Charles D. Morris, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

τῶν δὲ πρότερον κτἑ.: connected with the close of c. 21, where this war is compared with τὰ παλαιά, by δέ (cf. c. 33. 1) rather than by γάρ, because of the interposed account of his method in c. 22.

δυοῖν...πεζομαχίαιν : since Thuc. has in view the expedition of Xerxes (ὁ μέγας στόλος of c. 18. 14), the Schol. is probably right in saying that these battles were the sea-fights of Artemisium and Salamis and the land-battles of Thermopylae and Plataea, which brought a decisive κρίσις. Cf. c. 89. 3. δυοῖν is to be supplied with the second noun; in such cases Thuc. usually employs ἴσος. Cf. τεσσάρων ἡμερῶν καὶ ἴσων νυκτῶν, ii.97.5; i.115.13; iii.75.12; v.20.12; 57. 12. But v. H. thinks that with the dual nothing need be supplied.

τούτου δὲ τοῦ πολέμου κτἑ.: the importance which Thuc. here attributes to the war is grounded not on the serious interests involved nor on the character of the military operations, but on its unusual duration and the great number of disastrous occurrences which attended it. So must we understand the words παθήματα ξυνηνέχθη γενέσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ τῇ Ἑλλάδι, as well as those in 17, ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα μετὰ τοῦδε τοῦ πολέμου ἅμα ξυνεπέθετο. The preceding gen. serves as an art. to μῆκος. Cf. c. 1. 11; 3. 1.

μέγα: pred. to προύβη, indicating the result. Cf. c. 90. 21; 93. 6.—ξυνηνέχθη: = ξυνέβη. Cf. vii.44.3; viii 83. 4; 84. 1, and often in Hdt.

οἷα οὐχ ἕτερα κτἑ: a common formula for what is extraordinary. Cf. vii.70.15; viii.1.12; and similarly iii.113.21. No inference can be drawn as to a definite duration from the words ἐν ἴσῳ χρόνῳ.

ὑπὸ βαρβάρων: as Mycalessus, vii. 29; perhaps also Colophon, iii. 34.

ὑπὸ σφῶν αὐτῶν: = ὑπ᾽ ἀλλήλων, the Athenians and Peloponnesians being the virtual subj.; opp. to τῶν βαρβάρων. Examples are, Plataea, iii. 68. § 3; Mitylene, iii. 50; Thyrea, iv. 57. § 3.—εἰσὶ δὲ αἵ: sunt quae. G. 152, N. 2; H. 998. εἰσίν is more common than ἔστιν when the rel. is nom. (cf. 15). Kühn. 554, 5.

οἰκήτορας μετέβαλον: e.g. Aegina, ii. 27; Potidaea, ii. 70; Anactorium, iv. 49; Scione, v. 32; Melos, v. 116.—ἁλισκόμεναι: partic. impf.—φυγαὶ κτἑ.: sc. ἐγένοντο, e.g. in Plataea, ii.5.30; of the Plataeans, iii. 68. § 2; of the Melians, v. 116. κατ᾽ αὐτὸν τὸν πόλεμον, i.e. directly in consequence of the war.

διὰ τὸ στασιάζειν: in Corcyra, iii. 81. ff.; iv. 47; Megara, iv. 66. ff.; Samos, viii. 21. There may well have been other instances which the narrative omits, as having no direct connexion with the war. This remark applies particularly to the σεισμοί, 12 (cf. ii.8.9; iii.87.9; 89. 4, 17; iv.52.3; v.45.20; 50. 26; vi.95.2; viii.6.29; 41. 9), and to the ἡλίου ἐκλείψεις, 13 (ii.28.2; iv.52.1), of which many others must have been observed in Greece in 27 years; also to the αὐχμοί and λιμοί, 15, of which no particular instance is mentioned; for it is clear that he means here (15, ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν), and in ii.54.7, famine as the result of failure of crops.

τά τε πρότερον...κατέστη : and so stories of former times reported on hearsay, but too scantily confirmed by fact, ceased to be incredible.

