Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 3

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And that our autonomy has hitherto been spared by their lust for power we owe alone to a regard for their own interests, which would, however, not have protected us much longer.

καὶ εἰ μὲν . . . ἂν ἐπελθεῖν ἀποτρέπεται: the second ground of the untenableness of the federal relation: the growing strength of the Atheni ans and the increasing isolation of the Mytileneans.—

βεβαιότεροι: pers. const., like δίκαιος in i. 40. 13. GMT. 762; H. 944; Kühn. 477 d.—2.

νεωτεριεῖν: used to express any innovation in established order, esp. harsh and violent changes. Cf. Lat. res novae. Cf. c. 4. 15; i. 58. 3; ii. 3. 6; iv. 51. 3.— 3.

ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου: see on c. 10. 12.— 4.

ἔμελλον οἴσειν: Thuc. uses the fut. inf. with μέλλειν far oftener than the present. See on i. 107. 13. The obj. of οἴσειν is to be supplied from ἡμῖν . . . ὁμιλοῦντες.—καὶ πρὸς . . . ἀντισουμένου: these words, which are closely connected, give the explanation of χαλεπώτερον ἔμελλον οἴσειν. While ὑποχειρίους . . . ὁμιλοῦντες states the actual relation from the side of the Athenians, what follows expresses this from the side of the Mytileneans, but from the standpoint of the Athenians. Render: “because our state alone, even though the majority had already yielded, still maintained its equality.” See App. καί, which belongs esp. to πρὸς τὸ πλεὶον ἤδη εἷκον, emphasizes the andacity of the Lesbians in the eyes of the Athenians. πρός, as against, as in i. 6. 15; ii. 91. 18. τοῦ ἡμετέρου is neuter. ἀντισόομαι is not found elsewhere except in late writers. See Steph. Thes. s.v.—6.

δυνατώτεροι αὐτοὶ αὑτῶν: more powerful than they were before. The comp. with gen. of reflex. pron. measures progress by change in the subj. itself. Cf. i. 8. 13; vi. 72. 22; vii. 66. 14. The const. is freq. in Hdt. H. 644; Kühn. 543, 6.—7.

τὸ δὲ ἀντίπαλον δέος μόνον πιστὸν ἐς ξυμμαχίαν: this clause, containing the second ground of the untenableness of the alliance, is closely connected with the preceding (δέ=γάρ), “for fear based on equal power is alone to be relied on in the case of an alliance.” Cf. iv. 92. 14 πρός τε γὰρ τοὺς ἀστυγείτονας πᾶσι τὸ ἀντίπαλον καὶ ἐλεύθερον καθίσταται, Tac. Germ. 1 Germania a Sarmatis Dacisque mutuo metu separatur. But Steup gives strong reasons for bracketing δέος. See App.—8.

τῷ μὴ . . . ἀποτρέπεται: the chief stress is on προέχων, “is deterred only by the consideration that he would make the attack not with superior force,” i.e. not with prospect of success.

τε: introducing third reason (see on c. 9. 10), which covers the remainder of the chapter; viz. that only regard for appearances and for present advantage kept the Athenians from being more aggressive.—10.

ὅσον: quatenus, equiv. to καθ̓ ὅσον, c. 9. 4; vi. 54. 25; 82. 11. ὅσον instead of ὅτι, in order to restrict the motive to the narrowest limits, to concede as little as possible to good intentions.—

ἐς τὴν ἀρχὴν . . . καταληπτά: “it was clear to them that to extend their dominion they could get control of affairs by fair words and by an assault of policy rather than by force.” The main object of the Athenians, ἐς τὴν ἀρχήν, ad imperium quaerendum, is emphasized by its position, separated as it is from τὰ πράγματα ἐφαίνετο καταληπτά (cf. c. 30. 11), of which it expresses the motive. But see App. εὐπρεπείᾳ λόγου is explained by the following ἅμα μὲν . . . ξυστρατεύειν, and γνώμης μᾶλλον ἐφόδῳ ἢ ἰσχύος first and esp. by ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ δὲ . . . ἐχειρώσαντο, to which then two further reasons are added (19 and 21).—11.

τὰ πράγματα . . . καταληπτά: here of securing predominance (cf. Hdt. vi. 39. 4); c. 30. 11, of conquering in battle. Cf. iv. 2. 13 κατασχήσειν ῥᾳδίως τὰ πράγματα, c. 62. 11; 72. 3 ἔχειν τὰ πράγματα, c. 28. 1 οἱ ἐν τοῖς πράγμασι, i. 89. 2 ἦλθον ἐπὶ τὰ πράγματα, vii. 49. 3 τὸ βουλόμενον τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις γίγνεσθαι τὰ πράγματα.

ἅμα μέν: the correlative is ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ δέ (14), as in iv. 73. 10.—

μαρτυρίῳ ἐχρῶντο μὴ ἂν . . . ξυστρατεύειν: the inf. clause is the obj. of ἐχρῶντο, “they used as a proof (of the propriety of their course) that those at least who had equal votes with them would be unwilling to join in their expeditions, unless those whom they went against were guilty of some wrong.” The condensed statement is about equiv. to ἅμα μὲν γὰρ μαρτυρίῳ ἐχρῶντο, μὴ ἂν τοίς γε ἰσοψήφους, εἰ μή τι ἠδίκουν οἶς ἐπῄεσαν, ξυστρατεύειν, οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἄκοντάς γε ξυστρατεύειν, ἰσοψήφους ὄντας. (Goeller.) See App.—13.

