐνομίσθη. Each of these suppositions is surprising ἀποτροπή=‘evasion.’ It has been proposed to supply προσετέθη (with Herbst and Fr. Müller) and to take ἀποτροπῆς π. εὔλογος as apposition to τὸ ἐπιβουλεύσασθαι. We should then transl. ‘to form a hostile design was regarded as a measure of selfdefence, (being) the specious pretence of fending off enmity.’
ὁ μὲν χαλεπαίνων —viz. about the political situation.
ἐπιβουλεύσας . . τυχών —‘if one had succeeded in a plot.’
δεινότερος —of ability.
αὐτῶν —viz. τοῦ ἐπιβουλεύειν καὶ ὑπονοεῖν.
ἐπικελεύσας —sc. κακόν τι δρᾶν. ἐπικελεύω ‘to encourage,’ of an authority, has dat; here κελεύω sets the constr. and ἐπί is intensive.
καὶ μήν introduces a new and important point (it never means ‘and yet’).
τοῦ ἑταιρικοῦ —‘the tie of party.’ To this ἑτοιμότερον refers.
ὠφελίᾳ —‘to render help’ cf. the principle συγγνώμη ἀδελφῷ βοηθεῖν. This seems more likely than the usual explanation ‘for the public advantage.’
ξύνοδοι —of political meetings, a word of sinister meaning in the political life of Gk. states, suggesting intrigue and treason. The verb is ἐγένοντο and had Thuc. written ὠφελίας ἕνεκα and πλεονεξίας above, all would have been clear.
ἐς σφᾶς αὐτούς = ἐς ἀλλήλους, a common use.
τῷ θείῳ νόμῳ —i.e. it was not the oaths witnessed by the gods— θεῶν ὅρκοι—that bound them when they exchanged pledges. Cf., for example, Eur. Med. 21 βοᾷ μὲν ὅρκους, ἀνακαλεῖ δὲ δεξιάς, | πίστιν μεγίστην, καὶ θεοὺς μαρτύρεται, and the celebrated passage in the same play, 439 βέβακε δ’ ὅρκων χάρις, οὐδ’ ἔτ’ αἰδὼς Ἑλλάδι τᾷ μεγάλᾳ μένει, with Verrall's notes.
τά τε ἀπὸ τῶν ἐναντίων —the sense (says Prof. Lamberton) is, ‘when fair proposals were made by the adversary, the other party, when they had the advantage of superiority, would receive them not in a spirit of generosity, but only with practical precautions’ Thus οἱ ἐνδεχόμενοι, not οἱ ἐναντίοι, is the subject of προύχοιεν. This is surely correct, though the passage is usually taken as if οἱ ἐναντίοι denoted the stronger party, and the subject of ἐνεδέχοντο were ‘the weaker.’ The right version is given by Herbst, who says “How can it be supposed that from the party that had the upper hand at the moment proposals should emanate that were generous to the weaker side, and how can any one conceive that generosity ( γενναιότης) should lead the weaker side to accept them?” For ἔργων φυλακῇ cf c. 46, 4.
ὅρκοι . . ξυναλλαγῆς —‘oaths to confirm a reconciliation’; cf. Andocides, de Myst. 103 διηλλάγητε καὶ ὅρκους ὠμόσατε.
πρὸς τὸ ἄπορον ἑ. διδόμενοι —‘as they were administered to either side only to meet an emergency.’ It is surely unnecessary to regard ἑκατέρῳ as dat of agent, as is usually done.
οὐκ ἐχόντων applies to those who took the oaths tendered—i.e. it applies by sense to ἑκατέρῳ—and explains πρὸς τὸ ἄπορον. ὅρκον δίδωμι generally means ‘I administer an oath,’ but in Eur. Hipp. 735 ‘I take an oath.’ The ordinary meaning gives an equallv good sense here.
ἐν δὲ τῷ παρατυχόντι —‘when a chance occurred.’
ὁ φθάσας θαρσῆσαι —see MT. 903. 8, where grave doubts are raised as to the possibility of the infin. with φθάνω in place of the ordinary partic. As φθάσας θαρσήσας is intolerable, it is best to give the text as it stands, leaving the point undecided. The paraphrase of Dionysius is worth notice: εἰ δέ που παρατύχοι τινὶ καιρὸς καὶ μάθοι τὸν ἐχθρὸν ἀφύλακτον, ἥδιον ἐτιμωρεῖτο ὅτι πιστεύσαντι μᾶλλον ἐπέθετο ἢ φυλαττομένῳ. διὰ τὴν πίστιν applies to the enemy, as having confidence in the oath.
ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ προφανοῦς =‘than when he attacked openly,’ giving the other side a fair chance.
ῥᾷον δ’ οἱ πολλοὶ . . ἀγαθοί —‘most men are more readily called elever if they are knaves than good if they are ignorant’ Another way of taking this is: ‘most men prefer to be called clever knaves rather than honest fools.’ The Gk favours the first. the connexion with the previous sentence the second. To make the latter way easier Steup brackets ὄντες.
πάντων δ’ αὐτῶν αἴτιον —‘the cause of all that was office (i.e. the desire of office), resting on covetousness and ambition.’
ἐκ δ’ αὐτῶν —viz. πλεονεξίας καὶ φιλοτιμίας.
καθισταμένων —masc., ‘when men were settling down to.’ The καί belongs, not merely to ἐς τὸ φιλονικεῖν, but to the whole phrase to πρόθυμον .
πλήθους . . σώφρονος —these are the fine names that were used for δημοκρατία and ὀλιγαρχία. ἰσονομία was a catchword with democrats, σωφροσύνη with aristocrats.
ἆθλα —this suggests several of the words that follow— ἀγωνιζόμενοι, περιγενέσθαι, ἐπεξῇσαν (the last unusual with object)—the general idea being that of a desperate struggle between enemies. (Very like is Xen Cyr. II. 2, 18-19.)
ἔτι μείζους —as compared with the τολμήματα.
προστιθέντες —from Dionysins, in place of προτιθέντες of the MSS., for ‘to threaten’ hardly suits with what precedes.
ψήφου ἀδίκου —best taken as subjective gen. depending on καταγνώσεως.
