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The attempt to establish themselves in our country will not help them; and at sea, in spite of all their efforts, they can never match us. μέγιστον δέ:=ὅπερ δὲ μέγιστόν ἐστι, regularly with the art. Cf. ii.65.9; iii.63.10; iv.70.18; 108. 28; viii.76.35; 92. 34: 96. 9; without art. c. 35. 19; vi.69.25. But μέγιστον may here agree with the inner object of κωλύσονται; they will experience their greatest hindrance. Cf. Plat. Phaed. 60 a, ὕστατον δή σε προσεροῦσι; and see Kühn. 410, note 5. κωλύσονται: fut. mid. with pass. meaning, as ἐασόμενοι, 19. Kühn. 376, 4.— ὅταν: see on c. 141. 25.—σχολῇ: opp. to ταχύ, as iii.46.10. οὐ μενετοί: act.; apt to stay,=οὐχ οἷοι μένειν. Cf. Ar. Av. 1620; Dem. IV. 37, οἱ τῶν πραγμάτων οὐ μένουσι καιροὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν βραδυτῆτα καὶ εἰρωνείαν. οὐδ̓ ἡ ἐπιτείχισις κτἑ.: refers to c. 122. 3. φοβηθῆναι: act. sense with ἄξιον, as c. 138. 11, ἄξιος θαυμάσαι. τὴν μὲν γάρ : the acc. thus placed at the beginning, stands in no exact const. with the following words (see on c. 32. 18); it is neither subj. nor obj., but seems to introduce the matter in hand; as regards the first, viz. the ἐπιτείχισις. The second point comes in at 15, τὸ δὲ τῆς θαλάσσης κτἑ. (With παρασκευάσασθαι a general subject must be supplied.) Epiteichisis consisted either in the founding of a permanent settlement at a point dangerous to the enemy (as Heracleia, iii. 92), or in the establishment of a fort from which sallies might be made (as Deceleia, vii. 19). So πόλιν and φρούριον are species to the genus τὴν μὲν（ἐπιτείχισιν). ἦ που δή: of course therefore. Cf. vi.37.15.—πολεμίᾳ: sc. γῇ. Cf. ii.11.20; iii.58.24; v.64.18. οὐχ ἧσσον: the neg. belongs only to the adv. The inf. would take μή. See on c. 141. 28.—ἡμῶν ἀντεπιτετειχισμένων: it is best to understand this pf. not with Cl., of the assurance the speaker feels that the Athenians will be beforehand with the Spartans in adopting this measure, but with Sh. (and apparently St.), “much more in time of war when our city is a counter-ἐπιτείχισμα against their infant colony.” Athens itself is represented, and not, as Kr. and B. think, other existing fortresses as Oenoe. This allusion to the ἐπιτείχισις is probably put into the mouth of Pericles as one of τὰ δέοντα (c. 22. 5) by Thuc. writing at the end of the war, with the knowledge of the occupation of Pylos, Cythera (vii.26.10), and Deceleia. Herbst, Philol. 38, p. 581. βλάπτοιεν ἄν: after fut. GMT. 54, 1 a; H. 901 a. αὐτομολίαις: i.e. of slaves. Cf. vii. 27. § 5; viii.40.11. ἐπιτειχίζειν: depends on κωλύειν. GMT. 95, 2 a; H. 963. ᾗπερ ἰσχύομεν: cf. ii.13.18.—ἀμύνεσθαι: to retaliate, not here ‘to defend ourselves.’ Cf. c. 42. 2; ii.67.28; iv.63.11. He refers to attacks by sea on the Peloponnesus, which also would be attended by καταδρομαί and αὐτομολίαι. Cf. vii. 26. § 2. πλέον γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἔχομεν κτἑ.: πλέον ἔχομεν means as usual (cf. c. 37. 18; 42. 15; 76. 15; iii.43.12; iv.59.7; 62. 16; vii.36.6; viii.99.12), we have the advantage, though here the comp. retains its full const. with ἢ ἐκεῖνοι. The gen. τοῦ κατὰ γῆν, as regards operations on land, is like c. 22. 14; 36. 11; Hdt. i. 32, μετρίως ἔχοντες βίου: and ἐκ governs ἐμπειρίας with its obj. gen. placed before it, from our experience in naval matters, as in c. 32. 8; 84. 13; 107. 26; 139. 2, and its article is omitted, as in c. 3. 1; 11. 2; 23. 20; 36. 11; 107. 26. τὸ δὲ τῆς θαλάσσης κτἑ.: refers to c. 121. 14. ἐξείργασθέ πω: have as yet brought it to perfection. This remark answers so well to the thought of Pericles that the particle πω, though wanting in the best Mss., can hardly be dispensed with; it might easily drop out before the following πῶς.— 18. οὐδὲ...ἐασόμενοι : expressed with the same confidence as 8 above: “we will leave them no time to practise.” The pass. sense is rare. Cf. Eur. I. A. 331; Dem. 11. 16, ἐώμενοι διατρίβειν; VIII. 59, ἄγειν ἡσυχίαν ἐᾶσθαι.— 19. ἐφορμεῖσθαι : cf. viii.20.3; pass. of ἐφορμεῖν with dat. See on c. 2. 18; 140. 29. διακινδυνεύσειαν: force their way through. Cf. iv.29.8; v.46.11. τῷ μὴ μελετῶντι: see on c. 36. 3; the lack of practice. δἰ αὐτό: just for this reason. Cf. c. 68. 9; 74. 3. τέχνης: a matter of acquired skill. Cf. c. 83. 4.—ὥσπερ καὶ ἄλλο τι: as much as anything else whatever. Cf. vi.18.38; Xen. An. i.3.15, ὥς τις καὶ ἄλλος. Kr. Spr. 69, 32, 13. ὅταν τύχῃ: at any chance time, without plan. So τυχεῖν, pers. and impers., is used in various relative turns to express accidental circumstances of time, place, fact. No doubt a grammatical supplement is to be assumed as original, but is not present to the mind of the speaker. Cf. ὡς, ὅπως ἔτυχε, iv.25.7; v.20.9; 56. 15; viii.95.21; ὁπόθεν τύχοιεν, iv.26.20; with rel. pron., iii.43.18; viii.48.36.—ἐκ παρέργου: and ἐν παρέργῳ, as a by-work, a holiday task. Cf. vi.69.27; vii.27.20. μηδὲν...γίγνεσθαι : sc. δεῖ from ἐνδέχεται. See on c. 141. 28.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 1. Charles D. Morris. 1891. Boston. Ginn and Company.
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