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.’