χειρί —the contrast is between force and the forms of law.
ἐνόμιζον —with dat., as χρῆσθαι.
εὐπρεπείᾳ δὲ λόγου —since εὐσέβεια and λόγου εὐπρέπεια are not a proper contrast, many suppose that the contrast to the former is to be found in ἐπιφθόνως τι, and consequently attach εὐπρεπείᾳ δὲ λόγου to the rel. sentence, ‘those who managed to hide some malicious act under fair words.’ But the μὲν . . δέ contrast is not between single words, but between the two sentences as a whole: εὐσέβεια is ‘ a name for piety,’ as e.g. in Soph. Ant. 924 τὴν δυσσέβειαν (‘reputation of being δυσσεβής’) εὐσεβοῦσ’ ἐκτησάμην, ‘on this pretence, covering an odious act, earned a better reputation.’ Thuc not seldom puts two similar words ( εὐσέβεια—εὐπρέπεια) in contrast that do not really form an antithesis.
τὰ δὲ μέσα τῶν πολιτῶν —for the moderate element and the preference given to it by so many thinking men cf. Eur. Suppl. 244 τριῶν δὲ μοιρῶν ἡ ’ν μέσῳ σῴζει πόλεις.
τὸ εὔηθες —in the earliest, good sense of the word, according to its etymology (Plato, Rep. 400 E).
πλεῖστον μετέχει —‘in which nobility of character is the chief element.’ Or, less probably, ‘which is a very important element of a noble mind.’ Cf. I. 84, 3.
ἐπὶ πολὺ διήνεγκεν —‘gained the upper hand.’ ἐπἱ πολύ of space, ‘far and near.’
ὁ διαλύσων —‘there was nothing to . . neither.’ The fut. partic. as in Aesch. PV. 27 ὀ λωφήσων γὰρ οὐ πέφυκέ πω. (Steup is mistaken in supposing that ἦν must be the copula in our sentenee, if ὁ διαλύσων is taken as above.)
κρείσσους . . βεβαίου —the best way of taking this is as follows: (1) all men when they had the upper hand, by reflecting on the hopelessness of security took precaution rather against attack than were capable of trust in others.’ Thus λογισμῷ . . βεβαίου is to be taken together and refers to προεσκόπουν. But two other versions must be noticed: (2) ‘finding more strength in calculation against the unexpected than in pledges.’ Then τοῦ βεβαίου= ἢ τῷ βεβαίῳ. (3) ‘Being more inclined in their calculations to despair of security’ (or ‘ than to security’). The last seems an impossible version of κρείσσους ὄντες. The passage prob. repeats the thought of c. 82, 7.
γνώμην —‘understanding.’
ἐκ τοῦ πολυτρόπου —‘in consequence of their’—resemblance to Odysseus.
φθάνωσι προεπιβουλευόμενοι —Gildersleeve is surely right in reading φθάνωσι here, in accordance with the law that φθάνω ποιῶν and ἔφθασα ποιήσας are the correct forms.
καταφρονοῦντες —causal. For the constr. cf. Xen. Hell. IV. 5, 12 κατεφρονοῦν μηδένα ἂν ἐπιχειρῆσαι .
αὐτῶν —vaguely referring to the ill deeds previously described. προυτολμήθη—προ‐ denotes before the rest of Greece.
καὶ ὁπόσα —the καί is probably answered by οἴ τε μή κτλ. below. The first clause requires ἄν, which has perhaps fallen out either after ὁπόσα or δράσειαν.
ὑπὸ τῶν . . παρασχόντων with ἀρχόμενοι. Hitherto they have been ruled oppressively by those who now give opportunity for revenge. Instead of παρασχόντων something like ἤδη παρεχόντων seems required. The oligarchs are meant.
διὰ πάθους . . ἔχειν —there has been much discussion of these words. τινες and μάλιστα δ’ seem to show that διὰ πάθους must be intended as a contrast to πενίας . . ἀπαλλαξείοντες, passion versus sheer poverty. But πάθος=‘emotion’ or ‘passion’ occurs nowhere else before Aristotle: in Thuc. it=‘a disaster.’ (To take τὰ τῶν πέλας as equivalent to τοὺς πέλας, and διὰ πάθους ἔχειν like δῑ ὀργῆς ἔχειν does not get over the difficulty, and does not yield a proper contrast.)
ἐπὶ πλεονεξίᾳ —i.e prompted by oppression, poverty or downright passion
ἀπὸ ἴσου —‘on equal terms’ with their adversaries already. Only here in Thuc. in place of ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου.
ἐπέλθοιεν —sc. ἄν from the previous sentences. The omission is rather awkward and unusual in so long a sentence.
ὠμῶς and
ἀπαραιτήτως only here in Thuc.
ἐς τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον —‘at this crisis,’ like ἐς μίαν ἡμέραν in VI. 16, Aristoph. Pax 366 εἰς τίν’ ἡμέραν;
καὶ παρὰ τοὺς νόμους ἀδικεῖν —cf. c. 82, 6 παρὰ τοὺς καθεστῶτας ( νόμους). As Stahl says, we expect κρατήσασα after τοὺς νόμους, ‘even when the laws are generally respected.’ Steup suggests the loss of πρίν after καί but Dio Cass. knew the passage as it stands.
ἐδήλωσεν . . οὖσα —obj. of δηλῶ replaced by the partic., as often; cf. I 21 ὁ πόλεμος δηλώσει μείζων γεγενημένος.
τοῦ προύχοντος —neut.
ἐν ᾧ —lit. ‘in a case in which,’ amounting to εἰ. Cf. II. 35 χαλεπὸν τὸ μετρίως εἰπεῖν ἐν ᾧ μόλις καὶ ἡ δόκησις τῆς ἀληθείας βεβαιοῦται.
ἀξιοῦσί τε —the sense is clearly given by Arnold thus: Men in their violence set the example of doing away with those common laws of humanity which all parties alike might have appealed to in their adversity, and by their own previous conduct put themselves out of the pale of those laws, when they themselves might have occasion to solicit their protection. By the κοινοὶ νόμοι the κοινὸς νόμος ὁ κατὰ φύσιν, as Aristotle ( Rhet. I. 13 ) calls it, is of course meant. See n. on c. 58, 3. Plato in the Laws (p. 793) says these observances are the δεσμοὶ πάσης πολιτείας .
