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μετὰ δὲ τὴν διαίρεσιν τῆς ληίης: these words, carrying back over c. 122, show that the Aiginetan episode just recounted belongs to a later date, and suggest that the record of it may be an insertion, not of the first draft; see preceding note.


ἀριστήια δώσοντες: the prize is not a mere ideal award, but sufficiently material to pass from hand to hand; cp. next c.


ἀνὰ τὸν πόλεμον τοῦτον. This proposal to award the prize for the war —which is not yet over—is a little premature. Did the Greeks then believe that the war was over (cp. c. 109 supra)? Or is this episode at the Isthmos antedated some twelve months? Or is it altogether apocryphal? It has a somewhat fabulous air. Pliny 34. 53 has a similar anecdote of Polykleitos, presumably plagiarized from this.

οἱ στρατηγοί: apparently of the fleet: the admirals (but was Aristeides among them?). The fleetis all apparently supposed to have moved to the Isthmos. The Peloponnesian army too might still be there; but its organization was probably different from that of the fleet, and in any case its commanders could hardly be conceived as awarding each to himself the prize on this occasion.


διένεμον τὰς ψήφους ἐπὶ τ. Ποσειδέωνος τῷ βωμῷ: a specially solemn procedure, designed to secure an absolutely honest decision, as in judicial proceedings (Plutarch Perikl. 32 οἱ δὲ δικασταὶ τὴν ψῆφον ἀπὸ τοῦ βωμοῦ φέροντες . . κρίνοιεν). διανέμειν τὰς ψήφους apparently means to divide the votes among the (possible) competitors for first and second place. Cp. διαφέρειν τὴν ψῆφον 4. 138. φέρειν, τίθεσθαι would be more usual. How the voting was actually conducted does not clearly appear. Perhaps there were two urns upon the altar, into one of which each strategos put an ostrakon, with the name of his nominee for first place inscribed upon it, and into the other that for the second place; in the scrutiny it would have been discovered that in the first urn no two ostraka bare the same name, while in the second every sherd was inscribed with the name of Themistokles. (But how did the Athenian himself vote?) The shrine of Poseidon and its contents are described by Pausanias 2. 1. 7-9, for his own day; the temple in 480 B. C. was presumably the sixth-century edifice, of which remains have been found; cp. Frazer iii. 11.


οἱ πολλοὶ συνεξέπιπτον: cp. c. 49 supra; here (as in 5. 22) the verb is used with a personal subject, but appears to have merely the meaning ‘coincided,’ agreed; the fortuitous character of the agreement may have suggested the use of the word.

Θεμιστοκλέα κρίνοντες: sc. τὸν δεύτερον εἶναι. δεύτερα just above is merely adverbial.


οἳ μὲν δὴ ἐμουνοῦντο: they were left each with one vote only (for first place). The same remark, however, applies to Themistokles, so that the contrast here is not quite complete.


δευτερείοισι ὑπερεβάλλετο: sc. τοὺς ἄλλους στρατηγούς. δευτερεῖα (εὐδαιμονίης) 1. 32; ὑπερβάλλεσθαι c. 24 supra; and 1. 61 Θηβαῖοι ὑπερεβάλοντο τῇ δόσι τῶν χρημάτων.

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