CHAPTER CXXVIII
ὃν...τῶν λόφων—the
λόφοι are the sides of the pass; one of which was more accessible than the other. The subject of
ἑλεῖν is of course Brasidas.
πρὸς αὐτόν—answers to the relative, as in ch. 126, 21.
ἐπόντας—the manuscript reading is
ἐπιόντας, which may be explained as meaning either ‘advancing to occupy the height’, or ‘advancing to attack the Lacedaemonians’. But
ἐπόντας agrees better with the context, especially with
ἐκκροῦσαι and the subsequent words
ἐκράτησαν τῶν ἑπὶ τοῦ λόφου: see ch. 131, 6, where the same question arises.
πρὶν προσμῖξαι—i.e. before the whole barbarian force could come up to hem them in.
σφῶν is governed by the active word
κύκλωσιν: cf. ch. 35, 12 and 131, 4.
πρὸς αὐτόν—sc.
τὸν λόφον. The Greeks having now cleared one side of the pass would easily gain the head, which may have been level and open.
αὐτοῖς—‘finding their men dislodged on this point from the height’ (Arnold): for dat. cf. ch. 10, 13 etc.
ἀντελάβετο—lit. ‘laid hold of’, i.e. gained or reached:
iii. 22, with
τοῦ ἀσφαλοῦς:
vii. 77, with
φιλίας χώρας.
Ἄρνισσαν—mentioned by Ptolemy (2nd cent. A.D.), but otherwise unknown.
πρῶτον is adverbial, and does not govern
τῆς ἀρχῆς: cf. ch. 78, 41.
αὐτοί—‘of themselves’, without any orders.
ζεύγεσι βοεικοῖς—carts with oxen:
Xen. Anab. vii. 5. 2.
σκεύει refers to baggage generally.
φοβερᾷ—hurried, in a panic.
οἰκείωσιν ἐποιοῦντο—‘appropriated’: Classen notes the semi-comic effect of this unusual periphrasis.
οἰκειοῦσθαι is less uncommon in the same sense.
τῇ μὲν γνώμη—‘not congenial to his judgment’.
γνώμη here is the ‘mind or judgment’, or else the ‘opinion’ of what was expedient, which had hitherto determined Perdiccas. The meaning is further explained by
δι᾽ Ἀθηναίους. It was fear of Athens which had made it his ‘habitual principle’ to court the Spartan alliance; but now his injuries made him forget his interests. The opposition with
μέν and
δέ is between the dictates of political conviction and of personal feeling.
τῶν δὲ ἀναγκαίων—‘departing from his urgent (necessary) interests’. The compound
διαναστάς, as Classen notes, expresses very well the idea of a new and divergent policy. It is not found elsewhere in Attic Greek:
διίστασθαι is more common.
