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

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Ὁ—the art. added because this is a continuation of the narrative from VI. 104. Contrast c. 2.1, where the art. is omitted because there is a transition to new points.

Γύλιππος—son of Cleandridas, who had settled at Thurii, on which see c. 33.6 note. His appointment to command in Sicily was the immediate result of Alcibiades' advice. Nothing is known of his previous history. ( “His character is in some points not Spartan. He is quick, enterprising, full of resource, able to adapt himself to all men and to all circumstances.” Freeman . This character reminds us of the description which Pericles gave of the Athenians.)

ὁ—the art. again because the persons are thought of separately. Contrast c. 80.1 τῷ Ν καὶ Δ ἐδόκει.

Πυθὴν—Corinthian captain. Syr. envoys had gone to Corinth in the winter of 415, and Corinth had at once resolved to assist her colony.

τοῦ Τ—T. has been all genders. In Attic it is masc., on the analogy of all nouns in -ρας; in Alexandrine writers it became fem.; the Romans made it neut.

Τάραντος—Gyl. had been driven by foul weather to seek shelter there. T.—regnata Laconi rura Phalanto—was founded circ. 705 B.C. after the first Messenian war.

ἐπεσκεύασαν—VI. 104 τὰς ναῦς ἐπεσκεύαζεν. Diod. XIII. 1 τὰς ναῦς ἐπεσκεύασαν . . . τριήρεις κατεσκεύασαν . . . . τοῦ στόλου παρεσκευασμένου. To the Latin sense of apparatus παρασκευὴ corresponds; while κατασκευὴ has the English sense of the same word.

Λοκροὺς—founded about 690 B.C. on land belonging to the Sicels. Now Gerace.

ἤδη—they had received several false reports that Syr. was entirely shut in.

κατὰ τὰς Ἐ.—via: cf. II. 76.4 κατὰ χῶμα προσάγειν. Epipolae includes all the high ground west of Achradina which was not inclosed in the fortifications of the city.

στρατιᾷ—dat. of accompaniment, only used in naval and military expressions.

ἐβουλεύοντο—because before they had supposed that the only chance of getting into Syr. was by eluding the A. fleet.

ἐν δεξιᾷ λαβόντες—except here Thuc. always uses ἔχειν ἐν δ., ἐν ἀριστερᾷ.

διακινδυνεύσωσιν—so II. 4 ἐβουλεύοντο εἴτε κατακαύσωσιν εἴτε τι ἄλλο χρήσωνται. Thuc. does not use πότερον . . ἤ. He uses πότερον twice, VIZ. I. 80 πῶς χρὴ . . ἐπειχθῆναι : πότερον ταῖς ναυσίν ; and VI. 38 τί καὶ βούλεσθε; πότερον ἄρχειν ; In both cases ἀλλὰ follows (ὑποφορά), as in Andoc. I. 148 τίνα γὰρ άναβιβάσωμαι; τὸν πατέρα; ἀλλὰ τέθνηκεν. ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἀδελφούς; ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ εἰσίν.

διακινδυνεύσωσιν ἐσπλεῦσαι—of the compounds of κινδυνεύω, ἀνα-, ἀπο-, δια-, παρα- are found with infin.; ἐπι-, προ-, συγ- are not.

Ἱμέραν—founded 646 B.C. from Zancle, to be a stronghold against Phoenician Panormus. It was destroyed for ever by the Carthaginians in 408.

αὐτούς—τοὺς Ἱμεραίους, the name of the people implied in the name of their city, as constantly.

οὓς—after the collective στρατιάν.

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καὶ ἔδοξεν—cf. VIII. 8 ἐβουλεύοντο, καὶ ἔδοξε πρῶτον ἐς Χῖον πλεῖν αὐτοῖς.

ὅμως—in spite of his previous indifference; VI. 104 ὑπερεῖδε τὸ πλῆθος . . . καὶ οὐδεμίαν φυλακήν πω ἐποιεῖτο.

ἃς . . . ἀπέστειλε—aor. for plup. in dependent clause, as constantly.

πυνθανόμενος . . . εἶναι—generally πυνθάνομαι and αἰσθάνομαι take the partic.

φυλακὴν—concrete, as in φυλακὰς καθίστασθαι II. 24.

