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4. καὶ μήν in oratory draws attention to a new and striking point, ‘then again.’
5. ἐνδημοτάτους—a marked trait in the Spartan character which was much modified by the Pel. War; though for a long time S. was deficient in vigour in the war.
7. τῷ ἐπελθεῖν — ‘aggression.’ There is no need to read ἐξελθεῖν; cf. 70.7, and the eontrast is as old as the Odyssey; π 27 οὐ μὲν γάρ τι θάμ᾽ ἀγρὸν ἐπέρχεαι ... | ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιδημεύεις.
9. ἐξέρχονται ... ἀναπίπτουσιν—explained (by Bonitz) as a metaphor from boxing: to follow up an advantage) (to be forced back—“celerique elapsus vulnere cessit” Aen. 5.445.
10. τοῖς μὲν σώμασιν ... τῇ δὲ γνώμῃ—the points of this rhetorical passage are two: (1) the A. give their lives just as much as the S. for their city, but the A. regard their lives as of little worth, while the S. devote themselves entirely to the care of the body as the most precious thing they can offer to their city; (2) the A. use their intelligence in the service of their city, and for that end they cultivate their minds, whereas the S. neglect them. Thuc. has obscured his meaning by introdueing a contrast between ἀλλοτριώτατος not their own (but of course belonging to their city) and οἰκειότατος nearest and dearest to them. The Spartans too gave their lives for their city, but they regarded them as οἰκειότατος.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 1. E. C. Marchant. 1905. London. MacMillan and Company, Ltd.
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