ὑπολείπεσθαι —middle.
ταῖς πρώταις foreshadows the further disturbances, described in book IV., which occurred when Eurymedon returned.
διεσώθησαν —aor. as plup., a common idiom in parenthesis.
τείχη —built by Corcyra to protect its territory on the mainland against the neighbouring tribes, Chaones and Thesprotians.
ἐλήζοντο —viz. the fertile central part of the island, ἐξειργασμένη παγκάλως καὶ πεφυτευμένη χώρα, as Xenophon calls it ( Hell. VI 2, 6).
ὕστερον χρόνῳ —always of a considerable interval. It is most probable that the crossing occurred in the spring of 426 B.C.
τὴν Ἰστώνην —in IV. 46 we have ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῆς Ἰστώνης. It has been made highly probable (by B. Schmidt) that Istone is the whole mountain- range in the NE. of Corcyra. It is possible that the name belonged also to a particular height in the range.
ἐς Σικελίαν —this is the first intervention of Athens in Sicily. Under Pericles (who had died in the autumn of 429 B.C.), Athens had concluded alliances with Leontini and Rhegium in 433 B.C, perhaps also—though we have no direct evidence—with Naxos and Catana. But the idea of conquest in Sicily (§ 4) was entirely outside the policy of Pericles. See Introd. p. xxiii.
Λάχητα —the first mention of this well-known man. See c. 115. He was a supporter of Nicias in arranging the peace of 421. Plato's Laches is named after him. He is the dog Labes in Aristoph. Wasps. He was attacked by Cleon. He was killed at the battle of Mantinea, 418 B.C.
καθέστασαν —when the war had broken out is not known.
πλὴν Καμαριναίων —Camarina, founded circa 600 B.C. from Syracuse, was dependent on the mother-city, revolted in 553 B.C. and was destroyed. In 492 B.C. it was restored by Hippocrates, tyrant of Gela, but shortly afterwards was again involved in war with Syracuse, and was again destroyed. Its third building occurred circa 460 B.C.
τὸ πρῶτον emphasizes ἀρχομένου.
Χαλκιδικαί —Naxos, Catana, Himera. They are so called because their origin was Chalcis in Euboea.
Ἰταλίας in the confined sense that it bears in Greek authors, the modern Calabria, the peninsula reaching to the Laus on W. and to Metapontum on E.: ἀπὸ ἄκρας Ἰαπυγίας μέχμ πορθμοῦ Σικελικοῦ is the definition of Dionysius.
κατὰ τὸ ξυγγενές —Rhegium, too, was Chalcidian.
πέμψαντες —this is the famous embassy that was headed by Gorgias of Leontini. The reticence of Thuc. on the matter is characteristic.
παλαιὰν ξυμμαχίαν —the only alliance we know of is that of 433 B.C., but six years seems too short a time to be denoted by παλαιός. Hence it is assumed that an earlier alliance existed. But some have thought that Thuc. wished to obscure the fact that Pericles was responsible for the alliance with Leontini, in order to make it appear that Pericles was in no sense responsible for the intervention in Sicily.
βουλόμενοι δὲ μήτε . . πρόπειράν τε ποιούμενοι — to make the sentence quite symmetrical, ποιεῖσθαι should have been written in place of ποιούμενοι.
δυνατὰ εἴη —personal constr.
καταστάντες —i.e. they chose Rhegium as their base.
ἐκλιποῦσα μὲν . . ἐγένετο δέ —c. 81, 4.
τὸ παντάπασιν —this curious phrase, occurring only here, is to be compared with τὸ παράπαν.
μᾶλλον ἐκάκωσε —no doubt this passage was written before the disastrous Sicilian Expedition of 415 B.C.
ἐκ τῶν τάξεων —i.e. ἐκ καταλόγου, from those liable to serve as hoplites, those of the three higher (Solonian) elasses who wcre on the lists. Men were liable to ordinary service between the ages of 20 and 50. The fourth class— θῆτες— served only in the fleet; these with μέτοικοι and δοῦλοι are included in ὁ ἄλλος ὄχλος. The number of the hoplites on the lists at the beginning of the war was about 15,500. The cavalry numbered 1000.
οἱ —as being well-known.
Βοιωτίῳ —the other was in Arcadia.
στρατεύουσιν ἐπὶ τὰς Αἰόλου νήσους —as this affair is one of the λόγου μάλιστα ἄξια (c. 90, 1) we can see how insignificant were the incidents left unrecorded.
καλουμένας —second attribute, hence the order; c. 54, 5.
νέμονται —the word is used of enjoyment of profits derived, which may or may not be combined with occupation.
ἐν τῇ Ἱερᾷ —still called Vulcano The coins of Lipara show Hephaestus seated, with a hammer. The group of islands, seven in all, is still called Liparian or Aeolian. The full name seems to have been Ἱερὰ Ἡφαίστου— Vulcani nomine sacra it is called in the Aetna.
Στρογγύλη now Stromboli, is there described as cui nomen facies dedit ipsa Rotunda.
ὡς —very unusual constr. with νομίζω.
Ἀταλάντην — Talantonisi: it had been fortified by the Athenians in order that they might prevent the injury caused to Euboea by piratical craft sailing out of Opus and the neighbourhood.
τοῦ τε φρουρίου —at the beginning of the war Athens had 2,500 men in such permanent garrisons in and out of Attica (Aristot. Ath. Pol. c. 24 ).
αἴτιον in apposition to the sentence, ‘as for the cause of such an oceurrence.’ Cf. I. 23 τὴν ἀληθεστάτην πρόφασιν τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἡγοῦμαι . . ἀναγκάσαι ( αὐτοὺς) ἐς τὸν πόλεμον. The great earthquake at Messina has afforded a striking illustration of this chapter.
ἀποστέλλειν —the subject of this and of ποιεῖν is τὸν σεισμόν. The MSS. give ἐπισπωμένην, but either επισπωμένων ( mid.) or ἐπισπωμένης ( pass., sc. τῆς θαλάσσης) seems necessary. βιαιότερον is best regarded as fem., as in δυσεσβολώτατος ἡ Λωκρίς c. 103, unless, indeed, in a confnsed passage, βιαιοτέραν should be read.