σεισμῶν τε πέρι: both as to earthquakes = earthquakes for instance. Cf. c. 52. 9, where the clause with περί is parallel to an acc. Though this clause strictly belongs to the preceding subj. τὰ πρότερον κτἑ., the following rel. sentence, οἳ . . . ἐπέσχον, refers only to occurrences of this war; and, as if explanatory of τὰ πρότερον, nom. cases (as ἐκλείψεις) follow, for which a verb like ἐγένοντο must be supplied out of οὐκ ἄπιστα κατέστη. The two sup. expressions are closely united by ἅμα . . . οἱ αὐτοί.

ἐπέσχον : prevailed, intr., with ἐπὶ πλεῖστον μέρος γῆς as adv. definition. Cf. c. 50. 7, where, however, ἐπὶ πολύ is obj. of ἐπέσχεν, as we find neut. objs., c. 48. 7; ii.77.13; iii.107.24; vii.62.18. Cf. also iii.89.6, τῶν σεισμῶν κατεχόντων.

παρὰ τὰ κτἑ.: “running beyond those recorded of former times,” and so pleonastic (cf. the Lat. prae) with a comp. Cf. iv.6.6. G. 191, VI. 4; H. 802, 3; Kr. Spr. 49, 2, 8.

αὐχμοί: pl. as siccitates, Caes. B. G. v. 24.—ἔστι παρ᾽ οἷς: = παρ᾽ ἐνίοις. Cf. ἔστιν ἐν οἷς, v.25.9; viii.65.3. See on 7.

ἡ...νόσος : the repetition of the art. lays stress on the partic. Cf. c. 126. 10; viii.64.6; 90. 27; Hdt. viii. 92, τὴν προφυλάσσουσαν ἐπὶ Σκιάθῳ τὴν Αἰγιναίην（νέα); Plat. Gorg. 502 b; Dem. XIX. 26. μέρος τι is adv., to a (considerable) degree, not obj.; so that φθείρασα is a stronger βλάψασα. Cf. ii.64.7; iv.30.2.

ξυνεπέθετο: complexive, as in c. 6. 3. ἐπιθέσθαι, as of hostile forces.

ἤρξαντο δὲ αὐτοῦ κτἑ.: the narrative of the beginning of the war is carried on in ii. 1. The following words διότι δ᾽ ἔλυσαν κτἑ. announce the contents of the rest of this book.

τριακοντούτεις: cf. c. 115. § 1. B.C. 445. In such words we find the forms -ούτεις (c. 115. 3; ii.2.2) and -ούτιδες (c. 87. 19; v.32.19; Ar. Ach. 194; Eq. 1388).

πρῶτον: for a similar pleonasm, cf. ii.36.1; iii.53.9; vi.57.10; viii.66.6.

τοῦ...ζητῆσαι : see on c. 4. 6.

πρόφασιν: here of the actual reason or occasion. Cf. c. 118, 3; 133. 7; 141. 4; ii.49.4; vi.6.3; Dem. XVIII. 156, τὴν ἀληθῆ πρόφασιν. If we take τοὺς Ἀθηναίους μεγάλους . . . ἐς τὸ πολεμεῖν as obj. of ἡγοῦμαι and τὴν ἀληθεστάτην . . . λόγῳ (the truest cause of this war, though least voiced, Bacon) as pred. (the art. being required by the sup.), we need not, with most commentators, assume an irregularity or mixture of consts.

τοὺς Ἀθηναίους...πολεμεῖν : the stress of the sentence lies on the partic. clauses (see on c. 100. 16) rather than on ἀναγκάσαι. Cf. c. 82. 10; ii.61.3. For ἀναγκάσαι ἐς, cf. ii.75.14; vii.62.15.

ἐς τὸ φανερόν: = φανερῶς, but with the notion of coming forward in public. Cf. c. 6. 17.

αἰτίαι ἑκατέρων, ἀφ᾽ ὧν: proleptic for αἰτίαι ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἑκάτεροι. Kühn. 600, 5. For ἀπό, cf. c. 12. 5. The ἐς τὸ φανερὸν λεγόμεναι αἰτίαι include c. 24-55 the Κερκυραϊκά, and c. 56-66 the Ποτειδαιατικά. And then, after the negotiations at Sparta and the decision there arrived at, we reach in c. 88-118 the narrative of the ἀληθεστάτη πρόφασις of the war, viz. the alarming growth of the Athenian power, which is thus, in Greek fashion, placed after ostensible ones. The remaining chapters, 119145, contain the concluding consultations and decisions at Sparta and Athens.