περαιοῦνται διὰ—cf. I. 107 διὰ τοῦ κόλπου περαιοῦσθαι. The accus. is the ordinary constr.

τοῦ πορθμοῦ—IV. 24 ἔστι δὲ ὁ πορθμὸς ἡ μεταξὺ Ῥηγίου θἀλασσα καὶ Μεσσήνης.

σχόντες Ῥηγίῳ—σχεῖν is also constructed with ἐς and κατά. (Bekker Anecd. I. 173 σχών, δοτικῇ: Θουκυδίδης ἑβδόμῳ.)

Μεσσήνῃ—its older name was Zancle, from Sicel Danklon, a reaping-hook, = ἀγκών.

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τούς τε Ἱμεραίους—co-ordinate with καὶ τοὺς Σελινουντίους ἐκέλευον.

καὶ αὐτούς—the καὶ is epexegetic, introducing the explanation of ξυμπολεμεῖν.

ἀνείλκυσαν—so that the oarsmen were available as infantry.

τοὺς Σ. πέμψαντες ἐκέλευον—observe (1) that when a partie. and verb apply to a common object, the object follows the constr. required by the partic., (2) that πέμπω is a regular exception to this rule in such phrases as κήρυκα, πρέσβεις, ἀποίκους, πἐμψαντες, as they are so frequently used absolutely that the object is generally not accommodated to the partic. at all: cf. II. 27 τὴν Αίγιναν πέμψαντες εποίκους έχειν: VIII. 40 Ἀστύοχον πέμψαντες ἐκέλευον. Contrast c. 3 μέρος τι πέμψας πρὸς το φρούριον αἱρεῖ: c. 85 ὲπι τους τριακοσιους πἐμψαντες ξυνέλαβον.

πανστρατιᾷ—Selinus only sent ψιλούς τινας καὶ ἱππέας (§ 5), as it was at war with Segesta. (Thuc. is fond of thus contrasting great projects with meagre performances. Cf II. 93.)

χωρίον—meanings (1) a strategical position, (2) a farm.

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Σικελῶν τινες—the S were a Latin tribe, and were driven from Latinm into Bruttium, whence they were again driven over to Sicily by the Opicans.

προσχωρεῖν—the greater part of the S. had supported the Athenians through enmity with Syracuse since 451 B.C., when the Sicel lcader Ducetius had defeated the combined forces of Acragas and Syracuse.

Ἀρχωνίδου—he had aided Ducetins in founding Calacte on the N. coast of Sicily. When D. died in 440, Syracuse feared that A. would revive the power of the Sicels, and so made war on them.

ταύτῃ—i.e. those of Northern Sicily.

τινῶν—A. was prince of Herbita, and his territory, or at least his influence, probably extended to Calacte on the north coast.

ἐκ Λακ. . . . ἥκειν—here ἥκω expresses come duly to their assistance, as in βοήθεια ἥξει III. 4; c. 16.3; ὠφελία ἥξει VI. 93. Cf. VI 73 ἐς τὴν Λακεδαίμονα πρέσβεις ἀπέστειλαν ὅπως ξυμμαχία αὐτοῖς παραγένηται. The word ἥκω is constantly so used in drama, esp. in addressing persons who have come to bring help.

προθύμως—cf. VI. 18 π. παραγίγνεσθαι, and c. 66 and 70 π. ἀντιλαβέσθαι.

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καὶ—and so, giving the result, as often.

σφετέρων—ἑαυτοῦ would be more correct here and in c. 3.4; but the whole side is meant.

ἐς χιλίους—direct object of ἀναλαβών. A prep. and its case may stand for subj. or obj. of a verb.

τοὺς πάντας—πᾶς preceded by the art. gives the sum total. Cf. II. 7 ἐς τὸν πάντα ἀριθμόν. (The Sicels were always a number of isolated atoms except only when united under Ducetius and to some extent under Archonides.)

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Λευκάδος—Gylippus and Pythen had left the Cor. here with filteen ships, and had sailed out with four, hoping to prevent Italy from joining Athens, but despairing of Sicily.

ὡς εἶχον τάχους—cf. c. 57 ως ἑκαστοι τῆς ξυντυχίας ἔσχον. VI. 97 ὡς ἕκαστος τάχους εἶχε. Tac. Ann. 15.53 “ut quisque audentiae habuisset accurrerunt” is a conscions imitation of this. Xen. Hel. 4.5.15 ὡς τάχους ἕ. εἶχε. Herod. VI. 116 ὡς ποδῶν εἶχον.