ἄν with ξυμβῆναι .
καὶ ἄλλοι —it is impossible to explain these words with certainty. The reference appears to be to the Sicels, but it is a strange way of designating them. καὶ ἄλλα is read by some, but (1) it is doubtful if ἄλλα ἐπολέμουν is a possible constr., and (2) even so, the change of subject in the antithetic clause— ἃ δὲ μάλιστα ἄξια κτλ.—is surprising. It is clear that Thuc. felt little interest in the affairs of Sicily in this year. The capture of Messena was the only important event.
ἐρύματι = φρουρίῳ .
οἱ Μεσσήνιοι —strangely placed in the middle of the gen. abs., but the order is not without parallel. Messena commands the strait between Sicily and Italy, and was therefore a valuable acquisition.
πιστὰ παρασχόμενοι —‘giving trustworthy assurances.’ πιστά is to be taken as pred., not as substantive.
περὶ Πελοπόννησον —see on c. 3, 3.
Δημοσθένης —the first mention of this celebrated general, conspicuous for boldness and enterprise. There is no doubt that Thuc. obtained from him much information about the expeditions in which he was a leading figure.
Νικίας —c. 51.
Μηλίους —Melos, like Thera, had, as a Lacedaemouian colony, held aloof from the Athenian alliance. But they had taken no part in the war. It is known that Thera now submitted.
αὐτῶν —it is hardly necessary to read αὑτῶν here. Cf. Xen. Cyr. I. 1, 5 ἐδυνάσθη ἐπιθυμίαν ἐμβαλεῖν τοῦ αὐτῷ χαρίζεσθαι.
ἐς Ὠρωπὸν τῆς Γραϊκῆς —on the horders of Attica and Boeotia. It belonged to Athens. For τῆς Γραικῆς cf. II. 23 τὴν γῆν τὴν Γραικὴν καλουμένην. The name belonged to the coast opposite Eretria. In II. 23 it is corrupted into Πειραϊκήν.
οἱ ὁπλῖται ἀπὸ τῶν νεῶν —prob. to be taken together in spite of the absence of art. before ἀπό. In II. 80 we have τὸ ναυτικὸν ἐκ . . , and in II. 18 κατὰ τὴν ἄλλην πορείαν ἡ σχολαιότης.
πανδημεί —i.e. with the whole available army. 16
Ἱππονίκου τοῦ Καλλίου —son of that Callias who negotiated peace with Persia in 470 B.C. The family was reputed the richest in Greece. The younger Callias, son of Hipponicus, was a very well-known man. Hipponicus was proxenus of Sparta. He fell at the battle of Delium, 424 B.C.
ἐν τῇ Τανάγρᾳ —i.e. in the neighbourhood of Tanagra.
τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ μάχῃ —to be taken separately, τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ having ἡμέρᾳ supplied. Herbst, who investigated the use of the phrase, came finally to the conclusion that alone it means ‘on the next day,’ but that sometimes a subst. is supplied from what precedes, in I. 44 ἐκκλησίᾳ, in VII. 11 μάχῃ.
Ἡράκλειαν —the importance of this undertaking (sec § 4 and c. 93, 1) seems to lie in the faet that it marks an extension of the area of the war by Sparta, a counter-move prompted no doubt by the operations of Nicias on the Locrian coast. Sparta could not match Athens at sea and little more was to be gained by invasions of Attica (cc. 1, 26) even if they were not prevented by exceptional events (c. 89 ).
προσθεῖναι —the verb is used of bringing into permanent relationship, whether as friend or foe or dependent: so πρόσκειμαι .
μητρόπολις —from this region the Dorians were sprung. A fragment of Tyrtaeus says of them: προλιπόντες Ερινεὸν ἠνεμόεντα | εὐρεῖαν Πέλοπος νῆσον ἀφικόμεθα.
καθίστασθαι —notice the pres. and contrast I. 36 καλῶς κεῖται (of Corcyra) τοῦ παράπλου (the voyage to Sicily). quod fit non est, sed erit, says Stahl. The gen. τοῦ πολέμου depends on the phrase, on the analogy of χρησίμως, καλῶς ἔχει, ὡς ἔχει etc. ἡ πόλις is, of course, the colony to be.
τῆς ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης παρόδου —it was from Heraclea that Brasidas started on his dash through Thessaly, to the great injury of Athens in Chalcidice ( τὰ ἐπὶ Θρᾀκης ).
τό τε ξύμπαν —summing up.
τὸν θεὸν ἐπήροντο —the usual custom before sending out a colony.
περιοίκων —the descendants of the old Achaean stock, without political rights, living mainly by trade. They were largely drawn upon for military service outside Peloponnese.
Ἀχαιῶν —some Achaeans afterwards settled there notwithstanding.
Ἀλκίδας —c. 16, etc.
ἐκ καινῆς —adverbial, like ἀπὸ τῆς ἴσης I. 15, ἀπὸ ( τῆς ) πρώτης etc.; δῑ ὀρθῆς, ‘aright,’ Soph. Ant. 994 .
εἶρξαν τὸ κατὰ Θ —‘barred the (approach) on the side towards Th.,’ i.e. built a barrier across the pass ( στενόν), to protect harbour and arsenal from the Thessalians.
ξυνοικιζομένης —the ξυν. points to the concentra tion in the colony.
ἀπέβη —impersonal.
αἴτιον δὲ ἦν οἵ τε —the other passages in Thuc. which are introduced by αἴτιον, show the following constrs.:— (1) αἴτιον δ’ ἦν ὅτι II. 65. (2) αἴτιον ἦν οἱ with nom partic. IV. 26. Here we have a third variety. Compare τεκμήριον δέ, usually followed by γάρ. (It does not seem necessary to alier the text here. If anything is wrong, it is most prob. that ἦν should be bracketed, and a comma paced at δέ, as in the constr τὸ δ’ αἴτιον, ἐν τοῖς πένησιν ἦν τὸ λῃτουργεῖν, Demosth. de Cor. 108.)
