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χώματι—after ἀντιτείχισμα. Cf. c. 61, 2 δήλωσις ἅπασι. Thus μεῖζον is not required before ἐγίγνετο. Cf. v. 116 ὡς αὐτοῖς τὰ διαβατήρια ἱερὰ οὐκ ἐγίγνετο. ἀντιτείχισμα —i.e. τὸ μηνοειδὲς τεῖχος. δεινῶν—‘means of coercing them.’
πειρᾶσαι—c. 19, 1; also for πᾶσαν ἰδέαν.
φακέλους—an archaism, according to Marcellinus' life of Thuc. 52. It is found in Herod., Hippocrates, once in Eur., and in later authors. παρέβαλλον—‘threw side by side.’ τοῦ τείχους—the wall that had been raised, τὸ μέγα οἰκοδόμημα. The object was to set fire to the wood-work of the superstructure. Cf. c. 75, 5. τῆς ἄλλης—after ὅσον. πόλεως—inside the wall, the space between it and the new μηνοειδὲς τεῖχος.
ὄρεσιν—cf. Pindar, Pyth. III. 36 πολλὰν δ᾽ ὄρει πῦρ ἐξ ἑνὸς σπέρματος ἐνθορὸν ἀἰστωσεν ὕλαν, Hom. Il. 2, 455 πῦρ ἐπιφλέγει ἄσπετον ὕλην οὔρεος ἐκ κορυφῆς, Eur. Ino. fr. μικροῦ γὰρ ἐκ λαμπτῆρος Ἰδαῖον λέπας πρήσειεν ἄν τις. Thuc. naturally mentions the proverbial case of a forest on fire. ὑπ᾽ ἀνέμων —a very common phrase. Cf. c. 85, 6. [ ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ]— explained as = ἀπὸ τοῦ τριφθῆναι, or ἀπὸ τοῦ πυρός. In either case it is quite superfluous.
ἐδέησε—subject τοῦτο. ἐπεγένετο αὐτῇ—i.e. τῇ φλογί. ἐπίφορον—sc. ἐς τὴν πόλιν.
ὕδωρ—this clause is in apposition to τὀδε, both γὰρ and a finite verb being dispensed with.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 2. E.C. Marchant. London. MacMillan & Company. 1891.
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