E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 7

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δεινὸν οὖν ἦν κ.τ.λ.—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 καθ᾽ ἓν τῶν πραγμάτων 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 ἐκεῖνο for καθ᾽ ἕν. Only Bohme-Widmann are entirely satisfied, taking καθ᾽ ἓν τῶν πραγμάτων as subject of δεινὸν ἦν—which I agree with Stahl is impossible—and understanding, with Haase, in unum contracta rerum gestarum summa.）

καθ᾽ ἓν—means generally (1) in detail, singly; but sometimes (2) in one respect, for one reason, as in II. 89.7. Thuc. is contrasting ἓν with πολλά, 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 ἀλλὰ καὶ, etc., which again is developed in §§ 3, 4, through which the general idea δεινὸν ἦν οὐ καθ᾽ ἓν runs—bnt the subject clause, ὅτι . . κινδυνεύοντες, is lost sight of. καθ᾽ ἓν γίγνεσθαι = in unum cogi.

τῶν πραγμάτων—expresses the sphere of circumstances in which there were many points of horror, and the circum= stances are those of the ἀποχώρησις.

ὅτι τάς τε κ.τ.λ.—Haase and Rauchenstein alone take this as subject of δεινὸν ἦν, but the notes will show that they are prob. right.

ἐν τῇ ἀπολείψει—this being a quasi-temporal word, Thuc. might perhaps have omitted ἐν, as he does with πόλεμος, ἑσβολή.