οἵ τε Θέσσαλοι . . καὶ ὧν —i.e. both the Th. and (those others, besides the Th.) whose land was threatened by the new colony, viz. the Dolopes, Oetaeans, and other tribes. This is decidedly simpler than making ὦν apply still to the Thessalians and taking τε as co-ordinate with οὐ μέντοι below.
πάνυ πολλούς —we do not know the number: Diodorus' figures, amounting to 10,000, are untrustworthy.
οὐ μέντοι —the combination οὐ δέ being avoided.
οἱ ἀφικνούμενοι —perhaps annually.
ἅ — internal accus., ἐξηγούμενοι being here absolute.
Ἐλλομενῷ —“probably on the bay of Vlicho (Klimino), on the E. coast of the island” (Oberhummer).
τῆς Λευκαδίας —sc. γῆς. Corcyra, Cephallenia and Zacynthus were already allies of Athens. For a previous attempt on Leucas see c. 7, 5. Sparta had, besides Leucas, Oeniadae, and Ambracia.
ἔξω —sc. τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ, the land they had in Λcarnania. For the isthmus see c. 81, 1.
τὸ ἱερόν —at the southernmost corner of the island.
οἱ δὲ Ἀκαρνᾶνες —Leucas and Anactorium (c. 114, 3) Corinthian colonies, controlled the entrance to the Ambracian gulf.
ἀποτειχίζειν —‘to cut them off from the mainland.’ In c. 95, 2 this projected wall is referred to as περιτείχισις, i.e. wall from sea to sea.
ὑπὸ Μεσσηνίων —the Messenians of Naupactus (see c. 75 ) probably had Aetolians for immediate neighbours (Woodhouse, Aetolia p. 336).
ὡς καλόν —se. ἐστί.
Ναυπάκτῳ τε . . καὶ ἤν —the second cause is expressed in an independent form—infin. with verb of saying supplied. A good parallel is IV. 3 λιμένος τε προσόντος, καὶ τοὑς Μεσσηνίους . . πλεῖστ’ ἂν βλάπτειν.
διὰ πολλοῦ —‘far apart.’
Ἀποδωτοῖς —this tribe is to the NE. of Naupactus.
Ὀφιονεῦσι —N. of the Apodoti.
Εὐρυτᾶσιν —N. and E. of the Ophioneis. All three tribes belong to New Aetolia, Αἰτωλία ἐπίκτητος, as distinct from Old Aetolia, ἡ ἀρχαία, of the Iliad. (All that can be known about the tribes will be found in Woodhouse, Aetolia.)
καὶ τἆλλα προσχωρήσειν “refers back to the expression τὸ ἄλλο ἠπειρωτικὸν τὸ ταύτῃ—by which we must understand the Messenians (or Thucydides) to mean that the Athenian ‘sphere of influence’ in Western Hellas would be enormously extended if the three Aetolian tribes were subjugated. It would be diffienlt, however, to state precisely what tribes were in the historian's mind” (Woodhouse).
Μεσσηνίων —objective.
μετὰ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν —i.e. when he had forced them to join.
κατὰ γῆν ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ Βοιωτούς —this exceedingly bold plan was due to Demosthenes only. No doubt Thuc. heard all about it from D. himself. The territory of the Ozolian Locrians, on the Corinthian gulf, S. of the Apodoti, lay between Naupactus and Phocis. The Locrians were allies of Athens ( II. 9 ).
Κυτίνιον —an important strategieal position, chosen by Philip of Macedon in 339 B.C. It was one of the towns of the ancient Dorian tetrapolis.
Φωκέας —nominally allies of Sparta, but there was a powerful demoeratic party in sympathy with Athens.
οὖν —resuming after the parenthesis, like igitur.
Σόλλιον —probably this Corinthian colony lay some distance from the sea, but possessed a piece of the coast with a harbour.
τριακοσίοις —ten to a trireme, as usual at this period.
ἐστράτευσεν —most probably he sailed up the gulf to Naupactus and thence to Oeneon in Locri where he landed (cf. c. 89, 3). (The site of the latter is fully discussed by Woodhouse, l.c.)
οὗτοι —as distinet from the Opuntian and Epicnemidian Locrians who were allies of Sparta.
ἔδει —‘were to.’ The Locrians showed no alacrity, and seem to have done nothing to help Demosthenes in the expedition. They were not keen allies of Athens (Woodhouse, Aetolia, p. 351).
ἐν . . τῷ ἱερῷ —this must have been W. of Oeneon, within a short march of the frontier.
χρησθέν —accus. abs
ἐν Νεμέα —of course ambiguous. We learn from Plutarch and Pausanias that Hesiod and his servant were murdered by two young men because they believed that the poet had insulted their sister. Their bodies were cast into the sea. Hesiod's was carried “by dolphins’ to Molycria. Thence it was taken to Orchomenns in Boeotia and buried there.
Ποτιδανίαν —“situated exactly opposite to the only ford of the river Mórnos” (Woodhouse). The ancient name of the river was probably Daphnos. The town is at the extreme SW. of Apodotia, just over the border.
Κροκύλειον . . Τείχιον —Demosthenes marched to the NE. from Potidania into Apodotia, attacking the towns in succession. Both places have been identified (by Bazin and Woodhouse). Teichium is close to the border of Ophioneia.
Εὐπάλιον —now Sulés, near Potidania.
τὰ ἄλλα καταστρεψάμενος —i.e. the rest of Apodotia, before advancing into Ophionea. The Locrian light-armed troops had not yet turned up, and Demosthenes had gone only a very short way when he found it desirable to modify his plan considerably.
ἐς Ναύπακτον —as the best base for operating against Ophionea.
οὐκ ἐλάνθανεν . . οὔτε ὅτε . . ἐπειδή τε —“ οὔτε,” says Prof. Lamberton, “is before ὅτε, because the contrast connects itself most closely and naturally with the different points of time.” The sequence is irregular, but the sentence is quite clear.
οἱ ἔσχατοι . . Καλλιῆς —these tribes, then, must be the easternmost of the Ophioneis. καθήκοντες is not to be understood to mean that they extended right down to the Malian Gulf, but rather marks the direction. (It is possible that οἱ . . καθήκοντες is an addition to the text, a note made after Heraclea became part of Aetolia, which happened in 280 B.C.)
