Second Speech of Nicias (20-23)
Second Speech of Nicias (20-23)
May your undertaking be successful; but make up your minds to this, that you will find in Sicily itself only weak support, your enemies on the contrary numerous and wellequipped, especially in cavalry superior to you, and not dependent on imports of supplies from abroad.— 1.
πάντως:
under all circumstances. Cf. 5. 41. 19.
ξυνενέγκοι: act., as freq. in Hdt., in the sense of
ξυμφέρεσθαι (1. 23. 4; 7. 44. 3; 8. 83. 4, 84. 1). —
ἐπὶ τῷ παρόντι:
in view of present circumstances, as 2. 36. 18. See on
πρὸς τὸ παρόν 2. 22. 1, and
ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος 2. 54. 8.
σημανῶ: as 2. 45. 8 and freq. in Thuc.; not common elsewhere in Attic prose.
ἐπὶ γὰρ πόλεις κτἑ.: for introductory
γάρ, see on 33. 7. The exposition from here to the end of the chap, is directed against the argument of Alcibiades (17. § 2 ff.) that in Sicily they will not have to deal with a
μεγάλη δύναμις. Cf. 21. 1.—
ὡς ἐγὼ ἀκοῇ αἰσθάνομαι: cf. Alcibiades' words 17. 22.
μεγάλας: cf. 7. 58. 20
οἱ Σικελιῶται αὐτοὶ . . . ἅτε μεγάλας πόλεις οἰκοῦντες.
οὔθ̓ ὑπηκόους ἀλλήλων οὐδὲ δεομένας : the first member of the neg. sent., as
οὔτ᾽ ἂν . . . προσδεξαμένας (6) is the second, the former of the internal conditions of the Sicilian cities, the latter of their foreign relations. This becomes clearer with Bk.'s correction—
οὐδέ for
οὔτε in 5 and
οὔτ̓ for
οὐδ̓ in 6. See L. Herbst, Philol. XVI, 329 ff.
ἐς ῥᾴω μετάστασιν:
into an easier change of lot, i.e. into another condition more tolerable. Cf. 4. 74. 18. —
οὔτ̓ ἂν...προσδεξαμένας : i.e.
οὔθ αἳ ἂν προσδέξαιντο. Cf. 5. 15. 10; 7. 67. 26. In all three passages the Mss. vary between aor. and fut. ptc. The latter is preferred by L. Herbst (on
ἄν with fut. ptc. in Thuc. p. 35 ff.); but cf. Stahl, Qu. Gr.^{2} p. 22 ff.
ὡς ἐν μιᾷ νήσῳ:
for a single island. For
ὡς cf. 1. 10. 34; 2. 65. 44; 3. 113. 25; 4. 34. 10; 7. 30. 20.—
τὰς Ἑλληνίδας: opp. to the
ὄχλοις ξυμμείκτοις of Alcibiades in 17. 7, and emphatically put at the end to lead over to what follows. See App.
κατὰ τὸ Λεοντίνων ξυγγενές: cf. 3. § 3.
προσέσεσθαι:
will be with us, answering to
προσγίγνεσθαι,
attach oneself to.—
ἄλλαι ἑπτά:
Συράκουσαι, Σελινοῦς, Γέλα, Ἀκράγας, Μεσσήνη, Ἱμέρα,
Καμάρινα (Schol.). Acrae and Casmenae, which might be thought of (acc. to 5. § 2), did not attain to independent importance.—
καὶ παρεσκευασμέναι κτἑ.:
and indeed equipped with everything.
ὁμοιοτρόπως: only here in Thuc., the adj. 1. 6. 24; 3. 10. 5; 7. 55. 6; 8. 96. 27; both very rare elsewhere in Attic writers. Cf.
ὁμότροπα Hdt. 8. 144. 16.
μᾶλλον: sc.
ἢ ἐπὶ τὰς ἄλλας, i.e.
especially.
πολλοὶ μὲν...αὐτάς: χρήματά τ̓ ἔχουσι κτἑ.: after the words above (10)
καὶ παρεσκευασμέναι . . . δυνάμει, reference is here doubtless made again to all seven Sicilian cities thought of by Nicias as opponents of the Athenians, not alone to Selinus and Syracuse. Cf. also 7. 58. 21, where it is said of the contingents of the Siceliotes against Athens,
ὁπλῖται πολλοὶ καὶ νῆες καὶ ἵπποι καὶ ὁ ἄλλος ὅμιλος ἄφθονος ξυνελέγη.
ὁ πληρώσων αὐτάς :
to man them = Lat. qui with subjv., as 2. 51. 18; 4. 78. 29, 93. 13; 7. 85. 12.
ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς: surprising as opp. to
τὰ μὲν ἴδια, the usual antithesis in money matters being
κοινός (1. 80. 19, 141. 11) or
δημόσιος (1. 80. 11). It is strange, too, that there is no express mention here, along with temple treasures, of the public moneys freq. kept in temples, as Kr. noted suggesting the loss of
τὰ δὲ κοινά before
τὰ δὲ καί.
[Σελινουντίοις] : bracketed as an interpolation, with Weidner (Parerg. Dinarch. et Thuc. p. 12f.). It rests on the erroneous assumption that from
πολλοὶ μὲν γὰρ ὁπλῖται (13) on only Selinus and Syracuse were under consideration and that the fact was to be emphasized that the Selinuntians, as opp. to the Syracusans, possessed only the resources treated under
χρήματα . . . ἔστι. That actually only the temples of Selinus served for the deposit of moneys is incredible.
Συρακοσίοις δὲ...φέρεται :
and to the Syracusans from some barbarians also moncy has been paid from the beginning (or
from of old). For
ἀπὸ βαρβάρων . . . φέρεται, cf. 4. 87. 14
τοῖς ἀπὸ ὑμῶν χρήμασι φερομένοις. By
βαρβάρων τινῶν Sicels are meant. Cf. 45. 4, 88. 18. On this much discussed passage, see App.
ᾧ δὲ...προέχουσιν :
and wherein they have the advantage over us. For sing. rel. referring to members correlated by
τε . . . καί, cf.
μέγιστον 1. 35. 19;
δεινότατον 2. 51. 11;
ἀπορώτατον 7. 14. 4. Cobet (Mnem. N.S. XIV, 13) proposed
δύο δὲ κτἑ.
σίτῳ...ἐπακτῷ : =
ἐπείσακτος σῖτος Dem. 18. 87; 20. 31. To require no imported food is emphasized for Athenians, who acc. to Demosthenes depend of all men most upon foreign grain.
