*(o—the art. added because this is
a continuation of the narrative from VI. 104. Contrast c.
2.1, where the art. is omitted because there is a
transition to new points.
*gu/lippos—son of Cleandridas, who
had settled at Thurii, on which see c. 33.6 note. His
appointment to command in Sicily was the immediate result of Alcibiades' advice.
Nothing is known of his previous history. (
His character is in some points not Spartan. He is quick, enterprising, full
of resource, able to adapt himself to all men and to all circumstances.
Freeman
. This character reminds us of the description which Pericles gave of the
Athenians.)
o(—the art. again because the
persons are thought of separately. Contrast c. 80.1
tw=| *n kai\ *d e)do/kei.
*puqh\n—Corinthian captain. Syr.
envoys had gone to Corinth in the winter of 415, and Corinth had at once resolved to
assist her colony.
tou= *t—T. has been all genders.
In Attic it is masc., on the analogy of all nouns in -ras; in Alexandrine writers it became fem.; the Romans made it neut.
*ta/rantos—Gyl. had been driven by
foul weather to seek shelter there. T.—regnata Laconi rura
Phalanto—was founded circ. 705 B.C. after the first Messenian war.
e)peskeu/asan—VI. 104
ta\s nau=s e)peskeu/azen. Diod. XIII. 1
ta\s nau=s e)peskeu/asan . . . trih/reis kateskeu/asan . . . .
tou= sto/lou pareskeuasme/nou. To the Latin sense of apparatus
paraskeuh\ corresponds; while kataskeuh\ has the English sense of the same word.
*lokrou\s—founded about 690 B.C.
on land belonging to the Sicels. Now Gerace.
h)/dh—they had received several
false reports that Syr. was entirely shut in.
kata\ ta\s *)e.—via: cf. II. 76.4
kata\ xw=ma prosa/gein. Epipolae includes all the high
ground west of Achradina which was not inclosed in the fortifications of the city.
stratia=|—dat. of accompaniment,
only used in naval and military expressions.
e)bouleu/onto—because before they
had supposed that the only chance of getting into Syr. was by eluding the A. fleet.
e)n decia=| labo/ntes—except here
Thuc. always uses e)/xein e)n d., e)n a)ristera=|.
diakinduneu/swsin—so II. 4
e)bouleu/onto ei)/te katakau/swsin ei)/te ti a)/llo
xrh/swntai. Thuc. does not use po/teron . .
h)/. He uses po/teron twice, VIZ. I. 80
pw=s xrh\ . . e)peixqh=nai
:
po/teron tai=s nausi/n
; and VI. 38
ti/ kai\ bou/lesqe; po/teron a)/rxein
; In both cases a)lla\ follows
(u(pofora/), as in Andoc. I.
148
ti/na ga\r a/nabiba/swmai; to\n pate/ra; a)lla\ te/qnhken.
a)lla\ tou\s a)delfou/s; a)ll' ou)k ei)si/n.
diakinduneu/swsin e)spleu=sai—of
the compounds of kinduneu/w, a)na-, a)po-, dia-, para-
are found with infin.; e)pi-, pro-, sug- are not.
*(ime/ran—founded 646 B.C. from
Zancle, to be a stronghold against Phoenician Panormus. It was destroyed for ever by
the Carthaginians in 408.
au)tou/s—tou\s *(imerai/ous, the name of the people implied in the name of their
city, as constantly.
ou(\s—after the collective
stratia/n.
kai\ e)/docen—cf. VIII. 8
e)bouleu/onto, kai\ e)/doce prw=ton e)s *xi=on plei=n
au)toi=s.
o(/mws—in spite of his previous
indifference; VI. 104
u(perei=de to\ plh=qos . . . kai\ ou)demi/an fulakh/n pw
e)poiei=to.
a(\s . . . a)pe/steile—aor. for
plup. in dependent clause, as constantly.
punqano/menos . . .
ei)=nai—generally punqa/nomai and
ai)sqa/nomai take the partic.
fulakh\n—concrete, as in fulaka\s kaqi/stasqai
II. 24.
peraiou=ntai dia\—cf. I. 107
dia\ tou= ko/lpou peraiou=sqai. The accus. is the
ordinary constr.
tou= porqmou=—IV. 24
e)/sti de\ o( porqmo\s h( metacu\ *(rhgi/ou qa)lassa kai\
*messh/nhs.
sxo/ntes *(rhgi/w|—sxei=n is also constructed with e)s and kata/. (Bekker Anecd.
I. 173
sxw/n, dotikh=|: *qoukudi/dhs e(bdo/mw|.)
*messh/nh|—its older name was
Zancle, from Sicel Danklon, a reaping-hook, = a)gkw/n.
tou/s te *(imerai/ous—co-ordinate
with kai\ tou\s *selinounti/ous e)ke/leuon.
kai\ au)tou/s—the kai\ is epexegetic, introducing the
explanation of cumpolemei=n.
a)nei/lkusan—so that the oarsmen
were available as infantry.
tou\s *s. pe/myantes
e)ke/leuon—observe (1) that when a partie. and verb apply to a
common object, the object follows the constr. required by the partic., (2) that
pe/mpw is a regular exception to this rule in such
phrases as kh/ruka, pre/sbeis, a)poi/kous, pe)myantes,
as they are so frequently used absolutely that the object is generally not
accommodated to the partic. at all: cf. II. 27
th\n *ai/ginan pe/myantes epoi/kous e/xein: VIII. 40
*)astu/oxon pe/myantes e)ke/leuon. Contrast c. 3
me/ros ti pe/myas pro\s to frou/rion ai(rei=: c. 85
e\pi tous triakosious pe)myantes cune/labon.
panstratia=|—Selinus only sent
yilou/s tinas kai\ i(ppe/as (§ 5), as it
was at war with Segesta. (Thuc. is fond of thus contrasting great projects with meagre
performances. Cf II. 93.)
xwri/on—meanings (1) a strategical
position, (2) a farm.
*sikelw=n tines—the S were a Latin
tribe, and were driven from Latinm into Bruttium, whence they were again driven over
to Sicily by the Opicans.
prosxwrei=n—the greater part of
the S. had supported the Athenians through enmity with Syracuse since 451 B.C., when
the Sicel lcader Ducetius had defeated the combined forces of Acragas and Syracuse.
*)arxwni/dou—he had aided Ducetins
in founding Calacte on the N. coast of Sicily. When D. died in 440, Syracuse feared
that A. would revive the power of the Sicels, and so made war on them.
tau/th|—i.e. those of Northern
Sicily.
tinw=n—A. was prince of Herbita,
and his territory, or at least his influence, probably extended to Calacte on the
north coast.
e)k *lak. . . . h(/kein—here
h(/kw expresses come duly to their
assistance, as in boh/qeia h(/cei
III. 4; c. 16.3; w)feli/a h(/cei
VI. 93. Cf. VI 73
e)s th\n *lakedai/mona pre/sbeis a)pe/steilan o(/pws cummaxi/a
au)toi=s parage/nhtai. The word h(/kw is
constantly so used in drama, esp. in addressing persons who have come to bring help.
proqu/mws—cf. VI. 18
p. paragi/gnesqai, and c. 66 and 70 p. a)ntilabe/sqai.
kai\—and so, giving
the result, as often.
sfete/rwn—e(autou= would be more correct here and in c. 3.4; but the whole side is meant.
e)s xili/ous—direct object of
a)nalabw/n. A prep. and its case may stand for subj.
or obj. of a verb.
tou\s pa/ntas—pa=s preceded by the art. gives the sum total. Cf. II. 7
e)s to\n pa/nta a)riqmo/n. (The Sicels were always a
number of isolated atoms except only when united under Ducetius and to some extent
under Archonides.)
*leuka/dos—Gylippus and Pythen had
left the Cor. here with filteen ships, and had sailed out with four, hoping to prevent
Italy from joining Athens, but despairing of Sicily.
w(s ei)=xon ta/xous—cf. c. 57
ws e(kastoi th=s cuntuxi/as e)/sxon. VI. 97
w(s e(/kastos ta/xous ei)=xe. Tac. Ann. 15.53
ut quisque audentiae habuisset accurrerunt
is a conscions
imitation of this. Xen. Hel. 4.5.15
w(s ta/xous e(/. ei)=xe. Herod.
VI. 116
w(s podw=n ei)=xon.
a)fiknei=tai—having entered by the
Little Harbour (called Laccrus), eluding the A. fleet which commanded the Great
Harbour.
me/llontas e)kklhsia/sein—there is
no evidence to prove that ‘it was the very day,’ as Freeman says,
‘which had been fixed for the discussion.’ Thuc. only says that
they intended to discuss the question of peace.
*lak.
a)posteila/ntwn—Krüger notes that the gen. abs. is often
thus placed qualifying a verb. Cf. V. 4
tri/tos au)to\s *)aqhnai/wn pempo/ntwn
e)ce/pleuse.
h)|sqa/nonto—by message from
him.
*)ieta\s—Steph. Byz. says
Philistus referred to it as frou/rion *sikeli/as; but
it is quite unknown.
to/te—Classen refers this to
e)n th=| paro/dw|, but as Thuc. never uses to/te with reference to the period implied in a temporal
expression, Poppo rightly refers it to oi( *surako/sioi
e)ch=lqon.
tei=xos . . . tw=n *sikelw=n—the
perversion of the natural order adds emphasis to tw=n
*sikelw=n. Cf. II. 5.5
e)n spondai=s sfw=n peiraqe/ntes katalabei=n th\n
po/lin, where sfw=n belongs to th\n po/lin. Cf. on c. 17.3, 4,
and 18, 1.
e)n th=| paro/dw|—So I. 126; cf. e)n o(dw=|
ei)=nai, to be on the road.
e(lw/n, kai\ cun—when two partic.
are joined by kai/, the action of the one generally
precedes that of the other in time, or gives the cause of it. The former may be the
case here. (Hw. and Sta. bracket kai/.)
*eu)ru)hlon—it is strange enough
that the Syr. should not have established an outpost on the point of the
‘Broad Nail’ in the winter of 415 when the fortifications were
extended; but still stranger that G. should have found Euryelus now undefended by the
Athenians.
meta\ tw=n *s. they had joined him by
marching through the open space north of the A. lines.
l 21.
e)/tuxe . . . e)lqw\n—with the
aor. of tugxa/nw, fqa/nw, lanqa/nw the aor. partic.
expresses time not antecedent to, but coincident with the time of the verb. To express
time antecedent to the time of these verbs, either (1) the pres. or imperf. of these verbs must be used, or (2) if the aor. is used, the perf. partic
is necessary. Cf. on c. 4.3.
kata\ tou=to tou= kairou=—cf. c.
69
e)n tw=| toiou/tw| tou= kairou=; c. 33
e)n tou/tw| tu/xhs. Cf. also the idiom ei)s tou=to (tosou=to)
e)lqei=n (a)fike/sqai,
h(/kein) with gen.; id temporis; eo (furoris) venire (Phrynichus says that the
noun of time requires the art., but no such rule was
known to Attic authors, the art. being employed or omitted according to the whim of
the writer or as the meaning required. Rutherford.)
e(pta\ . . . h)\ o)ktw\—it would
be about seven to the fort on the krhmno/s, about
eight to the ku/klos, as far as the building was then
completed. (Those who think that the ku/klos was
further north, and that the wall between it and the krhmno\s was double —Classen, Holm, Lupus, Muller—are
foreed to bracket e(pta\ . . stadi/wn, as the length
of the double wall must then be considerably greater. See Intr. p. xii.)
me\n—answered by tw=| de\ a)/llw|. The double wall, as nearly completed, is
contrasted with the northern wall, very incomplete. (Fr. Muller and Oeltze de particularum
me/n
et
de/
usu Halle '87 place me\n
between e)s and to\n
helow.)
stadi/wn—gen. of measure; cf.
II. 13
ta\ makra( tei/xh tessara/konta stadi/wn. The position
of the gen. is due to the antithesis, which often causes a disturbance of the natural
order. See on c. 17.3.
a)petete/lesto—on the question
whether Thuc. here neglects to take account of the wall between the ku/klos and the krhmnos, see
Intr. p. xiii.
e)s ton . . . lime/na—it crossed
three levels, (1) a short portion of Epipolae, (2) to\
o(malo/n, the level just below the krhmno/s,
(3) to\ e(/los, the marshy ground about Lysimeleia.
diplou=n—contra
exteriorem etiam hostem, Jastus Lipsis. Cf. Lucian Ver.
hist.
I. 19. Endymion the king of the moon made war on Phaethon
k. of the sun, because the latter had prevented Endymion from colonising Hesperus. The
Nephelocentaurs in Phaethon's service build a wall w(/ste
mhke/ti ta\s au)ga\s a)po\ tou= h(li)ou pro\s th\n selh/nhn dih/kein. to\ de\
tei=xos h)=n diplou=n, w(/ste safh\s e)/kleiyis th=s selh/nhs e)gego/nei.
This produced peace.
to\ pro\s th\n q.—epexegetic of
ti. Cf. VIII. 21
e)s diakosi/ous tina\s tou\s pa/ntas.
tw=| de\ a)/llw| (a)/nw) tou=
k.—the remainder of the wall north of the fort; the
same as to\ pro\s bore/an tou= ku/klou tei=xos in
VI. 99. Cf. Herod. I. 72 of
the course of the Halys r(e/wn a)/nw pro\s bore/hn.
(So in VI. 99
ka/twqen tou= ku/klou=south of
the k., as Sitzler explains. Without a)/nw there are two ways of taking the text: (1) tw=| a)/llw|=e(te/rwqi
on the other side of,
of which meaning there is no example; or (2) making pro\s to\n *trw/gilon govern tou=
ku/klou
for the rest of the wall on the Trogilus side of the k., but, from the analogy of other prepositional phrases, it is
clear that even so tou= ku/klou must be
‘partitive’; cf. IV. 108.1
ta\ (tou= potamou=)
pro\s *)hio/na; IV. 5
tou= xwri/ou to\ pro\s h)/peiron. This would
necessitate taking ku/klos here to mean the whole
circumference of the walls, as in II. 13; but k.
must mean a central point between the two pieces of wall spoken of, as
it clearly does in all the other passages— VI.
98, 99, 101, 102.)
e)/stin a(\ . . . ta\ de\—for
ta\ me\n . . ta\ de\ . .
kai\ h(mi/erga . . . kai\
e)ceirgasme/na—the first kai\ marks
the antithesis between tw=| ple)oni and e)/stin a)/, the second that between e)/stin a(\ and ta\ de/.
para\ tosou=ton—cf. VIII. 33
para\ tosou=ton e)ge/net' au)tw=| mh\ peripesei=n toi=s
*)aqhnai/ois, and para\ e(\n pa/laisma e)/drame
nika=n
Herod. 9.33.
me\n—in transition, as often, like
me\n dh/, II. 4
oi( me\n dh\ ou(/tws e)pepra/gesan. oi( de\ a)/lloi;
III. 24.
ai)fnidi/ws—Thuc. uses a)/fnw, ai)fnidi/ws, e)cai/fnhs, and, in the earlier books,
e)capi/nhs and e)capinai/ws. The last two are Ionic.
sfi/sin—indirect reflexive, not
referring to the subj. of its own clause, but to that of the main clause. Hence
sfei=s is regularly used only in subord. sentences.
But (1) Thuc. sometimes uses sfa=s like Ionic writers,
for sfa=s au)tou\s or e)autou/s, as II. 65
au)toi\ e)n sfi/si . . . e)sfa/lhsan. (2) He uses
e(autw=n, like Attic writers, for sfw=n or sfete/ras, as II. 7
oi( *lak. po/leis cummaxi/das poiou/menoi o(/sai h)=san e)kto\s
th=s e(autw=n duna/mews, where eautw=n
refers to *lakedaimo/nioi.
e)pio/ntwn—as Thuc. has given no
hint that Gyl. had as yet passed the Athenian lines, and as the Syr. had gone out to
meet him, we may assume that he was still on the west side of the lines.
e)qorubh/qhsan me\n . . . pareta/canto
de/—sharp antithesis, as III. 101
o(mh/rous me\n e)/dosan, h)kolou/qoun de\ ou)/.
qe/menos ta\ o(/pla—lit.
having grounded arms,
taken up a position, cum constitisset.
e)ggu\s—apparently in the plain,
before the diplou=n tei=xos.
prospe/mpei—in this use of
pe)mpw the historic pres. is commoner than the aor.
If the negotiation is elaborate, the imperf. is used.
le/gonta—contrast II. 85
pe/mpousi cumbou/lous keleu/ontes. The
nom. and accus. are both used. Cf. III. 52
prospe/mpei au)toi=s kh/ruka le)gonta. (Meineke and
Hw. le)gwn or le/conta
Kr. thinks le/gonta may be spurious.)
ei) bou/lontai—formal expression
in proposing terms; e.g. IV. 37
e)kh/rucan ei) bou/lointo ta\ o(/pla paradou=nai.
h(merw=n—any time within the
period, like nukto/s, h(me/ras.
e(toi=mos—as though le/gwn had preceded. Cf. V. 41
ou)k e)w/ntwn memnh=sqai peri\ au)th=s, a)ll' ei) bou/lontai
spe/ndesqai, e(toi=moi ei)=nai; VIII.
48.6.
e)n o)ligwri/a| poiei=sqai—sc.
au)ta/, the proceeding, as in IV. 5
e(orth\n e)/tuxon a)/gontes kai\ e)n o)ligwri/a|
e)poiou=nto. Cf. e)n with e)/xw, ti/qesqai, ei)=nai, gi/gnesqai, as I. 35
e)n a)dikh/mati qh/sontai; Aesch. PB 239
e)n oi)/ktw| proqe/menos; e)n o)rgh=| e)/xein, etc.
ou)de\n a)pokrina/menoi—Plutarch
says the soldiers asked whether the coming of a single Spartan had so emboldened them.
Cf. Isocr. Archid. 52
a)namnh/sqhte o(/ti ei) poliorkoume/nh| tini\ tw=n po/lewn ei(=s
mo/nos *lakedaimoni/wn bohqh/seien. u(po\ pa/ntwn a)\n w(mologei=to para\ tou=ton
gene/sqai th\n swthri/an au)toi=s.
a)llh/lois—added to show that the
subj. is no longer oi( de/.
e)panh=ge—i.e. further westwards,
away from the Athenian lines, and in the review ground west of Lysimeleia. Gyl. had
apparently not yet entered Syr. (The edd. say eastwards, and
assume that Gyl had passed between the Athenian lines and the walls of Syr As Freeman
says, such eu)ruxwri/a could have been found only to
the west of the A. wall. But he too thinks that Gyl. had been east of the lines till
now, and had to march out round the north of the lines, not venturing to meet the A.
in the narrow space between their fort and the city walls. Diodorus says nothing; but
Plutarch Nic. 19 has prosh=gen eu)qu\s o(
*gu/lippos e)c o(dou= paratetagme/nos.)
ma=llon—with th\n eu)ruxwri/an
the more open ground. Cf. III. 107
e)n tw=| eu)wnu/mw| ma=llon.
h(su/xaze—the opposite of polemw=, and so means to abstain from acts of hostility. Cf.
c. 12.1.
e(autw=n—plur., as in c. 1.5.
tei/xei—i.e. to\ diplou=n t.
w(|s . . e)/gnw—o(/te is used when two acts are represented as simultaneous;
e)peidh\ when the act of its verb precedes that of
the main verb; w(s when no connection between the time
of the two acts is expressed.
a)ph/gage—by marching round the
northern extremity of the Athenian lines.
*temeni=tin—it had been taken into
the city and fortified in the preceding winter.
o(/pws—by far the commonest final
particle in Thuc., and rather commoner than i(/na in
Xen. In all other authors i(/na very greatly
predominates. (See table in M.T. p. 398.)
a\llose—esp. to Labdalum.
pe/myas—back by the way by which
he had come.
to\ frou/rion—as Gyl. intended to
build his cross-wall along the north of Epipolae, it was necessary first to get
possession of Labdalum.
to\ *la/bdalon—in III. 97 the name means the neighbourhood so called, but here
it is the fort built there. Nicias had made no use of L., and did not even keep up
proper communications with it. After Gyl. had passed it, it should have been abandoned
ai(rei= kai\ . . .
a)pe/kteinen—cf. II. 67
cullamba/nei . . . kai\ e)ke/leusen; 69
a)poqnh/|skei . . . kai\ die/fqeire.
ou)k e)pifane\s—because the ridge
on which the fort stood was lower than the centre of Epipolae.
trih/rhs . . . a(li/sketai—an
event of importance, as this was the first Syracusan success at sea. The Syr. were
beginning to think of regaining control of the Great Harbour which they had lost since
the A. flcet sailed thither from Thapsus.
e)formou=sa—sent out from the A.
fleet to the mouth of the Harbour.
e)tei/xizon—his
main object now is to hinder them from carrying their north wall to the edge
of the cliff, and down to the water on that side. A wall running east and west was
to be built.
Freeman
. This is the third Syr. counterwork.
dia\ tw=n *)epipolw=n . . .
e)gka/rsion—four expressions are here given in order to fix the
direction: (1) dia\ tw=n *)e. shows that the wall was
to run along E.: (2) a)po\ th=s p. a)rca/menoi shows
that it was to run from east to west: (3) a)/nw
north of the ku/klos, as VI. 99
ka/twqen tou= ku/klou
south of it; cf. on c. 2.4; (4) pro\s to\ e)gka/rsion
at an angle to the north wall of the A. (The meaning of a)/nw is much disputed: (a) Freeman
says it means that ‘the wall was carried westwards, up the slope,’
with which the note in Jowett agrees. So Stahl. In this case a)/nw adds nothing new, but—as often—only gives the
general direction which is further defined by the words following it—viz.
pro\s to\ e)gka/rsion; (b)
Classen renders ‘along the northern height’ and Fr. Muller
‘north of the ku/klos,’ which is
much the same thing. This is better, because (1) it enables us to give the same
meaning throughout the description to a)/nw, viz.
‘north’ (cf. c. 4.3) of the place
specified; (2) if a)/nw does not mean
north, there is nothing to show on which side of the ku/klos the new wall ran. This can indeed be inferred from what follows, but in the case of the other
counterworks Thuc. states clearly that the one was ka/twqen tou=
ku/klou, the other dia\ tou= e)/lous; (3)
a)/nw thus gives a new indication of direction and
does not merely repeat the other expressions.)
pro\s to\ e)gka/rsion—adverbial,
cross-wise: with prepositional phrases used adverbially the article
is rarely found.
o(/pws . . . ei) mh\ du/nainto . . . mhke/ti oi(=oi/
te w)=sin—when e)a\n and subj. is
changed into ei) and opt, the subj in a final clause
is regularly changed into opt.; the only exceptions in Thuc. are this passage and
IV. 120
o(/pws, ei) . . . peritugxa/noi, h( trih/rhs a)mu/nh|
(V. l. a)mu/noi),
a)poteixi/sai—to invest the
city, by completing the northern wall.
l. 7
oi(/ te *)aqhnai=oi a)nebebh/kesan . . . kai\ o( *g.
. . . e)ph/|ei—cf. II. 59
h(/ te gh= au)tw=n e)te/tmhto to\ deu/teron kai\ h( no/sos
e)pe/keito. The A. had lately (h)/dh) gone
up when Gyl. made his attack; te . . . kai\ are
parataetic and deseribe nearly simultaneous events.
to\ e)pi\ qala/ssh|—i.e. they had
finished the small piece referred to in c. 2.4. Thuc.
always writes e)pi\ qala/ssh|, and so the orators
unless some particular sea is referred to, as Demosth. VI. 12
th=s e)pi\ th=| qala/ssh| a)rxh=s.
h)=n ga\r k.t l.—cf. c. 48
kai/ (h)=n ga/r ti . .
.; I. 137
kai/ (h)=n ga\r a)gnw\s. .
.
tei/xous—the northern wall.
e)/tuxon . . au)lizo/menoi—imperf.
partic. of prolonged action; the A. were bivouacking by chance outside their fortress,
on the east side. e)tu/gxanon au)lisa/menoi would mean
they had bivouacked by chance. Cf. on c. 2.4.
w(s h)/|sqonto—the regular
periphrasis for ai)sqo/menoi when the partic. would be
inelegant.
sfete/rous—after o(. See on c. 1.5.
pa/lin—is placed after the verb
when not emphatic. It is esp. common after a)pa/gein
and a)naxwrei=n.
u(yhlo/teron—pred.; cf. II. 75
h)/|reto me)ga.
a)/llous—exclusive; cf. c. 61.1.
e(/kastoi—this word is frequently
put into the relative clause, like quisque, instead of in the
principal clause.
to\ *plhmmu/rion—
the A. fleet was now . . . in the north-western corner of the harbour, near
the swamp of Lysimeleia . . . Now that the Syr. were beginning to stir by sea,
such a position gave them no command of the harbour in general. . . . Everything
now had to come by sea, at a great disadvantage, as long as the A. had no command
of the mouth of the harbour. . . . N. therefore determined to occupy Plemmyrion.
Freeman
.
a)ntipe/ras—the view from it takes
in the whole extent of Ortygia and Achradina.
r(a=|on—r(a/|wn would be expected; but h( e)skomidh\
e)/stai is treated as passive of th\n e)skomidh\n
poih/somai, so that e)/stai
would more naturally be genh/setai, as
in II. 18
xalepw=s h( a)na/stasis e)gi/gneto. Cf. c. 28.1 (gi/gnetai and e)sti\ are frequently qualified by an adv. in such phrases as
kakw=s gi/gnetai = it turns out badly
for; so that r(a=|on here is not opposed to
Gk. idiom.)
di' e)la/ssonos—local, as in
di' o)li/gou 36, 5; at a shorter distance from the
Syracusan fleet.
pro\s tw=| lime/ni—cf. VIII. 94
tou= pole/mou . . . pro\s tw=| lime/ni o)/ntos, of a
battle close to Peiraeus. The phrase means near the mouth of the
harbour. The fleet would now be drawn up just inside the harbour, and there
would be less danger of disasters like that related in c. 3.5 when provisions were to be brought in.
e)k muxou=—the north-western
corner, close to the point at which the double wall touched the harbour
ta\s e)panagwga\s—putting out
against an enemy; e)pagwgh/, conveyance of provisions,
as c. 24.
poih/sesqai—see index, s. v.
poiei=sqai.
h)/n ti . . . kinw=ntai—the full
sentence is ei) teixisqei/h, e)fai/neto ou)k . . . poih/sesqai,
h)/n ti nautikw=| k.; hence there are two protases, both of which, in the
recta, are subj. with h)/n. In these cases, the first
protasis is the principal condition, the second the subordinate. Cf. Andoc. I. 149
e)a\n toi=s e)xqroi=s peisqh=te, ou)d' a)\n u(ste/rw| xro/nw|
u(mi=n metamelh/sh|, ou)de\n e)/ti ple/on poih/sete.
kinw=ntai—(1) sc. oi( *surako/sioi. Thuc. changes the subject more rapidly than
we should do. Cf. II. 3
o(/pws mh\ prosfe/rwntai (oi(
*plataih=s) kai\ sfi/sin e)k tou= i)/sou
gi/gnwntai (oi( *qhbai=oi), (2) passive
voice, as usual with verbs used reflexively, the purely reflexive use of the mid.
being quite rare. Cf. v. 8
w(s ei)=de kinoume/nous tou\s *)aqhnai/ous.
prosei=xe/ te—in fact he
was now disposed to give more attention to naval warfare.
e)peidh\—in temporal sentences where the indic. was used in the Recta, it is always retained in the Obliqua.
h(=ken—cf. c. 1.4.
stratia\n—troops;
the greater part of the army was still encamped along the walls.
frou/ria—
N. built three forts, a greater and two smaller. . . . The new station,
standing apart from the constant fighting which went on around the walls on
Epipolae, was thought to be a safer resting-place for provisions and stuff
generally.
Freeman
.
skeu/h—stores; cf.
c. 24.2.
e)/keito—Thuc. always uses the
simple verb instead of a/po/keimai in this sense.
ta\ mega/la—i.e. transports.
w(/ste—quamobrem. In Homer
w(/ste is used only in a comparative and causal sense. In tragedy, when used
with the indic. (not found in Aesch.), w(/ste nearly
always = quamobrem, and this use is common in Thuc, as II. 87, and other prose authors.
plhrwma/twn—one of the many nouns
in -ma which is used in a concrete sense, of persons.
They are esp. common in tragedy, as dou/leuma, slave,
ptw=ma, fallen body.
ka/kwsis e)ge/neto—pass. of
ka/kwsin poiei=sqai. Thuc. is esp. fond of abstract
nouns in -sis, as dh/lwsis,
o)lo/fursis, cu/lwsis, and probably coined some himself.
xrw/menoi—causal, joined to
o(po/te e)ce/lqoien. Such juxtaposition of
dissimilar expressions is far commoner in Thuc. than in other authors. Tacitus
imitates the mannerism.
e)ggu/qen—adv joined to adj.
spani/w|, as VIII 48 a)/kritoi
kai\ biaio/teron a)poqnh/|skein, and often.
e)pi\ frug. . . .
e)ce/lqoien—e)pi\ with accus.
after verbs of motion corresponds to the supine in -um.
tw=n i(ppe/wn—having gone round
the west end of Epipolae.
*surakosi/ois—as the subject,
me/ros i(ppe/wn, of the pluperf. pas is personal, the dat. is ethic rather than
dat. of the agent. Contrast tau=ta pe/praktai/ moi
(When the subject of the perf. pas. is personal, the agent is
regularly expressed by u(po/.)
i(/na mh\ . . e)ci/oien—epexegetic
of dia\ tou\s e)n tw=| *p., as in I. 99
dia\ th\n a)po/knhsin tw=n strateiw=n, i(/na mh\ a)p' oi)/kou
w)=si.
*)olumpiei/w|—this includes (a) the te/menos of the god, (b) the adjacent land. There are still two gaunt pillars of the
temple standing.
poli/xnh|—later this was turned
into a proper name.
e)teta/xato—cf. a)fi/kato c. 75. The termination
is Ionic, but is occasionally found in other Attic prose writers; e.g. Xen. Anab.
IV. 8.5
a)ntiteta/xatai. (Moeris wrongly says e)teta/xato *)attikw=s' tetagme/noi h)=san *(ellhnikw=s.)
ei)/rhto—legular word of military
instructions.
nauloxei=n au)ta/s—to lic
in wait for them.
propareba/lonto—had
previously laid in a line for use, i.e. for the wall from the circle to
Trogilus
sfi/sin—for sfi/sin au)toi=s or e(autoi=s. Cf. on c.
