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διὰ τὴν πᾶσαν κ.τ.λ.—describe the ethical excellence of N.; for ἐπιτήδευσιν shows that Thuc. is not thinking of the military sense of ἀρετή. On the whole he uses ἀρετὴ as Plato does, i.e. as embracing the fonr cardinal virtues, ἀνδρεία, σωφροσύνη, δικαιοσύνη, φρόνησις, and, though later writers had an idea that N. was a coward, there is nothing to show that he was more than a moral coward. Thuc. himself admits moral cowardice on the part of N. when he attributes superstition to him. The construction is disputed, but it is natural to suppose that both πᾶσαν and νενομισμένην belong to ἐπιτήδευσιν, not to ἀρετήν. Trans. ‘because he had directed his course of life wholly in accordance with virtuous principles,’ i.e. in accordance with elementary ethical principles, not in accordance with any school of philosophy. νομίζω=I put into practice; ἐπιτήδευσις=a theory of life, on which concrete ἐπιτηδεύματα are based. Thuc. attributes οὐ δημοτικὴ παρανομία to Alcibiades. We recall too the sneer of Plato in Phaedo 82 A οἱ τὴν δημοτικήν τε καὶ πολιτικὴν ἀρετὴν ἐπιτετηδευκότες, ἣν δὴ καλοῦσι σωφροσύνην τε καὶ δικαιοσύνην, ἐξ ἔθους τε καὶ μελέτης γεγονυῖαν ἄνευ φιλοσοφίας τε καὶ νοῦ.
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