ἀναδιδάσκοντες —because at Teichium Demosthenes showed signs of appreciating the formidable nature of his undertaking.
τὴν δ’ ἐν ποσίν —sc. κώμην. Cf. Soph. Antig. 1327 τἂν ποσὶν κακά, ‘what lies in one's way.’
τῇ τύχῃ ἐλπίσας —causal dat., ‘rendered sanguine by his fortune.’ His confidence is amazing.
ἐχώρει ἐπὶ Αἰγιτίου —recent authorities have made it highly probable that Aegitium is Velúchovos, which, Woodhouse says, is the strongest fortress in Aetolia. It is in Ophionea. If this is so, notice (1) that Demosthenes has completely accepted the original plan of the Messenians, (2) that he has crossed the river Daphnos since advancing from Teichium. It is likely that Thuc. did not know of this river.
ὀγδοήκοντα —the distance is really a little over a hundred stades—thirteen miles The difference can scarcely be regarded as a serious argument against the identification of the site. (Possibly H, i.e. ἑκατόν, in an early uncial MS. reappeared as Π’ by a copyist's error.)
βεβοηθηκότες γὰρ . . ἦσαν —viz. the relief force; see c. 96, 3. The delay at Teichium had given them the opportunity.
ὁπότε —this, and not ὄτε, is prob. correct, as elsewhere Thuc. uses ὄτε only with indic.—The country through which the Athenians retreated on Oeneon was exceedingly wild and difficult.
μέχρι —c. 10, 3.
αὐτοῖς —ethic, but in unusual position.
οἱ δέ —the τοξόται: an epic and Ionic usage, since the subject is not a new one. The nse occurs occasionally in Attic prose. Thompson 2 At. Syn. § 47, note.
αὐτοί —the main body, in contrast with
οὗτοι the archers.
καί before ἐπὶ πολύ is ‘quite.’
ὁ ἡγεμών —“the wonderful precision with which the [guide] possessing local knowledge selects the proper path is only equalled by the ease with which he loses it when working in an unfamiliar region. Chromon was, perhaps, a shepherd picked up at Eupalion” (Woodhouse).
κατὰ πόδας —‘promptly,’ ‘rapidly.’
ἡλικία ἡ αὐτή —‘and men of the same efficiency.’ The phrase is so compressed that it has become obscure. Thuc. means οὗτοι ( οἳ) τοσοῦτοι ( ἦσαν) τὸ πλῆθος καὶ ἡλικία ἡ αὐτὴ ( ἦσαν); and ἡλικία is collective. It is impossible to render ‘in the prime of life too,’ because it is obvious that all who were serving must be part of the ἡλικία, or those of military age.
φοβούμενος —doubtless he feared impeachment ( εἰσαγγελία), possibly on a γραφὴ προδοσίας. As soon as Demosthenes should return, he would be a private citizen, since he had not been elected Strategus for the official year 426 (summer)-425 (summer).
Λοκρίδα —the Italian, of course. The Halex formed the boundary between Locri and Rhegium, and no doubt this expedition was undertaken at the request of the latter.
προπέμψαντες πρότερον —pleonastic. The time of this embassy was doubtless when the Aetolians got wind of the expedition of Demosthenes (c. 96, 3). The sentence is not clear, hut what was done seems to be this: the three ambassadors went first to Corinth; then, having got no promise of help there, they went on to Sparta, and there they succeeded; but by the time that the force was ready to start, Demosthenes was back at Naupactus. The delay is doubtless partly due to the fact that the 3000 hoplites sent (§ 2) were all mercenaries (see c. 109, 2 note) from different quarters; and it took time to collect these.
ἐπαγωγήν —by the Messenians, c. 92, 1.
πεντακόσιοι —these 500 adventurous Heracleots are not mentioned again. The reason why they are mentioned at all is their surprisingly large number.
ξυνηκολούθουν —according to the Spartan custom, in case anything happened to Eurylochus.
ἐς Δελφούς —a natural place to choose for an army that was to march to Naupactus.
Ἀμφισσῆς —extreme E. of Loeri, near to Phocis. As for the Phocians see n. on c. 95, 1. Locri and Phocis were on opposite sides.
οὖν —‘to be sure,’ or ‘indeed,’ as in γὰρ οὖν. It has nothing to do with μέν here.
Μυονέας —i.e. Myonia lay on the natural route through Locri. The names of the places that follow need not be considered.
δυσεσβολώτατος —for the fem. form cf. c. 89, 5.
Κυτίνιον τὸ Δωρικόν —c. 95, 1.
Οἰνεῶνα αἱρεῖ . . καὶ Εὐπάλιον —the Athenian influence in the W. of Locri was stronger. For the towns see c. 95. (It used to be thought that there is a reversion of the geographical order in the mention of the places; but this has been shown by Woodhouse to be an error.)
γενόμενοι —viz. the force under Eurylochus.
ἐπὶ τῶν νεῶν —for ‘on board their (Acarnanian) ships’ we should expect ἐπὶ τῶν σφετέρων νεῶν. If the text is right, it is probable (as Widmann says) that some of the thirty Athenian ships had not returned home and that c. 98, 5 is therefore inaccurate.
ἐς τὴν . . Καλυδῶνα . . Πλευρῶνα —‘to the Aeolis that is now (so) called, Calydon and Pleuron,’ i.e. to New Aeolis. We know that the name Aeolis was once confined to the territory of Calydon; but Pleuron had been added to it. Calydon and Pleuron are two of the five cities of Old Aetolia mentioned in the Iliad (The usual rendering ‘to Aeolis which is now called Calydon and Pleuron’ really makes no sense, for Thuc. could not refer so to two cities far more famous in the heroic days than in his own.)
ἐς τὰ ταύτῃ χωρία
—other parts of Old Aetolia.
Ἀμπρακιῶται —Amphilochian Argos now belonged to Amphilochians and Acarnanians. But the Ambraciots, who had once possessed it, and had been turned out by the help of Athens, in 437 B.C., wanted to recover it. They had made a vain attempt to do so in 430 B.C. The Ambraciots were in alliance with Sparta.
