E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 7

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ἐτείχιζον—his “main object now is to hinder them from carrying their north wall to the edge of the cliff, and down to the water on that side. A wall running east and west was to be built.” Freeman . This is the third Syr. counterwork.

διὰ τῶν Ἐπιπολῶν . . . ἐγκάρσιον—four expressions are here given in order to fix the direction: (1) διὰ τῶν Ἐ. shows that the wall was to run along E.: (2) ἀπὸ τῆς π. ἀρξάμενοι shows that it was to run from east to west: (3) ἄνω north of the κύκλος, as VI. 99 κάτωθεν τοῦ κύκλου south of it; cf. on c. 2.4; (4) πρὸς τὸ ἐγκάρσιον at an angle to the north wall of the A. (The meaning of ἄνω is much disputed: (a) Freeman says it means that ‘the wall was carried westwards, up the slope,’ with which the note in Jowett agrees. So Stahl. In this case ἄνω adds nothing new, but—as often—only gives the general direction which is further defined by the words following it—viz. πρὸς τὸ ἐγκάρσιον; (b） Classen renders ‘along the northern height’ and Fr. Muller ‘north of the κύκλος,’ which is much the same thing. This is better, because (1) it enables us to give the same meaning throughout the description to ἄνω, viz. ‘north’ (cf. c. 4.3) of the place specified; (2) if ἄνω does not mean north, there is nothing to show on which side of the κύκλος the new wall ran. This can indeed be inferred from what follows, but in the case of the other counterworks Thuc. states clearly that the one was κάτωθεν τοῦ κύκλου, the other διὰ τοῦ ἔλους; (3) ἄνω thus gives a new indication of direction and does not merely repeat the other expressions.)

πρὸς τὸ ἐγκάρσιον—adverbial, cross-wise: with prepositional phrases used adverbially the article is rarely found.

ὅπως . . . εἰ μὴ δύναιντο . . . μηκέτι οἷοί τε ὦσιν—when ἐὰν and subj. is changed into εἰ and opt, the subj in a final clause is regularly changed into opt.; the only exceptions in Thuc. are this passage and IV. 120 ὅπως, εἰ . . . περιτυγχάνοι, ἡ τριήρης ἀμύνῃ (V. l. ἀμύνοι),

ἀποτειχίσαι—to invest the city, by completing the northern wall.

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l. 7

οἵ τε Ἀθηναῖοι ἀνεβεβήκεσαν . . . καὶ ὁ Γ. . . . ἐπῄει—cf. II. 59 ἥ τε γῆ αὐτῶν ἐτέτμητο τὸ δεύτερον καὶ ἡ νόσος ἐπέκειτο. The A. had lately (ἤδη) gone up when Gyl. made his attack; τε . . . καὶ are parataetic and deseribe nearly simultaneous events.

τὸ ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ—i.e. they had finished the small piece referred to in c. 2.4. Thuc. always writes ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ, and so the orators unless some particular sea is referred to, as Demosth. VI. 12 τῆς ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ ἀρχῆς.

ἦν γὰρ κ.τ λ.—cf. c. 48 καί (ἦν γάρ τι . . .; I. 137 καί (ἦν γὰρ ἀγνὼς. . .

τείχους—the northern wall.

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ἔτυχον . . αὐλιζόμενοι—imperf. partic. of prolonged action; the A. were bivouacking by chance outside their fortress, on the east side. ἐτύγχανον αὐλισάμενοι would mean they had bivouacked by chance. Cf. on c. 2.4.

ὡς ᾔσθοντο—the regular periphrasis for αἰσθόμενοι when the partic. would be inelegant.

σφετέρους—after ὁ. See on c. 1.5.

πάλιν—is placed after the verb when not emphatic. It is esp. common after ἀπάγειν and ἀναχωρεῖν.

ὑψηλότερον—pred.; cf. II. 75 ᾔρετο μἐγα.

ἄλλους—exclusive; cf. c. 61.1.

ἕκαστοι—this word is frequently put into the relative clause, like quisque, instead of in the principal clause.

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τὸ Πλημμύριον— “the A. fleet was now . . . in the north-western corner of the harbour, near the swamp of Lysimeleia . . . Now that the Syr. were beginning to stir by sea, such a position gave them no command of the harbour in general. . . . Everything now had to come by sea, at a great disadvantage, as long as the A. had no command of the mouth of the harbour. . . . N. therefore determined to occupy Plemmyrion.” Freeman .

ἀντιπέρας—the view from it takes in the whole extent of Ortygia and Achradina.

ῥᾷον—ῥᾴων would be expected; but ἡ ἐσκομιδὴ ἔσται is treated as passive of τὴν ἐσκομιδὴν ποιήσομαι, so that ἔσται would more naturally be γενήσεται, as in II. 18 χαλεπῶς ἡ ἀνάστασις ἐγίγνετο. Cf. c. 28.1 (γίγνεται and ἐστὶ are frequently qualified by an adv. in such phrases as κακῶς γίγνεται = it turns out badly for; so that ῥᾷον here is not opposed to Gk. idiom.)