3.1. Thuc. often uses sfa=s thus as a primary reflexive, referring to the subj. of its own
clause; but not when the reflexive is emphatic or in antithesis.
tou= teixi/smatos—the cross-wall
which he was building.
h)=rxe—was first to
)( h)/rxeto
began to.
teixisma/twn—the incomplete
Athenian wall and the Syracusan cross-wall.
xrh=sis h)=n—another case of
simple abstract nouns (esp in -sis and -ma) with ei)mi/, gi/gnomai.
Cf. c. 4.6; 16.2.
ou)k e)/fh . . e)kei/nwn a)ll'
e(autou=—the general principle in Gk. antithesis is that the more
emphatic clause comes second. (The rule might be broken in the case of e)/fh, to get the neg before it.) 16
a(ma/rthma—to add to the disaster
Gongylus had fallen, so Plutarch relates.
th=| ta/cei—explained by e)nto\s . . poih/sas, and causal.
e)nto\s—i.e. metacu\ tw=n teixisma/twn.
poih/sas—sc. th\n ta/cin. The usual phrase is e(nto\s
poiei=sqai. The act. is used because he actually drew up (constructed) the
line of battle. Contrast cu/llogon poiei=n, of a
strathgo/s, with cu/llogon
poiei=sqai, of the men attending.
dianoei=sqai ou(/tws—to
convince themselves that they would find their resources ample, and that they would
be guilty of intolerable lack of determination unless.
th=| me\n paraskeuh=| )( th=| de\ gnw/mh?, the material con trasted with the moral
resources. A common antithesis. which we should not make so prominent. gnw/mh| goes with a)ciw/sousi. 23
ei) mh\ a)ciw/sousi—unless
they mean to bind themselves.
*peloponnh/sioi . . *dwrih=s, *)iw)nwn . .
nhsiwtw=n— chiasmus *peloponnh/sioi
is addressed to the Syracusans by their allies, thus reminding them of the origin of
which they were very proud. Cf. Theocritus 15.90-92
*surakosi/ais e)pita/sseis
w(s ei)dh=|s kai\ tou=to,
*kori/nqiai ei)me\s a)/nwqen
w(s kai\ o( *bellerofw=n: *peloponnasisti\
laleu=mes:
dwri/sden d' e)/cesti dokw= toi=s *dwrie/essi
. The
Athenians, on the contrary, did not at all care for the title
‘Ionians’
nhsiwtw=n—the Syracusans regarded
themselves as h)peirw=tai. Cf. c. 21.
cugklu/dwn—cf. Livy 22.43
milites mixtos ex conluvione omnium gentium. The word is rare
in Attic, but is common in late authors. (Cf. Photius sugklu/dwn: summi/ktwn, e)phlu/dwn.)
krath/santes e)cela/sasqai—when
partic and verb govern a different case, a common object will nearly always follow the
construction required by the partic.
e)cela/sasqai—the mid., which is
unusual, is found also in IV. 35.
ei) . . mh\ e)qe/loien . .
ei)=nai—the Recta would be e)a\n mh\ e)qe/lwsi . . e)sti, but e)a\n is future, not iterative. ‘Even if the enemy should
hesitate.’
e)kei=noi—used of ‘the
enemy,’ as often; sometimes even when a different pronoun is required by
strict grammar. 5
periora=n paroikodomou/menon—the
pres. partic. because the details of the building operation are thought of.
tau)to\n h)/dh e)poi/ei—it
would probably come to the same thing whether they fought a series of battles with
unbroken success, or did not fight at all.
te . . kai\ are alternative, as
often, and the infins. form the subject to tau)to\n
e)poi/ei.
nika=n—why could not Nicias have
attacked the crosswall if he won a series of victories? Thuc., speaking in his own
person, seems to represent Nicias as quite blind to this possibility.
dia\
panto\s—continually
ou)=n—resuming after a long
parenthesis. See on c. 42.3.
e)/cw tw=n teixw=n—i.e. north-west
of the ku/klos. With proa/gein
e)/cw cf. e)kplei=n, e)kstrateu/esqai
e)/cw.
ma=llon h)\ pro/teron—and
not as previously. Before, they had fought metacu\
tw=n teixisma/twn. (This use of ma=llon is
a common meiosis, Cf. II. 41.2
ou) ko/mpos ma=llon h)\ e)/rgwn a)lh/qeia.)
proagagw\n—as to the exact scene
and formation of the battle edd. are unable to agree. The question is of no importance
e)k plagi/ou—so as to take the A.
left in flank. Contrast kata\ pro/swpon
I. 106.
di' au)to\—Thuc. constantly uses
au)to\ thus to denote something which he has just
described So too au)to\ dra=n or poiei=n are idiomatic.
kathra/xqh—this verb kat-ara/ssw is often used by Dio Cassius; and is found in
other late authors, but with rr.
nukti\—words expressing time do not need e)n. Thuc.
extends this rule to words like e)sbolh\ and po/lemos, which are quasi-temporal.
e)/fqasan
paroikodomh/santes—notice the rule that wíth fqa/nw, tugxa/nw and lanqa/nw
the aor. partic. does not denote past time relatively to the leading verb.
kai\ parelqo/ntes—and so
they passed. The whole of the passage from this to the end of the c. is an
explanation of the words paroikodomh/santes.
mhke/ti mh/te—more emphatic than
mh/te . . e)/ti.
mh/te . . te—so neque . . et.
au)tw=n, e)kei/nous—applying to
the same persons, as often in all Attic prose. So hic and ille in Cic. de Fin. 4, 16, 43. 27
a)pesterhke/nai . . mh\—cf. II. 101
a)pistou=ntes mh\ h(/cein. The perf. denotes the
completion of the act.
a)pesterhke/nai . . mh\ a)\n . .
a)poteixi/sai—virtually oblique fór ou)k a)\n a)poteixi/seian.
e)/pempe . . a)gge/llwn—so 2.81
e)/pempon keleu/ontes. The partic. is generally in the
nom. with pe/mpw in Thuc. The imperf. here is probably
intended to represent the details of an elaborate act (as often with pe/mpw): thus it will suit both polla/kis me\n and ma/lista de\. See c.
3.1 on le/gonta.
kaq' e(/kasta—a prepositional
phrase replacing the object (of a)gge/llwn), as often
with e)pi\ polu/.
deinoi=s—regular word for the
difficulties of war.
ei) mh\ . . metape/myousin—the
construction, ei) with fut., expresses merely the logical dependence of the apodosis on the protasis, whereas
h)\n with subj. shows that the speaker hopes or
fears the fulfilment of the condition. Thus Thuc. here puts the matter in a scientific
form.
ei)=nai—not e)/sesqai. Cf. Lys. 21.25
h(goume/nous ai)sxro\n ei)=nai ei) a)nagkasqhso/meqa.
(The logical expression is sacrificed to effective rhetoric)
kata\ tou= le/gein a)dunasi/an—the
omission of th\n after kata\ shows that Nicias did not know that they actually were incompetent.
a)dunasi/an—this form, in place of
the commoner a)dunami/a, is found in
Herod., and was perhaps used also by Antiphon.
gigno/menoi—notice that in
expressing the two causes, Thuc. varies the construction (kata\ and causal participle).
pro\s xa/rin—cf. II. 65.8
pro\s h(donh/n ti le/gein, and pro\s o)rgh/n ti a)nteipei=n. The phrases are useful.
ta\ o)/nta—the
facts.
e)pistolh/n—litteras. In Lat. down to the empire epistula means a
private letter. (Contrast the verbosa et
grandis epistula from Capreae.)
e)n tw=| a)gge/lw|—in the hands
of, i e. through. Cf Aeschin. 2.104
e)n h(mi=n a)pokinduneu/ein. Common both in prose and
verse.
maqo/ntas=maqei=n
kai\—so that ma/lista belongs to
maqo/ntas as well as to bouleu/sasqai.
bouleu/sasqai—come to a
decision.
kai\—and so, a use
frequent also in Aeschylus.
fe/rontes—as in Soph. Aj. 735
h(/kei fe/rwn *ai)/antos h(mi=n pra=cin.
dia\ fulakh=s . . e)/xwn—cf.
dia\ xeiro\s e)/xein, di' o)rgh=s e)/. etc.=cunexw=s fula/sswn. ta\ kata\ to\ s. is object of e)/xwn. Superintended the army by keeping it in a
state of defence instead of running self-imposed risks. So Dio Cassius 47.36
au)toi/ te dia\ fulakh=s ma=llon h)\ dia\ kindu/nwn to\
strato/pedon e)poiou=nto, taken from this passage. Isaeus 7.14
o(\n h)/skei kai\ di' e)pimelei/as ei)=xen.
di' e(kousi/wn kindu/nwn—Classen
supplies e)/xwn; Stahl takes the words with e)peme/leto as an adverbial phrase. Either way will do, since
e)/xwn is itself almost equivalent to an adv. here,
implying continuance.
e)peme/leto—absolute.
*perdi/kkou—Perdiccas II., son of
Alexander the Philhellene. His shifty policy gave great trouble to Athens in the war.
(1) Before 432 he was in alliance with Athens. (2) In 432 he encouraged the revolt of
Potidaea. because Athens was in alliance with his brother and enemy Philip (3) In 431 he
was reconciled to Athens. (4) In 429 Athens projected an expedition against him, but was
unable to undertake it. (5) In 424 he encouraged Brasidas to invade Thrace. (6) In 424
autumn, owing to differences with Brasidas, he made terms with the Athenians, but lent
no assistance. (7) In 418 winter, he again joined Sparta, after the battle of Mantiuea.
The Athenians blockaded him in 417. (8) He is now again on terms with
Athens, but Thuc. has omitted to explain this new change. The condition of Macedon was
much improved after the accession of Archelaus in 413
e)p' *)amfi/polin—founded 437 by
Hagnon (strategus 440, 430, 429). It passed over to Sparta in 424, and was never
regained by Athens, though it should have been given back under the terms of the Peace
of Nicias. In 358 Philip added it to Macedon. It was the central city of one of the four
confederacies into which Rome divided Macedon in 168, after the fall of Perscus 4
th\n me\n po/lin ou)x ei(=len—the
neg. put first in parataxis, as often when the chief object of an
action fails; cf V. 6
*stagei/rw| prosba/llei . . . kai\ ou)x ei(=len, *galhyo\n de\
lamba/nei.
e)n a)/llais—here e)n contains the meaning on account of,
‘thanks to,’ which it often suggests, just as in Eng.
‘we could not find our way in the dark.’
Cf. on c. 8.2.
maqo/ntas—cf. ti/ maqw/n, paqw/n.
e)n w(=|—describes the circumstances, as very often in Thuc. in quo
sumus statu. Cf. on c. 29.4.
bouleu/sasqai—to come to a
decision—again ingressive.
krathsa/ntwn ga\r—the dih/ghsis (narratio). (This
excellently illustrates Aristot. Aristot. Rh. 3.16.11
e)n de\ dhmhgori/a| h(/kista dih/ghsi/s e)stin, o(/ti peri\ tw=n
mello/ntwn ou)qei\s dihgei=tai a)ll' e)a/n per dih/ghsis h)=|, tw=n genome/nwn
e)/stai, i(/n' a/namnhsqe/ntes e)kei/nwn be/ltion bouleu/swntai peri\ tw=n
u(/steron.)
ma/xais tai=s plei/osi—why this
order? to emphasize the adjective. Cf. II. 2.2
a)/ndras tou\s u(penanti/ous.
*surakosi/ous—Classen notes on
I. 108 that Thuc. constructs kratei=n with accus. when it is connected with ma/xh| or maxo/menos (or when one of them
is clearly imphed in context); otherwise with gen. This rule is generally observed,
for kratei=n with gen.=krei/sswn
gene/sqai. Cf. Dem. 8.32
o(\n krath/santas toi=s o(/plois; Dem. 19.319
*fwke/as e)kra/thse (sc. ma/xh|). [Demosth.] 13.17
e)n toi=s o(/plois kratei=n tw=n e)xqrw=n is bad.
e)f' ou(\s e)pe/mfqhmen—this
remark is mtended as a defence, by reminding the Athenians of the original plan of
campaign. Hence e)pe/mfqhmen, not e)strateusamen.
e)/k te . . . kai\ a)po\—one of
the commonest interchanges of prepositions, esp. in Isocrates. In some uses e)k and a)po\ are different;
e.g. of descent, e)k is used of
direct, a)po\ of indirect descent. Even as used here, e)k generally expresses the more important or immediate cause.
e)/stin w(=n—in the nom. plur. always
ei)si\n (oi(\, ai(\);
in oblique cases always
e)/stin (w(=n, oi)=s,
etc) in Thuc., except when words intervene, as in c. 25
h(=san tw=n staurw=n ou(/s.
nika=tai . . . a)nexwrh/samen—for
the hist. pres. followed by aor., cf. on c. 3.4. (Notice
the extreme simplicity and beauty of the style here.)
th=| d' u(sterai/a|—sc. ma/xh|, as in III. 91. In I. 44.1
e)n th=| u(sterai/a| = in the next day's assembly; and so in v. 46.1. But
when no noun precedes, h(me/ra is meant.
a)kontistai=s biasqe/ntes—in c.
43
biasqe/ntes u(p' au)tw=n The dat. is not
‘agent,’ but that used in military and
naval phrases, of the general's paraskeuh/. Hence
u(p' au)tou= is to be supplied. Note also that with
bia/zomai and all verbs denoting force, u(po\ and gen. is common with non-personal agents, as biasqei\s u(po\
th=s no/sou. See on c. 13.2.
plh=qos—of superior numbers, as often.
h(suxa/zomen—regular word to
denote abstention from hostile operations. So quiescere.
me/ros ti—the addition of ti indefinitely extends the force of me/ros.
w(/ste mh\ ei)=nai—the infin. with
w(/ste here expresses something which has actually
occurred (it being the natural result), as in II. 4
ta\s pu/las e)/klh|sen w(/ste mhde\ tau/th| e)/ti e)/codon
ei)=nai. The more energetic indic. construction with
w)/ste is far commoner in Xenophon and the Orators
than in Herod., Thuc. and Tragedy.
periteixi/sai au)tou/s—he might
have said peritei/xisin au)tw=n. Cf. IV. 131
ou)k e)gi/gneto sfw=n peritei/xisis.
e)pelqw\n—attack,
here with accus., paratei/xisma being common object to
partic. and verb.
l. 22
*cumbe/bhke . . . dokou=ntas—with
cumbai/nei and infin. either dat. or accus. is used,
dat. when the case precedes the infin, as II. 61
cune/bh u(mi=n peisqh=nai a)kerai/ois
te—and so, giving
the result of preceding details.
au)tou\s ma=llon—ourselves
instead
o(/sa ge—dumtaxat, as far as concerns, as in IV.
48
o(/sa ge kata\ to\n po/lemon to/nde. Dem. 21.18
tou/twn, o(/sa g' e)n tw=| dh/mw| ge/gonen; Plato.Rep.V 14
o(/sa a)/nqrwpoi. Thuc. very often omits parts of
ei)mi/, gi/gnomai after o(/sos.
tou=to pa/sxein—passive of
tou=to poiei=n or dra=n, the regular phrases for referring to an action just described: I. 5.2; 6.5; II 11.8; 49.5.
ou)de\ ga\r—here begins the
description of the difficulties of Nicias.
th=s xw/ras—put in a prominent
position because it further emphasizes o(/sa ge kata\
gh=n. Thuc. constantly inverts the natural order for the sake of emphasis,
esp. the order of the gen.
e)pi\ polu\—used here of spacc, less often of time.
pepo/mfasi de\ kai\ . . . kai\ . . .
oi)/xetai—chiasmus is very commion in Thuc., and is quite a feature
of his style.
ta\s me\n . . . a)po\ de\ tw=n—the
iegular, but not universal order when a preposition occurs with o( me\n or o( de\ is that the particle
should follow the preposition immediately; e.g. Andoc. I. 29
peri\ me\n tw=n musthri/wn . . . peri\ de\ tw=n
a)naqhma/twn. In VI. 76.4
oi( me\n is in a remarkable position.
kai\ pei/swn . . . kai\
stratia\n—the double kai\ marks the
balancing of the clauses, as in w(/sper kai\ . . . ou(/tw
kai\.
tw=n teixw=n . . peira=n—the act.
and mid. are equally used in this sense, II. 81
o(/pws peirw=|nto tou= tei/xous. (Eustathius on Hom.
*d 166 to\ peira=sqai
paqhtiko\n *)attikoi\ le/gousin a)nti/ tou= poiei=sqai a)po/peiran. *(/omhros
me/ntoi to\ peira=sqai peira=n e/ntau=qa fhsi\n e)nerghtikw=s . . . kai *qoukudi/dhs
de\
tw=n teixw=n h(mw=n peira=n.) See also on c.
32.1.
deino\n . . . do/ch|—passive of
deino\n poiei=sqai
to consider incredible.
deino\n poiei=n denotes the outward expression of
surprise, and is often used by Herod. and Thuc. But often in the Orators deino\n poiei=n means to act disgracefully; as
Lys 3. 7, 26.
o(/ti kai\—for the ellipse after
o(/ti, cf. Dem. 47.41
a(\ peponqw\s h(=n ei)=pon kai\ o(/ti ei)spra/ttwn th=| po/lei
ta\ skeu/h.
ka)kei=noi—e)kei=nos of ‘the enemy,’ as c. 6.1. In. II. 11.6
o(/tan o(rw=sin h(ma=s dh|ou=nta/s te kai\ ta)kei/nwn
fqei/rontas, we expect ta\ e(autw=n, but
Thuc. makes Archidamus refer to the enemy as e)kei=noi
to\ me\n prw=ton—though at
first.
h)/kmaze . . . chro/thti—cf. II. 20
a)kma/zontes neo/thti.
swthri/a|—soundness.
nu=n de\—the contrast of Past with
Piescnt is among the commonest of rhetorical deviccs. Aristotle remarks that the
efficacy of Antithesis results from its having the appearance of being a Proof; Bain
that it is a consequence of the law that ‘we are affected only by change of
impression.’
a)nelku/santas diayu=cai—cf. Herod. VII. 59
ta\s ne/as a)ne/yuxon a)nelku/santes; Xen. Hell. I. 5.10
a)nelku/sas ta\s nau=s h(suxi/an h)=gen e)piskeua/zwn kai\
a)nayu/xwn.
kai\ e)/ti plei/ous—the corrective use of kai/, as
Demosthenes in the third Philippic, a)po/lwle kai\ neno/shken h(
*(ella/s.
fanerai\ de/ ei)sin—cf. dh=lo/s ei)mi. A periphrasis of poiw=, ei)mi, or gi/gnomai with an adj. is very common, esp. in Herodotus. See Stein on
Herod. V. 63.5 Cf. Isocr. Paneg.
122
pollou\s au)tw=n e)kdo/tous e)poi/hsan.
ma=llon—i e.
h)\ h(mi=n, ellipse with the comparative being very
common.
e)cousi/a—the idiom e)cousi/a e)sti or gi/gnetai
with plain infin. occurs frequently.
e)k pollh=s periousi/as—as
the result of a great superiority, i.e. ‘if we had a great
numerical superiority.’ For the use of e)k
cf. II. 62.5
h( cu/nesis th\n to/lman e)k tou= u(pe/rfronos e)xurwte/ran
pare/xetai. The phrase e)k periousi/as
occurs also in VIII. 45; Dem.
18.3; Dem. 45.67.
kai\ mh\ a)nagkazome/nois—on the
use of the partic. here sec note on c. 18.1.
ei) . . . a)fairh/somen—see on c.
8.1.
th=s thrh/sews—the use of these
verbal nouns in -ths and -sis, so common in Thuc., is a means of giving dignity to the
expression.
e)/ti nu=n—both e)/ti nu=n and nu=n e)/ti are
found. fqei/resqai is the opposite of au)ca/nesqai.
dia\ fruganismo\n—cf. lignatum, pabulatum, aquatum ire.
a)pollume/nwn . . .
au)tomolou=si—anaioluthon, the partic.
being exchanged for a finite verb, as in II. 47.3
lego/menon me\n . . . ou) me/ntoi e)mnhmoneu/eto.
(Anacoluthon is common in Thuc, but many falsely explain the solecisms that appear in the vulgate as anacolutha.)
e)s a)nti/pala kaqesth/kamen—in
II. 89
a)nti/palos is contrasted with u(podee/steros. As long as the fleet was intact, the attendants had felt
the superiority of the Athenian force: but now the two sides
were to contend on equal terms.
u(po\ . . . misqou= . . .
e)parqe/ntes—the verbs which in prose commonly have u(po\ with things are such as nikw=mai,
bla/ptomai, diafqei/romai, a)nagka/zomai, h(ttw=mai, pei/qomai. Lysias
also uses e)pai/romai with u(po/. The thing so used must be such as can easily be personified, e.g.
(1) natural phenomena, xeimw/n, a)/ploia,
seismo/s, (2) external circumstances, ki/ndunos, sumfora/, plhgai/, desmoi/, ke/rdos, xrh/mata,
no/mos, (3) emotions, h(donh/,
fqo/nos, (4) words that imply a person, lo/goi, pra/gmata, du/namis, when the person is often
inserted (as u(po\ th=s tou= r(h/toros deino/thtos),
and all the topics of rhetorie, as u(po\ tw=n ei)ko/twn, u(po\
tou= dikai/ou. The construction is optional in
these cases; e.g. Isocr. 5.40 says ta\s po/leis w(malisme/nas u(po\ tw=n sumforw=n, but 6, 65 w(malisme/noi tai=s sumforai=s.
para\ gnw/mhn—(1) here
‘unexpectedly’; (2) may mean also
‘unreasonably.’
e)p' au)tomoli/as
profa/sei—taking the opportunity afforded by
desertion is probably the meaning, as perhaps in Dem.
16.25
e)pi\ th=| profa/sei th=| *plataiw=n kai\ *qespiw=n ta\s ou)/sas
po/leis a)naireqei/sas perudei=n. Elsewhere e(pi\
profa/sei means on pretext. Some, he says, desert to the
enemy; others simply go away. (Classen says ‘on any opportunity of
deserting’; but pro/fasis certainly does not
mean an opportunity of doing something, but an opportunity which is
afforded by something.)
w(s e(/kastoi du/nantai—as
they find a chance, i.e. without joining the enemy. Hence he adds pollh\ h( *sikeli/a. Cf. II. 17.3
w(s e(/kasto/s pou e)du/nato.
pollh\ d' h( *sikeli/a—the remark
has more point than appears at first sight; for there must have been many in the
Ecclesia who still had a very vague notion of the size of Sicily.
*(ukkarika\—Hyccara (now Carini)
was a Sicanian town between Phoenician Panormus and Elymian Segesta. The Athenians
captured it shortly after arriving in Sicily. Lais, who became one of the most famous
and most exacting of the Beauties of antiquity, was captured there and sent to
Corinth. A pathetic episode in the life of Aleibiades is his love for Timandra, mother
of Lais.
a)ntembiba/sai u(pe\r sfw=n—cf.
Herod. III. 14
u(pe\r a)ndro\s e(ka/stou de/ka a)ntapo/llusqai.
th\n a)kri/beian tou=
nautikou=—cf. Arrian.Anab. I. 2, 7
th\n a). th=s diw/cews a)fei/lonto.
e)pistame/nois d' u)mi=n
gra/fw—you do not need to be told that. Both in
Greek and, still oftener, in Lat. a 1st pers. sing. is used where we prefer to avoid it. With the perf. in Gk., the impers. pass. is preferred to
the 1st pers. sing. act.
braxei=a a)kmh\
plhrw/matos—generally taken to mean the efficient part of a
ship's crew is small; and this accords well with the next clause. But the
Schol. says ou) pollw=| xro/nw| a)kma/zei h( nautikh\
du/namis, with which agrees Plutarch, Caes. 40
pareskeuasme/nos a)/rista pa=si pro\s to\n xro/non h)ci/ou
tri/bein kai\ marai/nein th\n tw=n polemi/wn a)kmh\n braxei=an ou)=san.
The Schol. is probably right, though braxu\s in Thuc
often = ‘small.’
kai\ o)li/goi tw=n
nautw=n—it is but few of the sailors that both start the
ship, and (then) keep rowing (all the time).
e)corma=n means that the sailors start
‘working,’ cune/xein that only few
of them continue to work, cunexw=s th\n ei)resi/an
poiou=ntai. Too many of those who work at first ‘get
slack’ after a short time: others reserve themselves at the start.
tou/twn—Thuc. is very fond of
putting the ‘partitive’ tou/twn
first in the sentence.
pa/ntwn a)porw/taton—note the
idiom. Dem. 8.35
pa/ntwn a)nqrw/pwn faulo/tatoi; Dem. 8.58
a)nohto/tatos pa/ntwn; Dem. 9.10
pa/ntwn eu)hqe/statoi; Dem. 3.16
pa/ntwn ai)/sxista; Dem. 3.31
pa/ntwn a)ndreio/taton.
to/ te mh\ . . . ei)=nai . . . kai\
o(/ti—a clause with o(/ti is often
combined with a clause in different construction, e.g. Dem.
19.203
e)pidei=cai kai\ o(/ti yeu/setai kai\ th\n dikai/an h(/tis
e)sti\n a)pologi/a.
xalepai\ . . . a)/rcai—cf. VI. 42
eu)kosmo/teroi kai\ r(a/|ous a)/rxein.
ai( u(me/terai fu/seis—the common
complaint that with Athenian freedom was mingled a)taci/a. The opponents of democracy ascribed the defect to ignorance. It
was, however, mainly caused by the too rapid development of the Athenian polity after
the Persian wars; the people acquired democratic institutions before they had mastered
the lesson of obedience. Only exceptional men like Themistocles and Pericles were able
to remedy the defect.
e)piplhrwso/meqa—the fut.
expressing possibility after the rel. in primary sequence, the only construction in
Attie prose, except where the delib. subj. is possible. Homer uses also the subj.,
generally with ke/n.
a)f' w)=n . . .
gi/gnesqai—both the men that we have and the men that we
lose come of necessity from the men that we brought out with us.
ta/ te o)/nta refers to o)li/goi tw=n nautw=n above: though but few of
the sailors in the ship are really efficient, yet we cannot turn the crews out and
supply their places with others —or, if we do, we must draw on the reserves
we brought; but they are badly needed to supply our losses.
te . . . kai\—two distinct things
are here joined without repetition of the art., as in Eur. Ion 7
ta/ t' o)/nta kai\ me/llonta qespi/zwn a)ei/.
kai\ a)panalisko/mena—refers to
braxei=a a)kmh\ plhrw/matos above. Sickness,
exhaustion, and death remove many men in the crews: such losses represent a dead loss
on the total sent out, since there is no source of supply except the reserves Notice
(1) the chiastie arrangement here—braxei=a a)kmh\ . .
. o)li/goi . . . ta\ o)/nta . . . a)panalisko/mena—of which
Thuc. is very fond. (2) the neut., used because totals are
being dealt with.
ai( ga\r nu=n—for ai( ga\r po/leis ai( nu=n ou)=sai cum.
*na/cos kai\ *kata/nh—Naxos,
though the oldest Greek city in Sicily, was never important. It was destroyed in 403
B.C Pausamas says that no traces of it remained in his day (a slight exaggeration).
The site is now oceupied by an orange grove. Cataha was a colony from Naxos. It is an
uninteresting town, the aneient remains having been buried by earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions; but it is now the second city in Sicily in point of size.
e(\n e)/ti . . . w(/ste—i.e.
‘if they only succeed in gaining over the Italian citres’; the
w(/ste clause being epexegetic of e(\n. Cf. Herod. V. 31
ei) ga\r tou=to/ ge doke/ei u(mi=n ei)=nai xrhsto\n w(/ste
turanneu/esqai ta\s po/lis; Theocr. 14, 58 ei) d'
ou(/tws a)/ra toi dokei= w(/st' a)podamei=n.
th=s *)itali/as—already before the
Peloponnesian war both the Athenians and Spartans had made alliances in Italy, by
which they understood only the S.W. corner of Italy, from Heraclea on the east and the
Laus on the west.
o(rw=nta . . . e)pibohqou/ntwn—cf.
II. 25
o)/nti a)sqenei= kai\ a)nqrw/pwn ou)k e)no/ntwn.
e)n w(=|—see c. 11.1.
diapepolemh/setai—they will
bring the war to an end without striking a blow.
h(di)w me\n a)\n—Demosthenes, in
the 3rd Olynthiac, says that the old orators, Aristides, Pericles, Nicias, used to
speak the truth, not try to please. So Thuc. says of Pericles. Cf. Livy 22.38
contio verior quam gratior.
h)/n ti . . . mh\—should
the event fail to correspond with the pleasant antieipation aroused in you
by the evil habit some orators have of speaking pro\s xa/rin,
pro\s h(donh/n. 24
a)sfale/steron—strikes the
key-note of Nicias' policy.
w(s e)f' a(\ h)/lqomen—and
so, as concerns the original object of the expedition, consider that, etc.
w(s with gen. abs. is often used thus with dianoou=mai and such words See M.T.
918. Plat. Rep. 523C
w(s e)ggu/qen o(rmwme/nous le/gonto/s mou dianoou=.
ou(/tw th\n gnw/mhn e)/xete—cf.
Dem. 18.291
ou)x w(s a)\n eu)/nous kai\ di/kaios poli/ths e)/sxe th\n
gnw/mhn. A patriot's part is to deplore the misfortune of his country, but
not to attack the statesmen unless they are really culpable.
a)ntarkou/ntwn . . . de/on—the
change is necessary because the 2nd partie. is impersonal. Cf. 25, 9 o)/ntwn . . . diapepolemhso/menon.
metape/mpein . . .
e)pipe/mpein—paronomasia, as II. 60.1
kakotuxw=n e)n eu)tuxou/sh|, 98.3
a)pegi/gneto me\n ou)de/n, prosegi/gneto de/. (It is
one of the sxh/mata le/cews first taught by Gorgias.)
a)du/natos—recalling the technical
term for oi( to\ sw=ma pephrwme/noi at Athens.
polla\ . . . u(ma=s eu)=
e)poi/hsa—rather unusual for polla\ u(ma=s
a)gaqa\ e)poi/hsa. Dem. 19.41, quoting Philip,
h(li/ka th\n po/lin eu)= poih/sw; Dem. 19.220
mei/zon' h)\ kat' *)amfi/polin eu)= poih/sein th\n
po/lin. It was one of the stock devices of orators to dwell on their
services to the state.
l 15.
me/llete—sc. pra/ssein.
mh\ e)s a)nabola\s pra/ssete—Herod. VIII. 21
ou)ke/ti e)s a)nabola\s e)poieu=nto th\n a)naxw/rhsin;
Isocr. Ep. 1.10
dhlw/somen d' ou)k ei)s a)nabola/s Cf. ou)k e)s makra/n.
ta\ me\n e)n
*sikeli/a|—help in S.
di' o)li/gou
porioume/nwn—will quiekly obtain.
di' o)li/gou is common in Thuc., both temporal and
local. Dem. 19.186
xro/nos e)n w(=| poriou=ntai w(=n a)\n de/wntai.
sxolai/teron me/n—sc. porioume/nwn.
ta\ me\n lh/sousin—sc. porisa/menoi, and so with fqh/sontai. There is anacoluthon here, the partie.
porioume/nwn being replaced by the finite lh/sousi, fqh/sontai. Cf. II. 47.3
lego/menon me\n . . . ou) me/ntoi e)mnhmon eu/eto
pare/lusan—released. Cf. Herod.
