E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

αὐτοῖς —τοῖς ναυτικοῖς.

χρημάτων προσόδῳ—see c. 13.5. The possession of a fleet enabled them still further to increase their trade.

16. τὰς νήσους κ.—began to or ‘endeavoured to reduce the islands.’ The enterprise of Athens and Corinth is alluded to, as in (ἐκεῖνοι）ὅσοι μή.

[2] 18. ὅθεν τις — ‘as the result of which any considerable force was brought together,’ or ‘from which any considerable power was gained.’ This seems to be the meaning, corresponding to ἰσχὶν δὲ κτλ. above. But παραγίγνομαι in Thuc. of troops regularly means be assembled in the field, and with dat. ‘come to the support of’ To be added to is προσγίγνομαι. Hence many edd. render ‘in consequence of which any considerable force was collected.’ ὅθεν is then strange.

ξυνέστη—frequently used in this connexion from Herod. downwards.

22. οὐ γὰρ ξυνειστήκεσαν—they were not joined to the strongest states as subjects, nor yet did they of their own accord unite on an equal footing for a campaign.

25. κατ᾽ ἀλλήλους—inter se.

ὡς ἕκαστοι—cf. c. 3.4. Strictly ἐπολέμουν is supplied with ὡς, but the phrase practieally becomes a distributive nnmeral

[3] 27. Χαλκιδέων καὶ Ἐρετριῶν — the date of this war, fought for the possession of the Lelantian plain, is unknown. Herod says that Samos helped Chalcis and Miletus helped Eretria, and of course both sides must have attracted many other allies. The ultimate cause of the war was commercial rivalry. (Busolt i. p. 313.)

1. καὶ τὸ ἄλλο Ἑ—the rest of the Greeks also took sides as allies of the one or the other.