ἀφικνεῖται—having entered by the Little Harbour (called Laccrus), eluding the A. fleet which commanded the Great Harbour.

μέλλοντας ἐκκλησιάσειν—there is no evidence to prove that ‘it was the very day,’ as Freeman says, ‘which had been fixed for the discussion.’ Thuc. only says that they intended to discuss the question of peace.

Λακ. ἀποστειλάντων—Krüger notes that the gen. abs. is often thus placed qualifying a verb. Cf. V. 4 τρίτος αὐτὸς Ἀθηναίων πεμπόντων ἐξέπλευσε.

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ᾐσθάνοντο—by message from him.

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Ἰετὰς—Steph. Byz. says Philistus referred to it as φρούριον Σικελίας; but it is quite unknown.

τότε—Classen refers this to ἐν τῇ παρόδῳ, but as Thuc. never uses τότε with reference to the period implied in a temporal expression, Poppo rightly refers it to οἱ Συρακόσιοι ἐξῆλθον.

τεῖχος . . . τῶν Σικελῶν—the perversion of the natural order adds emphasis to τῶν Σικελῶν. Cf. II. 5.5 ἐν σπονδαῖς σφῶν πειραθέντες καταλαβεῖν τὴν πόλιν, where σφῶν belongs to τὴν πόλιν. Cf. on c. 17.3, 4, and 18, 1.

ἐν τῇ παρόδῳ—So I. 126; cf. ἐν ὁδῷ εἶναι, to be on the road.

ἑλών, καὶ ξυν—when two partic. are joined by καί, the action of the one generally precedes that of the other in time, or gives the cause of it. The former may be the case here. (Hw. and Sta. bracket καί.)

Εὐρὐηλον—it is strange enough that the Syr. should not have established an outpost on the point of the ‘Broad Nail’ in the winter of 415 when the fortifications were extended; but still stranger that G. should have found Euryelus now undefended by the Athenians.

μετὰ τῶν Σ. they had joined him by marching through the open space north of the A. lines.

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l 21.

ἔτυχε . . . ἐλθὼν—with the aor. of τυγχάνω, φθάνω, λανθάνω the aor. partic. expresses time not antecedent to, but coincident with the time of the verb. To express time antecedent to the time of these verbs, either (1) the pres. or imperf. of these verbs must be used, or (2) if the aor. is used, the perf. partic is necessary. Cf. on c. 4.3.

κατὰ τοῦτο τοῦ καιροῦ—cf. c. 69 ἐν τῷ τοιούτῳ τοῦ καιροῦ; c. 33 ἐν τούτῳ τύχης. Cf. also the idiom εἰς τοῦτο (τοσοῦτο） ἐλθεῖν (ἀφικέσθαι, ἥκειν) with gen.; id temporis; eo (furoris) venire (Phrynichus says that the noun of time requires the art., but no such rule was known to Attic authors, the art. being employed or omitted according to the whim of the writer or as the meaning required. Rutherford.)

ἑπτὰ . . . ἢ ὀκτὼ—it would be about seven to the fort on the κρημνός, about eight to the κύκλος, as far as the building was then completed. (Those who think that the κύκλος was further north, and that the wall between it and the κρημνὸς was double —Classen, Holm, Lupus, Muller—are foreed to bracket ἑπτὰ . . σταδίων, as the length of the double wall must then be considerably greater. See Intr. p. xii.)

μὲν—answered by τῷ δὲ ἄλλῳ. The double wall, as nearly completed, is contrasted with the northern wall, very incomplete. (Fr. Muller and Oeltze de particularum μέν et δέ usu Halle '87 place μὲν between ἐς and τὸν helow.)

σταδίων—gen. of measure; cf. II. 13 τὰ μακρἁ τείχη τεσσαράκοντα σταδίων. The position of the gen. is due to the antithesis, which often causes a disturbance of the natural order. See on c. 17.3.

ἀπετετέλεστο—on the question whether Thuc. here neglects to take account of the wall between the κύκλος and the κρημνος, see Intr. p. xiii.

ἐς τον . . . λιμένα—it crossed three levels, (1) a short portion of Epipolae, (2)