δι᾽ ἐλάσσονος—local, as in δι᾽ ὀλίγου 36, 5; at a shorter distance from the Syracusan fleet.

πρὸς τῷ λιμένι—cf. VIII. 94 τοῦ πολέμου . . . πρὸς τῷ λιμένι ὄντος, of a battle close to Peiraeus. The phrase means near the mouth of the harbour. The fleet would now be drawn up just inside the harbour, and there would be less danger of disasters like that related in c. 3.5 when provisions were to be brought in.

ἐκ μυχοῦ—the north-western corner, close to the point at which the double wall touched the harbour

τὰς ἐπαναγωγὰς—putting out against an enemy; ἐπαγωγή, conveyance of provisions, as c. 24.

ποιήσεσθαι—see index, s. v. ποιεῖσθαι.

ἤν τι . . . κινῶνται—the full sentence is εἰ τειχισθείη, ἐφαίνετο οὐκ . . . ποιήσεσθαι, ἤν τι ναυτικῷ κ.; hence there are two protases, both of which, in the recta, are subj. with ἤν. In these cases, the first protasis is the principal condition, the second the subordinate. Cf. Andoc. I. 149 ἐὰν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς πεισθῆτε, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὑστέρῳ χρόνῳ ὑμῖν μεταμελήσῃ, οὐδὲν ἔτι πλέον ποιήσετε.

κινῶνται—(1) sc. οἱ Συρακόσιοι. Thuc. changes the subject more rapidly than we should do. Cf. II. 3 ὅπως μὴ προσφέρωνται (οἱ Πλαταιῆς) καὶ σφίσιν ἐκ τοῦ ἴσου γίγνωνται (οἱ Θηβαῖοι), (2) passive voice, as usual with verbs used reflexively, the purely reflexive use of the mid. being quite rare. Cf. v. 8 ὡς εἶδε κινουμένους τοὺς Ἀθηναίους.

προσεῖχέ τε—in fact he was now disposed to give more attention to naval warfare.

ἐπειδὴ—in temporal sentences where the indic. was used in the Recta, it is always retained in the Obliqua.

ἧκεν—cf. c. 1.4.

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στρατιὰν—troops; the greater part of the army was still encamped along the walls.

φρούρια— “N. built three forts, a greater and two smaller. . . . The new station, standing apart from the constant fighting which went on around the walls on Epipolae, was thought to be a safer resting-place for provisions and stuff generally.” Freeman .

σκεύη—stores; cf. c. 24.2.

ἔκειτο—Thuc. always uses the simple verb instead of άπόκειμαι in this sense.

τὰ μεγάλα—i.e. transports.

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ὥστε—quamobrem. In Homer ὥστε is used only in a comparative and causal sense. In tragedy, when used with the indic. (not found in Aesch.), ὥστε nearly always = quamobrem, and this use is common in Thuc, as II. 87, and other prose authors.

πληρωμάτων—one of the many nouns in -μα which is used in a concrete sense, of persons. They are esp. common in tragedy, as δούλευμα, slave, πτῶμα, fallen body.

κάκωσις ἐγένετο—pass. of κάκωσιν ποιεῖσθαι. Thuc. is esp. fond of abstract nouns in -σις, as δήλωσις, ὀλόφυρσις, ξύλωσις, and probably coined some himself.

χρώμενοι—causal, joined to ὁπότε ἐξέλθοιεν. Such juxtaposition of dissimilar expressions is far commoner in Thuc. than in other authors. Tacitus imitates the mannerism.

ἐγγύθεν—adv joined to adj. σπανίῳ, as VIII 48 ἄκριτοι καὶ βιαιότερον ἀποθνῄσκειν, and often.

ἐπὶ φρυγ. . . . ἐξέλθοιεν—ἐπὶ with accus. after verbs of motion corresponds to the supine in -um.

τῶν ἱππέων—having gone round the west end of Epipolae.

Συρακοσίοις—as the subject, μέρος ἱππέων, of the pluperf. pas is personal, the dat. is ethic rather than dat. of the agent. Contrast ταῦτα πέπρακταί μοι (When the subject of the perf. pas. is personal, the agent is regularly expressed by ὑπό.)

ἵνα μὴ . . ἐξίοιεν—epexegetic of διὰ τοὺς ἐν τῷ Π., as in I. 99 διὰ τὴν ἀπόκνησιν τῶν στρατειῶν, ἵνα μὴ ἀπ᾽ οἴκου ὦσι.

Ὀλυμπιείῳ—this includes (a) the τέμενος of the god, (b) the adjacent land. There are still two gaunt pillars of the temple standing.

πολίχνῃ—later this was turned into a proper name.

ἐτετάχατο—cf. ἀφίκατο c. 75. The termination is Ionic, but is occasionally found in other Attic prose writers; e.g. Xen. Anab. IV. 8.5 ἀντιτετάχαται. (Moeris wrongly says ἐτετάχατο Ἀττικῶσ᾽ τεταγμένοι ἦσαν Ἑλληνικῶς.)

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εἴρητο—legular word of military instructions.

ναυλοχεῖν αὐτάς—to lic in wait for them.