VII. 38
tw=n
pai/dwn e(/na para/luson th=s strathi/hs. Lucian has
paralu/ein th=s di/khs.
au)tou= e)kei=—pleonasm with
au)tou= is common: e.g. Homer Il 19.330
au)tou= eni\ *troih|; Od.
20.159
au)tou= kata\ dw/mat'. Herod. I.
82
au)tou= e)n th=|si *qure/h|si. Plat..Alc. 1 109b
au)tou= e)n th=| *eu)rw/ph|.
du/o—thus the places of Alcibiades
and Lamachus were filled, but it was a great error to restore the ‘debating
club’ method of command. Cf. Macaulay on Argyle's expedition, E. H. I. 5.
mo/nos e)n a)sqenei/a| t.—the
chief emphasis is on mo/nos. Take talaipwrei=n to mean exceptional
distress as usual. It is often used of sickness and of the hardships of a protracted
or unfortunate expedition.
*)aqhnai/wn . . . e)k
katalo/gou—the fourth class (qh=tes)
was excluded from the muster-roll, and regularly served as e)piba/tai, being exceptionally employed, e)/cw
tou= katalo/gou, in the infantry.
*dhmosqe/nh—his record: (1) 426
B.C., Aetolian expedition, which, after a bad start, resulted in the total defeat of
the Aetolians and Ambracrots at Argos Amphilochicum: (2) 425 B.C., established Pylus:
(3) 424 B.C., successful expedition against Megara, but subsequent failure in Boeotia.
He had figured as prosecutor in the courts.
*eu)rume/donta—his record: (1) 427
B.C., commanded the fleet sent to Coreyra, but took no action: (2) 426 B.C., commanded
the land foree in a successful attack on Boeotia: (3) 425 B.C., commanded the first
fleet sent to Sicily by Athens, and, on the way, aided in the extermination of the
Corcyrean aristocrats. For his want of suceess in Sicily in 425 he was fined.
h(/cei—see c. 1.4.
e)pime/leia e)/stai—so Demosth.
proem 54 h( h(mete/ra ge/gon' e)pime/leia. Periphrases
of abstract nouns with ei)mi/, gi/gnomai are very
idiomatic.
u(pome/nwn—remaining behind, esp. in a place of danger or duty. Hence often used by
litigants who might have avoided trial by flight: also of
troops in aetion.
stratia\n e)pagge/llwn—cf. III. 16
kata\ po/leis e)ph/ggellon new=n plh=qos. Technieal
word for sending out a formal notice, which may amount to a
command. Cf. periagge/llw.
au)to/qen—from Attica.
pe/mpousi—see on c. 3.1. So pergo is constantly used in
hist. pres.
peri\ th\n *pelopo/nnhson—this
system of cruising was started by Pericles, it being impossible for Athens to spare
sufficient troops for an invasion of the Pel.
fula/ssoien mhde/na . . .
peraiou=sqai—M.T 724 ‘verbs of
caution may be followed by an infin. (with or without
mh/), which sometimes has the art.’
ta\ e)n th=| *s. belti/w—sc.
ei)=nai. a)gge/llw
ordinarily follows the same rule as le/gw, i e. it takes o(/ti, etc., and
moods when it implies no command; infin. when it implies command: but Thuc. does not
keep strictly to these rules a)gge/llw sometimes takes
partic. on analogy of verbs of showing. Demosthenes has
*fi/lippos h)gge/lqh a)sqenw=n.
pe/myin . . poih/sasqai—for the
periphrases of noun and poiou=mai and
its pass. gi/gnomai, see Index. prote/ran refers to the sending of Gylippus and Pythen.
e)n o(lka/si—order perverted for
the sake of emphasis, as often. The sending of troops in merchant ships was unusual.
pareskeua/zonto . . .
a)postelou=ntes—the omission of w(s
with paraskeua/zomai is very rare except in Thue., who has it several times. Xen.
Hel. IV. 1.41
pareskeua/zeto poreuso/menos.
tw=| au)tw=| t.—i.e. e)n o(lka/si, with pe/myontes.
nau=s—put first for the sake of
the antithesis with e)n o(lka/si. So in II. 7
pro\s tai=s au)tou= u(parxou/sais e)c *)itali/as kai\ *sikeli/as
toi=s ta)kei/nwn e)lome/nois nau=s e)peta/xqh diakosi/as poiei=sqai, where
e)c *)itali/as kai\ *s. ought to follow toi=s, but is put first to eontrast it with au)tou=.
o(/pws . . . a)popeira/swsi . . .
kwlu/oien—as the two forms are equally correct, we
sometimes find both in the same sentence.—Goodivm.
th\n e)n th=| *n. fulakh/n—the
station was first established under Phormio in the autumn of 430 in order to close the
mouth of the Corinthian Gulf. Trans. ‘against the ships stationed at
N.’
au)tw=n—should be sfw=n.
pro\s th\n sfete/ran
a)nti/tacin—by having to watch their line of war-ships
which would be opposing them; i.e. the attention which the A. would have to
bestow on the Cor. triremes would give the merchant ships a chance.
pareskeua/zonto de\—this epanaphora of paraskeua/-
zomai completes the account of the preparations on the
part of (1) Demosthenes, (2) the Corinthians and Lac., (3) the Lac. Cf. 2.7
oi( *)aqhnai=oi pareskeua/zonto, pareskeua/zonto de\ kai\ oi(
*aakedaimo/nioi.
th\n . . . e)sbolh\n—there had
been no invasion of Attica since 425.
w(/sper te proede/dokto . . .
e)nago/ntwn—the circumstantial partic. is joined with any expression
of similar import in another construction; in accordance with their own
previous determination and at the instigation of. Thus the peaec of Nicias
was finally breaking down after some eight years of half peace.
e)peidh\ e)punqa/nonto—sc. the
Cor. and Syr.
th\n . . . boh/qeian e)s th\n
*sikeli/an—Cf. II. 52
h( cugkomidh\ e)k tw=n a)grw=n; Herod. III. 7
oi( th\n e)sbolh\n tau/thn paraskeua/santes e)s
*ai(gu/pton; V. 63
o( prw=tos sto/los e)k *aakedai/monos. This omission
of art. before the prep. is common with verbal substantives. If the prep. and case precedes the art., as in kaq' h(me/ran h(
te/ryis (cf. on c. 17.4) II. 38.1, the object is to produce antithesis
dh\—giving the actual reason, as in V. 85
al.
proskei/menos
e)di/daske—urgently advised them.
*deke/leian—it commands the road
from Athens to Oropus, and thus to Euboea, whence came a great part of the corn
supplies of Athens. Of similar strategical importance were Phyle and Oenoe.
prote/rw|—the Archidamian war.
*pla/taian—it was an ally of
Athens since 520 B.C. III. 68.5.
pro/teron—the thirty years' truce,
445 B.C.
e)qe/lwsi—the form qe/lw is archaic, and in Attic prose occurs only in the
phrase h)\n qeo\s qe/lh?.
dido/nai di/kas—submit to a
judicial decision; contrast di/khn dou=nai.
ei)ko/tws—deservedly. Cf. ei)ko/s e)sti=decet.
e)nequmou=nto—began to
think over—i.e. began to think it had been deserved.
th\n peri\ *pu/lon cumfora\n—in
425 B.C.
*)epidau/rou = E. Limera, in Laconia. There
are ruins of the town. The A. had ravaged it in 414, and thus broken the terms of the
peace.
*prasiw=n—also in Laconia, and
ravaged at the same time as Epidaurus. It had been destroyed by the A. in 430. It
suffered severely, and its fate is a proof how effective the method of Pericles was.
tw=n kata\ ta\s sponda\s
a).—about disputed points in the treaty of 421,
after peri/ tou
e)pitre/pein—Pollux says h( di/aita (arbitration) e)kalei=to
e)pitroph/.
to/te dh\—co-ordinate with
e)peidh\ above, introducing the decisive moment.
sfi/si—the subject of the perf. or
pluperf. pass. not being personal, the agent is necessarily in dative.
h(ma/rthto—cf. Plat. Rep. 544D
h(marthme/nas po/leis.
to\ au)to\—rendering to\ parano/mhma still clearer. The sentence of which this
section consists is in every way a model of style, and will repay careful attention.
periesta/nai—shifted
round like a wheel, as Cicero says of politics orbis
reipublicae cst convcrsus (ad At.
II. 9)
si/dhron—iron
tools.
perih/ggellon—as in II. 85
nau=s perih/ggellon kata\ po/leis. We expect paraskeua/zesqai or pe/myai
to follow.
e)piteixismo/n—of Deeelea.
e)pikouri/an—esp. used of a
foreign (or mercenary) force.
proshna/gkazon—se. pori/zein, the same brachylogy as with dianoou=mai
V. 80, oi)=mai c. 66.3, o(rw=
V. 80.
o)/gdoon kai\ de/katon—contrast
VIII. 6
e(no\s de/on ei)kosto/n. The periphrastie forms are
preferred in prose, esp. for 19, 29, etc.
e)teleu/ta tw=|de—the epanaphora of the verb in this formula is prob. accidental. The
formal close is in aeeordance with the Gk. habit of ending quietly.
e)pigignome/nou—used of natural
phenomena, whether ordinary or unexpected.
h(gei=to—h(gemw\n is the regular word for a Spartan king or regent in the field,
and for the supreme commander of any foreign expedition.
*)arxida/mou—had died in 427 B.C
prw=ton me\n . . . e)/peita—Thue.
has prw=ton (prw=ta)
me\n . . e)/peita twenty-eight times, while he adds
de\ only eight times. If kai\ follows e)/peita, de\ is regulaily
added, even if prw=ton is without me/n.
ta\ peri\ to\ pedi/on—the
country about the (Attic) plain
kata\ po/leis dielo/menoi—a common
practice.
ei)/kosi kai\ e(kato/n—if the text
is right, Thuc. reckons in the case of Boeotia from Oropus, which belonged to Athens
and from which ran the road to Decelea and Athens, through the demes of Aphidna and
Cephisia. Otherwise the distance would be much less. But from a)pe/xei to *boiwti/as may be spurious,
like some others of the geographieal data in Thuc.
[kai\ ou) p. ple/on]—or not
much more; but kai\ added in B is prob. only
a correction. When an adscript is brought into the text, it is frequently joined on
with kai/.
e)pi\ de\ tw=|—for the
control of, iu speaking of forts, etc., which by their position threaten a
locality; e.g
V. 7
e)qea=to th\n qe/sin th=s po/lews e)ti\ *qra/kh| w(s
e)/xoi. Cf the Château Gaillard.
toi=s krati/stois—the
richest parts, the soil of Attica as a whole not being rich. The land about
Cephisia is noted for its vegetation.
e)s to\ kakourgei=n—with w)|kodomei=to, expressing purpose. Cf. Dem. 31.13
pareskeu/asen ei)s to\ le/gein ti dokei=n.
tai=s o(lka/si—without e)n, as c. 7.3.
e)pileca/menoi—i.e. placing them
among the hoplites. They were first so used by Brasidas in Thrace. Before this they
had only attended their masters in the field. One as qera/pwn was his master's armour-bearer. The rest were used either as
light-armed troops, or as sappers, engmeers, or carriers. The king often ordered them
to carry booty.
neodamw/dwn—helots emancipated as
a reward for military services since 424 B.C.
a)/rxonta—not h(gemw/n, as it was not a general expedition
under the king. Contrast § 1. So Brasidas is always called a)/rxwn or strathgo/s.
*boiwtoi\—loosely reekoned among
oi( e)n th=| *peloponnh/sw|, as though he had said
only oi( de\ *peloponnh/sioi, which generally in Thuc.
includes all the allies of Sparta. When in II. 9 he says
*peloponnh/sioi pa/ntes plh\n *)argei/wn kai\
*)axaiw=n. he uses *p. in the strict
geographieal sense, in contrast with the Greeks e)/cw
*peloponnh/sou.
e)n toi=s prw=toi—the same idiom
c. 24.3; 27.3; 71.3. It is constantly corrupted in the MSS. of Thuc., as
the scribes did not understand it.
o(rmh/santes—generally o(rmw=mai is used in this sense.
e)s to\ pe/lagos a)fei=san—a
frequent idiom; e.g. Herod. VII. 193; Aristoph Eq 432 a)fh/sw kata\ ku/m' e)mauto\n
ou)/rion. qa/lassa cannot be used in this phrase; only Plutarch and
Pausanias do so.
meta\ de\ tou/tous
*kori/nqioi—this still refers to oi( d' e)n
th=| *peloponnh/sw| above, which is in fact divided into *lakedaimo/nioi me\n . . . *boiwtoi\ de\ . . . *kori/nqioi . . .
*sikuw/nioi, but the sense requires that the imperf. a)pe/stellon should be given up for the aor. a)fei=san, a)pe/pemyan, a)pe/steilan. (The form of this passage, like
many others, shows how Thuc. is in a transition stage between the ei)rome/nh le/cis—running style of
Herod.—and the artificial periods of Isocrates.)
a)/rxonta—governed by both partic,
and verb.
*sikuw/nioi—now dissatisfied with
Sparta because early in 417 an aristocratic government had been foreed upon it. This
aristocracy, however, subsequently got the upper hand, and Sicyon aided Sparta after
the battle of Leuctra, 371. But in 369, the democrats revived and Sicyon joined
Thebes. In 367 or 6, after violent dissensions and the tyranny of Euthyphron, it
passed again into the hands of Sparta.
l. 39
e(/wsper—rare, except in Plato. It
occurs in Xen. Hel. VI. 5.12, VII. 2.23 (Dindorf); Xen.
Cyr. VII. 5.39; Dem. 54.3; Plat. Lach. 188B; Apol.
29D; Prot. 325A; Rep. 342B, 433 B; Phaedr. 243E; Theaet. 177D, 200 C; Meno
97C; Parm. 144C; Sophist. 235C.
au)toi=s—they found
that—dat. of interest.
to\n nou=n e)/xwsin—distinguish
from nou=n e)/xein = to be sensible.
peri/ te—answered by kai\ to\n *dhmosqe/nh.
w(=| ei)/rhto . . . a)fikome/nw| . . .
parakalei=n—same construction c. 20.1.
The other constr.—the partic. in the aecus.—is found also in c.
20. Cf. VIII. 39
ei)/rhto au)toi=s e)s *mi/lhton a)fikome/nous
cunepimelei=sqai.
to\ cummaxiko\n—Argos was neutral
throughout the Archidamian War, having a treaty with Sparta. It finally joined Athens
in 417.
parakalei=n . . . e)pi\—a military
phrase; cf. parabohqei=n e)pi\ c. 37.3; 53.1: 71, 6.
a)pe/stellon—imperf. representing
the details of an elaborate business, as constantly with ‘sending’
verbs; cf. on c. 3.1.
*xi/ais—the only island in the
Aegean besides Lesbos then retaining the position of an independent ally of Athens.
Hence it supplied a contingent of ships and paid no tribute.
*)aqhnai/wn—after d kai\ x., partitive. See on c. 16.1.
nhsiwtw=n—i.e. the other Aegean
islands; it was their duty to supply pezo\n kai\
xrh/mata.
xrh/sasqai—ingressive,
‘obtain for service’—a sense almost confined to first
aor. forms.
a)/llwn—viz. those of Ionia,
Hellespont, and Thraciau Chalcidice. They also were liable to
supply infantry, if required. (This incident illustrates the encroachments of Athens
on the rights of her allies. They were not originally liable to personal service after
they commuted their contmgents for a money payment; much less were they bound to
supply anything Athens might require.)
ei)=xon—subject, the Athenians.
cumpori/santes—joined by kai\ to the datives above, as all express attendant
circumstances of some kind.
*xarikle/ous—he had been one of
the commission, zhthtai/, appointed to inquire into
the mysterious mutilation of the Hermae in 415. (Like Pisander, he started as a
democrat, but went over to the oligarelis in 412, beeoming one of the Four Hundred. He
fied to Decelea when the Fom Hundred were deposed, and assisted in the ruin of Athens.
He returned along with Critias and other exiles under the terms of peaee imposed by
Sparta. He was active in promoting the establishment of the Thirty, of whom he became
one. When Theramenes opposed the violent measures of Critias, and the party split into
two factions, Charicles followed Critias and shared with him the authorship of the
worst deeds of the Thirty. His demeanour was servile to Lysander, but overbearing
towards his countrymen.)
kai\ to\n k t.l.—the clause is
object of perie/mene. Cf. III.
2.2.
h(=ken—returned
from his expedition into the interior.
e(kastaxo/qen—in the rel. clause,
as c. 20.2.
l 7.
a)po/peiran lamba/nein—cf. Herod. VIII. 9
a)po/peiran poih/sasqai.
a)p' au)tou=—i.e. a)po\ tou= naumaxi/as a)po/peiran l.: there is the same use
of id, hoc, quod, quae, in Lat, as Cic. de
Leg.
II. 33
exemplorum nostra est plena respublica ex augurum praedictis mulla
vera cecidisse. Neque enim . . id (i.e. augurandi consuetudinem) ad hoc tempus retinuissent.
a)/cion tou=
kindu/nou—worth the risk, something which would be
cheap at the price, a good return.
cunane/peiqe de\—very difficult:
‘Moreover H. earnestly supported his advice (kai\
only emphasises
cun-), so that they might not lack spirit to attack by
sea, saying as a retort to the A. that even they had no hereditary right to naval
skill, nor yet would it last for ever.’ The imperf and the -an- both denote the difficulty of
persuading them. They had before thought of peace.
*(ermokra/ths—the Themistocles of
Syracuse.
tou= . . . mh\ a)qumei=n—expresses
purpose, a construction rare outside Thuc. (So Goodwin; but edd. rightly deny that the
words can go directly with cunane/peiqe. The remedy is
surely to comma them off, not to alter tou=.)
tai=s nausi\—not ‘attack the A. fleet,’ but ‘attack with their
own fleet’; cf. c. 7.4.
e)pixeirh=sai—the MSS. have the
fut., but the abbreviations for the aor. and fut. were indistinguishable. (If it is
bracketed, tai=s nausi must go with a/qumei=n.)
pro\s tou\s *)a.—it is always
assumed that this goes with e)pixeirh=sai, but there
are no instances of e)pixeirei=n pros (L. and S. cite
this wrongly as 7, 51): hence we take it with le/gwn,
as in skopei=n, bouleu/esqai pro/s. Cf. Andoc. 1, 48
le/gei pro/s me, he says, meaning me . .
; Aeschin. 2.42
mnhmonikw=s ei)pei=n pro\s ta\ . . . in answer
to . . . ; Dem. 24.190
pro\s tou\s toiou/tous lo/gous proakhkoe/nai mikra/.
(It is well known how fond Thuc. is of making the leaders of opposing forees answer
one another. Here we may imagine Nicias reminding the A. of their naval record, and
Hermocrates making this retort.) For pro/s cf. Steup on 3.48.2
a)i/dion—Classen understands this
of the future, probably rightly. Cf. II.
41.5
pantaxou= mnhmei=a a)i/dia cugkatoiki/santes, that
will ‘last for ever.’
a)ll'—bracketed nedlessly by Stahl
and Classen. Do not supply e)/xein, as edd. say, or
you will get no antithesis to pa/trion and a)i/dion.
h)peirw/tas—i.e. not a naval
power. The word is often used of Syr. and indeed of Sicily generally.
u(po\ *mh/dwn—because Themistocles
persuaded them to build a fleet at the time of the Persian wars.
gene/sqai—does not go after
a)nagkasqe/ntas, as it is commonly
taken, but is parallel with e)/xein. Thus nautikou\s g. gives the antithesis we wanted.
pro\s a)/ndras k t.l.—it is a faet
well known in business that ‘bounce’ is best auswered with
‘bounee.’ ‘In dealing with daring men . . . those who in
turn show daring appear most formidable.’
oi(/ous—attracted, as often with
short clauses So in Oratio Obliqua short rel. clauses are
sometimes attracted into the infin. xalepo\s=‘dangerous,’ as in III.
42.3.
[au)toi=s]—prob. spurious, since
pro\s a)/ndras t. seems to be put first so as to
refer to all that follows.
w(=|—resumed by to\ au)to\.
e)kei=noi—i.e. a)/ndres tolmhroi/.
ou) duna/mei e)/stin o(/te—for the
omission of me\n cf. c. 1.2,
prou/xontes—this is the Attic
word. Thuc. also uses profe/rein which is Ionic in
this sense c. 64.2; 77.2.
tw=|—their.
sfa=s—when a plur subj. of infin.
includes the subj. of the main verb as here, whether in whole or in part, it is put
either in nom. or accus. at will. Cf. c. 48.1
o( *n. e)no/mize . . . laqei=n a)\n . . . poiou=ntes.
Andoc. 1, 82 has e)yhfi/sasqe . . . dokima/santas
a(nagra/yai, part of the voters being subj. of the infin.
u(posxei=n—we expect rather
parasxei=n: a rare sense of u(p-. See L. and S.; Hesych. u)/pexe:
pa/rexe.
kai\ *surakosi/ous—and so
he knew that by their unexpected boldness in resisting the A. fleet, the S. would
gain much more through the amazement with which their conduct would strike the
enemy, than they would lose by their inferiority to the A. in naval skill.
ple/on ti—in II. 11 both ple/on ti and a)mele/stero/n ti are found; the ti indefinitely inereasing the range of the adv. ma=llo/n ti is common.
to\ toiou=ton—such conduct as has
been described; a regular use of toiou=tos, very
eommon in Aristotle, and a cause of obscurity in his style.
e)pisth/mh| . . . a)peiri/an—stock
antithesis in Thuc.
ei)/ tou a)/llou—attraction, as
Soph. OC 734
pro\s po/lin d' e)pi/stamai | sqe/nousan h(/kwn, ei)/ tin' *(ella/dos, me/ga.
e)pikataba/ntwn—gone down to the
shore to watch the battle.
prospesw\n—before the garrisons
left in them and the men on the shore could arm.
prw=ton—adjective (for nothing
further happens to to\ me/giston)
tou= prw/tou a(lo/ntos—that
which was first taken,
prw/tou being predicate in spite of its order. Cf. c.
13.2.
strato/pedon—
here means the space between the A. walls on the other side of the harbour.
Freeman
.
e)cekomi/zonto—were getting
away.
h(li/sketo . . e)tu/gxanon—the two
imperfects mark the events as simultaneous. This would not be
so with e)peidh\ if aor. were used. See note on c.
3.3
oi( e)c au)tw=n feu/gontes—cf
Andoc. oi( e\k th=s a)gora=s e)/feugon. Attraction of
the preposition is very rare in Latin; e.g. Cic. ad Fam.
VII. 1 ex illo cubiculo, ex quo . . . tempoia consumpseris,
for in illo . . .
pare/pleusan—sailed
past, and so across the harbour.
naumaxou=sai—this order of the
attributive partic. is only possible when the noun has other attributes besides the
partic.; here pro\ tou= s.
peri\ a)llh/las—prepositions with
e(autou\s, sfa=s au)tou\s, a)llh/lous are used to
express reciprocity unless there is a compound of dia\
available.
pare)dosan—gave away.
kai\ u(f' w(=n—for kai\ e)kei/nas u(f' w(=n The antecedent can always be
omitted, but the rel., unless it be either in the nom. or else governed by a prep., is
regulaily attracted. Thus in II. 61 for e)gkarterei=n a(\ e)/gnwte we should prob. read e). oi(=s e)/gnwte.
plh\n o(/son—sc. tw=n a)nqrw/pwn h)=n, a part of ei)mi being constantly omitted after o(/sos.
nhsidi/w|—
the ceremony was gone through on one of the small islets off
Plemmyriôn; but it was the last act of the invaders on that side of the
Syr. harbour.
Freeman
.
strato/pedon—as l. 14 above.
oi(/per . . . fra/sousin—purpose.
e)n e)lpi/sin ei)si\—ct. below
§ 6, and e)n e)lpi/di c. 46 The opposite is e)n a)qumi/a| or a)pori/a| ei)=nai
l 10.
tw=n te p. e)pituxou=sai—Thuc.
uses the dat. also with e)pitugxa/nw.
*kaulwnia/tidi—neighbourhood of Caulonia in
Bruttium. The whole of this region was polu/dendros,
and contained cu/la a)/fqona, VI.
90. Pythagoras lived there when driven from Croton.
fula/cantes—for this sense, cf. c.
83
th=s nukto\s f. to\ h(suxa/zon.
*mega/rois—Hyblaean M.: it was the
fourth site on which settled the emigrants from Megara in Greece.
a)pofeu/gousin—sudden change of
subj.; cf. on c. 4.4.
newsoi/kwn—prob. built by Gelon,
the second founder of Syracuse. See on c. 22.1, l. 11.
The piles had been driven in during the winter of 415
muriofo/ron—of 10,000
talents' burden, assuming with Arnold that a talent was the ordinary unit of
weight: but the matter is not certain. Lobeck conj. muriamfo/ron, but the form is well attested.
w)/neuon—drew up with
windlasses (o)/noi).
o(lka/dos—i.e. the nau=s muriofo/ros. Notice again the attraction of e)k.
th=s staurw/sews h/
kru/fios—the hidden part of the stockade, the adj.
assimilated, as with polu/s, h(misu/s, sometimes
o(/sos.
h)=san . . . ou(\s—see on c. 11.2,
deino\n—dangerous.
mh\ . . . periba/lh|—epexegetic of
prospleu=sai, and so depending on deino\n h)=n.
peri\ e(/rma—cf. the fine lines of
the Furies in Aesch. Eum. 554
di' ai)w=nos de\ to\n pri\n o)/lbon e(/rmati prosbalw\n di/kas
w)/let' a)/klaustos. Anacreon a)sh/mwn u(pe\r
e(rma/twn foreu=mai.
polla\ de\ kai\ a)/lla—M. W.
Humphreys examines this phrase in Class. Rev.
v. 431, and concludes that kai\ is not needed in connecting a)/llos with polu/s, and that
when it is inserted, it means
also.
He shows that a)/lloi polloi\ is very common
and polloi\ a)/lloi not rare.
oi(=on ei)ko\s—note the phrase and
cf. ei)ko/tws.
pei/rais—stratagems. Bloomfield notes that pei=ra implies trickery. Cf. Soph. Aj.
2
pei=ra/n tin' e)xqrw=n a(rpa/sai.
po/leis—of their allies in Sicily
pre/sbeis . . . *korinqi/wn—not
Syracusans, in order that greater credence might be given to the message (Haacke).
a)gge/llontas—see on c. 3.1. 52
th=s naumaxi/as pe/ri—they would
of course not send an embassy round to report the defeat (this would be th\n naumaxi/an), but, as the news was sure to spread, to
give explanations.
dhlw/sontas—the constr. changes
from pres. to fut., as in II. 44
ou)k o)lofu/romai ma=llon h)\ paramuqh/somai; cf. Tac.
An.
I. 18
interficietis quam desciscitis.
e)p' au)tou\s—against the
A.
diapepolemhso/menon—the accus. abs
joined to gen. as in c. 15.1, and Plato, Rep. p. 604 B w(s ou)/te dh/lou o)/ntos . .
ou)/te e)s to\ pro/sqen ou)de\n probai=non. Cf. Livy
23.13
debellatum fore (fut. perf. infin. pass.), si adniti voluissent.
e)/prasson—of negociation or
diplomacy, as often.
maxairofo/rwn—the wearing of dirks
is a well-known custom of some of the Thracian tribes.
tou= *diakou=—the Dii were
independent and lived mostly in the region of the Rhodope or Despoto mountains.
ou(\s e)/dei—should
have, according to arrangement. M.T. 415.
u(/steron — ‘too
late,’ as in u(/steron paregenonto, h)=lqon.
o(/qen—antecedent omitted, as in
Dem. 45.81
ana/gein o(/qen ei)/lhfas. Andoc. 1, 64 e)/labon o(/qen o(rmw/menoi tau=t' e)poi/oun.
e)/xein—keep.
to\n e)k th=s *d.
po/lemon—the incursions from D.; not the same as
o( *dekeleiko\s po/lemos, as ancient authors call
the war from 413.
draxmh\n—double the ordinary pay
of a hoplite.
e)peidh\ ga\r—from the time
that D. was occupied for the injury of the country, at first by the whole army,
after being fortified by it during this summer, and afterwards by garrisons reheving
one another at fixed intervals. (This trans. takes u(po\ pa/shs th=s s. both with teixisqei=sa and with e)pw|kei=to, not, as
is usually done, with teixisqei=sa only)
frourai=s—replacing the gen. with
u(po/.
e)/blapte—the subj. to be supplied
is h( *d. teixisqei=sa.
o)le/qrw|—a strong word,
‘devastation,’ like the vastitas Italiae
which Hannibal saw in a vision. o)/leqros is not
generally used with things; it is as though a pest were destroying their resources
braxei=ai—the average duration of
the previous invasions had only been about a month, i.e. as long as provisions held
out.
o(te\ me\n . . . o(te\ de\—does
not occur elsewhere in good Attic prose. Xen. Hier. 1, 5 has e)/sti me\n o)/te . . . e)/sti d'
o(/te, and the edd. compare Plato, Phacdo, p 59 A
o(te\ me\n . . . e(ni/ote de\ and Theaet. p. 207 D o(te\ me\n . . . tote\ de/.
pleio/nwn e)pio/ntwn—VIZ. arriving
from the Peloponnese to overrun Attica. The Spartans expected the occupation of
Decelea would at once cripple the A. in Sicily. It did not do so: therefore special
efforts were from time to time made by sending extra troops. The A. had done much the
same at the beginning of the war in the case of Potidaea.
e)c a)na/gkhs—of
necessity, to provision the garrison.
th=s i)/shs froura=s—the
normal garrison; in i)/shs he is thinking of
the successive garrisons.
ou)k e)k pare/rgou—non obiter. His father Archidamus had been accused of slackness
in his conduct of the war.
th=s . . . xw/ras . . .
e)ste/rhnto—sterei=n is to
withhold something forcibly or fraudulently from its owner; as Demosth. speaks of
himself as e)sterhme/nos tw=n patrw/|wn by his
guaidians.
e)n gh=| a)pokro/tw|—with a)pexwlou=nto; the two causes being expressed in different
constructions, as often. Xen. in his treatise on riding refers to the roughness of the
ground in parts of Attica, and gives advice to riders.
cunexw=s talaipwrou=ntes—by
continual fatigue.
