Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 3

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Operations of the Athenians on the Peloponnesian coast and against the island of Melos. Invasion of Bocotia and victory at Tanagra. Devastation of the coast of eastern Locris.

ναῦς ἔστειλαν περὶ Πελοπόννησον: cf. c. 3. 10; 7. 3; 16. 12. The operations of this fleet are narrated c. 99 ff.—

Δημοσθένης: from this his first appearance until his death in Sicily (vii. 82, 86), one of the most active and enterprising generals of the war. See Curtius, Hist. of Greece, iii. p. 137 ff.; Holm, Gr. Gesch. ii. p. 399 and 444.—3.

Προκλῆς: perishes this very summer in the campaign against the Aetolians, c. 98. 23. —5.

Νικίας: already mentioned, c. 51, and henceforth of predominant influence in Athenian home, as well as foreign, affairs, until he also perishes in the Sicilian expedition (vii. 85, 86).

τοὺς Μηλίους: who, with the inhabitants of Thera, had, as Laconian colonists (v. 84. § 2), alone of all the Cyclades, held aloof from the Attic alliance. Cf. ii. 9. 19.—6.

ἐς τὸ αὑτῶν ξυμμαχικὸν ἰέναι: to come into their alliance. Cf. ἐς τὰς Ἀττικὰς σπονδὰς ἐσελθεῖν, v. 36. 13; ἐς τὰς σπονδὰς ἐσαγαγεῖν, v. 35. 24. αὑτῶν, for αὐτῶν of the Mss., is required both by its position and reference to the subj. of ἐβούλοντο. See on c. 22. 31. ἐς τὸ ξυμμαχικόν is found only here and viii. 9. 10; elsewhere κατὰ τὸ ξυμμαχικόν. See on c. 3. 19.—7.

προσαγαγέσθαι: to bring over, causative to προσχωρεῖν, in the same sense also ii. 30. 7; iv. 86. 3; vii. 7. 8.

τῆς Γραϊκης: so, with St., for the Vulg. τῆς πέραν γῆς, acc. to the correct reading, as testified by Steph. Byz. (s.v. Ὠρωπός), of ii. 23. 12 τὴν γῆν τὴν Γραϊκὴν καλουμένην, ἣν νέμονται Ὠρώπιοι. For the assumption that ἡ πέραν γῆ was originally a local (Euboean), then a general designation for the territory of Oropos, there is no ground.—10.

σχόντες: putting in. See on c. 29. 5; vii. 1. 14.—

οἱ ὁπλῖται ἀπὸ τῶν νεῶν: to be construed together. See on c. 90. 12. For the order of the words, cf. ii. 80. 16 τὸ μὲν ναυτικὸν ἔκ τε Κορίνθου καὶ Σικυῶνος. —11. πεζῇ: i.e. along the valley of the Asopus.—

ἐς Τάναγραν: into the territory of Tanagra. See on l. 15; 102. 19; 106. 8; ii. 18. 2.—

οἱ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως Ἀθηναῖοι: proleptic, as c. 79. 4 τοὺς ἐκ τῆς νήσου. See on c. 5. 1.—12.

Ἱππονίκου: son of Callias, head of the well-known aristocratic and wealthy family, particulars of which are given by Boeckh, P. E. p. 623 ff., and Welzel, Kallias (Gymn.-Progr. Breslau, 1888). His daughter Hipparete was the wife of Alcibiades.—13.

Εὐρυμέδοντος: see on c. 80. 10.—

ἀπὸ σημείου: implying that the action was concerted. Cf. ii. 90. 18.

ἐν τῇ Τανάγρᾳ: i.e. in the territory of Tanagra. Cl. wrote ἐν τῇ Ταναγραίᾳ, on the ground that, with ἐδῄουν καὶ ἐνηυλίσαντο, ἐν with the name of the city is inadmissible. But the Vulg., which corresponds exactly to ἐς Τάναγραν above (11), is sufficiently supported by such passages as ii. 31. 6 τοὺς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως πανστρατιᾷ ἐν Μεγάροις ὄντας, iv. 5. 4 ὁ στρατὸς ἔτι ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις ὤν, v. 55. 1 καθ̓ ὃν χρόνον ἐν τῇ Ἐπιδαύρῳ οἱ Ἀργεῖοι ἦσαν. Cf. also c. 67. 13; i. 100. 15; iv. 118. 16; v. 58. 7; vii. 1. 18. —16.

τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ μάχῃ: the adj. is always fem. in Thuc., and most freq. signifies the following day, though ἡμέρᾳ is never expressed. It accords best with the context to construe it independently here, and not with μάχῃ. But see on i. 44. 4 and Herbst, Gegen Cobet, p. 34.—

μάχῃ κρατήσαντες: κρατεῖν takes the acc. in Thuc. when joined with μάχῃ or μαχόμενος (c. 103. 15; i. 108. 18; ii. 39. 14; iv. 67. 29), or, more rarely, when the connexion clearly implies this (c. 99. 3; ii. 39. 18); otherwise always with the gen. See on i. 108. 19.—18.

καὶ ὅπλα λαβόντες καὶ τροπαῖον στήσαντες: the first καί does not connect what follows with κρατήσαντες, when they had con- quered, but the two co-ord. λαβόντες and στήσαντες (both . . . and). That the Athenians did not retire without the usual tokens of victory is emphasized.—

ὅπλα λαβόντες: sc. of the slain or of those who had lost their arms, as in c. 103. 15; vii. 45. 5.— 20.

παραπλεύσας . . . ἔτεμε: cf. c. 7. 6 παραπλέουσαι αἱ νῆες τῆς Λακωνικῆς τὰ ἐπιθαλάσσια χωρία ἐπόρθησαν. παραπλεύσας, sailing along the coast. See on c. 7. 6.—

τῆς Λοκρίδος: i.e. Eastern Locris. The terms Λοκροί and Λοκρίς seem to refer in Thuc., without further designation, to the Eastern or Opuntian and Epicnemidian Locrians, unless the context fixes the reference to the Ozolian or Epizephyrian Locrians. See on ii. 9. 8.