T. G. Tucker, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 8

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εὐθὺς not with ἐν τῷ χειμῶνι τούτῳ as Jowett renders, ‘at the beginning of . . .’ This would be εὐθὺς ἀρχομένου τοῦ χ. τ.

Ἆγις μὲν . . . Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ . . . (§ 2).

τὰ τῶν ξυμμάχων ἠργυρολόγησεν The accus. with the sense ἔπραξεν αὐτοὺς ἀργύριον. Cf. ii. 69, ὅρως ταῦτα (‘these regions’) ἀργυρολογῶσι; iii. 19; and Aeschin. Ctes. 545, τοὺς Ἔλληνας ἠργυρολόγησε. The allies in question were probably the smaller Boeotian communities and the Opuntian Locrians (Cl.)

Μηλιῶς called in iii. 96 τὸν Μηλιακὸν κόλπον. The proper relation of Μηλιεύς to Μηλιακός is that of Gallus to Gallicus. The local and general Greek name has α_ (Μα_λιεύς), and this form was preferred in later Attic (e.g. Arist. Pol. iv. 13) and in the common dialect.

Οἰταίων For their previous relations with Sparta see iii. 92. These relations account for the article τὴν. The genit. is possessive with λείας, not dependent on ἀπολαβών.

τῆς λείας ‘pillageable property’ (Arn.) But the sense of ‘booty’ or ‘plunder’ passes into that of ‘cattle,’ because cattle were the chief and usual booty of marauders. Cf. avertere praedam; ii. 94, ἀνθρώπους καὶ λείαν λαβόντες; Soph. Aj. 54, λείας ἄδαστα βουκόλων φρουρήματα.

χρήματα ἐπράξατο i.e. as ransom for their cattle. ἀπολαβὼν gives the method of exaction: ‘he got money from them by cutting off their cattle.’

ἐπράξατο sc. αὐτοὺς or ἀπ᾽ (ἐξ or παρ᾽) αὐτῶν (inf. cc. 5 and 37).

τοὺς Φθιώτας to distinguish them from the Achaeans of N. W. Peloponnese.

τοὺς ἄλλους Poppo understands these to be the Perrhaebi and Magnesians, referring to ii. 101, οἱ πρὸς νότον οἰκοῦντες Θεσσαλοὶ καὶ Μάγνητες καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ὑπήκοοι Θεσσαλῶν, and iv. 78, Περαιβοὶ ὑπήκοοι ὄντες Θεσσαλῶν. But neither the Magnesians nor the Perrhaebians were ταύτῃ, i.e. about the Malian Gulf; and there were doubtless other ὑπήκοοι than the two mentioned above. Thucydides here loosely designates any more or less unorganised peoples about the Gulf. In v. 51 Αἰνιᾶνας καὶ Δόλορας καὶ Μηλιᾶς καὶ Θεσσαλῶν τινας are joined against Heraclea Trachinia. Some of these peoples may be meant here.

τινας Classen makes this appositive to ὁμήρους, ‘to give certain persons as hostages.’ κατέθετο, κατατίθεσθαι of depositing in a safe place. Cf. iii. 72, τοὺς πρέσβεις ὡς νεωτερίζοντας ξυλλαβόντες κατέθεντο εἰς Αἴγιναν.

προσάγειν sc. the various peoples from whom he had taken hostages.

ἔς τε The correspondence of the particles throughout the above long sentence is as follows— τά τε . . . ἠργυρολόγησεν . . . καὶ τραπόμενος{Οἰταίων τε . . . ἐπράξατο . . . {καὶ Ἀχαιοὺς. . . .{ὁμήρους τε . . . ἠνάγκασε δοῦναι . . . {{ἔς τε . . . προσάγειν. The words καὶ χρήματα are an addition to ὁμήρους, and καὶ κατέθετο . . . Κόρινθον is a kind of parenthesis.

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τὴν πρόσταξιν κ.τ.λ. The articles τὴν and τῆς imply that a requisition was a matter of course, and that it as a matter of course involved the building of a certain number of ships. Lit. ‘the requisition which they issued for the building of ships was one for 100 ships,’ i.e. (as Jowett) ‘the whole number of ships the allies were to build was fixed at a hundred.’ Otherwise τῆς ναυπηγίας is a qualifying afterthought, i.e. ‘the building of them’ (not necessarily the manning).

ἐποιοῦντο note the tense. They were engaged (while Agis was acting as above) in settling upon and sending round the order. The allies of Sparta are enumerated in ii. 9.

καὶ ἑαυτοῖς μὲν i.e. ‘and (of these 100) . . .’

Βοιωτοῖς . . . Φωκεῦσι . . . Λοκροῖς In ii. 9 these supply cavalry but not ships, while the Arcadians supply infantry.