*)wrwpou=—at this time O. belonged
to Athens. It fell into the hands of Boeotia in 412.
polutelh\s—the question of finance
was now becoming serious. Want of money finally ruined A in the war.
tw=n te pa/ntwn—so all that
the city needed had to be imported, and thus it ceased to be a city and became a
fortress.
th=| e)pa)lcei—collective, as in
II. 13. So Livy 23.16.8
uses vallum ferre for vallos f.
e)f' o(/plois pou—at
camping-stations here and there.
o(/pla are military posts within the city, as distinct from to\ tei=xos,
which stands for the fortifications generally, being used collectively. (One must
agree with Muller-Strnbing that pou is whimsical and
poor. If it is genuine, Thuc. is at fault.)
l. 16
to/ g' a)/n—the following clauses,
(1) a)posth=nai, (2) a)ntipoliorkei=n, (3) poih=sai, are in
explanatory apposition to the preceding h(/n,
which=filoniki/an. The a)\n belongs to all three clauses. Hence what would have seemed incredible
is this: ei) au)toi\ poliorkoi=nto . . , ou(d' a)\n w(\s
a)postai=en e)k *s, a)lla\ . . a)ntipoliorkoi=en a)/n, kai\ tosou=ton a)\n to\n
para/logon poih/seian k t l. Hence, trans. literally, ‘And yet
(though they had two wars) their pertinacity was such that no man before it was
experienced would have believed the account of it, that, even if they were themselves
besieged by the P. by means of a permanent occupation, they would not
even so withdraw from S., but would in turn lay siege in the same manner to Syr. (a
city which taken alone is as large as A) and would astonish the Greeks with such a
display of strength and audacity that, whereas at the beginning of the war the Greeks
generally supposed that they would hold out perhaps for a year, perhaps for two years,
possibly for three, but certainly not longer than three, if the P. should invade
Attica, they on the contrary in the seventeenth year after the first invasion should
actually go to S. . . . and voluntarily take on themselves another war.’
mhd' w(\s—w(\s (=ou(/tws) only appears in prose in
kai\ w(/s, ou)d' w(/s, mhd' w(/s; occasionally
before ou)=n, as III.
37.5. 20
au)th/u ge kaq' au(th\u—i e. without reckoning Sparta at all; that is to say, Syr. would
have been a big city for A. to besiege even if she were not herself in difficulties at
the time. (Others think this means (a) without counting the
Athenian empire, (b) without reckoning allies on either side.)
tosou=ton—answered by o(/son.
o(/son—when two things, persons,
or sets of persons are compared by means of tosou=ton . . .
o(/son, there are often two clauses following the o(/son: these two clauses are then themselves contrasted by me\n and de\—here
oi( me\n . . . oi( de\ e)/tei—and they
describe the extent of the difference between the two things compared in the tosou=ton clause. (See Appendix II.) Here ‘the A.
astonished the Greek world so much that the Greek world thought they would hold out a
year or two, whereas the A. after all these years undertook the Sicilian
expedition’
<oi( me\n> oi( me\n oi(
de\ oi( de\ ge oi( de\—when these particles
are thus repeated, it is usual to find the extremes contrasted, as here
<oi( me\n> and the last oi( de/, i.e. the Greeks at large and Athens. The first
<oi( me\n> is subdivided in the
clauses that follow it.
oi( de\ triw=n ge e)tw=n—de/ ge or de\ . . . ge caps a
previous statement. ou\dei\s is in limiting apposition
to oi( de\, and triw=n
e)tw=n is gen. of comparison.
th\n prw/thn e)sbolh\n—in June
431.
h)=lqon—Thuc. here proceeds as if
he had said tosou=ton to\n para/logon e/poi(hsan
instead of tos ou=ton to)n p. poih=sai a)\n—
shifting the point of view which was that of a person hearing of such vigour before he
actually witnessed it.
tw=| pole/mw| . . .
tetruxwme/noi—at the time of the expedition A. had been recovering
for seven years; but Thuc. here thinks of the state of A. in 415 as contrasted with
her state in 431.
di' a(\—the plur. beeause he sums
up all the causes that led to their impoverisation, namely the losses of individuals
and the losses of the treasury resulting from the
filoniki/a above described.
kai\ to/te—other causes of
impoverisation are now added, namely those resulting from the fortification of
Decelea. ‘For these reasons and because of the serious damage which was
being then caused by D. and the other expenses that fell heavily on them.’
u(po\ th=s *d. . . .
blaptou/shs—this construction, in which the partic. has the force of
a verbal subst., is less common in Gk. than in Latin (ante urbem
conditam). It seems that it is not used unless the noun and prep. would make
sense without the partic; the only exception being a(/ma with expressions of time. Cf. c. 42.2
dia\ th\n *deke/leian teixizome/nhn; II. 49
meta\ tau=ta lwfh/santa. It is oftenest found with
a(/ma, meta\ with accus., and e)pi\ with gen., as Herod. I. 15
e)pi\ tou/tou turanneu/ontos. (See Gildersleeve in A. J. P. July '92)
tw=n . . prospipto/ntwn — gen.
abs., the two causes being again differently expressed.
a)du/natoi . . . toi=s xrh/masi—on
the analogy of du/natos and du/namai with dat.
th\n ei)kosth\n—a tax of five per
cent on all imports and exports within the A. empire. Probably this system lasted,
with the exception of Chalcedon (? others), to the end of the war. ei/kostolo/goi were appointed to collect it in the different
poits, and, according to Aristophanes, they sometimes carried on smuggling on their
own account; and Aegina seems to have become a sort of depot for contraband goods
smuggled out of Attic territory to the Peloponnese. Aegina was a free port. (Cf.
Gilbert, Beitrage zur innern Geschichte Athens, p. 286.) The
establishment of the ei)kosth\ is the beginning of
important financial reforms.
kai\ pri/n—as
before.
pollw=| mei/zous . . . o(/sw| kai\
mei/zwn—a double compar or superl. is the way to express proportion. Cf. I. 68
prosh/kei h(ma=s ou=x h(/kista ei\pei=n, o(/sw| kai\ me/gista
e/gklh/mata e)/xomen; c. 41.3.
tw=| *d. u(sterh/santas—who
came too late for D. to use them.
*dieitre/fei—Pausanias I. 23 describes a statue at Athens of D. pierced with arrows,
presumably in the act of regaining his ship (see c. 30.1) after the barbarous slaughter of the children of Mycalessus The
inscribed base of this statue is extant.
ei)po/ntes . . . bla/yai—le/gw is constructed with accus. and infin. regularly (a) when it = keleu/w, as here:
(b) when used in the sense of ferunt,
fertur. It is then oftener in the
pass., but the act. is found so. When
Thuc. wants to imply that a statement is false, he says le/getai
w(s. Instances of le/gw with accus. and
infinit. in the sense of fhmi\ are not common.
*xalki/dos—after ravaging the
country round Tanagia, they had crossed to Euboea.
a)f' e(spe/ras—cf. a)po\ prw/tou u(/pnou c. 43.2.
*mukalhsso/n—the destruction of
this town, so ancient that its foundation was said to be contemporary with Cadmus, was
in every way disgraceful and revolting. Pausanias says the place was in ruins in his
day, and there are still considerable remains both of the acropolis and of the lower
town.
*(ermai/w|—shrine of
H. on the road from the coast to Thebes.
a)prosdokh/tois=ou)
prosdexome/nois, active. Many adj. have both an act. and pass meaning,
e.g. fobero/s, a)deh/s, prostro/paios, and so in Lat.
formidolosus, etc. Sallust, Cat. 39,
2. Cf. on c. 42.3, line 24.
e)/stin h(=| . . . tou= de\—cf. c.
2.4.
braxe/os w)|kodomhme/nou—cf. II. 34.8
bh=ma u(yhlo\n pepoihme/non.
l 26.
tou\s a)nqrw/pous—Pausanias says
that a man would have searched in vain in his day for descendants of the inhabitants
of Mycalessus.
pa/ntas . . . o(/tw|—like e(/kastos, ou)dei/s, pa=s tis, tis referring to a plur.
o(moi=a—for o(moi/ws, as several times in Herod., but in no other Attic prose author.
Thuc. also has i)/sa for i)/sws.
toi=s ma/lista—sc. fonikoi=s. This idiom is found also in Herod. and in late
writers. Josephus speaks of a man called by the Jews *qra|ki/dan
dia\ th\n th=s w)mo/thtos u(perbolh/n.
e)n w(=| a)\n—whenever,
e)n w(=| describing all the attendant circumstances
qarsh/sh|—ingressive
i)de/a pa=sa—Thuc is fond of this
expression.
kai\ a)/rti e)/tuxon—notice that
the rel. is dropped in the second clause, as very often Generally, however, a
demonstrative is added instead, as in II. 4
o(\ h)=n tou= tei/xous kai\ ai( qu/rai e)/tuxon a)new|gme/nai
au)tou=. Cf. Hooker in the Eccles. Pol.
‘Whom although to know be life, and joy to make mention of His
name.’ Also ‘Whose fan is in His hand and He will throughly purge
His floor’ Livy, 23, 8 Cum quo . . . steterat, nec eum . .
. patria majestas sententia depulerat. 37-8.
e)/tuxon . . e)selhluqo/tes—the
perf. is necessary to make the partic. precede e)/tuxon (e)/laqon e)/fqasa) in time; as in
2.4
e)/tuxon . . . a)new|gme/nai.
kate/koyan pa/ntas—Freeman well
says that this ‘deed of blood outdid all crimes of Greek
against Greek, and sent a shudder through all Hellas.’ But, after all,
Napoleon III. got the throne of France by acts as infamous.
cumfora\ . . . au(/th—this
was a calamity to the whole city unparalleled in severity, and fell upon it with
singular suddenness and horror. Each of the expressions appended to cumfora\ adds a new point: (a) it was
universal—pa/sh|, (b) it was greater than others—ou)demia=s
h(/sswn, (c) it was quite sudden and very horrible.
ou)demia=s h(/sswn—i.e.
‘greater than any,’ as in Aesch. PB
1013 (au)qadi/a) au)th\
kaq' au(th\n ou)deno\s mei=zon sqe/nei=‘less than
anything.’ Dem. 1.27
h( tw=n pragma/twn ai)sxu/nh ou)demia=s e)la/ttwn zhmi/as toi=s
ge sw/frosi. Cf. cc. 71 and 85. Note that h(/sswn
h)\ mhde\n would mean less than (the abstract idea of)
nothing.
ma=llon e(te/ras—a common idiom in
place of a superlative.
to/te—refers to c. 26.3.
e)k th=s *lakwnikh=s—the prep. is
attracted to a)pople/wn.
*feia=|—now Katakolo, the
landing-place for visitors to Olympia.
e)/pleon—proceeded on the
voyage.
*za/kunqon kai\ *k — the policy
and interests of Zacynthus coincided with those of Corcyra. In 430
Sparta made an effort to obtain Z., but failed. Cephallenia, after remaining for a
time neutral, joined Athens in the autumn of 431. Pericles had seen that the
possession of the islands which lay on the road to Sicily was of extreme importance,
and already in 433 he began to form alliances with them This was not with a view to
invading Sicily, but to prevent Sparta from obtaining help from Syracuse, her ally,
and from controlling the route to Sicily.
tw=n *messhni/wn—sc. o(pli/tas.
*)akarnani/as—all Acarnania,
except Oeniadae, had made an alliance with Athens in the autumn of 430, and
Demosthenes himself had taken Oeniadae into the alliance in 424.
*)alu/zeian—near the coast of
Acarnania. Here Timotheus, son of Conon, set up his trophy in 375 during his
successful voyage to restore Athenian supremacy in the north-west.
*)anakto/rion—had been an ally of
Sparta; but it was seized by the Athenians at Naupactus and the Acarnanians in 425.
Hence au)toi\=oi(
*)aqhnai=oi.
peri\ tau=ta—occupied in
this.
peri\ is much commoner in this sense than a)mfi/, which prep. occurs only twice in Thuc. and not at all
in the Orators.
to/te—see c. 16.2. to/te is often used in
referring back to what has been already mentioned. Cf. c. 31.1, 81, 2.
kata\ plou=n—cf. kaq' o(do/n, kata\ th\n porei/an, kata\ th\n strathgi/an.
*ko/nwn—the admiral and statesman
who opposed Thrasybulus at the end of the war. After Aegospotami he lived in exile in
Cyprus. In 394 he won the battle of Cnidus after which he rebuilt the walls of Athens.
He was probably sent to Naupactus in 414.
katoknou=si—the MSS. kataluousi is not appropriate, because there could be no
question of bringing the war to an end, since the fortification of Decelea. (Classen's
explanation is that war was not yet declared between *athens and the Peloponnesians. But, if not, between whom is o( po/lemos? It certainly had not been declared between the
Corinthian ships and the A. squadron.)
pe/mpein—the request points to the
decline of Athenian naval supremacy.
w(s . . . ou)/sas—even the
partic. of personal verbs sometimes stand with their nouns in
the accus. abs. . . if they are preceded by w(s or
w(/sper.
M.T. 853.
duoi=n deou/sas ei)/kosi — the
number of A. ships at Naupactus was generally twenty.
th=s stratia=s to\n c—cf. c. 24.2. peri\ governs to\n c.
a)potrapo/menos—turning
back from his homeward voyage. Fr. Muller renders ‘after his
return from Sicily.’
w(/sper kai\ h(|re/qh—not as
strathgo/s, which office he had held since
Hecatombaeon 414, while the election was probably early in 414,
but as colleague, cuna/rxwn, of Demosth. in this
expedition.
*kamarinai=oi—C. had previously
been neutral. Its relations with Syr. had not been satisfactory. Originally an outpost
of Syr., it had revolted from its mother-city and had been destroyed circ. 550.
Subsequently it became part of Gela. In 484 Gelon transferred its population to Syr.;
and in 461 it was re-colonised by Gela.
*gelw=|oi—they had previously
promised to send stratia\n ou) pollh/n c. 1.4. In 498 Hippocrates, tyrant of Gela, defeated the
Syracusans; his successor Gelon transferred his seat to Syr.
sxedo/n ti—almost,
since some towns still remained faithful to A.; see c. 57.11.
l. 9
ou)de\ meq' e(te/rwn—regular
phrase for ‘neutral.’
oi( d' a)/lloi—this resumes the
subject pa=sa h( *sikeli/a
after the parenthesis. Cf. Andoc I. 78, in
the psephism of Patroclides, o(/sa o/no/mata tw=n tetrakosi/wn
tino\s e)gge/graptai . . . plh\n o(po/sa e)n sth/lais ge/graptai . . . ta\ de\
a)/lla pa/nta e/calei=yai.
e)pe/sxon to\ . . . e)pixeirei=n —
‘refrained from attacking’ (Some edd wrongly compare II. 81.4
ou)/t' e)pe/sxon to\ strato/pedon katalabei=n, where
if the text is sound the sense must be ‘did not intend to occupy the
camp,’ not ‘did not refrain from occupying
a camp.’)
to\n *)io/nion—sc. ko/lpon.
*xoira/das—two islands off
Tarentum.
*messapi/ou—one of the three
divisions of Iapygia, Messapia, extended from Tarentum to Brundisium.
*)/arta|—he seems to have been a
man of note in his day, for Athenaeus reters to him as me/gas
kai\ lampro/s.
duna/sth|s—suggested a foreign,
un-Greek form of government. Hence the bad sense of dunastei/a, which is used, for instance, of the Thirty.
*metapo/ntion—there are ruins of a
temple on the site. The Romans destroyed it for having sided with Hannibal. Pausanias
saw a theatre and walls standing. Pythagoras died there.
a)nalabo/ntes tau=ta—taking
these with them; the neut. is used as in c. 14.2.
*qouri/an—on the site of Sybaris.
In 193 B.C. it became a Latin Colony—called Copia—after the great
extension of the ager Romanus in Bruttium. Thurii was colonised
by Athens in 443. Herodotus was among the colonists.
ei)/ tis u(pele/leipto—best taken
with a(qroi/santes.
e)n tou/tw| tu/xhs—the expulsion
of the anti-Athenian party would make an offensive and defensive alliance
possible.
tw=n o(lka/dwn—depends on komidh=s.
w(s e)pi\ naumaxi/a|—Thuc. uses
also w(s e)pi\ naumaxi/an. Similarly e)pi\ is used with either the gen. or dat. of place in the
same phrases.
e)/ti—of additional ships.
e)la/ssous . . . tw=n *)attikw=n
new=n—this might have been e). tw=n
*)aqhnai/wn, i.e. h)\ toi=s *)aqhnai/ois.
Cf. VIII 53 nau=s ou)k e)la/ssous sfw=n e)/xousi.
kata *)erineo\n—east of Rhium,
which, with Antirrhium on the opposite coast, commanded the entrance to the Gulf. Had
the Corinthians been superior in numbers, they would have lain off Rhium, S. W. of
Naupactus, and have tried to shut in the A.
kai\ au)toi=s—the dative is put
early to contrast it with oi( d' *)aqhnai=oi below.
au)to/qen — from Achaea, which had
originally been neutral, but in 417 joined Sparta.
a)nexou)sais—see L and S., B.; cf.
Herod. VII. 123
pa/shs ph=s *pallh/nhs a)ne/xei ma/lista. The meaning
is common in Pausanias.
*polua/nqhs—prob. the same as the
P. to whom, according to Xenophon, Tithraustes sent a bribe in order to bring about a
war against Sparta.
tria/konta . . . kai\ trisi/n — in
c. 31.4 the number is given as eighteen. Demosth. had
added ten; and the rest must have come with Diphilus.
a(plw=s—with kate/du, absolutely. (Holden takes this with ou)demi/a, but there is no reason for emphasising this.)
e(pta\ de/ tines—the tines shows he was not certain of the exact number.
e)mballo/menai—technically the
e)mbolh\ was a charge broadside with the e)/mbolon; prosbolh\ a charge prow to prow.
e)pwti/das—ta\ e(kate/rwqen prw/|ras e)ce/xonta cu/la, Schol. The anchors hung from
them.
a)nti/pala — internal accus.,
defining the verb. Hence=a)nti/palon naumaxi/an. The
plur. presents the details.
w(s—the only case in which Thuc.
uses w(s for w(/ste.
The use is common in Aeschylus, Sophocles, Herod., Xen.
au)tou\s e(kate/rous—the nom.
would be more regular; but the subjects are not really identical, since the infin.
clause is meant to be general. It appears from what follows
that the A. did not finally consider themselves victors.
au)tw=n=tw=n
nauagi/wn. For the two gens. cf. I. 25
kata\ th\n *faia/kwn proenoi/khsin th=s *kerku/ras.
See Classen on III. 116.6.
ou)ke/ti—note (1) the adv.
qualifying the noun: it is common with the neg., and verbal nouns often take the
construction of the verb, as II. 65
u(po\ tou= prw/tou a)ndro\s a)rxh/: (2) the use of
ou)ke/ti, denoting a change of purpose or a
disappointment of expectation.
oi( e(/teroi—sc. e)no/misan.
oi(/ te . . . oi(/ t'—the double
te shows that the two clauses are exactly parallel.
Thuc. is fond of this te . . . te joining two
concurrent acts.
kratei=n ei) mh\ k.t.l.—this is
not a mere subtlety. The naval superiority of the A., esp. at Naupactus, had been so
repeatedly acknowledged that the Cor. rightly considered that not to be beaten
constituted a victory.
o(/ti ou) p. e)ni/kwn—the indic.
shows that Thuc. states this as a fact: nikw=|en would
mean that the A. reflected ou) nikw=|men.
au)=qis—referring to the previous
sea-fight.
a)/llh|—as well.
cf. c. 4.3.
paraskeuh=|—force.
tou= pezou=—what is called the
gen. of material. Rutherford Syn. § 106.
pri\n e)lqei=n—depends on fqa/sai. pri\n regularly takes aor.
infin. unless continuance or attempt is
implied.
cune/legon—equivalent to pluperf.
in a rel. clause. It is like the historic pres. for aor.
w(s—in such a manner as
would give them the advantage according to what they had learned from the former
battle. 8-9.
ti ple/on . . . sxh/sontes—cf.
ple/on ti/ e)sti with dat., and ple/on ti poiei=n. Cf. on § 5,
e)nei=don=to learn by
experience in action.
cuntemo/ntes e)s
e)/lasson—shortening.
a)nth/ridas a)p' au)tw=n—stays of
timber which extended from the cat-heads through the sides of the ship, and projected
nine feet both ways, inside and outside.
toi=xos—wall of a building:
tei=xos wall of a town. For a similar distinction cf
te/maxos slice of fish: to/mos slice of meat.
prw/|raqen—with e)piskeuasa/menoi, strengthening them at the
prow.
dia\ to\ mh\—because they
rowed round and struck the enemy broadside, and did not meet him prow to
prow.
ou)k e)n pollw=|—for e)n ou) pollw=|: cf. II. 102,
and mh\ e)p' a)gaqw=|
II. 17.2.
pro\s e(autw=n—so pro\s tw=n polemi/wn c. 49.2.
Not a common use.
pro\s koi=la—sc. ta\ e)/mbola.
sfw=n—with peri/ploun ou)/te d. For the order cf. II. 5.5
sfw=n peiraqe/ntes katalabei=n th\n po/lin. It is put
in contrast with *)aqhnai/ois
peri/ploun—the manœuvre
of rowing round and ‘boring’ the enemy's vessels into a small
space, so as to throw them into confusion.
die/kploun—the manœuvre
of ‘rowing through the intervals of the adversary's line, and thus getting
in their rear, . . . and before the ship of the adversary could change its position,
of striking it either in the stern, or in some weak part.’ Grote. It is
first heard of in Herod. VI. 12.
w)=|per th=s te/xnhs—which
were the very manœuvres on which they depended most.
au)toi\ ga\r k.t.l.—for
they themselves as far as possible would not, on the one hand, give them a chance of
breaking their line, while the want of pace, on the other hand, would prevent them
from boring them in.
to\ me\n . . . to\ de\—adverbial,
as ta\ me\n . . . ta\ de/, tou=to me\n . . . tou=to
de/.
ou) dw/sein die/kploun—so II. 83.5
ou) dido/ntes die/kploun.
kwlu/sein w(/ste—in Thuc. verbs of
advising, preventing, and agreeing—as pei/qein,
ei)/rgein, cumbai/nein—most commonly take w(/ste among verbs that can take the simple infin.
th=| te pro/teron—they
would purposely employ the system of charging prow to prow, which was before
considered want of skill in their pilots.
to\ a)nti/p rw|ron cugkrou=sai is put as the supposed
definition of a)maqi/a tw=n kubernhtw=n, and the form
of the sentence is an example of the effect which Thuc. produces by emphasising single
words—here a)maqi/a|. Thuc. much prefers
giving definitions to giving examples;
whereas in later oratory examples, paradei/gmata, are
commoner. For the example, cf. II.
42.2, dokei= de/ moi dhlou=n a)ndros a=reth\n
(‘virtue in a man,’ as a)maqi/a|
kubernhtou= here) . . . h( nu=n tw=nde
katastrofh/.
a)nti/prw|ron—agreeing with the
indef. subject of cugkrou=sai.
cugkrou=sai—probably trans., as
elsewhere in classical Greek. It is easy to supply th\n
nau=n.
plei=ston . . . sxh/sein—as there
is no other case of the superl with e)/xein, Kruger
wishes to read ple/on for plei=ston, Stahl perisxh/sein for
sxh/sein. But plei=ston
sxh/sein does not mean they would be very superior to, but
rather ‘they would find very great (advantage)’ The phrase may be
compared with Aristoph. Acharn. 474
e)n w(=|pe/r e)sti pa/nta moi ta\ pra/gmata. Thuc.
rather affects e)/xw in place of e)sti, as in II. 4
e)mpei/rous e)/xontes tou\s diw/kontas instead of
e)/mpeiroi h(=san au)toi=s oi( d.; and here the
other construction immediately follows. So too the phrases ple/on e)/xw and ple/on e)sti are the
same. Aristoph. Plut. 531
ti/ ple/on ploutei=n e)stin;
th\n ga\r a)na/krousin—for
if driven back the A. would not be able to back in any direction except on to the
shore, and that only through a short distance and to a small part, namely in the
coast-line of their own camp.
a/na/krousis means backing for a new
attack.
e)cwqoume/nois—technical word for
being thrust back or ashore in a sea fight, and driven back in a land battle.
tau/thn—sc. th\n gh=n. Both the distance to the land and the stretch of coast in
their power would be small.
cumferome/nous . . . e)s
o)li/gon—forced to meet in a small space.
tara/cesqai—passive in sense,
taraxqh/somai not being used until late Greek.
peripleu=sai de\—the enemy
would not be able to sail round them into the open water, since they had power to
charge from the open sea and to retire.
eu)ruxwri/an—outside the harbour,
=to\ pe/lagos.
th\n e)pi/pleusin . . . te kai\
a)na/krousin—first to charge, and then, when the enemy attempted to
sail round them, to retire with the intention of charging again. The two words need
not be part of the same movement, although the art. is not repeated.
polemi/ou—even if by quick sailing
the A. had it in their power to sail round the Syr., yet they would be caught between
the retiring Syr. and the hostile posts at the mouth.
ou) mega/lou—thus Plem. and
Ortygia controlled the whole width of the mouth.
th=s de\ h(me/ras—after
testing each other for a great part of the day by advancing and retiring.
prosple/ontes kai\ a). gives the manner in which they
tested each other.
paralabei=n—win.
ei) mh\ . . . katadu/santes—cf.
Eur. Med. 369
dokei=s ga\r a)/n me to/nde qwpeu=sai/ pote
ei) mh/ ti
kerdai/nousan h)\ texnwme/nhn; It is not necessary to supply pare/labon.
a)nti/pala—that the result of the
fighting had been indecisive.
e)lpi/zwn—expecting. N. did not desire a fresh
engagement; but he knew that the slight success won by the Syr. would prompt them to
renew the attack before the A. reinforcements should arrive. Freeman says that it was
‘the obvious A. policy to avoid further action till those reinforcements
came.’
trihra/rxous—Diodorus XIII. 10 says the trierarchs were eager for a fresh battle.
Plutarch Nic. 20 says the new generals, Menander and
Euthydemus, were eager to achieve distinction before Demosthenes should arrive.
e)peponh/kei—Pollux gives kakou=sqai as an equivalent.
staurw/matos—this had been made in
the spring of 414.
lime/nos klh|stou=—such
‘closed harbours’ were common in Greece. Col. Leake Top. of Athens p. 311 says that ‘the walls, being
carried down to either side of the harbour's mouth, were prolonged from thence across
the mouth upon shoals, or artifieial moles, until a passage only was left in the
middle for two or three triremes abreast between two towers, the opening of which
might be further protected by a chain.’ The three harbours of
Piraeus—Cantharus, Munichia, Zea—were so closed in 429 B.C.
dialeipou/sas—the transports, two
hundred feet apart, were so stationed as to guard the gaps in the stau/rwma. See on c. 41.1.
kaq'
h(suxi/an—nudisturbcd, the regular meaning of the
phrase in Thuc. Cf. kata\ sko/ton=clam.
paraskeuazo/menoi . . .
diete/lesan—the only instance of diatelw= with partic, in Thuc. diatelw=,
tugxa/nw, and fai/nomai are often
constructed with adjectives alone, as a)sfale/statos a)\n
diateloi/h
I. 34.2.
me/xri nukto\s—the art. omitted as
usual with words denoting time.
e)n tou/tw|—while the Syr.
preparations were making.
paragi/gnontai—Plutarch, in a
well-known passage, Nic. 21, describes the entrance of the new
force into the harbour qeatrikw=s kai\ pro\s e)/kplhcin
polemi/wn. It is impossible to say why the Syr. did not fight them at the
harbour mouth. Perhaps some facts are omitted here.
trei=s kai\ e(bdomh/konta
ma/lista—the numbers previously given bring the total to
seventy-three exactly; but it is unnecessary to omit ma/lista with B, since Thuc. allows for any possible error in the previous
data. Sixty-five sailed from Athens; fifteen from Corcyra; two from Metapontum; one
with Eurymedon; total eighty-three; but ten had been given to Conon
cu\n tai=s
cenikai=s—including, the regular Attic meaning,
except only in the old phrase su\n (toi=s) qeoi=s su\n is very rare with persons and never implies a willing connection, in
Attic prose after Thuc.; he has cu\n fanly often with
persons, and in cases implying will, viz c. 57; 2.58; III. 90. The latter use is
common in tragedy and Xen. In ordinary Attic su\n is
the word for adding together the items of a sum total. cu\n (toi=s) o(/plois seems to be an old military phrase.
*(/ellhnas.—*(/ellhn can only be used as an adj. with persons.
ei) pe/ras mhde\n
e)/stai—if there is to be no end. Cf. Enr. Med. 931 ei)sh=lqe/ m' oi)=ktos ei)
genh/setai.
tou= a)pallagh=nai—defines
pe/ras, an end consisting in
deliverance, as in Pindar Pyth. IX. terpna\n ga/mou krai/nein teleutan, and in the Homeric te/los qana/toio, ga/moio.
o(rw=ntes—anacoluthon, as though
the preceding clause had been oi( *s. katepla/ghsan.
Cf. II. 53
no/mos ou)dei\s a)pei=rge, to\ men kri/nontes, for
u(p' ou)deno\s no/mou a)pei/rgonto Such a slight
irregularity is not uncommon in tragedy, as Eur. Hec. 971
ai)dw(s m' e)xei . . . tugxa/nousa. Plato Phaedo 81A
u(pa/rxei au)th=| eu/dai/moni ei)=nai . . . dia/gousa
14-5.
dia\ th\n *d. teixizome/nhn—see on
c. 28.4,
i)/son kai\ paraplh/sion—cf. c.
