C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5

πρὸς ἔαρ—cf. iv. 135, 1, τοῦ αὐτοῦ χειμῶνος καὶ πρὸς ἔαρ ἤδη.

Διῆς—see note on ch. 35, 1. ἐπιτηδείως—see note on ch. 81, 11. καθίσταντο—of political ariangements. At the beginning of the war Achaia was neutral, with the exception of Pellene (ii. 9, 2).

κατ᾽ ὀλίγον—‘little by little’, gradually; i. 61 fin. κατ᾽ ὀλίγον προιόντες: usually ‘in small divisions’ as in iv. 10, 4. ξυνιστάμενος—‘conspiring’; iii. 70, 4: or perhaps merely ‘getting together’, as in ii. 88, 1. ‘The oligarchy which was established in Argos πρὸς ἔαρ (ch. 81, 12), say in March, lasted till the time of the γυμνοπαιδίαι, a period of about 5 months. During this period the secret meetings and deliberations of the popular party were held, until sufficient confidence for a rising had been gained. ἀναθαρσήσας in the aorist denotes the conclusion of the deliberations expressed by the present ξυνιστἀμενος’ (F.). The clause κατ᾽ ὀλίγον .ἀναθαρσήσας is to be taken in apposition (Krüger), otherwise ἐπέθεντο with the singular participle would be harsh and almost unexampled: cf. iii. 80, 1, ὁ δῆμος <*>, περιδεὴς γενόμενος, ᾔεσαν ἐς λόγους.

ἐπέθεντο—ch. 76, 11. τηρήσαντες—ii. 22, 1, τηρήσαντες νύκτα χειμέριον: with infinitive iv. 26, 4, ἐτήρουν ἀνέμῳ καταφέρεσθαι. αὐτάς—‘the exact time of’: ii. 3, 3, φυλάξαντες αὐτὸ τὸ περίορθρον. The Gymnopaediae were held in Hecatombaeon, about July. The festival consisted of gymnastic and warlike exercises, and, like the Carneia, kept the Spartans at home.

ἕως μέν—anterior in time to the clause with δέ, and subordinate in sense. ἐκ πλείονος—‘for some time back’, iv. 42, 3: iv. 103, 3. It is to be taken with ἦλθον. The sense is that, though the Lacedaemonians had for some time taken no notice of repeated appeals for help, yet now they postponed the festival and marched out. There is a suspicious incompleteness about the sentence, and a want of antithesis between the clauses with μέν and δέ. We should expect τότε δέ or the like.

ἀγγέλων—‘as messengers’. Most editors would omit this word. F. follows Muller-Strubing in reading καὶ ἀγγέλων τῶν. The Argives in the city sent envoys, the exiles could only send messengers. πρεσβέων τε ἀπό is also suggested for πρεσβέων ἀπό τε. This would make the sentence clearer, still irregularities with τε are common.

ἀφ̓ ἑκατέρων—‘on either side’; iii. 36, 5, γνῶμαι ἀφ̓ ἐκάστων ἐλέγοντο: ch. 37, 2. ἔγνωσαν—‘pronounced’, as heads of the Peloponnesian league. διατριβαί—ch. 38, 30: vii. 49, 3, ὄκνος τις καὶ μέλλησις ἐνεγένετο, προσαγόμενος—‘courting’ or ‘trying to gain’; more usually of persons, iii. 32, 2, ὀλίγους ἐς φιλίαν προσάξεσθαι. Also of acquiring places by capitulation, as in ii. 30, 2: vi. 54, 3.

μέγιστον ῾ἂν̓ ὠφελήσειν—so vii. 24, 3, μέγιστον ἐκάκωσε: vii. 44, 6 μέγιστον ἔβλαψε. The plural is more common in such cognate constructions, but the singular is quite regular; see Krüger's Grammar, § 46, 5. ἄν with the future mfinitive is found five times in Thucydides according to manuscript authority. Whether it can be retained is a moot point; see note on ch. 15, 11, and Goodwin, § 208: Madvig's Greek Syntax, § 173, R. 2. Here it is easy to omit ἄν or to read ὠφελῆσαι. The subject of the infinitive in the Athenian alliance, not the contemplated building of walls (Herbst). The latter view involves a gratuitous irregularity in the use of τε and καί, and in no way improves the sense.

μακρὰ τείχη—see ch. 52, 15. The distance to the sea, according to Pausanias, was four miles and a half. Plutarch says that the building of the walls was promoted by Alcibiades, who came to Argos after the victory of the demociacy (Alc. 15).

ἐπαγωγή—vii. 24, 3, οἱ ἔσπλοι τῆς ἐπαγωγῆς τῶν ἐπιτηδείων: i. 81, 1, ἐκ θαλάσσης ὧν δέονται ἐπάξονται.

ξυνῄδεσαν—the following accusative is rare: Hdt. vi. 39, συνειδότες τοῦ πατρὸς τὸν θάνατον: Xen. Hell. iii. 3, 6, ξυνει- δότας τὴν πρᾶξιν. Krüger suggests ξυνῄνεσαν. Jealousy and fear of Sparta, no doubt fomented by Alcibiades, had already pioduced an inclination towards Athens, and long walls would draw the Argives into closer connexion with the Athenian naval power. For the position of τινές cf. i. 45, 2, and i. 53, 4, ἐς τῶν ἐκείνων τι χωρίων (where Kruger reads χωρίον): Xen. Anab. ii. 5, 32, τῶν βαρβάρων τινὲς ἱππέων. In ch 25, 7, the order is different.