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παρεσκευάζοντο δὲ—this epanaphora of παρασκευά- ζομαι completes the account of the preparations on the part of (1) Demosthenes, (2) the Corinthians and Lac., (3) the Lac. Cf. 2.7 οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι παρεσκευάζοντο, παρεσκευάζοντο δὲ καὶ οἱ Αακεδαιμόνιοι. τὴν . . . ἐσβολὴν—there had been no invasion of Attica since 425. ὥσπερ τε προεδέδοκτο . . . ἐναγόντων—the circumstantial partic. is joined with any expression of similar import in another construction; in accordance with their own previous determination and at the instigation of. Thus the peaec of Nicias was finally breaking down after some eight years of half peace. ἐπειδὴ ἐπυνθάνοντο—sc. the Cor. and Syr. τὴν . . . βοήθειαν ἐς τὴν Σικελίαν—Cf. II. 52 ἡ ξυγκομιδὴ ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν; Herod. III. 7 οἱ τὴν ἐσβολὴν ταύτην παρασκευάσαντες ἐς Αἱγύπτον; V. 63 ὁ πρῶτος στόλος ἐκ Αακεδαίμονος. This omission of art. before the prep. is common with verbal substantives. If the prep. and case precedes the art., as in καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἡ τέρψις (cf. on c. 17.4) II. 38.1, the object is to produce antithesis δὴ—giving the actual reason, as in V. 85 al. προσκείμενος ἐδίδασκε—urgently advised them. Δεκέλειαν—it commands the road from Athens to Oropus, and thus to Euboea, whence came a great part of the corn supplies of Athens. Of similar strategical importance were Phyle and Oenoe.
προτέρῳ—the Archidamian war. Πλάταιαν—it was an ally of Athens since 520 B.C. III. 68.5. πρότερον—the thirty years' truce, 445 B.C. ἐθέλωσι—the form θέλω is archaic, and in Attic prose occurs only in the phrase ἢν θεὸς θέλη̣. διδόναι δίκας—submit to a judicial decision; contrast δίκην δοῦναι. εἰκότως—deservedly. Cf. εἰκός ἐστι=decet. ἐνεθυμοῦντο—began to think over—i.e. began to think it had been deserved. τὴν περὶ Πύλον ξυμφορὰν—in 425 B.C.
Ἐπιδαύρου = E. Limera, in Laconia. There are ruins of the town. The A. had ravaged it in 414, and thus broken the terms of the peace. Πρασιῶν—also in Laconia, and ravaged at the same time as Epidaurus. It had been destroyed by the A. in 430. It suffered severely, and its fate is a proof how effective the method of Pericles was. τῶν κατὰ τὰς σπονδὰς ἀ.—about disputed points in the treaty of 421, after περί του ἐπιτρέπειν—Pollux says ἡ δίαιτα (arbitration) ἐκαλεῖτο ἐπιτροπή. τότε δὴ—co-ordinate with ἐπειδὴ above, introducing the decisive moment. σφίσι—the subject of the perf. or pluperf. pass. not being personal, the agent is necessarily in dative. ἡμάρτητο—cf. Plat. Rep. 544D ἡμαρτημένας πόλεις. τὸ αὐτὸ—rendering τὸ παρανόμημα still clearer. The sentence of which this section consists is in every way a model of style, and will repay careful attention. περιεστάναι—shifted round like a wheel, as Cicero says of politics orbis reipublicae cst convcrsus (ad At. II. 9）
σίδηρον—iron tools. περιήγγελλον—as in II. 85 ναῦς περιήγγελλον κατὰ πόλεις. We expect παρασκευάζεσθαι or πέμψαι to follow. ἐπιτειχισμόν—of Deeelea. ἐπικουρίαν—esp. used of a foreign (or mercenary) force. προσηνάγκαζον—se. πορίζειν, the same brachylogy as with διανοοῦμαι V. 80, οἶμαι c. 66.3, ὁρῶ V. 80. ὄγδοον καὶ δέκατον—contrast VIII. 6 ἑνὸς δέον εἰκοστόν. The periphrastie forms are preferred in prose, esp. for 19, 29, etc. ἐτελεύτα τῷδε—the epanaphora of the verb in this formula is prob. accidental. The formal close is in aeeordance with the Gk. habit of ending quietly.
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