78
toiau=ta/ te kai\ paraplh/sia.
pantaxo/se—i.e. in whatever
direction it was exerted, whether in Attica itself or outside it. So pantaxo/qen in II. 53.3 means
from whatever source it was obtained.
pollh\n fainome/nhn—the same
omission of the partic, as in c. 21.3; 27.1
al. 19
w(s e)k kakw=n r(w/mh—i.e. as
compared with their troubles, it was positive r(w/mh;
cf. c. 76
w(s e)k tw=n u(parxo/ntwn e(qa/rsune. e)k here
describes the source of the r(w/mh, w(s is
‘considering that.’
ou)x oi(=o/n te ei)=nai—prob.
Thuc. meant to say ‘it was impossible for him to delay without experiencing’; this would require either
ou)x oi)=o/n te ei)=nai diatri/bein me/n, paqei=n de\
mh/, or ou)x oi)=o/n te ei)=nai diatri/bonta mh\ ou)
paqei=n. But the words as they stand mean it is impossible to delay
and to suffer, and this, after all, is more mcisive than ‘it is
impossible to delay, and then not to suffer.’
fobero/s—with a)fiko/menos. The act, sense of fobero/s, causing terror, is the commoner. The passive
meaning timid occurs in II. 3.4; IV. 128.4; Soph. OT 153
fobera\n fre/na dei/mati pa/llwn.
au)tou\s—object of w)felei=n, the subject of which is to\
metape/myai.
tau=ta—there is a similar
parenthesis followed by tau=ta de\ pa/nta skopw=n in
Andoc. I. 58 fol.
ou)=n—resumes after the long
parenthesis, just as igitur, sed, autem are commonly used, e.g.
Cic. pro Mur. 50 meministis enim, cum illius
nefarii gladiatoris voces percrebruissent . . . tum igitur, his rebus auditis
meministis.
th=| prw/th| h(me/ra| ma/lista
deino/tatos—this is labelled as an instance of the double superl.,
as in Eur. Med.
w)= me/giston e)xqi/sth gu/nai, but Classen rightly
takes ma/lista closely with th=|
prw/th? h(me/ra|, for ‘especially on the first day’;
but, if he understood the passage, he did not make it clear. Why are there three superlatives, prw/th?, ma/lista,
deino/tatos? Thuc. surely means that D. saw after his arrival that the
nearer the day of his arrival was the greater was the awe he inspired. Hence trans.
‘realising that at present, while his arrival was quite recent, he filled
the enemy with awe.’
ma/lista—serves to bring the two
superlatives, prw/th| and deino/tatos, into relation. The whole is an example of his love of
elaborate, composite, and co-ordinate expressions instead of subordinate clauses. For
the use of superlatives in such expressions, cf. II. 11.1
e)pi\ po/lin dunatwta/thn nu=n e)rxo/meqa, kai\ au)toi\
plei=stoi kai\ a)/ristoi strateu/ontes, and perhaps the constant use of
ma/li)sta in ‘proportions,’ as
in II. 47.4
ma/lista e)/qnh?skon o(/sw| kai\ ma)lista prosh=|san.
o(/ti ta/xos—found also in Herod. 9.33, and equivalent to w(s
ta/xos=w(s ta/xista.
au)=qis—then.
u(pomei=nai—often contrasted with
feu/gein, either of soldiers or litigants who stand
a trial; sometimes it is joined with karterei=n. It
generally implies danger.
e)piqe/sqai th=| pei/ra|—a graphic
expression for setting to work with a will.
oi(—the only case of the sing. of
this pron. at all frequent in prose. Even this is usually avoided by the Orators.
cuntomwta/thn k.t.l.—he
thought that (therein) lay the means of finishing the war most quickly.
(Classen rightly objects to inserting tau/thn after
cuntomwta/thn with Madvig. It is perfeetly natural
to supply to\ e)piqe/sqai th=? pei/ra| with h(gei=to.)
l 46
h)\ a)pa/cein—the suppression of
the alternative to katorqw/sas is a fine effeet.
tri/yesqai—passive.
e)pekra/toun—
had the upper hand.
Freeman
.
ou)de\ ga\r kaq' e(/tera=kat' ou)de/tera.
o(/ti mh\—except.
mhxanai=s—Freeman says
‘it is strange that we have heard so little of engines of this kind during
the whole war’ in Sicily. ‘They have not been mentioned before
exeept when Nicias used them as materials for a fire’ (VI. 101).
parateixi/smatos—N. in his letter
had said that it was necessary to capture the e)gka/rsion
tei=xos pollh=| stratia=| e)pelqw/n. The first attaek was made on the
south side.
cuna/rxontas—Eurymedon, Menander,
Euthydemus.
w(s e)peno/ei, kai\—kai\ marks the carrying out of the plan that had been formed.
In this idiom the rel. sense of w(s,
as, is hardly distinguishable from the temporal.
th\n e)pixei/rhsin—
they were to strive to win their way on the north side by the path by which
he (Nicias) had first made a lodgment for the invaders on the hill of Syraeuse.
Freeman
.
a)du/nata—the plur. marks the
details of a complex aetion.
h(merw=n—gen. of measure, as
constantly in expressions of magnitude.
toceuma/twn—we expect rather a
mention of some engine used in the destruction of walls, and it is just possible that
to/ceuma here denotes a machine of some kind. The
proposals are moxleuma/twn Madvig, laceuma/twn Meineke, teixoma/xwn Widmann. 15
h)\n kratw=si—the pres. is used
because kratei=n = to be master, like
nikw=. Otherwise the aor. would be necessary.
a)po\ prw/tou u(/pnou—concubia nocte; cf. peri\ prw=ton u(/pnon
II. 2.1; a)po\ tri/ths
w(ras Aets XXIII. 23. When the art, is omitted
with expressions of time, a preposition is usually present, except with nukto/s, h(me/ras.
th\n pezh\n—i.e. the foot at large
who were able to take part. Some were left to guard the works. (The true reading
pezh\n eomes from Plut. Nic.
21.)
e)n toi=s tei/xesin—it has been
generally assumed that, since the completion of the Syr. eross - wall, the A. had
abandoned the ku/klos altogether, and held only the
low ground at the south; but there is no evidence for this, and probably
Freeman is right in assuming that N. still guarded the Fort.
u(pelei/peto—Classen well says
that the imperf. refers to his task of guarding the lines.
h|per kai\ h( prote/ra—referring
to the ascent of the A. in the spring of 414.
to\ tei/xisma—i.e. a fort on
Euryelus, built by Gylippus and forming the western extremity of his cross-wall.
proteixi/smasin—defensive
‘outworks’ on the north side of the cross-wall.
toi=s e(cakosi/ois—a chosen band
of hoplites now under the command of Hermociates. They had been appointed to keep a
look-out on Epipolae in 414.
a)munome/nous—accus. because it is
object of e)/treyan only. Contrast c. 53.2
prospeso/ntes toi=s prw/tois tre/pousi.
tou= perai/nesqai—that by
means of the present impulse they might not be slow in the execution of the purpose
for which they had come. The infin. is passive and depends on bradei=s ge/nwntai=u(sterh/swsi.
a)/lloi de\—i.e. others than
Demosth. and his division.
a)po\ th=s prw/ths—temporal,
‘in the first instance.’ If to\ a)po\ th=s
p. paratei/xisma be retained with the MSS., the meaning is ‘the
original cross-wall’; but there seems to be no reason why the cross-wall
should be so qualified. There is no subsequently built wall with which it is
contrasted.
oi( de\ *surako/sioi—
while the invaders were still engaged on their attempt on the wall (h(/?roun . . . kai\ . . . a)pe/suron), the garrisons of
the other forts came forth to attack them.
Freeman
.
dia\ panto\s tou= mh/pw
memaxhme/nou—those parts of the army which had not yet come
into action; neut. collective, as often.
dielqei=n—force their way
through. ‘They feared,’ says Freeman, ‘lest,
if they relaxed for a moment, the whole force of the defenders should turn and come
together against them.’
oi( *boiwtoi\—i.e. the Thespians
who in a single ship had met the Syracusan fleet at Locri (c. 25.3). The majority of the three hundred Bocotians referred to in c. 19.3 had not yet reached Syr. See c. 50.1.
h(\n—with reference to
which,
accus. de quo.
puqe/sqai—referring to his own
investigations in Sicily.
ou)d' a)f' e(te/rwn—cf. c. 42.6.
e(/kasta—the details.
e(/kastos is as usual in the subordinate clause, and
so is nom., though it is in apposition to h(/n.
cunhne/xqh=cune/bh. The word is lonic in this meaning. Cf. cumfora/. The use is found in Herod., Thuc., and late authors like
Lucian, Appian.
safe/stera me/n—sc. e)sti\n e(/kasta.
oi)=den—sense requires the sing.
here, because oi) parageno/menoi are considered
separately; but when the individuals all act alike, the verb with e(/kastos is in plur.
e)/n ge tw=|de tw=| pole/mw|—i.e.
as contrasted with other wars; whereas o( po/lemos
o(/de implies no antithesis.
pw=s a)/n tis—another question
comes in 67, 2. The question is one of the sxh/mata
dianoi/as—figures of thought—like irony, oxymoron. They
are not common in early prose; far less so than the sxh/mata
le/cews—figures of speech—like antithesis,
paronomasia—which themselves become commoner later.
e(w/rwn . . . ou(/tws . . . w(s . . ei)ko\s th\n
me\n o)/yin . . . proora=n, th\n de\ gnw=sin . . .
a)pistei=sqai—though we have no such idiom, yet in Greek there is
certainly not an ellipse of o\ra=n after ei)ko/s, as the edd. say. In the case of correlatives, the
explanation which we put in earlier is often deferred to the relative clause. So here
the contrast between o)/yin and gnw=sin is deferred to the w(s clause.
Traus. ‘as was natural for them to see in the moonlight, they saw the
outline of a figure in front without being able to distinguish whether it was that of
a friend.’ This idiom is very common with tosou=ton .
. . o(/son, and is often misunderstood. (Cf. v. 95
ou) tosou=ton h(ma=s bla/ptei h( e)/xqra u(mw=n o(/son h( fili/a
me\n a)sqenei/as, to\ de\ mi=sos duna/mews para/deigma toi=s a)rxome/nois
dhlou/menon, where a reference to h(
fili/a is at first sight expected in the tosou=ton clause. The idiom with ou)x
w(/sper is similar, as Aristoph. Eq. 784
ou)x w(/sper e)gw\ r(aya/meno/s soi touti\
fe/rw=‘he does bring you this as I do.’)
o)/yin—outline. Cf.
Plat. Rep. 376B
o)/yin fi/lhn kai\ e)xqra\n diakri/nei. 12-3.
th\n de\ gnw=sin tou= oi)kei/ou
a)pistei=sqai—lit. that their recognition of friends should
be distrusted
tou= oi)kei/ou is neut. collective, as in c. 43.7. Classen takes it to mean what was
peculiar in contrast to tou= sw/matos.
th=| prw/th| e)fo/dw|—with
their first impulse.
pro\s o(/ ti xrh\
xwrh=sai—which division they should join
xrh\ after rel. words is very common; e.g. II. 4
h(=| xrh\ swqh=nai.
ta\ pro/sqen—those in front
had become completely disorganised and were difficult to distinguish. Cf. c.
14.2
xalepai\ a)/rcai.
kraugh=| . . . xrw/menoi—so c.
71.5 and II. 4.2. There
are kekragmo/s, ke/kragma and kraugh/ in Attic.
oi(/ te *)aqhnai=oi—answers
oi(/ te ga\r *s. above.
pa=n to\ e)c e)nanti/as—all
who came towards them. For the neut. collective with adverb cf II. 45.1
to\ mh\ e)kpodw\n . . . teti/mhtai.
tw=n h)/dh pa/lin
feugo/ntwn—belonging to those who were already in
flight.
au)to\=to\
cu/nqhma.
e)kei/nwn—applying to the enemy,
as often. Both e)kei=nos and au)to\s here and again in l. 38 are used of the same people. This is very
common.
e)ntu/xoien—sc. oi( *)aqhnai=oi;
die/feugon—sc. oi/ pole/mioi.
u(pokri/nointo—answer; only here in Thuc. It is
Ionic; common in Herod.: Aristoph. Acharn. 401,
and late authors.
fo/bon parei=xe—sc au)to\, i.e. to\ paiani/zein.
oi(/ te pole/mioi—what is to be
supplied?
fi/loi te fi/lois—polyptoton.
kata\ . . . krhmnw=n—r(i/ptein a)po\ is found only in late Greek 52
pa/lin kataba/sews—cf. c. 62
th\n pa/lin a)na/krousin.
to\ o(malo\n—
the flat ground between the hill and the bay of Trôgilos. The men
of the first armament, who had learned the he of the land on both sides of the
hill, knew the roads, and contrived to make their way round to the A. quarters.
Freeman
. They had ascended Epipolae in 414.
diefu/gganon—The form fugga/nw is occasionally found even in the Orators.
pro/s te—
with reference to.
Freeman
well says that we must remember the old eu)tuxi/a of Nicias. This remembrance it was which increased the vexation
of the troops.
a)rrwsti/an—medical term. Here in
moral sense, as in III. 15.2.
a)xqome/nous—two reasons are
given: (1) no/sw| e)pie/zonto, (2) ta\ a)/lla a)ne/lpista . . . e)fai/neto.
no/sw|—esp. those encamped between
the double walls below the cliff.
kat' a)mfo/tera—for two
reasons, which are then given, viz. (1) the season, (2) the place.
ou)/shs . . . xalepo\n h)=n—see on
c. 13.2. 10
xalepo\n—unhealthy,
like barus, gravis. The
unhealthiness of the marshy ground made it difficult to lay siege to Syracuse by land.
The Romans found this out in 212, Livy 24.26
tempore autumni et locis natura gravibus, multo tamen magis extra
urbem quam in urbe, intoleranda vis aestus omnium ferme corpora movit.
a)ne/lpista—the pessimism that
usually accompanies bad health.
e)s ta\s *)e. diekindu/neusen—the
edd. compare III. 36.2
e)s *)iwni/an parakinduneu=sai.
tou=
strateu/matos—partitive after nausi/: ‘so long as it was possible to prevail at least with
that part of the fleet that had come to reinforce them.’
l. 20
e)n th=| xw/ra|—at Decelea.
h)\ *surakosi/ous—the preposition
omitted in the second clause after a comparative. Cf. V. 111
ai)sxu/nhn ai)sxi/w met' a)noi/as h)\ tu/xhs
proslabei=n.
ou(\s . . . r(a/dion ei)=nai—cf.
I. 91.5
o(/sa met' e)kei/nwn bouleu/esqai; II. 13.5
oi(=s xrh/sesqai, and 102 le/getai . . . o)/te dh\ a)la=sqai. This attraction of short rel. clauses
in Oratio Obliqua into infin. is less rare in Greek than in
Lat. (qui=et is is different). Thuc. has nine instances. Cf.
Roby, II. § 1677.
ei)ko\s ei)=nai—decere.
e)no/mize me\n—Freeman says
rightly, ‘They were, he allowed, in evil case; but it would not do openly to
proclaim the fact.’ In his speech in the council N did not disguise his
opinion. Hence in e)no/mize me\n . . . tw=| de\ lo/gw|
the antithesis is not so much between what he thought and what he said, as between
what he both thought and admitted in the council and the impression which he wished
his words to produce outside the council. His admission was to be kept secret.
po/nhra—here bears the
sense calamitous, dangerous, like our word evil, as in the phrase in evil case.
Bloomfield. See not. crit., for the accent.
tw=| de\ lo/gw|—by his
speech, with a)podeiknu/nai. It was not to
be publicly known that he felt they were in evil case; nor was a report to reach the
enemy that they were openly voting for a retreat.
e)mfanw=s—with yhfizome/nous. This seems to be merely a plea for secrecy by
Nieias. He urged that if they voted for retreat, every one would know of
it and so the enemy would hear about it.
meta\ pollw=n—has been thought to
refer to a subsequent and larger council to be held, at which the taxiarchs would
attend; but prob. N. only means that if they voted for retreat, their vote would
accord with the opinion of many in command, and that the enemy would hear that this
was so.
katagge/ltous gi/gnesqai—cf. III. 30.1
e)kpu/stous gene/sqai, gi/gnomai making a passive with
verbal adjs.
laqei=n—antithesis to e)mfanw=s and = mh\ faneroi\
gene/sqai.
tou=to poiou=ntes—the edd. all say
this means a/naxwrou=ntes. But it should be yhfizo/menoi th\n a/naxw/rhsin. N. urges that no formal vote
may be now taken, because every one must know of it. ‘Let us wait, and
decide the matter in secret and informally should retreat become necessary’
He is not at present dealing with the question of retreating immediately, but is
arguing on the assumption that an immediate retreat is impossible. Cf. c. 50, ll. 30, 31.
poiou=ntes—e)bou/leto is here lost sight of, and the Obliqua
is used. Nicias is part of the subject, and so the nom. is possible.
to\ de/ ti—Thuc. has told us why
N. objected to an open vote, and now proceeds to explain why N. thought an immediate
retreat unnecessary, and indeed impossible. This is shown below by h)\n karterw=si proskaqh/menoi as distinct from ou)d' e)mfanw=s sfa=s yhfizome/nous k.t.l. above.
a)f' w(=n—judging from
private (e)pi\ ple/on h)\ oi( a)/lloi) information
that he received of them.
a)f' w(=n . . . autw=n= a)p'
e)kei/nwn a(\ au)tw=n, and au)tw=n is
neut., referring to ta\ tw=n polemi/wn.
e)lpi/dos ti—cf. c. 69
lamp ro/thto/s ti.
xrhma/twn ga\r—they would
wear out the Syr. by want of supplies.
qalassokratou/ntwn—sc. sfw=n; the gen. abs. in spite of the subject being the same
as that of e)ktruxw/sein. This has the effect of
strongly emphasising the participial clause and of contrasting the position of the A.
with that of the Syr. (Hw. here reads qalassokratou=ntes; Stahl inserts sfw=n,
and it is not quite clear that any of the passages where this construction occurs are
parallel to this one.) The same phenomenon appears in Latin; e.g. Livy 23.24.10
pontem fluminis petentes, obsesso ante ab hostibus ponte.
h)=n ga/r ti—cf. c. 4.2.
ta\ pra/gmata
e)ndou=nai—place the government in their hands.
e)pekhrukeu/eto—the subject must
be taken from the paren thesis, just as the ohject is in III. 70.3
kai/ (h)=n ga\r
*peiqi/as . . .) u(pa/gousin au)to/n.
ou)k ei)/a—urged him
not.
a(\ e)pista/menos—sums up the
motives that prompted Nicias. Cf. I. 42
w(=n e)nqumhqe/ntes; VI. 60
w(=n e)nqumou/menoi.
tw=| me\n e)/rgw| . . . tw=| d' e). . . .
lo/gw|—the antithesis occurs about fifty times in Thuc.
‘In reality he held back, inclining both ways and considering, but in his
public speech at the time.’
e)p' a)mfo/tera e)/xwn—on the
analogy of e)/xein with adverbs.
tw=| d' e)mfanei=—then follows the
summary of his official speech. As Thuc has such a clear knowledge of the motives
given above, we may assume that Nicias began by making admissions which he did not
wish to be taken as part of his e)mfanh\s lo/gos. (We
could scarcely suppose that Thuc., sympathising with N., merely inferred his motives)
sfw=n—in them; for
the constrn. Fr. Muller compares qauma/zein ti/ tinos.
w(/ste—introduces the epexegesis
of tau=ta; cf. II. 40.3
diafero/ntws ga\r kai\ to/de e)/xomen w(/ste tolma=n,
namely that they should depart without an order from them.
kai\ ga\r ou) tou\s
au)tou\s—we shall not, he said, ‘then
have the same body of persons both voting about ourselves and making up their minds
from seeing the facts with their own eyes as we do instead of merely hearing them from
the faultfinding of others.’ For tw=n
au/tw=n cf. I. 22.3
ou) tau)ta\ peri\ tw=n au/tw=n e)/legon, a)ll' w(s e(kate/rwn
tis eu)noi/as h)\ mnh/mhs e)/xoi; III. 56.7.
w(/sper kai\ au)toi\—sc. o(rw=sin. But the accus. might be used with w(/sper, corresponding with o(rw=ntas.
e)c w(=n a)/n tis—they will
let themselves be persuaded by the calumnies of a clever speaker. With
eu)= le/gwn diaba/llein cf. kalw=s e)pitima=n
III. 38.4; eu)= diabalw\n
III. 42.2.
kai\—immo.
u(po\ xrhma/twn—been bribed
to turn traitors and depart.
e)pista/menos—the timidity of
Nicias in this matter is in marked contrast with the outspoken boldness of Pericles.
Thirlwall doubted whether N. really feared the A. so much as he professed to do.
e)p' ai)sxra=| te ai)ti/a|—viz. on
a grafh\ prodosi/as, which might be brought by any
citizen even against a general by means of an impeachment (ei)saggeli/a) in the Ecclesia. The penalties were very severe, involving
death, confiscation, and burial outside the state, a)timi/a for the convict's descendants, and the entry of the man's name on
a black list. The case would be tried before the Thesmothetae, who also superintended
the eu/qunai—accounts—of retiring
strathgoi/, and a Court of heliasts.
ma=llon h)\ k.t.l.—he would
sooner run the risk, and die on his own account at the hands of the enemy, if die he
must.
i)di/a|—there is no need to
suspect this word with Kr. and Hw.; to die at the hands of the public
executioner is dhmosi/a| a)poqanei=n; N.
desires to die otherwise. There is also abundant evidence that difficulties arising at
Athens out of the strathgi/a were regarded as
especially dhmo/sia.
e)/fh—when long passages of Oratio Obliqua are attempted in Greek, the verb of
‘saying’ is frequently repeatcd. The structure of this c. is
similar to II. 13.
cenotrofou=ntas—these mercenaries
were partly Sicel, partly Arcadian. Mercenary service was traditional among the
Arcadians. It only became general in Greece after the Pel. war. The Pel. employed
many—probably 3000—in 426 against Demosthenes in Aetolia, and
Brasidas had 1000 in Thrace. Cf. c. 19.4.
e)n peripoli/ois—forts for the
protection of the open country, with home-garrisons, as distinct from strateiai/. Cf. VI. 45 of the
Syr., e)s ta\ peripo/lia ta\ e)n th=| xw/ra| froura\s
e)seko/mizon.
e)/ti—besides.
bo/skontas—when used of men,
bo/skein implies contempt or trouble. Cf. Herod. VI. 39
bo/skwn e)pikou/rous. The participles belong to
a)porei=n and a)mhxanh/sein alike.
ta\ me\n a)porei=n
k.t.l.—were in difficulties, and would hereafter be at a
loss.
a)porei=n refers to want of money, a)mhxanh/sein to the diminution of their paraskeuh\ which would result from this a)pori/a.
e)/ti—with the future is used thus
in threats and prophecies.
h)/n te . . . e)kli/pwsi—contrast
c. 13.1
ei) a)fairh/some/n ti kai\ braxu\ th=s thrh/sews, and
see on c. 8.1 for the difference in the protasis.
th=s nu=n paraskeuh=s—their
present forces, depending on o)tiou=n. Of
course the forces would fall off if the pay were not forthcoming.
e)pikourika\—mercenaries would
serve for anyone that hired them. But the Athenians served di'
a)na/gkhs, as men compellcd by law and duty.
tri/bein—remain;
cf. c. 49.2.
kai\ mh\ xrh/masin, w(=n
k.t.l.—and not to leave defeated by the money of an enemy
than whom they were far better off.
xrh/masin, w(=n = xrh/masin
e)kei/nwn w(=n. Nicias has alluded in xrh/mata only to the financial straits of the enemy, and adroitly says
‘are wc to let ourselves be beaten by an enemy who, even if he is for the
moment stronger, is yet so much poorer that he must lose if we
remain?’ (Other edd. take xrh/masin
differently. Most reject w(=n of B and either render
w(s
since, or alter it. Thuc does not use w(s
since with indic. elsewhere.)
w(=n—antecedent omitted. This
cannot be connected with nikhqe/ntas, as nika=n with gen. is exclusively poetical.
polu\ krei/ssous—Herbst says that
pollw=| krei/ssous is always used by Thuc. for
to be much better off, and that polu\
krei/ssous=nika=n. But here nika=n is itself used in a metaphorical sense, of being
beaten by money. And Nicias chooses words which will bear both
senses, as they help to disgnise the weakness of the A.
i)sxuri/zeto—spoke
confidently. 2
ai)sqo/menos . . . o(/ti—a
substantive clause after ai)sqa/nomai is not very
common; cf. I. 50; II. 88.1;
the partic. is far commoner.
w(/ste—see on c. 48.3.
kai\ a(/ma—the construction is
again changed from partic. to finite verb. Cf. c. 47.2.
tai=s gou=n nausi\n—in the
fleet at least he retained his old confidence.
[krathqei/s]—it is not likely that
Thuc. said this of Nicias, who had taken no part in the night attack. Nowhere else
does he use kratei=n except of a general actually
leading his men. We should also require parallels to e)qa/rsei
krathqei/s for ‘he felt confident though
he had been defeated.’ As the passage is clearly corrupt, we may safely omit
the word. (Widmann reads (ma=llon) qarsh/sas h(\ pro/teron
krathqei/s, and Sitzler (ma=llon) qarsw=n, h)\
pro/teron e)qa/rshse krathqei/s.)
a)/neu *)a. yhfi/smatos—cf.
a)/neu *lakedaimoni/wn
I. 128; ou) meta\ tou= plh/qous
u(mw=n
III. 66.
tri/bein au)tou=—remain in
Sicily.
*qa/yon . . . h)\ . . . *kata/nhn—
there they would have the open sea and all the advantages which the open sea
gave to the A. tactics. There they would . . . maintain themselves by harrying the
territory of the enemy.
Freeman
.
ou)k . . . a)ll'—cf. Eur. Ion 131
ou) qnatoi=s a)ll' a)qana/tois.
ta\ th=s e)mpeiri/as x—the
advantages of skill will be theirs.
a)naxwrh/seis k t.l.—chiasmus,
a)naxwrh/seis corresponding to katai/rontes, e)pi/plous to o(rmw/menoi.
katai/rontes—sc. e)s braxu\ kai\ perigrapto/n.
me/llein—cf. Eur. Heraclid. 132
so\n dh\ to\ fra/zein e)sti\ mh\ me/llein t'.
me/llhsis—cf Aristoph. Av. 639
ou)xi\ nusta/zein e)/ti | w(/ra stin hmi=n ou)de\ mellonikia=n.
e)nege/neto—cf. VIII. 9
diatribh=s e)ggignome/nhs.
u(po/noia mh/—as though u(po/noia were fo/bos. Cf.
III. 53
u(popteu/omen mh\ ou) koinoi\ a)pobh=te.
kata\ xw/ran e)/menon—a common
phrase. (Stein on Herod. III. 135, Kock on Aristoph. Eq. 1354.)
*gu/lippos—see c. 46.
h( toi=s *s. sta/sis fili/a—for
the order cf. on c. 23.3. ‘The party
favourable to the S. had been expelled.’ Cf. Aesch.
PB 127
fili/a ga\r a(/de ta/cis; Choeph. 458 sta/sis de\ pa/gkoinos a(/d'
e)pirroqei=.
tou\s e)k th=s *p—see c. 19.3.
l 10.
a)penexqe/ntes—by had weather.
*eu)esperi/tais—afterwards one of
five towns called the Pentapolis of Cyrene. In 401 it was again attacked by Libyans,
and offered citizenship to any Greek who would come to its aid. Many of the
Messenians, expelled from Naupactus by the Spartans, went there. Paus. IV. 26; Diod. 14.34.
du/o h(—gen. of measure and
epexegetic of e)la/xiston.
e)pi\ to\ be/ltion
xwrou=nta—improving.
xalepw/teron i)/sxonta—a
substitute for xalepwte/rws e)/xonta.
o(moi/ws—as before.
a)ll' h)\—except.
mh\ fanerw=s . . . yhfi/zesqai—see
on c. 48.1. No formal vote was to be passed.
proei=pon w(s e)du/nanto
k.t.l.—they gave notice as secretly as possible to
all.
paraskeua/sasqai—to prepare
(to depart) when the sign was given. The sentence would be clearer if he had
said w(s e)du/nanto a)dhlo/tata paraskeua/sasqai e)/kploun
poihsome/nous o(/tan tis s.; but it is easy to supply e)kpleusome/nous from e)kplou=n after paraskeua/sasqai. (The preliminary arrangements are not denoted by paraskeua/sasqai but are implied clearly enough in proei=pon e)/kploun. So in VI. 65
proei=pon pandhmei\ pa=sin e)cie/nai *surakosi/ois. e)pei\ de\
e(toi=ma au)toi=s kai\ ta\ th=s paraskeuh=s h)=n k t.l.; there too
proei=pon e)cie/nai implies preparation for the
expedition. Here paraskeua/sasqai applies to such
final arrangements as can only be made when the final order is given. There is no need
to alter the aor. into the perf., as some of the edd. do.)
tis—added to shmh/nh| because the sign was to be given not by herald, but secretly
h( selh/nh e)klei/pei—eclipses of
sun or moon were deemed ominous. Plnt. Nic. 23 says that even
oi\ polloi\ knew in the time of Nicias that eclipses
of the sun were a natural phenomenon; but this is very doubtful. What was known about them was due to the teaching of Anaxagoras. Plut. Per. 35; de superstit. c. 7.
e)tu/gxane . . . ou)=sa—Thuc. uses
the imperf. of tugxa/nw with pres. or perf.; with aor.
only in VIII. 105. See on c. 4.3.
e)nqu/mion poiou/menoi—took
it to heart.
h)=n . . . proskei/menos—the tense
of ei)mi\ must precede the participle in this
periphrasis, as it is emphatic, representing a state of things existing at the time
referred to. Cf. II. 67
h)=n . . . poliorkou=n; 2.80
h)=san . . . cumproqumou/menoi.
ti kai\ a)/gan k t.l.—cf Intr. p.
XXXV. Plutarch says that Stilbides had lately died.
ou)d' a)\n
diabouleu/sasqai—he would not even enter into any further
discussion as to how he should move until . . .
pri\n . . . mei=nai—here prin has the infin., though a negative precedes. This happens
when something positive is insisted on; as here the fact that he would remain so long.
e)chgou=nto—technical word for
interpretation by priests. Cf. Andoc. I. 116
e)chgh=| *khru/kwn w)/n, ou)x o(/sion o)/n.
tri\s e)nne/a—Plutarch says that
the priests only required nine days, but Nicias insisted on staying for a whole
revolution of the moon.
mellh/sasi—refers to the delay
that had been rendered necessary by the eclipse, before they had decided how long to
remain. h\ monh\ on the contrary refers to the
definite stay of twenty-seven days. But they had only stayed a few days when they were
attacked. ‘And so the A., after delaying for this reason, had resolved to
remain.’
lampra=s — cf. II. 7.1
lelume/nwn lamprw=s tw=n
spondw=n.
kai\—the A. army having been
defeated already in the nightattack.
me\n—there is no de\ to answer this, but the antithesis is obvious.
e)n panti\ dh\ a)qumi/as—??f. on
c. 2.4 6
o( para/logos—see Iutr. p. xxxiii.
