C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5

Τεγεατῶν—Classen follows Stahl in reading τῶν for (Τεγεα）τῶν, believing that the reading came from Τεγέᾳ, a gloss on πόλει. ἐνεδίδοσαν—the imperfect denotes intention or arrangement; so iv. 76, 2, Χαιρώνειαν ἄλλοι ἐνεδίδοσαν. For the uses of ἐνδοῦναι see note on iv. 66, 2.

Λακεδαιμόνιοι δέ—see ch. 60, 12 and 25. This first sentence deals in a parenthetical way with the state of feel ing in Sparta before Orchomeuos fell. ἐξ Ἄργους—from the neighbourhood or district of Argos; the converse of the use of ἐν noted on ch. 55, 2. χειρωσάμενον σφίσιν—so iv. 28, fin.

παρασχὸν καλῶς—ch. 60, 29: cf. 14, 14. This phrase would naturally be answered by ὡς οὔπω πρότερον, sc. παρέσχεν. Here however we have ω:ς <*>ένόμιζον, sc. παρασχεῖν. The construction is somewhat harsh, and Kruger brackets αὐτοὶ ἐνόμιζον. It is also suggested to insert ὡς before αὐτοί. Note that οὔπω πρότερον with a relative occurs twice in this chapter, and in 64, 7.

λαβεῖν—‘to get’ or ‘find’, with ἀθρόους. like Hdt. i. 116, τὸν βουκόλον μόνον λαβών. Classen compares ch. 102, 2, and vi. 86, 3, ὅταν καιρὸν λάβωσι, but these instances are not analogous.

ἠγγέλλετο—the imperfects in this sentence are to be noticed, ‘when news of the capture of Orchomenos went on to arrive’, etc. For the explanatory infinitive ἑαλωκέναι cf. i. 50, 1, πρὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐτράποντο φονεύειν: see Krüger's Grammar § 61. 6, 8.

ἐβούλευον—for this use of the active where we might expect the middle, see note on iv. 15, 1. παρὰ τὸν τρόπον— they were usually slow and deliberate; see i. 132, 5, χρώμενοι τῷ τρόπῳ, ᾧπερ είώθασιν ἐς σφᾶς αὐτοὺς, μὴ ταχεῖς ἐ̂ναι περὶ ἀνδρὸς Σπαρτιάτου βουλεῦσαί τι ἀνήκεστον.

δέκα μυριάσι—‘about £6700, supposing the sum to be given in Aeginetan drachmae’ (Jowett). For the dative cf. ii. 65, 2, ἐζημίωσαν χρήμασι: so φυγῇ, iv. 65, 3.

ῥύσεσθαι—‘atone for’ or ‘do away with’ is the sense required, and the scholiast explains ῥύσεσθαι by ἀπολύσειν. It is suggested that it may have been the actual expression used by Agis. ῥύομαι in Homer and Herodotus means to set free or redeem, e.g. from slavery, and the idea of retrieving a fault might thus come in. Poppo says that the word is found in later historians such as Diodorus and Herodian. Dobree proposed λύσεσθαι, comparing ἀπελύσαντο, ch. 75, 13, and similar phrases.

στρατευσάμενος—‘when he had taken the field’ i.e. if again placed at the head of an army. The best manuscripts have στρατευσόμενος, and some editors read στρατευόμενος. ἢ=‘or else’; i. 78, 3, etc.

ποιεῖν—‘let them do’, dependent on the sense (=ἐκέλευε) supplied from παρῃτεῖτο, or simply representing the direct imperative: so iv. 50, 3, πέμψαι, ‘they must send’, appended to the account of a letter. The construction of the infinitive in treaties and laws is similar, e.g. εἶναι line 18.

ἐπέσχον—ch. 32, 28. ἐν τῶ παρόντι—we are not told how long the law remained in force, or if it applied to other commauders besides Agis. No further mention is made of such ξύμβουλοι, and Agis himself, when in command of the troops at Decelea, is found acting with full authority and independently of the home government; see especially viii. 5, 3; also ch. 66, 12.

ξμμβούλους—such commissioners are mentioned in ii. 85, 1: iii. 69, 1, and 76, 1, as appointed to assist Spartan naval commanders; and Plutarch (Per. c. 22) speaks of ξύμβουλοι being sent with the young Pleistoanax when he invaded Attica in 445. The idea therefore was not altogether new.