ἰσοψήφους: ‘It seems to be rhetorical exaggeration that the Lesbians, αὐτόνομοι and (though after the revolt only the Methymneans) ναυσὶ καὶ οὐ φόρῳ ὑπήκοοι (vii. 57. 22), call themselves ἰσοψήφους, mindful to be sure of the right and of the ancient statute, long ago abolished by the Athenians, acc. to which the allies consulted ἀπὸ κοινῶν ξυνόδων. Cf. i. 97. § 1.’ St.—14.

ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ δέ: on the position of δέ, to emphasize τῷ αὐτῷ, see Kühn. 528, 1.—

καὶ τὰ κράτιστα: καὶ τοὺς κρατίστους ἡμᾶς, Schol. The neut. pl. of the adj. expresses a concrete idea. Kühn. 403, N. 2.—15.

τὰ τελευταῖα: as the last, pred. to τὰ κράτιστα, as the position of τε, καί shows. The art., which Kr., St., and Steup strike out, L. Herbst (Philol., 1860, p. 342 f.) explains as intended to sharpen the contrast with what precedes, ‘as the last in the series, as it were the capstone of their work.’ Cf. c. 85. 2; possibly c. 23. 15.—16.

τοῦ ἄλλου περιῃρημένου: “when all else was stripped from around them,” like a tree lopped of its branches. Cf. ii. 13. 38; Plato Gorg. 502 c; Dem. xxi. 138. τοῦ ἄλλου collective, as in c. 107. 25; i. 48. 6; iv. 96. 8; viii. 42. 7.

ἀσθενέστερα ἕξειν: a favourite turn of Thuc., often used in expressions of change. See on i. 120. 9.—18.

αὐτῶν: themselves, intens., not possessive.—

πρὸς ὅ τι χρὴ στῆναι: something to rally to. Cf. iv. 56. 17 πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνων γνώμην αἰεὶ ἕστασαν. The usual form is μετά τινος στῆναι, as in c. 39. 12; i. 33. 22; vii. 57. 4; 61. 12. χρή with inf. is a common periphrasis for the delib. subj. in dependent clauses. Cf. c. 53. 9; i. 40. 20; 91. 4; ii. 4. 10; iv. 34. 25; vii. 44. 15. Kr. Spr. 54, 7, 2; Kühn. 394, N. 3.—

οὐκ ἂν ὁμοίως: sc. as they did with the course adopted. Cf. i. 2. 22; ii. 60. 21.

τό τε ναυτικὸν kte(.: third cause of the ἔφοδος γνώμης μᾶλλον ἢ ἰσχύος, namely, that the Mytileneans might not become prematurely frightened and make an alliance dangerous to Athens.—20.

μή ποτε καθ̓ ἓν γενόμενον . . . παρασχῇ: lest perchance a union might be effected, either by joining you or some one else, which would bring danger to themselves. καθ̓ ἓν γενόμενον, as in c. 10. 16. προσθέμενον, as in viii. 48. 29; 87. 25. Steup, who claims that, as the passage stands, καθ̓ ἓν γενόμενον can only be subord, to προσθέμενον, is inclined to bracket προσθέμενον, and explain καθ̓ ἓν . . . ἄλλῳ τῳ after the analogy of δἰ ἀνοκωλῆς γίγνεσθαί τινι, i. 40. 16.

τὰ δὲ καί: partly also, similar to τὸ δέ τι καί of i. 107. 19; 118. 12; vii. 48. 7. Kr. Spr. 50, 1, 15; Kühn. 459, 1 c. This introduces the last reason, though only as a subord. one, why the Lesbians were not deprived of their liberty.—

ἀπὸ θεραπείας: in consequence of our paying court. ἀπό, as in i. 12. 5; 17. 4; 23. 27; 24. 10. Müller-Strübing (Aristoph. u. d. hist. Kritik, p. 366 ff.) rightly sees here, with the Schol., an allusion to bribery of Athenian statesmen, more clearly stated in Ar. Vesp. 675 ff.—22.

περιεγιγνόμεθα: i.e. αὐτόνομοι ἐλείφθημεν (9).

ἂν ἐδοκοῦμεν δυνηθῆναι: sc. περιγίγνεσθαι. Kr. Spr. 55, 4, 11. ἐδοκοῦμεν, we thought, as in i. 126. 20; 128. 30; iv. 14. 14; vii. 41. 14. ἄν belongs to δυνηθῆναι. Kr. writes δοκοῦμεν on the ground that only with the pres. can δυνηθῆναι ἄν stand for ἐδυνήθημεν ἄν. But Steup cites viii. 2. 3 ἐπηρμένοι ἦσαν . . . νομίσαντες κἂν ἐπὶ σφᾶς ἕκαστοι ἐλθεῖν αὐτούς, εἰ τὰ ἐν τῇ Σικελίᾳ κατώρθωσαν. For Steup's objections to the impf., see App.—24.

τοῖς ἐς τοὺς ἄλλους: their conduct toward the rest. Schol. τεκμήρια ἦν ἡμῖν τὰ πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους ὑπ̓ Ἀθηναίων γενόμενα.