The A. were as much astonished at their own failure as the rest of Greece had been at
their undertaking the expedition. Cf. c. 28.3.
th=s stratei/as o(
m.—regret about the expedition.
o(moiotro/pois—a remarkable
tribute to the advanced state of institutions in the Greek cities of Sicily when we
remember Pericles' panegyric of Athenian tro/poi.
nau=s—this consideration had
rendered the acquisition of influence in Sicily very important at the beginning of the
Pel. war. Sparta made great efforts to obtain a large fleet there.
i(/ppous—the Sicilian horses were
of proverbial excellence.
mege/qh—the plur. is often found,
though not in Thuc. elsewhere; cf. Herod. II. 10; VII. 103.
e)k politei/as . . .
metabolh=s—but Alcibiades had urged before the expedition that the
cities of Sicily, being populated by motley crowds, r(a|di/as
e)/xousi tw=n politeiw=n ta\s metabola/s, VI.
17.2. It was the invasion that united the various classes sufficiently to
prevent revolutions.
ti—Classen makes this adverbial;
Stahl makes it object of e)penegkei=n. Then Classen
makes to\ dia/foron object of e)penegkei=n; whereas Stahl places comma after metabolh=s and makes to\ d. object of
prosh/gonto. Translate, with Classen's construction,
‘seeing that of the cities which they had attacked these were the only ones
then having institutions similar to their own, governed by democracy and possessing
fleets and horses and importance, and as they were unable either through
a change in their constitution in any respect, or by a greatly superior force to make
them feel the difference, by which they might have gained power over them, and as they
failed oftener than they succeeded, they had before this been in difficulties, and now
that they had been defeated by sea as well—which would never have occurred
to them—they were in much greater despair.’
to\ dia/foron — variously
explained as ‘internal discord’ (Heilmann), ‘change of
attitude’ (Classen), ‘the opposite party’ (Stahl). But
the context is decidedly in favour of ‘the difference between the two
sides,’ which in this case the A. had no means of bringing home to the
enemy, either by causing a revolution in favour of demoeracy or by coercing them with
superior force. For the sense cf. c. 75.7. (If to\ dia/foron is separated from e)penegkei=n with Stahl, e)penegkei=n ti
becomes decidedly obscure, nor is its bearing on h)po/roun clear. One of the reasons of the a)pori/a was that the A found they could not make the cities see a
difference — or balance — in favour of Athens.)
au)toi=s—after e)penegkei=n, though po/lesi
precedes, the inhabitants being substituted for the cities. Stahl takes it with
to\ dia/foron.
w(=| prosh/gonto a)/n—sc. ta\s po/leis. Cf the advice of Nicias at the beginning of the
expedition tw=n a)/llwn tina po/lewn prosagage/sqai,
VI. 47. (Freeman says ‘the reference must be
mainly or wholly to Syracuse.’ There is no ground for this assumption)
e)k paraskeuh=s pollw=| k—just as
e)k politei/as metabolh=s refers to something which
the A. had not been able to do, so e)k p.
pollw=| k. refers to something which they had not
possessed for, besides being under democracies, the cities had ‘fleets and
horses and greatness’ Hence dhmokratoume/nais corresponds with e)k politei/as
metabolh=s, and kai\ nau=s etc. with
e)k p pollw=| krei/ssonos. Thuc. is referring to the
whole course of the expedition from the start For the facts
alluded to, compare (a) what Hermocrates is made to say before
the A. landed—ou) plei/ous tw=n e)noikou/ntwn kai\
a)stugeito/nwn e)/rxontai, pa/nta ga\r u(po\ de/ous cuni/statai, VI 33,
(b) what Athenagoras is made to say—h(gou=mai . . . th\n h)mete/ran po/lin au)thn th=s nu=n stratia=s . .
kai\ ei) di\s tosau/th e)/lqoi, polu\ krei/ssw ei)=nai, VI. 37, (c) what Thuc. says above in c.
28 of the relative size of Syracuse and Athens.
sfallo/menoi de\ ta\ plei/w—cf.
II. 65.12
sfale/ntes e)n *sikeli/a| a)/llh| paraskeuh=|. He is
thinking of the turn which the siege had taken. Cf. I.
69.5.
ta/ te pro\ au)tw=n—i.e. before
the sea-fight,—the sense of
au)ta\ being as often supplied from the context. (The
brevity of this passage renders it very obscure. The sense of krei/ssonos and plei/w is, I believe,
uncertain. krei/ssonos
might mean larger than that brought by Demosthenes and
Eurymedon; plei/w
might imply ‘since the arrival of Demosth. and
Eur.’ The above explanation is only offered as an approximation to the
probable meaning.)
ma=llon—sc. h)po/roun.
a)dew=s—even past the A. station.
3
dienoou=nto klh/|sein—were
resolved that they would close.
peri\ tou= . . . swqh=nai . . . th\n
e)pime/leian—like a)gw/n, ki/ndunos
peri\ with noun.
e)kei/nous—again notice this use
of e)kei=nos. 9
a)po/ te tw=n paro/ntwn—in
consequence of the present circumstances.
kalo\n sfi/sin k.t.l.—the
success would appear to the Greeks glorious to them. There is a metaphor
here from the Olympic games. e)s tou\s *(/ellhnas is
used with fanei=sqai just as it is with le/gein when large bodies are addressed. The Greeks are here
spectators of the contest.
e)leuqerou=sqai—the pres. is here
used in a vivid sense for the future.
ou) ga\r e)/ti—this did not prove
to be the case at once. Cf. II. 65.12
o(/mws de/ka e)/th a)ntei=xon.
kai\ au)toi\—co-ordinate with
tou/s te ga\r
au)tw=n—neut., used as in c. 55.2
kai\ h)=n de\—cf. II. 36
kai\ pre/pon de\ a(/ma In this idiom de\ is the connecting particle, while kai\ emphasises the statement. This is a remark added by Thuc. on his own
account.
ou)xi\ *)aqhnai/wn—it was
not the A. only that they were going to conquer, but many of their allies as well,
and not by themselves either, but in company with those who had come to their
aid—having taken the lead with . . . and having put forward their city in
the struggle to take the post of danger and having made a great advance with the
fleet. 23
periegi/gnonto—the imperf. of
gi/gnomai and its compounds is frequently thus used
when something about to happen is anticipated. So with di/dwmi and compounds. Cf. Andoc. I. foneu\s
e)gigno/mhn tou= patro/s=‘I was near becoming my father's
murderer.’
tw=n a)/llwn pollw=n
cumma/xwn—they would be defeating as well their own enemies in
Sicily.
ou)d' au)toi\ au)= mo/noi—Kruger
objects that it would detract from the glory of Syr. to say that they won with the
help of others; but Thuc. here states with exactness the nature of the
success, and is not concerned either to enhance or to detract from it. Their
distinction was (a) to have fought side by side with Corinth
and Sparta, (b) that Syr. had borne the brunt of the struggle,
(c) that thus it had been the chief instrument in destroying
the A. empire.
It was Syracuse, that day the equal yoke-fellow of Cor. and of Sparta, going
forth at the head of a crowd of allies, but with Syr. herself the centre and
object of the strife, that was called on to strike the blow.
Freeman
.
e)mparasxo/ntes—i.e. parasxo/ntes e)n tw=| a)gw=ni. e)n in compounds has often an
adverbial force; as in II. 44.1
e)neudaimonh=sai=eu)daimonh=sai
e)n tw=| bi/w|.
prokinduneu=sai/ te—the te, as Herbst rightly says, joins proko/yantes with e)mparasxo/ntes, and
prokinduneu=sai is in this order because it is an
integral part of the phrase.
tou= nautikou= . . . proko/yantes
— having opened the way for the navy, by shewing that the A were not
invincible by sea Cf. Eur Hippol. 23, Xen Hipparch. 6, 5.
e)pi\—to, whether
as friends or as enemies.
<polemou=ntos>—without some such word we should have to
supply cunelqo/ntos, but the ellipse is very awkward,
and, as Stahl says, the sense ad urbem convenire is absurd.
e)pi\ *s. kai\ peri\ *s.—belongs
to e)pole/mhsan, which is ingressive, =‘went
to war.’
e)pi\ *surakou/sais—Holden retains
the MSS. e)pi\ *surakou/sas, and takes it with
e)lqo/ntes; but (1) the order is against this; (2)
e)pi\ *surakou/sas then impedes the progress of the
sentence, since e)pi\ *sikeli/an te kai\ peri\ *s. is
supplied with e)lqo/ntes (Herbst agrees with Holden;
and he thinks that the form of the sentence is improved).
ou) kata\ di/khn k.t
l.—joining one another not so much from a sense of right .
. ., but rather as circumstances united the several states either through interest
or on compulsion.
ti ma=llon—often used together, or
in the form ma=llo/n ti. It is stronger than ma=llon. ma=llon . . . a)lla\ for ma=llon . . h)\, only found after a neg., gives
greater emphasis to the second elause. 6
kata\ cugge/neian—it will be seen
in § 2 fol. that very few of the allies of either side took their side in the
war from this motive.
met' a)llh/lwn sta/ntes—the usual
construction, but i(/stasqai pro/s tina is also fonnd.
w(s e(/kastoi . . . e)/sxon—cf c.
2.1
w(s ei)=xon ta/xous.
th=s cuntuxi/as —
‘circumstances’ which result in decisive action. Here these
circumstances are themselves the result of interest or necessity Hence
the ‘circumstances’ are feelings that prompt the different states
to unite. Cf. I. 33.3. (No doubt this is what Classen
meant by rendering w(s th=s c. e)/sxon
as they came mto a closer relationship.)
*)aqhnai=oi me\n k.t l.—chiasmus
again.
au)toi=s—after th=| au)th=|.
e)/ti—with nomi/mois.
*lh/mnioi—the allies of Athens are
enumerated thus: (1) Colonists § 2; (2) Euboea § 4; (3) Cylades
§ 4; (4) Asia Minor §§ 4-6; (5) the islands off north-west
coast of Greece § 7; (6) Peloponnesians and misqofo/roi §§ 8-10; (7) allies in Italy and Sicily
§ 11. Lemnos and Imbros were secured for Athenian cleruchs by Miltiades, and
these two with Scyros were regarded as very peculiarly the possessions of the A. in
the north.
oi(\ to/te *ai)/ginan ei)=xon—i.e.
the A. cleruchs placed there in 431 B.C., when the Aeginetans were expelled by A., and
settled by Sparta in Thyrea, the border-land between Argolis and Laconia.
*(estiaih=s—taken by A. for
cleruchs after the reduction of Euboea by Pericles in 445.
a)/poikoi—i.e. the klhrou=xoi had by now quite supplanted the older population
and taken its name, and were regarded as owners, like the possessores.
cunestra/teusan—ingressive,
‘took the field with them.’
oi( me\n u(ph/kooi—Stahl notes
that there are two classes of these perpetual and subject allies, viz. (1) u(ph/kooi kai\ fo/rou u(potelei=s, (2) u(ph(kooi oi( nautiko\n parexo/menoi or au)to/nomoi, enjoying their own constitution; viz. Methymna, Chios. These
are both distinct from oi( apo\ cummaxi/as
au)to/nomoi, like Corcyra, Zacynthus, Cephallenia.
u(phko/wn kai\ fo/rou
u(.—subdivided into those from (1) Euboea, (2) nh=soi = the Cyclades, (3) Ionia. In the latter Chios is included, but
Thuc. adds an explanation that it was not u(potelh/s.
*)eretrih=s kai\ *xalkidh=s—the
two most important towns of Euboea; in early times they were rivals. Chalcis is still
the capital of the island, but Eretria is now quite insignificant.
nh/swn—often used in a restricted
sense for the Cyclades. Cf. I. 13.6; III. 104.2.
*kei=oi — cf. Herod. VIII. 46
*kh/ioi e)/qnos e)o\n *)iwniko\n a)po\ *)aqhne/wn.
tou/twn—asyndeton with demonstr.,
as Herod. 9.33 with to/te.
to\ plei=ston . . . pa/ntes —
‘all being Ionians in the main.’ There were some Dryopians among
the Styrians, and in the Cyclades there were Carians.
a)p' *)aqhnai/wn — there was an
unfounded tradition that Chalcis and Eretria were founded by Athens. As for Ionia and
the Cyclades, cf. I. 12
*)/iwnas me\n *)aqhnai=oi kai\ nhsiwtw=n tou\s tollou\s
w)/|kisan.
*karusti/wn — Herod. says that the
Dryopians had originally lived in Doris and had been driven out through the early
migrations.
o(/mws — with *)/iwne/s ge. Though they served under obligation, yet it was
natural for them to be on the side of A.
*mhqumnai=oi—the only Lesbians who
retained their autonomy after the revolt of 428. The Aeolians colonised six places in
Lesbos.
*ai)/nioi — at the mouth of the
Hebrus, colonised by Aeolians from Mytilene.
*boiwtoi=s — the Aeolian
colonisation proceeded from Thessaly and Boeotia.
kai\ a)/ntikrus—though
outright. The Plataeans meant are those who escaped at the time of the
siege. Athens had given Scione to them for a home.
*(ro/dioi — Rhodes was a tripolis,
and very early acquired great wealth by its trade, and remained rich until debased by
Rome.
*kuqh/rioi—seized by Nicias in
424. Athens had retained Cythera contrary to the terms of his peace.
tw=n peri\ *pelopo/nnhson—regular
expression for the N. W. islands. Cf. VI. 85
nhsiw/tas o)/ntas . . . e)n xwri/ois e)pikai/rois peri\ th\n
*p.; Isocr. 15. 108
ti/s ou)k oi)=de *ko/rkuran e)n e)pikairota/tw| kai\ ka/llista
keime/nhn tw=n peri\ *p.;
*kef. me\n . . . au)t. me/n, kata\ de\ . . . *ker.
de\ — the extremes and the means are contrasted, as usually with
this double use of me\n . . . de/. For the islands see
on c. 31.2
kata\ de\ to\ n.—as
islanders.
ma=llon—the edd. supply h)\ oi( h)peirw=tai, following Aemilius Poitus. It is not
easy to detect hereabouts any antithesis between the condition of the islanders and
mainlanders. Thuc. means ma=llon h)\ e(ko/ntes.
Freeman says ‘the practical effect of a formally equal alliance between a
stronger and a weaker power is well set forth.’ (My explanation of ma=llon is strongly supported by ou)x
h(=sson sc. h)\ a)na/gkh| below)
*kori/nqioi safw=s —
‘actually Corinthians.’ In 492 Corcyra had helped Syracuse against
Hippocrates of Gela, and once again helped her in the days of Timoleon.
cuggenei=s—Corinth being the
mother-city of both.
e)k tou= eu)prepouu_s—the
obligation under which Corcyra stood to Athens made a pro/fasis
eu)preph\s for sinking her obligation to respect her mother-city.
ei(/ponto—the simple verb
following the compound of l. 44 is idiomatic.
l. 49,
oi( *messh/nioi nu=n k.—i e. not the inhabitants of Messenia or of Messana in Sicily, but
oi( e)k *n. kai\ e)k *p., those whom we in
our day call Messenians. They were descended mostly from oi( palaioi\ *messh/nioi
I. 101 f. (Stahl says that Thuc. alludes to the fact that
some of them wcrc really helots; but it is more likely that he alludes to their change
of home at the end of the third Messenian war and in 425 B.C.)
nu=n—means the time at which he
writes. From to/te it looks as if Pylus was then no
longer in the hands of the A.: if so this sentence was written after A. lost Pylus in
409 B.C.
*megare/wn fuga/des—expclled in
the party struggle of 424 B.C., when Brasidas saved Megara from falling into the hands
of A.
*selinounti/ois—S. was a colony
from Hyblaean Megara.
cumfora\n—i.e. their exile. Cf.
calamitosus.
h)/dh—from this
point, as in II. 96.3.
*)argei=oi—the alliance with A.
had been renewed in June 417 B.C.
e)/xqras — Argos, long the rival
of Sparta, had been humbled by her in 495 B.C.
th=s parauti/ka e(/kastoi i)di/as
w).—generally understood to mean that they were mercenaries; but the
plur e(/kastoi is against this. Possibly Haacke
rightly refers to Spartan and anti-Spartan factions in Argos.
*)arka/dwn — already heard of as
mercenaries in the Persian wars. Herod. VIII. 26.
ai)ei\—at any time.
ou)de\n h(=sson—i.e. though they
belonged to the same race
*krhsi\ . . . cugkti/santas—the
same change as in c. 40.4
al
meta\ misqou= e)lqei=n—cf. Isoc. 17. 46
meta\ poi/as a)\n e)lpi/dos h)=lqon e)pi\ tou=ton;
*dhmosqe/nous—objective. They
remembered the victory which they had won in 426 under his lead. See on c. 16.1 l. 12.
eu)noi/a|—most of the Acarnamans
had been allies of A. since 430. See on c. 31.2
ko/lpw|—is sometimes omitted with
o( *)io/nios.
*qou/rioi kai\ *m.—see c. 33.5.
e)n toiau/tais k.t.l.—who,
when the Athenians came, had been reduced to such straits by a rcvolution.
With e)n a)na/gkais cf. a)na/gkais tai=sd' e)ne/zeugmai
Aesch. PB 109. toiau/tais means such as induced them to join the A.
to/te
refers to c. 33.5, where we found that
Thurii had to be persuaded, while Metapontum in addition had passed through a crisis
(kairoi/). Now we find that Thurii also had suffered
in the same way. (toiau/tais was first explained thus
by Bauer. It is obscure. Did Thuc. write tai=s
au)tai=s; or did he mean by toiau/tais that
the stasiwtikoi) kairoi\ of Thurii ‘were
such as I have described in the case of Metapontum’?)
kateilhmme/noi—depreliensi, sc. u(po\ tw=n *)aqhnai/wn.
*na/cioi kai\ *k.—c. 14.2.
*)egestai=oi—Segesta, as its coins
and the Romans call it, was chief city of the Elymians, who were thought to be
Trojans. It was perpetually at war with Selinus. Life was difficult in the W. corner
of Sicily owing to the constant rivalry of the Carthaginians and the Greeks there. In
409 Segesta joined Carthage in an attack on Selinus which destroyed for ever the
greatness of that city.
oi(/per e)phga/gonto—it is
indicative of the falling off of high sentiment at Athens that she had consented to
aid the barbarian against a Greek town.
*sikelw=n to\ ple/on—it is easy to
see why the majority of the Sicels joined A. They did so early in the campaign of 414,
about June, when the 2nd Syracusan counter-wall had failed to check the A.
circumvallation and the besieging fleet had command of the Great Harbour, when Syr.
was in terror and peace was being discussed there. See also on c. 1.4. The Sicels hoped to use Athens as a means for
diminishing Greek influence in Sicily, and ever since A. had first interfered in
Sicily, they had shown a strong tendency to support her.
*turshnw=n—cf. c. 53.2.
tosa/de . . . e)/qnh—it must have
been very hard to get all these different elements to work with a common will.
*kamarinai=oi—see on c. 33.1, as also for *gelw=|oi.
*)akraganti/nwn—Girgenti, ‘the fairest of mortal cities’ (Pind. Pyth. XII. 1), remained neutral
throughout. Cf. on c. 32.1. The life of Empedocles of
Acragas, 484-424, about covers the greatest period in the history of Sicilian art.
e)n tw=| e)p' e)kei=na = met' au)tou\s above.
oi(/de me\n—here o(/de refers to what precedes. This is very rare in prose
except in Herod. and Thuc. Cf. c. 58.2. So with toso/sde in c. 57.11; 58.3; 59.1; 78.1.
*(imerai=oi—see on c. 1.1
mo/noi—i e.
they are the only Greeks there.
oi)kou=sin—used elsewhere in
proximity to ne/mesqai. These small things show how
ancient authors, like modern ones, unconsciously have their mannerisms.
e)/qnh — of small communities, but
referring to difference of origin.
*sikeloi\ mo/noi—no Elymians,
Sicans, or Phoenicians joined Syr.
neodamw/deis — see on c. 19.3. With the helots they numbered 600 hoplites; Eceritus,
a Spartan, had been sent in command of them, but he must have returned.
mo/noi—the C. alone sent both
ships and infantry. The Leucadians and Ambraciots sent ships only.
*leuka/dioi kai\ *)a.—were allies
of Sparta. Corinth was their mother-city.
a)nagkastoi\—see on c. 19.4 l. 33, and Index s.v.
pro\s—in comparison
with.
mega/las—not that they were
greater than Corinth and Sparta, but because their cities were large they needed less
support from outside.
a)/llos o(/milos—light-armed
troops o(/milos is confined to poetry, Herod., Thuc.,
and late authors. Thuc. uses it often.
th\n a)/llhn
dia/noian—their ulterior purpose.
bouleute/a—the plur. of the verbal
replacing the sing. is esp. common in Thuc.
taci/arxoi—not usually present at
the council. 6
e)kpleuso/menoi—i.e. before the
eclipse.
e)/mellon—here introduces Oratio Obliqua.
ta\ a)/nw—Epipolae was to be
abandoned There is nothing to show that they had quitted it before this, as Arnold
thought.
diateixi/smati—by fencing round a
space at the end of the double wall. 14
tou= a)/llou—those who were not
needed to guard the narrow space.
a)ntilh/yesqai—gain; the word implies secure
possession. So with a)nti/lhyis, seizure, grip,
objection.
w\s . . . kai\—see on c. 43.1.
kai\ o(pwsou=n—with e)pith/deios.
h(liki/as mete/xwn—i.e. not
altogether e)n tw=| a)xrei/w| th=s h(liki/as (II. 44.4), and so fit for military service. This must mean
that non-combatants were to be used, for none of the regular troops could have been
otherwise than h(. mete/xwn.
e)pith/deios—opposite of a)xrei=os or a)/xrhstos, in a
military sense.
kai\—and so.
e)c a)nagkai/ou—in
desperate straits; best taken alone as an adverbial phrase. (Some edd. make
a)n. fem. agreeing with dianoi/as, but toiauths is then very
awkward.) Adverbial phrases with e)k are very common.
toiau/ths—sc. e)k, from the nature of their plan, i.e.
considering the difficulties that it involved.
krathqh=nai—alluding to cc.
52-3.
a)/llwn—see c. 4.3.
o( me\n a)gw\n—in the
coming struggle every one of us will be fighting for country and for life just as
much as the enemy. If we win this battle at sea, every individual may see again his
own home, wherever it may be. There is a different nuance in patri/dos as applied to the A. and the Syr. For the use of
tw| cf. Eur. Heraclid.
826
kai\ th=| tekou/sh| nu=n tin' a)rke/sai xrew/n.
a)qumei=n de\ k.t.l.—but we
must not despair, nor must we allow ourselves to feel like raw recruits, for whom a
defeat in their first battle fills all the future with foreboding of similar
misfortunes.
th\n e)lpi/da is defined by tou=
fo/bou as ‘an expectation that falls in the sphere of
fear.’ Cf. Plat. Laws 644C
koino\n me\n o)/noma e)lpi/s, i)/dion de\ fo/bos me\n h( pro\
lu/phs e)lpi/s. qa/rros de\ h( pro\ tou= e)nanti/ou. tai=s cumforai=s
means the reverses they have met with.
a)ll' o(/soi te—no; all of
you who are A., with the experience of many wars, all of you who are allies, our
constant companions in arms, remember how calculation is baffied in war, and, in
hopes that fortune may yet be with us, and resolved, as you see your army before
you, to renew the struggle in a manner worthy of your numbers, prepare.
pa/reste—occasionally the 3rd
person is found in such rel. clauses; e.g. Andoc. 1, 46 o(po/soi
u(mw=n parh=san, a)namimnh/skesqe; Lys. 12.97.
So in Latin poets, as Ovid Trist. 3.4.75
et qua quisque potest aliqua mala nostra levate.
See also on
c. 64.2.
tw=n e)n toi=s pole/mois
paralo/gwn—Thuc. insists on the uncertainty, the
inconsequence, of war so often because he regards history, under normal conditions, as
effect following ascertainable causes. He introduced into history the notion of law.
to\ th=s tu/xhs — denoting a power
acting by some inscrutable method. Cf. Eur. Alc. 785
to\ th=s tu/xhs a)fane\s oi(= probh/setai, ta\ th=s
tu/xhs are the manifestations of this power.
ka)\n meq' h(mw=n . . .
sth=nai—cf. c. 77.3
i(kana\ ga\r toi=s polemi/ois hu)tu/xhtai. Other
statements by Nicias of a like nature, showing how firmly he believed in the
distribution during life of rewards and punishments, are found in v. 16.1; VI. 11.6; 23.3. It is the idea that meets us in Aeschylus and
Herodotus.
a)namaxou/menoi—generally with an
accus., as Plato Hip. Maj. 286D
i)e/nai pa/lin e)pi\ to\n e)rwth/santa, a)namaxou/menos to\n
lo/gon.
u(mw=n au)tw=n—attracted into the
rel. clause, like e(/kastos.
*(\a de\ a)rwga\ k.t.l.—we
on our side have dis cussed with the pilots and have provided all the means in our
power which we found would help us in the narrow space of the harbour against the
difficulties that gave us trouble before, namely the crowding of the vessels and the
enemy's men on deck.
e)pi\—describes the circumstances,
as in II. 17
proh/|dei mh\ e)p' a)gaqw=| pote au)to\
katoikisqhso/menon.
paraskeuh\n—force. For the fact
see c. 40.5.
oi(=s—neut., referring to o)/xlos and paraskeuh/.
e)k tw=n paro/ntwn—cf. c. 77.1.
kai\ ga\r toco/tai
k.t.l.—there will be many archers and javelin men on board
and very many whom in a battle out at sea we should not have thought of using, since
the overweighting of the ships would impede our skill; but here being forced to
fight a land battle aboard ship, we shall find the plan convenient.
dia\ to\ bla/ptein a)\n—frequent
use. of the infin. with art. is a mark of the speeches and the higher style.
pro/sfora—the rel. w)=| is lost sight of. Cf. Herod. 9.33
th=| te e)pimaxw/taton h)=n . . . kai\ pro/sodos ma/lista
tau/th| e)gi/neto. For the plur. cf. c. 43.2.
hu(/rhtai d' h(mi=n
k.t.l.—we have worked out all the plans needed on our side
in the construction of our vessels, and to meet the thick beams on the enemy's prows
which gave us most trouble, we have arranged iron grapnels, which when thrown at
them will prevent any ship that has struck us from backing, if the marines work well
afterwards.
hu(/rhtai h\mi=n, like h(toi/mastai above, is another example of the preference for the impers.
pass. in Gk.
paxu/thtas—the plur. of the
abstract used distributively, as also e)pibolai/.
w(=|per is like e)n w(=| referring to a
preceding clause.
th=s prospesou/shs—e(ka/sths p.; cf. c. 65.2
th=s new/s.
ta\ e)pi\ tou/tois—what
follows, i.e. boarding the ships. Cf. Aristoph. Eccles. 82
ta)pi\ tou/tois dra/somen.
e)s tou=to ga\r k t l.—in
fact we have, as I said, been forced into fighting. For e)s tou=to . . . w(/ste cf. c. 48.3.
o(/son a)\n . . . e)pe/xh| —
‘so much as our troops will occupy.’
w(=n xrh\ k.t.l.—Bear this
in mind, and fight to the end with all your strength; and do not be driven ashore.
but when two ships strike, do not let them drive you off until you have cleared the
heavy troops from the enemy's deck.
pro/teron . . . h)\ . . .
a)para/chte—pro/teron . . . h)\
occasionally stands for pro/teron . . . pri\n with
subj., indic. or infin. in Herod. and Thuc., but very rarely in other authors, as
Dem. 31.12 (early speech) pro/teron tou\s o(/rous e)/sthsen h)\ e)kei=non th\n di/khn o)flei=n. The
subj. without a)\n in temporal
sentences—after pri\n, pri\n h)\,
me/xri—is also a mark of early prose.
a)para/chte—cf. c. 6.3
kai\ tau=ta k t.l.—I am now
addressing not so much the sailors as the soldiers, as it is on the men on deck that
this duty mainly falls: and at present we have still the advantage of them in most
points with our infantry. The last clause betrays the speaker's want of
confidence.
toi=s de\ nau/tais—Sailors,
I urge, nay more, I entreat you, not to be in any way too overcome by your
misfortunes; you have now better arrangements above, and a greater number of ships.
Think, I beg you, how well worth preserving is the pleasant feeling that, being
thought Athenians so long even if you are not so, by your knowledge of our language
and your imitation of our institutions you were admired in Greece, and—as
far as advantages go—had as great a share as we in our empire, while, in
the matter of respect from onr subjects and immunity from wrong, you had much more
than we. This § appears to start with the 3rd pers., which is
changed for the 2nd in e)qauma/zesqe (l. 18); but the
Gk. orators habitually mingle statements about people with direct address to them in
this way.
tw=|de—i.e. e)n tw=| perainei=n.
th\n h(donh\n—the pleasure which
he describes in the rel. clause following.
oi(\—the antecedent, u(mi=n, is omitted. The sentence a)ci/a
e)sti\n h( h(donh\ diasw/sasqai oi(\ . . . e)qauma/zesqe is constructed
like to\ d' eu)tuxe/s, oi(\ a)\n . . . la/xwsin in
II. 44.1.
*)aqhnai=oi nomizo/menoi — he
means the ce/noi and me/toikoi serving as nau=tai; at the same
time he lays stress on the influence of the Athenian o)/xlos
nautiko/s. So in [Xen.] Ath. Pol. 2
oi( kubernh=tai kai\ oi( keleustai\ kai\ . . . oi( prw|ra=tai
kai\ oi( nauphgoi/, ou(=toi/ ei)sin oi( th\n du/namin peritiqe/ntes th=| po/lei
polu\ ma=llon h)\ oi( o(pli=tai kai\ oi( gennai=oi kai\ oi( xrhstoi/.
There was promotion from the lowest position as a rower to the highest as kubernh/ths. There would be few true-born Athenians amongst
the nau=tai now owing to the disasters in Sicily.
