Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides Book 7

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The number of troops that can be depended on is small. I myself am not able to prevent the evils, and repair our losses. In Sicily we have only weak allies, and our supplies are threatened. However gloomy all this is, it is my duty to tell you the truth.

1. ἐπισταμένοις: the partic, is the important word, “you yourselves know best what I write to you.” Cf. iii.53.14.

βραχεῖα ἀκμή: understood by the Schol. of the short duration of the good condition of a crew. This seems to be correct, and so Bl., Kr. and Arn. explain. But acc. to Bauer, Cl. and St. the sense is: “the really efficient part of a ship's crew is always small.”

οἱ ἐξορμῶντες...τὴν εἰρεσίαν : the two expressions (co-ord. by τε καί) bring together the two most important qualifications of an oarsman, which are in a certain degree opp. to each other: not only to start a ship (properly) (ἐξορμᾶν), but to keep the rowing in order (ξυνέχειν). Cf. Poll. i. 123, τὰ δὲ ἔργα ἀνάγεσθαι, προσαναπειρᾶσθαι, ἐξορμᾶν τὴν ναῦν. St., however, understands the sense to be: who so impel a boat with oars as to keep time in rowing.

4. τούτων δὲ πάντων: sc. ἀπόρων ὄντων, covering all back to c. 12. § 3, and repeated in the following ταῦτα.

ἐμοί : on the dat. after οἷόν τε εἶναι instead of the subj. acc. with the inf., see Kühn. 585, note 2.—χαλεπαὶ ἄρξαι: inf. act. where we use pass. G. 261, 2, Rem.; H. 952 a; Kr. Spr. 55, 3, 7. See on vi.42.8, ῥᾴους ἄρχειν.

αἱ ὑμέτεραι φύσεις : ingenia vestra. Cf. Ar. Pax, 607, τὰς φύσεις ὑμῶν . . . καὶ τὸν αὐτοδὰξ τρόπον.

ἐπιπληρωσώμεθα : fill up; ἐπι- as in ἐπισκενάζειν, c. 1. 2; vi.104.20; ἐπιπέμπειν, vi.73.10; ἐπιμανθάνειν, i.138.12. Cl. writes ἐπιπληρως ώ μεθα (deliberative subj.), for ἐπιπληρως ό μεθα, acc. to analogy of ii.52.11; iv.28.16; v.65.21. But while Thuc. might of course have written the subjv. it is not abs. necessary. Besides, the Schol. explains, τὰ πληρώματα ἀναπληρώσομεν. See on i.91.4. For the deliberative subjv., see Kr. Spr. 54, 7, 2; Kühn. 394, note 3. For fut., see Kr. Spr. 53, 7, 8.

ἀφ̓ ὧν...γίγνεσθαι : the sense is, “as we must supply the losses from the troops brought with us, so must what remains suffice for the service without compensation for the losses.” The reference is only to the crews τὰ πληρώματα (not to war supplies). The art. not repeated with ἀπαναλισκόμενα, as in c. 7. 1; i.7.7; iv.25.8.

11. ἓν ἔτι: only one thing more, explained in the following ὥστε . . . χωρῆσαι. The aor. inf. makes vivid the threatening danger.

καὶ ὑμῶν μὴ ἐπιβοηθούντων: although in the gen. abs., to be taken with ὁρῶντα, as τε καί shows: “when they see in what condition we are and (that this is so) while you do not come to our aid.” Kr. Spr. 56, 14, 2.

πρὸς ἐκείνους χωρῆσαι: go over to them, as in i.18.28; v.22.11; 43. 6.— διαπεπολεμήσεται αὐτοῖς: the fut. pf. of Vat., stronger than διαπολεμήσεται of the other Mss., “they will have ended the war.” Kr. Spr. 53, 9, 3. Acc. to the like expression in c. 25. 46, ὁ πόλεμος could be spared here, and Kr. and St. omit it. But it is the reading of all the Mss., and as opp. to ἀμαχεί is not without force: “an end would, without a battle, be put to the whole war.” See App.

ἐκπολιορκηθέντων: cf. c. 11. § 4.

17. τὰ ἐνθάδε: corresponding to ἐν ᾧ ἔσμεν in c. 11. 3.

ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν: sc. τῶν ἡδίστων, ἃ ἀκούειν βούλεσθε, with which ὁμοῖον has the meaning correspondingly. Cf. ii.54.16.

ἡγησάμην: aor., anticipating the time of reading. GMT. 17, 2, N. 5; H. 838; Kr. Spr. 53, 10, 1.