Charles D. Morris, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

ἐτείχισαν: complexive aor., summing up the narrative from c. 89. § 3. Ullrich, Hell. Kr. p. 49, calculates that the interval cannot have exceeded three months.

καὶ δήλη...ἐγένετο : proleptic and personal const., on the principle of c. 40. 13.

οἱ γὰρ θεμέλιοι κτἑ.: = οἱ θεμέλιοι οἳ ὑπόκεινται παντοίων λίθων εἰσίν. ὑπόκεινται, pf. pass. of ὑποτιθέναι, with λίθων, gen. of material.

οὐ ξυνειργασμένων: not worked for the purpose of junction.—ἔστιν ᾗ: in several places. G. 152, N. 2; H. 998.

λίθοι εἰργασμένοι: stones already wrought for other purposes.—ἐγκατελέγησαν: Schol. ἐγκατῳκοδομήθησαν. There is probably an allusion to the use of λογάδην, as in iv.4.6.—μείζων: with ἐξήχθη (cf. c. 90. 21), i.e. than they were before, inclosing now the whole range of the Museum and the neighbouring heights. Curtius, Hist. of Gr. II. p. 363; Sieben Karten, 3.

πάντα ὁμοίως: all without distinction. Cf. c. 121. 5; 124. 16; 130. 12; ii.49.41; iii.39.33; 111. 10; iv.112.10; v.68.13; vi.24.8; vii.28.4.—κινοῦντες: often used of interference due to necessity, as with temple-treasures, c. 143. 2; ii.24.7; with sacred water, iv.98.15. Here, no doubt, of the στῆλαι ἀπὸ σημάτων, etc.

ἔπεισε δὲ κτἑ.: this second greater design was projected but not completed by Themistocles. This is implied by the verbs ἔπεισε . . . καὶ ξυνκατεσκεύαζε, 15, which should not be separated by punctuation. The first parenthesis explains τὰ λοιπά, the second, ναυτικοὺς γεγενημένους, while the partic. νομίζων with its two infs. gives the reason of ἔπεισε . . . οἰκοδομεῖν.— 9. ὑπῆρκτο δέ : now a beginning had been made. Cf. c. 6. 20; ii.13.29; vii.75.38; and see on c. 48. 1.

κατ᾽ ἐνιαυτόν: = κατ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸν οὔσης = ἐνιαυσίας, vi.54.27.

Ἀθηναίοις: with ἦρξε. Cf. ii.2.6; vi.54.27; Hdt. viii.51.5. G. 184, 3; H. 767; Kr. Spr. 47, 20, 2.—ἦρξε: Böckh (Abh. d. Akad. 1827, p. 131) followed by Curtius, II. p. 242, dates this in Ol. 71. 4, B.C. 4932; Kr. Stud. I. p. 23 ff., in Ol. 74. 3, B.C. 482-1.

λιμένας...αὐτοφυεῖς : the Piraeus, here in widest sense, is “the peninsula the heart of which is formed by the steep height of Munychia, from which the rocky land stretches to the sea like an indented leaf and forms three natural basins with narrow entrances.” Curtius, Hist. of Gr. II. p. 611. In a narrower sense the largest of these basins was called Πειραιεύς, the others being Zea and Munychia. Curtius, Sieb. Kart. p. 30; 60, 61.—αὐτούς: the Athenians themselves, opp. to τὸ χωρίον.

προφέρειν : here as in c. 123. 6; ii.89.11, intr., = διαφέρειν. Cl. takes the pres. inf. here in a fut. sense after νομίζειν. See on c. 82. 18. But it is better, with St., Qu. Gr. p. 8, to explain it as pres.: putans eos nauticos factos multum proficere ad potentiam sibi comparandam.

ἀνθεκτέα: see on c. 7. 2; 72. 4; from the mid. ἀντέχεσθαι. Cf. c. 13. 6.

τὴν ἀρχὴν κτἑ.: the impf., as in c. 26. 23; 27. 2, he proceeded to make a beginning of the work, with the implication that it was not finished before his banishment, cir. B.C. 471. εὐθύς, Schol., ἅμα τῷ ξυμβουλεῦσαι. Arnold thinks this was immediately after the retreat of the Persians. Grote, V. c. 45, p. 149, connects it with ἐτόλμησεν εἰπεῖν, and refers to the time when Them. first suggested that the Athenians should make themselves a naval power.

καὶ ᾠκοδόμησαν: complexive aor. including the whole operation; and as obj., not τεῖχος with its description, but directly τὸ πάχος τοῦ τείχους, whereas in 21 τὸ ὕψος follows in a different const.

ὅπερ: the antec. is πάχος.

δύο γὰρ ἅμαξαι...ἐπῆγον : Grote, V. c. 44, p. 105, explains that “two carts, meeting one another, brought stones, which were laid together right and left on the outer side of each”; Cl., that carts brought stones from opposite sides, and after unloading passed down on the other side. But he does not show how this was possible while the walls were in process of construction. Kr. and Herbst, Philol. 38, p. 551, regard the words as a gloss, perhaps introduced by way of comparison with the Birdcity (Ar. Av. 1127) or Babylon (Strab. xvi.1.5; Curt. v.1.25).

ἐντὸς δὲ...ἦν : if the previous words are omitted, these words continue the description of the walls and not of their construction; and thus ἦν proves that when these words were written the walls were no longer standing. (Otherwise the pres. would be used, as in c. 126. 44. Herbst, ibid. p. 552.) Cl. explains χάλιξ and πῆλος of mortar, ‘neither lime nor clay’; but the words more probably mean rubble, loose stones or clay, opp. to the μεγάλοι λίθοι and not to the means of joining them. These stones, cut with square angles, were fastened together, not by cement between them, but iron clamps on the outside (τὰ ἔξωθεν, see on c. 2. 2) made secure by melted lead in the drilled holes.— 21. μάλιστα: see on c. 13. 11. Curtius, Hist. of Gr. II. p. 363, conjectures that a height of 60 feet was intended.

τῷ μεγέθει=ὕψει.

ἀφιστάναι :=ἀποτρέπειν, repel; very unusual. Cf., however, v.45.10.

τῶν ἀχρειοτάτων: used chiefly of unfitness for military service. Cf. ii.6.17; 44. 20.

προσέκειτο: implies the resolute carrying out of the plan which πρῶτος ἐτόλμησεν εἰπεῖν, 14. Cf. vii.18.6; viii.52.15; the const. as in vi.89.13; vii.50.31; viii.89.22.

τόν τε: and accordingly. See on c. 87. 11.

τῆς ἄνω πόλεως: Athens as opp. to the harbour. Cf. ii.48.8.

ἢν ἄρα: cf. c. 84. 9.

καταβάντας: acc., though the dat. precedes. Cf. c. 31. 10; 53. 1; 72. 5.

ἐτειχίσθησαν: refers to 1,= τὴν πόλιν ἐτείχισαν, while τἆλλα κατεσκευάζοντο (impf.) implies the gradual repair and equipment of their houses, during which the following occurrences took place. This relation is expressed by Ἀθηναῖοι μὲν οὖν . . . Παυσανίας δὲ κτἑ.