Prob. many qh=tes, who ordinarily served as sailois,
were employed as hoplites. 18,
th=| e)pisth/mh|—causal with
qauma/zw, as IV. 85.3,
with fobou=mai
II. 89.6.
tw=n tro/pwn—the private habits as
contrasted with the politei/a, the public
institutions, of Athens. The A. prided themselves both on their politei/a and on their tro/poi.
e)qauma/zesqe kata\ th\n
*(ella/da—Thuc., owing to his own exile and his travels, would have
good reason to know the fact and to appreciate the value of the h(donh/.
e)/s te to\ fobero\n toi_s
u(phko/ois—some of the metoikoi whom
N. is supposed to be addressing must have been by origin
uph/kooi, so that Thuc. prob. means that those of them
who had served in the A. fleet were regarded with awe in their own cities. fobero\n=‘causing fear’; cf. on c. 42.3.
polu\ plei=on—chiasmns with
ou)k e)/lasson. This passage, besides containing an
exaggeration (see crit. note), seems rather lacking both in taste and in tact, even
when we remember that most of the doubtful supporters of A. had deserted. But it must
be remembered that none of the speeches in Thuc., and least of all the military
harangues, could possibly have been delivered. Sce Appendix I.
w(/ste koinwnoi\
k.t.l.—with you alone we freely share our empire; it is but
just that you should not betray it now; rather, filled with scorn of the Corinthians
whom you have often defeated and of the Sicilian Greeks, not one of whom even dared
to face us so long as our fleet was at its best, repel them, and show that in spite
of sickness and disaster your science is superior to another's confidence while
succeeding.
e)leuqe/rws—always understood to
mean while retaining your freedom and compared with VI. 85.2
e)leuqe/rws cummaxou=ntes. It implies this too; but it
is meant as an allusion to the generous spirit in which A had treated them. Cf. II. 37.2
e)leuqe/rws ta\ pro\s to\ koino\n politeu/omen.
katafronh/santes—paronomasia with
preceding word. The aor. is ingressive.
h)/kmaze to\ nautiko\n—the decline
of the naval power of Athens meant the decline of her empire over the imagination of
Greece. 30
e(te/ras—for e(te/rwn, but preferred so as to correspond with u(mete/ra.
eu)tuxou/shs — contrasted with
kai\ met' a)sqenei/as kai\ c. Observe this very
common use of meta\ with abstract nouns.
tou/s te *)a. k.t.l.—Those
of you who are A. I once again remind that you have at home no ships in the docks
like these, no men fit for service, and that in the event of any other issue than
victory, your enemies here will immediately sail thither, and our friends who are
left there will not be strong enough to repel our enemies on the spot together with
the invaders. And so, while you will immediately be at the mercy of
Syr.—and you know yourselves the purpose you had in attacking
them—your countrymen will be at the mercy of Sparta.
ou)/te nau=s—at the beginning of
the Pel. war, the A. had 300 ships ready, and shortly afterwards a reserve fleet of
100 ships was created. The normal strength of the fleet during the war was over 300.
h(liki/an—conerete, like neo/ths, and juventus. The abstract
term represents the young men as a power in the state.
ti a)/llo h)\ to\
kratei=n—Euphemism in alluding to defeat is very common, and Gk.
authors habitually avoid close reference to the scene of a disaster.
e)p' e)kei=na—alluding, like
e)kei=, to Athens; both words were often so used by
persons abroad.
*(/wste k.t.l. —
‘Therefore, in this one struggle having to defend both yourselves and them,
stand firm now, if ever, and reflect each and all that you who are now to embark are
also to the Athenians infantry and ships and all that remains of the state, and the
great name of Athens. In defence of these, if any man excel in skill or courage, let
him show them now; he could not find a better chance to display them for his own
henefit and for the safety of all.’ In this epilogue the end proposed by the
speaker (to\ te/los Arist. Rhet. B. 19, 26; teliko\n kefa/laion Hermogenes
calls it) is to\ sumfe/ron, having before been
to\ kalo/n. These two topics (to/poi) are extremely common in military harangnes.
u(pe\r a)mfote/rwn—alluding to
oi( me\n in l. 9 and oi(
d' in
kaqestw=tes — with e)n as in Herod. VII. 139, but
far commoner with e)s. Cf. paresta/nai e)n th=| gnw/mh|
Andoc. II. 24.
kaq' e(ka/stous te kai\ c.—the
mass is to act as a whole, and yet each individual is to feel that the safety of the
mass rests with him. It is again brought out below in au)to/s te au(tw=| . . . kai\ toi=s cu/mpasi.
u(mw=n . . . ei)si\—with
‘partitive’ gen. 1st or 2nd person, the verb is generally in the
3rd pers.
kai\ nh=es—the statement oi( e)n tai=s nausi\ nh=es ei)si/ is not very sane.
Apparently Thuc. has in mind that the ships which are to take part and which cannot be
replaced will not manœuvre—h)n agka/smeqa
pezomaxei=n a)po\ tw=n new=n—so that the A. would be depending
much less than usual on their ships and much more on their men. A ship when manned was
to the Gks. a living thing. Here the ships will be manned, and yet will be inert.
Before condemning the words right out we must notice the train of thought that has led
Thuc. to write them. (The speech from c. 63.3 to the end
is not a good example of composition. Sce Appendix I.)
to\ me/ga o)/noma—Isocr. 6.110
mh\ kataisxunqh=nai to\ th=s *spa/rths o)/noma. 18
peri\ w=n—prob. neuter, applying
to pezoi\ kai\ nh=es, etc.
profe/rei = proe/xei, but used so only by Herod., Thuc., and poets.
*(/oti me\n kala\
k.t.l.—That our past exploits have been glorious, that it
is a glorious future for which we are about to fight, most of you, we think, know:
otherwise you would not have devoted yonrselves with such enthusiasm to your task.
But if any man has not so clear a perception of this as he should have, we will make
it plain.
au)tw=n = tw=n proeirgasme/nwn
kai\ tw=n mello/ntwn.
*)aqhnai/ous ga\r
k.t.l.—the A., who came to this country intending first to
enslave S. and then, if they succeeded, the Pel. as well and the rest of
Greece—the A. who possess an empire at present the largest of all that
belong or ever have belonged to Greeks, you, the first to withstand their navy that
gave them all their power, have already defeated in several battles by sea and are
probably going to defeat again now. Observe the construction of this
admirable sentence, and esp. the order.
e)/peit'—as kai\ follows, we should perhaps read e)/peita
de/ with B, since e)/peita de\ kai\ is the
regular formula.
tw=| nautikw=|—for the dat. after
u(fi/stasqai see L. and S. This is the only instance
in Thuc, since in II. 61.4, which edd. compare, cumfora\s ta\s megi/stas u(fi/stasqai is the true)
reading.
a)/ndres ga\r k.t.l.—for
when men are humbled in that wherein they claim to excel, what remains of their
selfrespect is more thoroughly weakened than if they had not thought to excel (sc.
prou/xein) from the first, and while receiving a
check from the unexpected outcome of their boast, they give way even more than their
real strength necessitates. This we may suppose to be the case with the A.
now
au)to\ e(autou=—a rhetorical
device for exhibiting the change in the condition of a thing, which none the less
retains its identity.
tw=| par' e)lpi/da tou=
au)xh/matos—if taken together, with Classen and Bolime, this
balances para\ i)sxu\n th=s duna/mews better than if
tou= au)xh/matos is put with sfallo/menoi, and tw=| par' e)lpi/da (=
unexpectedly) taken alone, with Bloomfield, Arnold, and Stahl. See Appendix II.
o(\ nu=n—the speaker shows
that while they themselves might well anticipate victory,
their enemies will look forward to nothing but defeat, and
consequently will fail to exert the power which they have. Bloomfield.
h(mw=n de\ k.t.l.—with us
the spirit which we had before, in which while still inexperienced we made a
desperate venture, is now snrer, and as we have added to it a conviction that we
must be the strongest if we have defeated the strongest, every man's hope is
doubled; and as a rule, in any enterprise, the greater a man's hope the greater is
his readiness.
h(mw=n to\ u(pa/rxon is our natural spirit, u(pa/rxw being habitually used
of a nation's qualities and mental characteristics. h(mw=n is emphatic.
dokh/sews—this word is found only
in Herod. and Thuc. among prose authors.
tou= krati/stous ei)=nai—here, as
in c. 36.5 and VIII 87, the MSS. give to/, but it is unlikely that Thuc. alone, and in these three
places only, should have put the accus. to explain a gen. or dat. See Appendix II.
krati/stous . . . krati/stous is traductio.
*ta/ te th=s k.t.l. —The
counterfeits of our method which they have devised are customary in our mode of
fighting, and we shall be prepared for every one of them. But they will have a
number of heavy infantry on deck contrary to custom, and a number of javelin men
from Acarnania and elsewhere, mere landsmen aboard ship for the most
part, who will not even find out how to discharge their javelins in a sitting
position. Must they not endanger the ships and be thrown into utter confusion when
they do not move in their usual manner?
to\ kaqesthko\s—the
‘established custom’ of all navies.
xersai=oi, w(s ei)pei=n—most
commentators since Bauer say that w(s ei)pei=n
so to speak is added because xersai=os
is used esp. of animals. This is very improbable: elsewhere in Thuc. w(s ei)pei=n qualifies an universal statement, as II. 51; III. 38, c. 39.82; VI. 30; VIII. 5, 96. There is no passage in
which it is certainly used in any other sense; nor is it clear that xersai=os necessarily suggests animals.
kaqezome/nous—prob. literal, and
not merely ‘cramped’ as Goller thought.
tara/contai—see on c. 36.6. So w)felh/somai is
often used in pass. sense.
e)pei\ kai\ k.t.l.—for the
number of their ships will be no advantage to them, in case any of you are alarmed
about your numerical inferiority in the coming battle. In a small space many will be
slower in accomplishing their object, and completely exposed to injury from our
devices.
plh/qei—often used of superior
numbers.
e)s to\ bla/ptesqai—the
construction, as Classen says, is influenced by e)s to\
dra=n. Elsewhere r(a/|dios takes plain
infin. Cf. II. 11.5
pro/s te to\ e)pie/nai eu)yuxo/tatoi, pro/s te to\
e)pixeirei=sqai a)sfale/statoi.
a)f' w(=n—for a)p' e)kei/nwn a(\—i.e. the nom. of the rel. is
attracted. This is very unusual, and this is the only instance in Thuc.
to\ d' a)lhqe/staton
k.t.l.—assure yourselves of a plain fact from information
which we think to be clear: it is because their distress is overpowering and because
they are forced by their present misery that they are reduced to the desperate
expedient of risking a battle as best they can, trusting more to fortune than to
orderly preparation. Their purpose is either to force their way out by sea or to
retreat by land after the battle; for they know that their plight could not possibly
be worse than it is.
biazo/menoi u(po\—see on c. 13
paraskeuh=s . . . tu/xhs—the same
antithcsis in IV. 55. So gnw/mh and tu/xh are very often contrasted.
Thuc. thinks of Nicias. But paraskeuh\ is not
‘actual force’ here, as Bloomfield and Arnold say, but it is
to\ pareskeua/sqai, the opposite of a)taci/a in c. 68.1.
*pro\s ou)=n a)taci/an
k.t.l.—Therefore against such disorderly and
such bitter enemies whose fortune has already submitted, let us advance with
eagerness, and let us think that men act lawfully towards an enemy, when purposing
to retaliate upon the aggressor they determine to satisfy their heart's animosity,
and also that we shall have the delight of repelling our foes, and that this is
proverbially most pleasant.
a)taci/an . . . kai\
tu/xhn—referring back to paraskeuh=s
and tu/xhs.
nomimw/taton ei)=nai . . . oi(\
a)\n—this kind of combination is idiomatic and oecurs throughout
Attic. Cf. on c. 63.3 From the analogy of other
constructions in Gk., and from a comparison of the instances, it is more likely that
the idiom is based on a brachylogy than on a combination of two constructions. Cf.
Xen. Hel. II. 3.51
nomi/zw prosta/tou e)/rgon ei)=nai oi(/ou dei=, o(\s a)\n . . .
mh\ e)pitre/ph?.
w(s e)pi\ timwri/a|—e)pi\ and a noun frequently take the place of a final clause.
dikaiw/swsin—an Ionic and old
Attic word.
a)poplh=sai—explere, as th\n filoniki/an e)kpimpla/nai
III. 82.8.
th=s gnw/mhs to\ qumou/menon—cf.
I. 90
to\ boulo/menon th=s gnw/mhs; 2.59
to\ o)rgizo/menon th=s g.; III.
10.1
to\ diala/sson th=s g.; V. 9
to\ a)neime/non th=s g. For to\
qumou/menon
wrath cf. Eur. Hec. 299.
e)kgenhso/menon—the partic.
depends on nomi/swmen, in spite of the infin. di/kaion ei)=nai (and h(/diston
ei)=nai). But then with the partic. nomi/swmen=ei)dw=men.
kai/ . . . h(/diston ei)=nai—sc.
to\ e)xqrou\s a)mu/nasqai. They are to think that
their conduct (1) nomimw/taton ei)=nai—is in
accordance with custom and right, (2) h(/diston
ei)=nai—is in accordance with the proverb that expresses that
custom. (I am unable to accept the interpretation hitherto given of this passage. See
crit. note.)
to\ lego/meno/n pou—this is in
accordance with the ancient love of revenge; but Thuc., like Euripides, had reason to
know that there was something better. Cf. Eur. Ba. 877
ti/ to\ ka/llion | para\ qew=n ge/ras e)n brotoi=s | h)\
xei=r' u(pe\r korufa=s | tw=n e)xqrw=n
kate/xein
; For the proverb cf. Juv. 13.180
at vindicta bonum vita jucundius ipsa, where Mayor refers to
Iliad 18.108.
w(s de\ e)xqroi\ k
t.l.—that they are our enemies, nay our bitterest enemies,
you all know: for they invaded our land to make us slaves; and had they succeeded in
that, they would have inflicted on our men the worst penalty (i
e. death), on onr wives and children the worst indignities (i.e. slavery), on
the whole city the most disgraceful reproach (i.e. dependence).
a)nq' w(=n mh\
k.t.l.—wherefore no man should feel for them. nor think it
gain that they should depart without danger to us. That is all they will do even if
they win the battle; but the prize—to punish them when we have gained our
desire, as we probably shall do, and to confirm for the whole of Sicily the liberty
which she already enjoyed—is a glorious one. How few ventures there are in
which the loss in case of failure is as small as the gain through success is
great.
tina—cf. c. 61.1.
a)kindu/nws—certainly not
‘without doing us further harm’ (Holden); which would involve a
paradox that would scarcely be convincing to men who had suffered so much; but
‘without our having to run (a further) risk,’ as is shown by
a)gw/n and, above all, by kindu/nwn below.
praca/ntwn—sc. h(mw=n. Beside eu)= (kakw=s, etc.) poiei=n,
pra/ttein, neut. plur. adj. are regularly used with poiei=n, pra/ttein.
a(\ boulo/meqa—sc. pra=cai, not, as Kruger, the fate which we wish for them, but for ourselves. Victory is meant.
kai\ th=| pa/sh|
*s.—Confirmed the charters that were yours
before:— | No parleying now! In Britain is one breath
Wordsworth, To the Men of Kent.
bebaiote/ran paradou=nai—the
language is taken from the tenure of property. karpou=sqai is in contrast with the bebaiote/ra
kth=sis which is to be bestowed (paradou=nai) on them. The subject changes at paradou=nai.
kalo\s o( a)gw/n—notice that
o( a)gw/n is in apposition with to\ . . . kolasqh=nai . . . kai\ paradou=nai, for this is the
right way of taking the words, instead of making to\ kolasqh=nai
kai( paradou=nai subject and o( a)gw/n
part of the pred., as the edd say.
kindu/nwn k.t.l.—the speech ends
with a gnw/mh, or general truth, a form of close of
which Thuc. is very fond. Cf. c. 77 end.
spaniw/tatoi—again we have the
accumulation of superlatives noticed at c. 42.3
sfalh=nai bla/ptontes—sfallw and bla/ptw are often
near neighbours.
kai\ oi( me\n—the description of
the last battle has been much admired both in ancient and in modern times. Dionysius
Hal. quotes much of it and praises it warmly; it is also commended by Lucian, and by
Gibbon, Gray, Macaulay.
h)|sqa/nonto—sc. plhrou=ntas ta\s nau=s.
o(/per pa/sxousin—sc. oi( a)/nqrwpoi, which is very often omitted thus; e.g. Plat. Crat. 387C
o)noma/zontes ga/r pou le/gousi tou\s lo/gous.
sfi/sin—i.e. Nicias and his men.
au)toi=s—prob.=to
them, i.e. toi=s stratiw/tais: but Classen
takes it to mean by them, i.e. toi=s
strathgoi=s.
a)neka/lei—called by
name, )( a)pokalei=n.
patro/qen te
e)ponoma/zwn—mentioning the father's name as well (e)p-). Cf. Aristot. Ath. Pol. 21.4
tau/tas e)ponomo/sas trittu=s.
au)tou\s o)nomasti\—does not add
any fresh information, but heightens the impressiveness of the description.
fulh/n—men were officially
addressed by the name of their deme; but here the tribe is chosen because of its
military character.
to/ te kaq' e(auto/n
k.t.l.—admonishing those who had any reputation of their
own not to be false to it.
to\ kaq' e(auto/n is taken as object of prodido/nai, and the schol. explains it as th\n oi)kei/an a)reth/n; but elsewhere in Thuc. to\ kaq' e(auto\n means either (1) in
person, used adverbially, as in Dem. 21.140
to\ kaq' e(auto\n o(/pws du/natai, Aristoph. Eq. 513
xoro\n ai)toi/h kaq' e(auto/n, or (2) his own division; and it may well be used in the former sense
here. But it should be connected with what follows, in the sense w(=| u(ph=rxe lampro/thto/s ti to\ kaq' e(auto/n, the order being
modified for the sake of the antithesis with ta\s p.
a)reta/s.
oi( pro/gonoi—observe the
sentiment in which the last appeal of Nicias is grounded. Thuc knew well that the
reverence felt by his countrymen for the past was excessive; cf. l. 22 below. Pericles
also certainly discouraged this excess and tried to direct the A. to the future. But
Thuc. is right in making N. lay stress on the glory of the past here, and no doubt N.
really did so. a)reta\s is deeds of
valour as usual.
a)fani/zein—contrasted with
e)pifanei=s.
patri/dos th=s e)leuqerwta/ths—the
order puts emphasis on the adj., and the statement is true of Athens itself; but she
had unduly neglected the claims of her subjects and thus enabled Sparta to raise the
cry of e)leuqeri/a by which a great part of Greece was
deluded.
u(pomimnh/|skwn—this word is often
used when people are reminded of something dear to them and absent, for which they
fecl a longing (po/qos).
th=s e)n au)th=| k.t.l. =
o(/ti e(ka/stw| e)n au)th=| a)nepita/ktws diaita=sqai
e)/cesti.’ Classen. ‘It is noteworthy that this
special feature of the great democracy should be the one picked out at such an
hour as this as the thing which had gone further than anything to endear Athens to
her children.
Freeman
. Pericles in the Funeral Oration says ‘In our daily intercourse we
are as tolerant as in our public life . . . we are not angry with our neighbour for
doing as he pleases.’ II. 37.2.
a)/lla te—te joins le/gwn to the preceding words.
tou= kairou=—cf. c. 2
ou) pro\s to\ dokei=n
k.t.l.—all that men would say, not guarding against seeming
to talk commonplaces, and urging what does duty on all occasions (u(pe\r a(pa/ntwn) to the same effect about wives and
children and ancestral gods; still because they think it to be useful, they appeal
to it.
kai\ u(pe\r—with this kai\ supply ei)/poien a)/n,
but not o(/sa, since the influence of the relative is
as usual lost in the second member of the sentence; and so Thuc eeases to tell us
directly what Nicias said, and instead tells us what men always say under such
circumstances. And so e)pibow=ntai (see note below) is
added at the end. (Hitherto there have been two explanations of this kai/: (1) Goller, followed by most modern edd., takes
kai\ as ‘though,’ so that the
following words are in apposition to o(/sa; (2)
kai\=‘and,’ joins profero/mena to the idea contained in ou) pro\s to\ dokei=n . . . fulaca/menoi, which virtually=a)rxai=a, note in Jowett. Both explanations require that
e)pibow=ntai should be considered grammatically
dependent on o(/sa; but this is not likely, and
kai\ u(pe\r k.t.l. comes in very awkwardly on either
of the two suppositions.) The lit. rendering is ‘and they would say things
which are brought forward on all occasions.’
paraplh/sia—pred. to profero/mena.
e)/s te gunai=kas—cf. e/s after many verbs of saying, as a)/|dein, ai)ni/ttesqai, poiei=n (to compose).
qeou\s patrw/|ous—esp. Apollo and
Zeus; prob. also Athena.
a)ll'—the influence of o(/sa being entirely lost, a)ll' . . .
e)pibow=ntai is contrasted with o(/sa . . .
ei(/poien a(\n ou) fulaca/menoi . . ., kai\ (ei)/poien a)\n) . . . profero/mena.
e)pibow=ntai—sc. ta\ . . . profero/mena. So III. 59.2
qeou\s e)pibow/menoi; VIII. 92
e)pibowme/nou . . . mh\ a)pole/sai th\n patri/da. This
meaning of e)piboa=sqai
to invoke=e)pikalei=sqai is not to be
found in Attic prose outside Thuc.
a)nagkai=a—what would just
suffice.
pezo\n—see c. 60.2.
to\n paraklh|sqe/nta
die/kploun—the opening that had been closed, with
chains. When the zeu=gma had been formed by the Syr.,
they must have left a gap in the centre to admit their own ships. Doubtless this gap
could be closed with chains, as in the case of lime/nes
klhstoi/. See c. 70 l. 15. (None of the MSS.
readings yield a satisfactory sense; paraleifqe/nta is
strongly supported, but there is no sign in the narrative that there was a gap left
open. In any case Thuc. has here, as elsewhere, neglected to tell us something which
he should have told us.)
proecagago/menoi—putting
off before them.
kai\=atque 7
ai( nh=es—sc. tw=n *)aqhnai/wn.
toi=s *surakosi/ois—does the dat.
with a)/rxein answer the question
‘where,’ or ‘for whom’? Cf. II. 2.1
*puqodw/rou a)/rxontos *)aqhnai/ois.
oi( a)/lloi—the A. on their
part; a)/llos being exclusive.
tw=n tetagme/nwn new=n pro\s
au(tw=|—this order of the prep and case is not very uncommon in the
best prose.
sfi/si—should be au)toi=s, as oi( *)aqhnai=oi
is not the subj. of the principal verb (e)gi/gneto).
ou) pro\s tw=| zeu/gmati k.t l.—
the fight, the fiercest fight of the whole war, became general, not in the
shape of two great fleets meeting each other in ordered array, but in that of a
crowd of separate battles going on everywhere at once, over the whole surface of
the Great Harbour.
Freeman
.
e)qera/peuon—e)pemelou=nto.
mh\ lei/pesqai—that these
on deck should not fall behind the rest in skill, the combatants being
contrasted with the sailors and pilots. With th=s a)/llhs
te/xnhs cf. e(te/ras eu)tuxou/shs r(w/mhs
c. 63
te/— in fact, summing up the preceding details. Chacun
enfin, à sa poste, brûlait de paraîtie le premier.
Girard
.
e)mbolai\ . . . prosbolai\—the
distinction drawn in note on c. 34 l. 25 accords with
Poppo. But the explanation of Arnold fits the passage better: e)mbolh\, Arn. says, is the attack made by a ship with her beak, in the
regular manner. *prosbolh\ is more general. Here it
denotes accidental collisions. But elsewhere it means a regular charge.
a)nakrou/seis . . . die/kplous—see
on c. 36.4 ll. 29, 37.
a)/llh|—sc. nhi/.
prosfe/roito—opt. of indef.
frequency again.
e)pibai/nein—here with simple
dat.; usually with e)pi\ and accus.; or, meaning
to set foot in, with gen. Cf. the use of e)pi\ with either gen. or dat. in a local sense.
cunetu/gxane/ te—and so it
happened . . . that.
ta\ me\n a)/llois
k.t.l.—while on the one side they struck others, on the
other they were themselves struck.
toi=s kubernh/tais
k.t.l.—the pilots found themselves forced to guard against
one party and make plans against another, and not singly, but at many points on
every side, i.e. having to deal with several enemies at the same time.
kata/ te th\n te/xnhn—as
their work required it and in the excitement of the moment.
e)pibow=ntes—anacoluthon after
pollh\ . . . e)gi/gneto, as in c. 42.2. Badliam and Herwerden bracket it on the ground that
Thuc. would have written e)pibow/menoi. But it is
quite possible to consider the keleustai\ as a
separate body from the e\piba/tai and other
combatants, who are indicated by toi=s *)aqhnai/ois.
peri\ th=s—in defence of,
peri\ standing in the sense of u(pe/r, as often in Demosth.
ei)/ pote kai\ au)=qis—if
ever again.
a)ntilabe/sqai—absolute, as in
II. 8.1. 61
e)pauch=sai—means to add to the
importance of a person or thing.
mh\ kat'
a)na/gkhn—unnecessarily. Cf. ou) di' o)li/gou below. How is the difierence of neg. accounted for?
feu/gontas feu/gousin—traductio, for the sake of heightening the contrast.
o(/ te e)k th=s gh=s—the following
vivid description of the behaviour of the troops on shore exhibits a curious
approximation to the romantic spirit, but it wants the pathos and the freedom of
romanticism; and, fine as it is, the choice and the presentment of the details serve
to show how entirely foreign to Thucydides' genius the romantic spirit was. This
living picture is finely imitated by Gibbon in his account of the siege
of Constantinople by Mahomet II. in 1453.
polu\n to\n a)gw=na . . .
ei)=xe—cf. III. 49.1
h)=lqon e)s a)gw=na th=s do/chs.
cu/stasin—synonym of a)gw/n.
filonikw=n—
les Siciliens désiraient obtenir une gloire plus grande, et les
Athéniens redoutaient un sort plus juste encore que leur condition
présente.
Girard
.
a)nakeime/nwn . . . e)s ta\s
nau=s—as everything depended on the fleet. Cf.
Eur. Hec. 802
o(\s ei)s s' a)nelqw\n ei) diafqarh/setai k.t.l.
ou)deni\ e)oikw\s—cf. on c. 29
dia\ to\ a)nw/malon—as the
fortune of the battle varied, so they received of necessity varying
impressions. (Valla supposed that there is a reference in this passage to
‘the unevenness of the ground’; but this is not likely either from
what follows or from the condition of the coast. Being close to the water, they could
not get a view of the whole.)
l 11.
di' o)li/gou—local; cf. c. 36.5.
a)neqa/rshsan a)\n—this is the
only example in Thuc. of the iterative a)\n with
indic. aor. or imperf. (On this construction sec Mr. Seaton in Classical Review III. p. 343 fol.)
e)pi\ to\ h(ssw/menon=tou\s h(sswme/nous. Cf. Eur. Supp. 706
h)=n d' a)gw\n i)so/rropos . . . ou) ga\r to\ nikw=n tou=t'
e)kh/deuen, mo/non | a)ll' w)/|xet' e)s
to\ ka/mnon oi)kei/ou stratou=.
a)po\ tw=n drwme/nwn th=s
o)/yews—a)po\ belongs to th=s o)/yews, the order being the same in c. 20.1; 24.2; 31.5; 32.1. But, when the art.
is inserted with both nouns, this order is very rare in Attic prose outside Thuc. It
occurs often in Herod.
tw=n e)n tw=| e)/rgw| = tw=n maxome/nwn.
to\ a)kri/tws
cunexe\s—‘the continued uncertainty. a)kri/tws genome/nhs th=s a(mi/llhs. Schol. Notice the freedom with which
nouns can be qualified by adverbs.
i)/sa th=| do/ch|—according
to their feelings.
e)n toi=s xalepw/tata—cf. c. 19.4.
par' o)li/gon—cf. c. 2.4 l. 31ZZZ, and the idiom para\
mikro/n par' ou)de\n e)lqei=n with infin.
pa/nta o(mou= a)kou=sai—cf. Eur. Supp. 710
e)/rrhce d au)dh/n, w(/sq' u(phxh=sai xqo/na:
| w)= pai=des, ei) mh\ sxh/sete sterro\n
do/ru | spartw=n to/d' a)ndrw=n, oi)/xetai
ta\ *palla/dos: and Eur. Heraclid. 838
h)=n de\ du/o keleu/mata, | w)= ta\s *)aqh/nas, w)= to\n *)argei/wn gu/hn |
spei/rontes, ou)k a)rh/cet' ai)sxu/nhn po/lei
; and Eur. Heraclid. 832
po/son tin' au)xei=s pa/tagon a)spi/dwn bre/mein
| po/son tina\ stenagmo\n oi)mwgh/n q'
o(mou=<*>
o)lofurmo/s—apposition to pa/nta. The accus. might have been used as object of a)kou=sai.
nikw=ntes, kratou/menoi—as though
h)=san a)kou=sai had preceded. The cries would be
nikw=men, kratou/meqa.
a(/lla—instead of ta)=lla. So alia is common in Livy in
place of cetera. The asyndeton heightens the effect.
o(/s' a(\n . .
a)nagka/zoito—o)/s' a)\n for
o(/sa of MSS. is necessary because the clause does
not apply to the *l. only, but contains a reference to
the cries that any army would utter ei) e)n mega/lw| kindu/nw|
ei)/h.
au)toi=s—i.e. toi=s *)aqhnai/ois.
pri/n ge dh\—cf. on c. 39
lamprw=s—decisively, with katedi/wkon. Cf. c. 55.1; and II. 7.1
lelume/nwn lamprw=s tw=n spondw=n; VIII. 66.3; 75.2.
mete/wroi—used similarly in II. 91.3 referring to the middle of the Corinthian Gulf.
katenexqe/ntes—like kataferome/nas in c. 53.1.