πᾶν τὸ ἠπειρωτικόν —cf. c. 94, 3. In 429 B.C. the Ambraciots had held out hopes to Sparta of acquiring (1) Acarnania (2) Zacynthus and Cephallenia, (3) Naupactus. It is noteworthy that nothing is said this time about the islands, doubtless because the crushing naval defeats the Peloponnesians had sustained from Phormio in 429 and their rough experiences again during the troubles in Corcyra made any project for the acquisition of these islands hopeless. Since the latter events, it is hardly surprising that Athens did not trouble to acquire Leucas (see c. 94, 2).
ἐκστρατευσαμένοις —‘when they (should) have taken the field.’
περὶ τὸ Ἄργος —with βοηθεῖν.
τῶν Ἑλλήνων —i.e. the Siceliots, whereas the Sicels are βάρβαροι.
ξύμμαχοι —“the name allies shows that they remained distinct though subject communities” (Freeman).
αὐτοῖς —with ξυνεπολέμουν.
Ἴνησσαν —identical with Aetna, not far from Catana. It had been an important Sicel stronghold.
Καϊκῖνον —unknown. Take κατὰ τὸν Κ. with ἐκράτησαν.
ἐκάθηραν —doubtless in gratitude for the cessation of the plague. The oracle perhaps gave directions how the plague might be kept away. It has been pointed out that Nicias had much to do with this ceremony of purification. His great interest in the event and his benefactions to Delos are known from Plutarch.
δή —explanatory. The “purification” by Pisistratus is noticed by Herodotus ( I. 64 ).
θῆκαι —‘coffins.’ Notice the not very common attraction of the antecedent into the case of the rel., though the antecedent is not placed in the rel. clause. Thompson 2 § 50 D. In Latin this eonstr., familiar from urbem quam statuo vestra est, is an old colloquialism.
Πολυκράτης —he ruled 532-521 B.C. According to Herod. III. 164 Samos was πολίων πασέων πρώτη in his time.
Νήσων —the Cyclades.
ἄρξας is ‘making himself master of,’ ingressive.
τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι —Apollo was worshipped much earlier than the time of Polycrates in the rocky island of Rhenea; Hymn to Apollo 44—see on § 4—written not later than 600 B.C. Cf. Theocritus XVII. 70 ἶσον καὶ Ῥήναιαν ἄναξ ἐφίλησεν Ἀπόλλων.
τὴν πεντετηρίδα —the first celebration probably took place in March (Anthesterion) 425 B.C.
τὰ Δήλια —‘(namely) the Delia.’ The words are bracketed by some edd., but Diodorus, whose account is derived from Thuc. (through Ephorus), says ἑποίησαν πανήγυριν τὴν τῶν Δηλίων.
ξύνοδος —in celebration of the god's birth.
ἐθεώρουν —‘attended the festival.’
ἐς τὰ Ἐφέσια —in honour of Artemis ( ἡ Ἐφεσία θεός).
χορούς τε ἀνῆγον —from the meaning ‘lift up’ a cry, etc, ἀνάγω comes to mean ‘set going,’ ‘start’; Eur. Tro. 325 ἄναγ’ ἄναγε χορόν. Notice the metrical χορούς τ’ ἀνῆγον αἱ πόλεις.
Ὅμηρος —the blind bard “of Chios,” who wrote this prize poem, was, according to a scholiast on Pindar, Cynaethus of Chios.
ἐκ προοιμίου —the quotations are from the famous “Homeric hymn” to Apollo; it was actually sung at the festival, where it received a prize.
ἀλλ’ ὅτε . = Hymn to Apollo 146-150, with important variations from the version of the hymn as found in the extant MSS. ‘But when your heart rejoices most in Delos.’
ἑλκεχίτωνες —alluding to the long robes of the Ionians in early times, almost obsolete in the days of Thuc.
σὴν ἐς ἀγυιάν —meaning uncertain; the square before the temple of Apollo, where the ἀγών was held, is the suggestion of Sikes ad loc. The I. in the MSS. of the hymn stands αὐτοῖς σὺν παίδεσσι καὶ αἰδοίῃς ἀλόχοισιν.
καθέσωσιν ἀγῶνα —‘have made the assembly sit down,’ to start the contests. ἀγών is ‘an assembly at games’. see Leaf on Iliad XV. 428. The MSS. of the hymn have στήσωνται ἀγῶνα.
τὸν γὰρ Δηλιακὸν χορὸν τῶν γυναικῶν —the enlogy of the κοῦραι Δηλιάδες, Delian women who sang the chorus, immediately precedes the passage about to be quoted.
τοῦ ἐπαίνου —viz. of the Delian women. For the gen. cf. c. 59, 4.
ἀλλ’ ἄγεθ’ .= H. to Apollo 165-172.
ὑποκρίνασθαι ἀφήμως —‘answer with one accord,’ i.e. ὁμοφήμως. The scholiast gives ἁθρόως. The reading ἀφήμως is supported by that of the MSS. of the hymn, ἀφ’ ἡμέων (or similar). Inferior MSS. of Thuc. give εὐφήμως.
τυφλὸς ἀνήρ —“this line,” says Sikes, “was at least partly the origin of the tradition that Homer was blind, and lived in Chios.”
καὶ τὰ πλεῖστα —‘and most parts’ of the ξύνοδος.
ὑπὸ ξυμφορῶν —when Persia set her heel on the necks of the Ionians.
πρὶν δή —see on c. 29, 1.
ὥσπερ ὑποσχόμενοι . . κατέσχον —‘in accordance with the promise to Eurylochus by which they had detained his force.’
Ὄλπας —on the Ambracian gulf.
ὃ . . τειχισάμενοι . . ἐχρῶντο —the more ordinary constr. by which, when partic. and verb that govern differeut cases have a common object, the case of the obj. is accommodated to the partic.
ποτε —this occupation of Olpae by the Acarnanians probably took place at the time when the Ambraciots had first become powerful in Argos. The meaning is clearly that the A carnanians had now ceased to hold it, and that it belonged to the Amphilochians. The Acarnanians had used Olpae as a common place of justice.
