E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 2

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Τῆς τε—the topic changes to τὸ συμφέρον; see c. 62, 3, Index s.v. τόποι. εἰκὸς—decet.

τῷ τιμωμένῳ—c. 59, 3. ‘You are bound to support the dignity which the state has obtained through our empire.’

ὑπὲρ ἅπαντας—not a common use of ὑπέρ. Cf. Isocr. ep. 4, 8 τοὺς ὑπὲρ αὑτοὺς ὄντας. τιμὰς—which, though belonging to the state, directly benefit every citizen; in those times the city was everything, the citizen nothing. Cf. 60, 3.

περὶ δουλείας ἀγωνίζεσθαι—as remarked on c. 62, 3, sentences like ἀγὼν περὶ τοῦ δοκεῖν ἀδίκως ἐπιθυμεῖν and ἀγὡν περὶ τοῦ μὴ δοκεῖν ἀ. ἐ. are identical in meaning. In the same way, with all verbs or nouns implying a contest, the noun with περὶ may describe either the object which the combatant referred to wishes to obtain, or the disaster he wishes to avoid, the two being the same thing regarded from different views: thus Lysias' ἐναντιοῦσθαι περὶ έλευθερίας (13, 17) is the same as ἀγωνίζεσθαι περὶ δουλείας. Cf. Lys. 3, 44 ἀγωνίζεσθαι περὶ θανάτου; 21, 20 ἀ. περὶ ἀσεβείας. Demosth. 1, 5 οὐ περὶ δόξης κίνδυνος άλλ᾽ ἀνδραποδισμοῦ τῆς πατρίδος. δουλείας—i.e. dependence on Sparta, as δ. often denotes merely the opposite of αὐτονομία. κινδύνου ὧν— periculo ob offensas in imperio contractas, danger due to the hatred to which you have been exposed in that empire. ὧν = τούτων ἅ, cognate accus. to ἀπήχθησθε. (One or two edd. prefer to take ὧν as masc., danger from those in governing whom you have incurred hatred; but that does not agree well with the abstract nature of the whole passage.)

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Εἴ τις—referring to the combination to which the overtures to Sparta were due.

καὶ τόδε—i.e. τὸ ἐκστῆναι τῆς ἀρχῆς, ‘if that is the honourable part that any of you, prompted by his present apprehension and an indolent spirit, wishes to play.’ τόδε is cognate accus. to ἀνδραγαθίζεται. Cf. 1 above. The friends of peace did not admit that they wished ἐκστῆναι τῆς ἀρχῆς, but Pericles asserts that their policy would lead to loss of empire and even worse disasters.

ἀπραγμοσύνῃ— dat. of manner. The word is purposely chosen to include all who were playing into the hands of Sparta, if only by their apathy. Cf. Intr. p. lxxiii.

ὡς τυραννίδα—it is remarkable that Cleon, who had done so much to get up the attack on Pericles, utters the same sentiment, III. 40. Cleon was really by no means anxious for peace (see Intr. p. lxxiv. fol.), and it is probable that Pericles here points out the absurdity of Cleon's present attitude by adopting a phrase of which all knew that he was fond; leaving the friends of ἀπραγμοσύνη to settle matters with the friends of τυραννὶς as best they could.

ἄδικον δοκεῖ—viz. ‘to the world.’ Pericles does not himself assert that the empire is a despotism, or that it was unjustly acquired: he alludes to an opinion then especially prevalent.

ἐπικίνδυνον—sc. ἐστί.

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Οἱ τοιοῦτοι—i.e. οἱ τόδε ἀνδραγαθιζόμενοι. ἑτέρους πείσαντες—‘if they should get others to adopt their views.’

καὶ—with τέ, sive ... sive. Observe the ἰσόκωλον on each side of καί, cf. c. 40, 1, and the ὁμοιοτέλευτα in ἀπολέσειαν and οἰκήσειαν. (These similar endings are not common in Thuc.: there are about a dozen in this book.)

εἴ που—the second protasis to πόλιν ἀπολέσειαν. ἐπὶ σφῶν αὐτῶν—‘by themselves,’ a hint that if they want their ideas carried out, they had better go and live somewhere else. For the phrase, cf. v. 67, 1; VI. 40, 2 αὐτὴ έφ᾽ αὺτῆς; VIII. 63, 4.

τὸ ἄπραγμον—‘indolence is not secure unless it be ranged beside activity; nor yet is it expedient in a sovereign state, but only in one that is in subjection, to seek safety by submission.’ τὸ ἄπραγμον and τὸ δραστήριον are for οἱ ἀπράγμονες, οἱ δραστήριοι. Cf. c. 44, 1.

σῴζεται ... τεταγμένον—military words. If indolent persons wish to come out of the struggle safe, they had better take sides with the active; i.e. the peace party can only gain a secure peace by supporting the war party, instead of making overtures to the enemy. Cf. Demosth. 6, 25 οὐ φυλάξεσθ᾽ ὅπως μὴ πολέμου ζητοῦντες ἀπαλλαγῆναι δεσπότην εὕρητε; ξυμφέρει—subject ὰσφαλῶς δουλεύειν, before which τὸ is omitted, as in c. 35, 1, 39, 4.

ἀσφαλῶς δ.— this is what τὸ ἄπραγμον really means, says Pericles, it is not σωτηρία, as the friends of peace pretend, but δουλεία: ἀσφαλῶς corresponds to οὐ σῴζεται, δουλεύειν to μὴ μετὰ τοῦ δραο τηρίου τεταγμένον, which shows that the adv. is emphatic.

δουλεύειν—cf. 1 above; a state now ἄρχουσα becomes a slave by submitting. Cf. c. 42, 4. (For other views of this passage, see other editions.)