Contrast prosfe/resqai c. 70.5. The corresponding sentence in Diodorus makes this clearer: tw=n de\ *)aqhnai/wn o)/soi mh\ mete/wroi diefqa/rhsan, e)pei\ pro\s
ta\ bra/xh proshne/xqhsan, e)kphdw=ntes e)k tw=n new=n a)polome/nwn ei)s to\ pezo\n
strato/pedon e)/feugon.
ou)ke/ti diafo/rws—i.e. no longer
with the variety of feeling mentioned above.
o(rmh=s—of passionate impulse, as
in III. 36.2.
oi)mwgh=| te kai\ sto/nw|—with
pareboh/qoun. Dative of manner. See Rutherford, Syntax p. 66.
dusanasxetou=ntes—Pollux III. 130 says that this word was first used by Thuc.; it is
fairly frequent in late authors
ta\ gigno/mena—Kruger compares
fqonei=n ti/ tini.
to\ loipo\n tou= tei/xous=to\ diatei/xisma.
peri\ sfa=s au)tou\s . . .
diesko/poun—cf. Lycurgus 107 peri\ tou\s
a)/llous poihta\s ou)de/na lo/gon e)/xontes.
cumforw=n—preferable to cumpasw=n, which is colourless and adds nothing to ou)demia=s. The consternation was the greatest of
their misfortunes.
kai\—after paraplh/sia as in c. 70.1.
prosapw/llunto—the imperf. of
o)/llumi is often used as here of that which is in
danger of happening. Cf. gi/gnomai, di/dwmi. It here
corresponds with a)ne/lpiston h)=n swqh/sesqai.
e)n—the perf. partic. of a verb of
motion implies rest in, and so e)n can be used.
u(ponoh/sas—u(ponoei=n, like u(popteu/ein, sometimes=
to view with suspicion, sometimes to conjecture.
a)poxwrh=sai . . . periidei=n—the
infin. with periora=n occurs only in Herod. and Thuc.
le/gwn tau=ta a)\ kai\ au)tw=|
e)do/kei—probably this means saying what he personally
thought they ought to do This interpretation is strongly supported by
oi( de\ cunegi/gnwskon me\n kai\ au)toi\ and
e)do/kei poihte/a ei)=nai below, with which kai\ au)tw=| brings our clause into connexion. (The recent
edd. who retain these words offer several suggestions, but all except Classen give
alternatives and say that the meaning cannot be determined. Classen says
‘saying that which seemed to him from his own conjecture
probable,’ thus agreeing with Haacke, Goller, and Arnold. But Bloomfield
rightly says that the Syr. knew that the A. would retreat even before the
battle—c. 67 Stall and Herwerden reject the
words. I think that the edd. have all mistaken the meaning of e)do/kei, which refers not to the knowledge of Hermocrates, but to his
advice. Valla translates ‘Commemorans haec et alia quae
ipsi videbantur,’ which, whatever he read, is certainly not what
Thuc. meant.)
a)poikodomh=sai—sc. xrew/n.
ta\ steno/pora—those among the
hills west of Syr.
profqa/santas—Classen, Bohme, and
Widmann prefer dialabo/ntas of B, and it is perhaps
right. That dialamba/nw does not occur elsewhere in
Thuc. does not count, as this part of the narrative contains several rare words and
a)gwnismo/s, a)ntite/xnhsis, dusanasxetw=, and
e)pifh/misma, which are not found again in Thuc.
prolamba/nontes is explained by the schol. fqa/nontes, w(/ste mh\ katalamba/nesqai at IV. 33. Possibly Thuc. wrote prodialabo/ntas.
cunegi/gnwskon—the prep. here has
an adverbial force.
a(sme/nous . . .
a)napepaume/nous—so Sallust Jug. 53, 5 lacti quierant, Postgate's certain correction of laetique erant.
a)napepaume/nous . . . e(orth=s
ou)/shs—cf. c. 51.1.
*(hraklei= . . . qusi/a—the Syr
set great store by the fact that the battle fell on a day sacred to Heracles, whose
temple was on the hill close to the point at which the A. double wall touched it.
Plut. Nic. 25 says that their ma/nteis had reported that Heracles required that they should not begin
the action. (For the speculations of Timaeus in after times see Plut. Nic 1.)
ou) dokei=n—the verb of
‘saying’ has to be supplied from cunegi/gnwskon by an idiom common in Gk. Oratio
Obliqua.
a)\n with e)qelh=sai.
pro\s po/sin tetra/fqai—the
metaphorical meaning of tre/pesqai pro\s is much
commoner than the literal.
sfw=n—the gen. with pei/qomai is frequent in Herod. but is not found anywhere
else in Attic prose. pei/qesqai is here synonymous
with u\pakou=sai of l. 20; and the gen. is also helped
by pa/nta.
e)celqei=n—depends on pei/qesqai, which takes sometimes infin., sometimes w(/ste with infin.
e)pi\ tou/tois—in
conseqnence.
kaq' h(suxi/an—see on c. 38.3.
pe/mpei—asyndeton after a
demonstrative is fairly common.
e)c o(/sou = e)s
tosou=ton e)c o(/sou, the antecedent being omitted as in Plat. Phaedo 78B
o(/qen a)peli/pomen e)pane/lqwmen, and often with
relative adverbs.
dia/ggeloi—one would have thought
that it was high time for even Nicias to be somewhat sceptical. Moreover he had played
a similar trick on the Syr. early in 414 It is strange too that any man who had
appeared in the dikasth/ria should not have understood
the art of lying. But their sufferings prob. unnerved the A. for the time.
tw=n e)/ndoqen—neut.
pareskeua/sqai—impersonal.
kai\ h( a)na/stasis—elsewhere this
kai\ always follows w(s
ut, not e)peidh\
postquam.
deino\n ou)=n h)=n k.t.l.—probably
this passage, which all edd. admit to be exceedingly obscure, means lit.:
‘not only in respect of one point in their condition was it terrible that
they were departing after losing all their ships and, in contrast with their high
hopes, having to face danger, both to themselves and their city, but also at the same
time, as they left the camp, every man encountered things that were painful both to
look upon and to think of.’ (The meaning of kaq' e(\n
tw=n pragma/twn is not certain, and the words might safely be
‘skipped.’ Classen thinks that they may be, and Stahl is certain
that they are corrupt. Sitzler reads e)kei=no for
kaq' e(/n. Only Bohme-Widmann are entirely
satisfied, taking kaq' e(\n tw=n pragma/twn as subject
of deino\n h)=n—which I agree with Stahl is
impossible—and understanding, with Haase, in unum
contracta rerum gestarum summa.)
kaq' e(\n—means generally (1) in
detail, singly; but sometimes (2) in one respect, for one reason, as in II. 89.7. Thuc. is contrasting e(\n with polla/, and means the fact
that they were leaving with loss and danger was terrible not on one
account only, but for many reasons, and the many reasons are expanded into
the clause a)lla\ kai\, etc., which again is developed
in §§ 3, 4, through which the general idea deino\n h)=n ou) kaq' e(\n runs—bnt the subject clause,
o(/ti . . kinduneu/ontes, is lost sight of. kaq' e(\n gi/gnesqai = in unum cogi.
tw=n pragma/twn—expresses the
sphere of circumstances in which there were many points of horror, and the circum=
stances are those of the a)poxw/rhsis.
o(/ti ta/s te k.t.l.—Haase and
Rauchenstein alone take this as subject of deino\n
h)=n, but the notes will show that they are prob. right.
e)n th=| a)polei/yei—this being a
quasi-temporal word, Thuc. might perhaps have omitted
e)n, as he does with po/lemos,
e(sbolh/.
nekrw=n—see on c. 74 l. 20.
meta\ fo/bou—partly because they
had neglected a duty so sacred as burial, partly because the dead if unburied were
likely to haunt the living, partly because they had not gone through the rites of
self-purification.
oi( . . .
kataleipo/menoi—those who were being left behind
alive. Cf. oi( leipo/menoi=‘the
survivors.’
toi=s zw=si—observe that we
require here an antithesis to toi=s
kataleipome/nois—hence the various alterations proposed. But Thuc.
may have been guilty of a false antithesis here, as his admirer Lucretius very often
is. There is a similar error in Cic. de legibus
II. 44 quod constat et ex vexandis vivorum animis et ea
fama mortuorum, ut eorum exitium et judicio vivorum et gaudio comprobetur—unless for the second vivorum we should read bonorum, as
proposed by P. Thomas.
tw=n a)polwlo/twn a)qliw/teroi—the
antithesis between the peace of honourable death and the misery of disgraced life
became a stock theme of the schools.
kaqi/stasan—sc. au)tou/s.
o(/son—quantum. This seems more expressive than the Vatican
e)s o(/son, quousque, which is
generally adopted.
tw|—the dat. with prolei/pein is unusual.
r(w/mh—spirit. It
suggests high nervous tension—with which Athenians were rarely
troubled—as in II. 43.6.
ou)k a)/neu o)li/gwn—Valla wrongly
renders non sine multis obtestationibus, and all the edd. have
mistaken the meaning. The wounded and weak did not stop until they were so utterly
exhausted both in body and mind that they could utter only a few appeals and groans.
So far from there being no sense in o)li/gwn, there is
a terrible amount of sense in it, both as a description of the scene and as an
indication of the temperament of Thuc as a man and as an artist.
e)piqeasmw=n—Cobet has shown that
this is the true orthography, not e)piqeiasmw=n.
Hesych. e)piqea/zei: qeou\s e)pikalei=tai.
a)poleipo/menoi—being
parted from them
e)n th=| a)polei/yei tou= stratope/dou, Cf. on l. 27.
The preference which most edd show for the Vat. u(poleipo/menoi is mexplicable.
w(/ste k.t.l.—this gives the
consequence of all the a)lgeina\ of l. 12, and thus
carries us back to deino\n h)=n.
da/krusi—the dat. with pi/mplhmi, instead of gen., is poetical.
a)pori/a|—causal dat.
e)k polemi/as—sc. a)formwme/nous. a)forma=sqai shows that this sentence recalls
e)n th=| a)polei/yei tou= s. It is interesting to
notice that the whole passage from § 2 to § 4, though it contains
statements of fact, happens to be arranged in the form of a rhetorical cnthymeme, and is therefore very characteristic of Thuc.
h)\ kata\ da/krua—Herod. III. 14
me/zw kaka\ h)\ w(/ste a)naklai/ein. In
giavissimo maerore ne lacrimis quidem locus. Haacke.
tw=n e)n a)fanei=—in such passages
we have the best indication of the historian's own religious views as purely negative.
In this matter he was in accord with Protagoras, and, as in other matters, with
Euripides, at least until the poet's recantation in his old age. Cf. on c. 86.5.
kath/feia/—exprime un
sentiment de honte qui fait baisser les yeux. Didot. Cf. Eur. Med. 956
ti/ dh\ kathfei=s o)/mma, kai) dakrurroei=s; Having
completed the description of the a)lgeina\ in the form
of an cnthymeme, Thuc. now goes back to the grammatical subject
of deinon ou=n h)=n § 2, viz., o(/ti ta/s te nau=s a)polwleko/tes pa/sas a)pexw/roun kai\ a)nti\
mega/lhs e)lpi/dos . . . kinduneu/ontes. These two aspects of the apoxw/rhsis —viz., the loss and the change which
the loss involved to all —are dealt with in §§ 5, 6, 7, so
as to exhibit their effect on the appearance of the army and on the minds of the men,
and they are considered together from two points of view, the kath/feia which they involved and besides (kai\
mh\n, § 6) the i)somoiri/a which
they involved. Thus the whole chap. from § 2 forms a chiasmus, as regards the
matter, and it is a perfect example of composition. Macaulay said of ‘the
Retreat’ that there was no prose composition in the world that he placed so
high.
u(pofeugou/sh|—the comparison has
lost its force for us; but the phenomenon referred to was not a rare one in those
times.
u(po\ toi=s o(/plois—e)pi\
in addition to, in place of u(po/, has been generally accepted, but Widmann rightly says that the change is
unnecessary. It is not easy to say how else hoplites could have carried food but in
the left hand, and so of necessity beneath the shield.
a)kolou/qwn—i.e. qerapo/ntwn.
paraxrh=ma—sc. a)phutomo/loun.
kai\ mh\n—introducing a new point
in the description. Thuc uses kai\ mh\n only in
speeches and the more highly wrought parts of the narrative.
h(/ t'a)/llh ai)ki/a k t.l.—lit.
the degradation generally and especially the universality of the suffering,
though it had some alleviation in the fact that it was shared by many, was
nevertheless at that moment thought intolerable.
h( i)somoiri/a is the special part of the ai)ki/a singled out for comment: in this case the
universality of the suffering is designated ai)ki/a
because hoplites and knights were suffering the same hardship as the meanest slave.
(Junghahn has rightly explained this passage; but the addition of t' is necessary in order to get the sense required.)
to\ meta\ pollw=n—Cic. ad At. XI. 6.1
meus dolor non modo non minuitur, cum socium sibi adjungit dolorem
tuum, sed etiam augetur. ‘General evils,’ Machiavelli says,
‘are endured more easily than private ones.’
a)po\ oi(/as—an exclamation, the
donble oi(=os being used as so often in tragedy to
express a marked contrast Trans. ‘especially considering that
they’ etc.
a)fi/kato—the plur. suits au)/xhma much better than the sing. a)fi=kto, even if it could be used impersonally.
to\
dia/foron—reverse.
oi(=s=o(/ti
au)toi=s.
a)nti\ me\n tou= . .
h(/kein—Herod. has this idiom twice without the article.
doulwsome/nous—for the change from
dat. to accus. cf. c. 40.4; 57.9.
tou=to—object of pa/qwsi.
naubatw=n—found in Herod., Thuc.,
and tragedy only.
o(plitikw=| prose/xontas ma=llon h)\
nautikw=|—trusting, not to a fleet, but to
hoplites. This was a bad omen for the queen of the sea.
*)/eti kai\ e)k k.t.l.—even
as things are, you must hope on (men have been saved from terrors even greater than
these), and you must not reproach yourselves either for your disasters or for your
present undeserved sufferings. The speech is based upon the same topics that
have been handled in c. 75, §§ 5, 6, 7,
viz., the kath/feia, kata/memyis, and i)somoiri/a.
cumforai=s—of the battles that had
been lost.
l. 7,
ka)gw/ toi k.t.l.—You know
that I too, who am as weak as the weakest of you (yes, you see how I am suffering),
whose success both in private and in public life is, I think, considered equal to
any man's, am now in the same danger and suspense as the humblest of you. Yet have I
rendered with exactness my duty to the gods, and just and inoffensive dealing to
men. In this rendering the antithesis, to our taste excessive, is modified.
Notice the close correspondence of ou)/te r(w/mh|,
etc. and ou)/t' eu)tuxi/a|, etc.
profe/rwn—see on c. 64.2.
eu)tuxi/a|—Intr. p. xxxvii. A
great deal is to be learned about this word and its relation to eu)daimoni/a in the tragedians, esp. in Euripides. Cf. Arist. Eth.
I. 9
pollai\ metabolai\ gi/nontai kai\ pantoi=ai tu/xai kata\ to\n
bi/on, kai\ e)nde/xetai to\n ma/list' eu)qhnou=nta mega/lais sumforai=s peripesei=n
e)pi\ gh/rws. Nicias here propounds his doctrine that the gods repay the
good and the bad with good and ill fortune in this life. His belief was the same as
that of Herodotus.
a)nq' w(=n k.t.l.—therefore
I am yet strong in hope for the future, and our misfortunes lose some of their
terror. Perhaps they may even cease. For the enemy have had enough success, and if
any of the gods was offended at our enterprise, we have now received sufficient
punishment.
ou) kat' a)ci/an dh\ fobou=si—i.e.
(fobou=sin) e)lasso/nws h)\
kat' a)ci/an Antiphon tetr.
*g. d 6, lit.: ‘not in accordance with their
assumed importance.’ (There are several ways of taking these words. Classen
says ‘terrify you more than they ought to do’)
lwfh/seian—of the cessation of
pain or trouble, as in II. 49.5. Plat. Phaedrus 251 C lwfa=| th=s o)du/nhs.
i(kana\ ga\r—contrast with this
Eur. Supp. 226
koina\s ga\r o( qeo\s ta\s tu/xas h(gou/menos
| toi=s tou= nosou=ntos ph/masin diw/lese
| to\n ou) nosou=nta kou)de\n
h)dikhko/ta.
h)=lqon ga/r pou
k.t.l.—others besides us have attacked their neighbours
before now, and after doing what men will do have endured what men can bear. So now
it is reasonable for us to hope that the gods will relent towards us
(for we deserve their pity now rather than their envy), and do you, seeing what fine
troops you are and how great the numbers that march in your ranks, be not
excessively alarmed, etc. 23
a)nqrw/peia k.t.l.—cf. Eur. Heraclid. 424
a)ll', h)\n di/kaia drw= di/kaia pei/somai. Cic. Tusc. 1, 72 humana vitia=a)nqrw/pina kaka.
ta/ te a)po\ tou= qei/ou—the whole
of this passage is very characteristic of Nicias. Cf. Herod. III, 40 e)moi\ de\ ai( sai\ mega/lai eu)tuxi/ai ou)k a)re/skousi, to\ qei=on
e)pistame/nw| w(s e)/sti fqonero/n.
h)piw/tera—in the old sense,
expressing a father's pity for his children, and hence transferred to the gods. Cf.
the meanings of e)piskopei=n.
kai\ o(rw=ntes—the transition from
ta\ a)po\ tou= qei/ou is purposely made abrupt, so
as to exhibit the close eonnexion between the gods and men.
katape/plhxqe—strictly this should
have been katapeplh=xqai after ta/ te e)lpi/zein.
de/caito—resist.
th\n de\ porei/an k.t.l.—do
you yourselves look to your safety and discipline on the road; let every man think
that the ground on which he is forced to fight will be his country and fortress if
he wins it.
spoudh\ de\—we shall
hurry.
ei)rhme/non—accus. abs.
a)nagkai=o/n te o)\n—arguments
drawn from to\ a)nagkai=on are common in Greek
rhetoric. 49
oi(/ te a)/lloi—still depends on
gnw=te.
a)/ndres ga\r po/lis—a similar
gnw/mh occurs in many authors. Soph. OT 56
w(s ou)de)n e)stin ou)/te pu/rgos ou)/te nau=s
| e)rh=mos a)ndrw=n mh\ cunoikou/ntwn
e)/sw.
tw=n te e). . . . a)pori/a| . . . kai\ . . .
h)=san—these are the two reasons given for kakw=s ei(=xe, the principal clause replacing a subordinate.
tou)nanti/on—i.e. no longer
westwards, with no further attempt to reach the high ground.
h( cu/mpasa o(do\s—Holm says that
this refers to the whole of the march ever since they left Lysimeleia. Freeman however
refers it to what immediately precedes about pro\s th\n
qa/lassan. He thinks that it was the road leading eventually to Catana
that the Syr. had specially blocked. But neither view is satisfactory. It is clear
that h( cu/mpasa o(do\s au(/th (1) is contrasted with
th\n au)th\n o(do\n h(=| dienoh/qhsan, (2) implies
nothing of necessity as to their previous purpose, being a geographical note about
h( pro\s th\n qa/lassan o(do/s. Thuc. does not say
that the A. no longer hoped to reach Catana, but that this road did not lead
ultimately in that direction. The intention of the A. was throughout the
same— a)poxwrei=n h(=| a)\n ta/xista me/llwsi/ tinos
xwri/ou . . . fili/ou a)ntilh/yesqai c. 60.2, whether circumstances offered Catana or any other place. (It is futile
to discuss whether they intended ultimately to reach Catana or not. Probably the
question was never discussed by them.)
fo/boi kai\ dei/mata
e)g—epexegesis of oi(=on. Note
dei=ma
panic,
de/os
apprehension,
fo/bos
fear. [
a)po\]—a dittography of the
syllable that follows If this were genuine, we should have a)piou=sin. Moreover ‘si quis a)po/ tinos
e)/rxetai, quodam modo eum eo conjunctns fuisse et nunc ab eo segregari
cogitatur.’ Sobolewski.
i)ou=sin—with au)toi=s.
a)fiknou=ntai—sc. to\ *niki/ou stra/teuma. o(/mws means notwithstanding the
trouble caused by the disorder of Demosthenes' division.
pro\s th\n q—near to the
coast
th\n o(do\n th\n *)elwrinh\n—the
ancient road from Syr. to its dependency Helorus, which had been seized from the
Sicels in order to prevent them from reaching the S.E. corner of Sicily. N. reached
the road at some point north of the Cacyparis. 27
o(/pws—presumably this arrangement
had been made with Demosthenes.
*kakupa/rei—the Cassibile.
a)/nw—inland. They
still hoped to reach the hill country of the Sicels.
h)/lpizon—Holm says that this
seutence refers to c. 77.6
prope/pemptai w(s au)tou/s etc., and that this proves
that the A. had not intended to get to Catana, since they had ordered the Sicels to
meet them on the Cacyparis But if they had pursued their original route over the
Acraean rock, they might have eome out somewhere near the source of the Cacyparis, but
quite fourteen miles from where they now crossed the river. If they meant to follow
thc river up to some point which they had been trying to reach from the
first, still nothing is proved with regard to their ultimate intentions. Freeman
thinks that Nicias had sent fresh messages to the Sicels when he changed his route.
But it is quite likely that he assumed that the Sicels would march down the stream
when they failed to find him higher up.
*)erineo/n—it is not certain what
stream is meant; but it is generally thought to be the Cavallata.
e)ke/leuon—sc. xwrei=n—this was done in the hope that they might
find some way into the interior that was unoccupied by the enemy.
h( h/me/ra—i.e. the day referred
to above.
e)n ai)ti/a| . . . ei)=xon=h)|tiw=nto.
u(ste/rois ou)=si—it is not known
whether Demosth. crossed the Cacyparis or not.
to/te—referring to c. 80.4.
di/xa dh\ o)/ntas—sc. a)po\ tw=n meta\ *niki/ou.
qaa_sso/n te—this is answered by
o( de\ *dhmosqe/nhs below, te
. . . de/ replacing me\n . . . de), as
often in tragedy. Cf. III. 52
tou/s te a)di/kous kola/sein, para\ di/khn d'
ou)de)na. As for te ga\r meaning namque, there is no certainty that it occurs in good Attic.
Several passages cited by Shilleto on Demosth. F. L. 176 are
corrupt, and the rest are prob. instances of anacoluthon. Generally where te is not answered by kai\
there is a parenthesis, which interrupts the construction, as in Plat. Gorg. 524B where to/ te
sw=ma is eventually answered by tau)to\n dh/ moi
dokei= . . . kai\ peri\ th\n yuxh/n.
e)n tw=| toiou/tw|—this phrase is
used of circumstances of any kind.
e(ko/ntas ei)=nai—ei)=nai is infin. of limitation, and in this phrase is almost
confined to neg. sentences.
o(/s' a)\n a)nagka/zwntai—as C has
o(/sa a)nagka/zwntai, Dobree's correction, by which
the sense is much improved, should be accepted.
ta\ plei/w—plerumque.
e)ndiatri/bwn—VIZ. e)n tw=| cunta/ssesqai. Note the word, which is useful.
a)neilhqe/ntes—synonym of sustrafe/ntes.
e)/s ti xwri/on—Plutarch says this
was the estate that had belonged to Polyzelus, probably the brother of Gelon, Hiero,
and Thrasybulus, the tyrants.
e)/nqen kai\ e)/nqen—on
both sides. (Leake, Grote, and Freeman wrongly translate as though it were
a)/ntikrus.)
peristado/n—found, except here,
only in Herod. and poets.
custado\n ma/xais—adverb
qualifying verbal noun, as cc. 34, 6, l. 34; 71, 3.
*feidw/ tis e)gi/gneto—with
tw|=pa=s tis
e)fei/deto
e)p'—ut in.
The mh\ is inserted because hindrance is implied.
h)=ge—still along the Helorine
road, hoping to find an unguarded way to the right.
*)assi/naron—the name only occurs
in the accounts of the retreat. It is identified as the Falconara.
a(/ma me\n
biazo/menoi—because, being harassed by the cavalry and the
light-armed, they thought that they would be somewhat better off if they crossed the
river, and also owing to their suffering and thirst. One cause of h)pei/gonto is oi)o/menoi,
the other is u(po\ th=s talaipwri/as. The rest,
biazo/menoi . . . o)/xlou, is subordinate to
oi)o/menoi. So Bauer, Kruger, Classen, Fr. Muller.
Poppo made biazo/menoi depend on h)pei/gonto, and oi)o/menoi as well; but
in all other cases in which two participles stand thus in the same
relation to the verb, Thuc. either joins them by kai\
or places the verb between them. Stahl places oi)o/menoi . . .
potamo/n after talaipwri/as, and this
greatly improves the sense, since it is hard to see the bearing of biazo/menoi on oi)o/menoi.
Why should the attacks diminish after they had crossed the river? Perhaps the A.
thought they would then turn off to the right and shake off the enemy to some extent.
(In any case the sentence is not a good one.)
peri/ te . . . diefqei/ronto—cf.
pi/ptein, ptai/ein and sfa/llesqai peri\ with dat.; but the construction is poetical and Ionic.
skeu/esin—accoutrements.
e)mpalasso/menoi = e)mpleko/menoi. The word occurs nowhere else in Attic.
e)s ta\ e)pi\ qa/tera—regarded as
one word.
h)=n—the subject to be supplied
from the context.
koi/lw|—with a deep bed; a meaning
that occurs several times in Plutarch, e.g. Lucul.
24.
e)pikataba/ntes—both banks of the
Assinarus are steep, and the water, as usual in Sicily, does not fill the whole of its
bed, which is wide. The Pel. went down the bank into the bed and cut down the A.,
while the Syr. stood on the opposite bank to prevent the A. from getting across.
eu)qu\s die/fqarto—the plup. is
occasionally thus used with eu)qu\s to express a
result hastily arrived at, esp. in combination with the imperf., e.g. Dem. 19.154
to/t' eu)qu\s e)gnw/kein kai\ proewrw/mhn.
o(mou= tw=| phlw=|—with e)pi/neto.
tou= me\n . . . tou=
de\—apposition to diefqarme/nou.
pisteu/sas ma=llon—
N. had always been, as far as his duty allowed him, a friend of Sparta.
Freeman
.
xrh/sasqai . . . o(/ ti
bou/lontai—regular formula for an unconditional surrender.
foneu/ontas—an Ionic word, found
often in tragedy and Herod., and four times in Thuc. See Rutherford, New Phryn. p. 15.
a)pekru/yanto—sc. oi( *surako/sioi, hid for their own purposes,
to keep or to sell.
tou\s diwcome/nous—the fut.
partic. with art.—not a very common construction—refers to no
definite person.
to\ . . . a(qroisqe\n—for the
neut. cf. c. 43.7.
e)s to\ koino\n—just as to\ koino\n is used of the state treasury, since the
prisoners became state property.
a)po\ cumba/sews—cf. c. 82.2
o(mologi/a gi/gnetai. In the case of Demosth. there
were definite terms and his men surrendered to the state.
e)ntw=| . . . pole/mw|
tou/tw|—there have been from early times two ways of understanding
this passage: (1) the scholiast thinks that Thuc. is comparing the disaster at the
Assinarus with those of the Pel. war generally: accordingly he thinks *sikelikw=| is wrong. So Kruger, Stahl: (2) Valla understands
him to be comparing this disaster with other battles of the Sicilian war. The
scholiast is probably right, since there is no other instance of great carnage,
fo/nos or sfagh/, in
the Sicihan war with which the last disaster could be aptly compared; and as Thuc. was
writing the history of the Sicilian expedition, not as a separate work, but as part of
his general history, it is strange that he should speak of the Sicilian campaigns only
in giving an idea of the extent of the loss. (Arnold says ‘it is as if an
historian of the French campaign in Russia were to say of their loss at the Beresina,
“that it was greater than on any other occasion throughout this Russian
campaign.”’ But, after the losses of 1812, that statement would
convey an idea of awful slaughter, whereas this does not.)
parauti/ka—these were some
cavalry, who under command of Callistratus made their escape to Catana. Pausanias 7.16.4.
e)s *kata/nhn—among these were
Tydeus, afterwards one of the generals at Aegospotami, and the son of Polystratus for
whom Lysias wrote the speech u(pe\r *polustra/tou.
They continued to fight for Catana against Syr. Lys.
20.24.
metexei/risan—Thuc. like Herod.,
uses the act. of this word, whereas other authors use the middle.
oi(/ h(/lioi—the plur. is intensive, as in qe/rmai,
kau/mata.
e)s a)sqe/neian e)newte/rizon—like
ba/llein or tre/pein
ei)s, of some enforced change of state; ‘through the change of
temperature induced disease.’
tw=n nekrw=n . . . oi(\ . . .
a)pe/qnh|skon—it appears that nekroi\
a)poqnh/|skousi is possible Greek, as in Plut.
Pyrrhus 21
trauma/twn pollw=n genome/nwn kai\ nekrw=n peso/ntwn,
and perhaps Thuc. II. 52
nekroi\ e)p' a)llh/lois a)poqnh/|skontes e)/keinto.
e)pi\ o)ktw\ mh=nas—sc. daily.
This allowance is what was called in c. 82
h( a)nagkaiota/th di/aita, and is half that which was
given to a slave. Diodorus, following the Sicilian account, says that each man
received two xoi/nikes of meal, i.e. four times as
much as two kotu/lai.
a)/lla o(/sa—for o(/sa a)/lla, found also in II.
96.3.
e)n tw=| t. . .
e)mpeptwko/tas—e)n is occasionally
used with verbs of motion.
e)pege/neto—accidit.
plh\n *)a. k.t.l.—comparing l. 15
we see that these were kept in the quarries some six months longer.
e)/rgon—used in its vague,
euphemistic sense, as in to\ peri\ to\n *)/itun
e)/rgon. [
*(ellhniko\n]—to be omitted, since
there is no contrast between the doings of Greeks and of other men.
dokei=n—infin. of limitation; c.
49.3.
w(=n a)koh=|—cf. Herod. VII. 170
fo/nos *(ellhniko\s me/gistos ou(=tos dh\ e)ge)neto pa/ntwn w(=n
h(mei=s i)/dmen, of the destruction of the Tarentines and Rhegines by the
Iapyges.
kata\ pa/nta . . .
pa/ntws—paronomasia, to emphasise the statement.
panwleqri/a|—cf. panw/leqros a)po/llusqai in tragedy.
o)li/goi a)po\ pollw=n—a common
collocation.
a)peno/sthsan—the well-known story
in Plut. Nic. 29 that some gained liberty or shelter by
reciting Euripides is by no means improbable; for, apart from the great popularity of
Euripides, the Athenian slaves, weakened by suffering and unused to mauual labour,
must have been a burden to their owners. With the Athenian retreat we might compare
the retreat of Antony from Parthia in 36 B.C. Cf. Browning Balaustion's
Adventure, and Byron Childe Harold
4.16:
When Athens' armies fell at Syracuse,
And fetter'd thousands bore the yoke of war,
Redemption rose up in the Attic Muse,
Her voice their only ransom from afar:
See! as they chant the tragic hymn, the car
Of the o'ermaster'd victor stops, the reins
Fall from his hands, his idle scimitar
Starts from its belt—he rends his captive's chains,
And bids him thank the bard for freedom and his strains.