ἐπιθαλασσίας —if Argos lies where it is usually placed, it is some distance from the sea, but the inaccuracy need not be pressed. Still there is some reason to think that Argos and Crenae should change places on the maps, Argos being placed on the coast, S. of Olpae, and Crenae inland. The site marked Argos would be a suitable position from which to watch for an enemy advancing from Acarnania to join his ally at Olpae, of course avoiding Argos.
πέμπουσι —to Naupactus. Demostheues was not, strictly speaking, Strategus now, but he still had charge of the defence of Naupactus, and therefore continued to hold an official position until he should be relieved by the arrival at Naupactus of the twenty ships here referred to.
πόλιν —Ambracia.
ἡ μἀχη γένηται —the expected battle. The phrase is passive of τὴν μάχην ποιεῖσθαι .
Ἀχελῷον —frontier between Aetolia and Acarnania. The route:— Through the territory of Stratus, the greatest city in Acarnania, westwards to the territory of Phytia (Phoitia); thence northwards through Eastern Medionia, which brought Eurylochus to the Ambraciau gulf; thence eastwards across the district of Limnaea, avoiding the town (of doubtful name) at the SE. corner of the gulf; and so across the low hills called Thyamus, and through the friendly territory of the Agraei; hence down into the territory of Argos, between that city and Crenae, to Olpae.
αὖθις —‘then,’ or ‘afterwards.’ It is usual to make Μεδεῶνος depend on παρ’ ἔσχατα; but Herbst seems right in taking Μεδεῶνος with διά, and making παρ’ ἔσχατα modify the namc of both districts; i.e. they went along the border of Phytia and also of Medionia.
Ἀγραϊκόν for ἀγροῖκον of the MSS., which is not used of districts, is a certain emendation.
καθίζουσιν —sc. τὸν στρατόν, but practically intrans.
Ἀθηναίων —doubtless a small force stationed at Naupactus. Demosthenes used the ships referred to in c. 102, 4. Oberhummer thinks that from Limnaea he went by land, following the line of Eurylochus, that he joined the Acarnanian division at Crenae, and accompanied it to Argos. This seems most probable.
τὸν λόφον if genuine, is in apposition to τὰς Ὄλπας, but the description does not seem likely or necessary after c. 105, 1.
Ἀμφιλόχων —i.e. those of Amphilochia generally; for the reason why the majority were restrained from taking part in the fighting see c. 114, 3.
μετά —Demosthenes was to be Commander-in-chief.
χαράδρα . . μεγάλη —this has been recognized in a brook, the banks of which are overshadowed with plane-trees; cf. the ὸδὸς κοίλη καὶ λοχμώδης.
κατὰ τὸ ὑπερέχον —where the enemy's line (the left wing, c. 108, 1) outflanked them.
ὀλίγων —a strange way of referring to the sixty Athenian archers: we should expect simply μετὰ τῶν Ἀθ. Possibly ὀλίγων is an addition to the text.
ἐπεῖχον governs τὸ δὲ ἄλλο. The Acarnanians were in separate contingents, each under its own commander.
ἀναμίξ —on the right wing the Ambraciots evidently were the principal troops; cf. e. 108, 2.
ἐς ἀλκὴν ὑπομεῖναι —‘stand their ground to the point of resistance.’ For ἀλκή see on c. 30, 2.
τὸ κατ’ Εὐρύλοχον —‘that part where Eu. was.’
τὸ πολὺ τοῦ ἔργου ἐπεξῆλθον —both έξ‐ and έπεξ‐ can have the accus.: the latter is the normal constr., and it is not certain that there is any parallel for the former in Thuc. In I. 70 the MSS. vary in the same way as here. § 2 l. 15.
μαχιμώτατοι —this refers to οἱ Ἀμπρακιῶται only, not to οἱ . . κἑρας, who are the few Peloponnesians on the right wing. This restricted reference is so awkward that it is not unlikely that καί after Ἀμπρακιῶται ought to be removed, so as to render ‘the A. on the right wing.’
ὡς . . νενικημένον —this is what they found on returning from the pursuit of the enemy's left. The inference is clearly that τὸ πλἑον also retreated to Olpae; cf. ἐς φυγὴν . . καταστῆσαι above. With a colon instead of the usual comma after Ὄλπας, the difficulty that has been found in making αὐτῶν presently refer—as it must do—to the whole army, disappears.
αὐτῶν —‘of the armv.’ It cannot mean ‘of the right wing’ only, since the Mantineans were posted almost on the left wing.
προσπίπτοντες —‘while rushing to the fortress of Olpae.’
αὐτός —‘single-handed.’
πολιορκήσεται —‘to stand a siege.’ § 2 l. 13.
ἀποθανόντας = νεκρούς.
Ἀκαρνάνων depends on ξυστρατήγων, possessive gen.
σπένδονται —for the plur. verb, rare with a sing. subj. followed by μετά, see Thompson 2 § 7. βουλόμενος following makes the conjecture σπένδεται probable.
τὸν μισθοφόρον ὄχλον —i.c. the Peloponnesian forces, exclusive of the Mantineans, the ἄρχοντες and ἀξιολογώτατοι. The Peloponnesian troops were mercenaries, it would seem. τὸν ξενικόν is prob. a mere gloss on μισθοφόρον.
διαβαλεῖν ἐς —‘to damage them with.’
Ἕλληνας —Steup places the comma at χρῄζων so as to make Ἕλληνας object of καταπροδόντες, i.e. the Ambraciots and the ὄχλος μισθοφόρος. This is better than ἐς τοὺς ἐκείνῃ . . Ἕλληνας together, i.e. the Ambraciots only, because (1) the Amphilochians too would be naturally included under the τούς, and they were not Ἔλληνες, (2) the mercenaries should certainly be included in the object of καταπροδόντες.
ὥσπερ ὑπῆρχε —‘as well as circumstances allowed.’
οἷς ἐδέδοτο —sc. ἐκεῖνοι.
πόλεως —c. 105, 4. The force from Ambracia had to march to Idomene (c. 112 ), then through the hills into the plain of Argos.
προλοχιοῦντας —referring to the collective μέρος.
τὰ καρτερά —strong positions in the hills.