E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 6

φαύλου—the sense cannot be ‘mean,’ ‘poor,’ as L. & S. say, since N. would appear to be disparaging the A. naval power by the connexiou with ναυτικῆς. ὁ δῆμός ἐστιν ὁ ἐλαύνων τἀς ναῦς καὶ ὁ τὴν δύναμιν περιτιθεὶς τῇ πόλει ([Xen.] Ath. Pol. init.). φαῦλος στρατία is the ordinary or conventional force required for a naval expedition. It is a feature of the Sic. expedition that there were soldiers in unusual numbers on board.

δεῖ—constructed with infin. in the clauses that follow. It is a recognised principle that a verb that admits of two constrnctions may appear in the same sentence with both: e.g. VIII. 4 παρεσκευάζοντο . . τήν τε ναυπηγίαν . . καὶ Σούνιον τειχίσαντες, where we have παρασκευάζομαι constructed first with the accus. and theu with the partic.

εἴπερ—‘that is if,’ or ‘assuming that.’ Cf. Xen. Oec. 1, 8 οὐ χρήματ᾽ αὐτῷ ἐστιν ὁ ἵππος; Οὔκ, εἴπερ τὰ χρήματά γ᾽ ἐστὶν ἀγαθόν. ὁ πεζός=ὁ π. στρατός is Ionic.

ἄξιον . . δρᾶν—equivalent to ἄξιόν τι δρᾶν. Cf. II. 91 ἀξύμφορον δρῶντες.

ὑπὸ ἱππέων—N. ‘fears that the eities will combine, and that Segesta alone will be left to give auy help against the horsemen. But he says nothing about bringing together auy force of cavalry on the A. side. That Segesta was likely to supply horse appears from c. 37, 1; 62, 9; 98, 1’ (Freeman).

ἄλλως τε κἂν ξυστῶσιν—all the good MSS. give εἰ with subj. here only in Thuc. It occurs occasionally in tragedy, and is frequent in Lucian. Probably ἄλλως τε κἄν should be read, as in I. 141.

ᾧ ἀμυνούμεθα—final rel. sentence: sc. ἱππέας πολλούς.