Charles D. Morris, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

οἱ γὰρ Ἕλληνες κτἑ.: before describing the effects of Minos's efforts, to which Thuc. returns in c. 8. 7, he indicates the prevalence of piracy in the earliest times. Among the barbarians referred to are the Phoenicians, the Carians, and probably the Epirots.

ἐπ᾽ ἀλλήλους: ἐπί is not used here in a hostile sense. Even in military matters the meaning depends on the context. Cf. iv.43.3; v.4.23; vii.56.23. For distinctly friendly intercourse παρά is used. Cf. c. 13. 19; v.78.4.

ἡγουμένων...τροφῆς : on the position of ἀνδρῶν and κέρδους, see on c. 1. 6. By its position οὐ suggests the contrary of the term it negatives by a sort of litotes, = τῶν δυνατωτάτων. See on c. 78. 1, οὐ περὶ βραχέων, and cf. iii.67.7. The δυνατοί (cf. c. 2. 24) are those eminent for wealth and influence: at a more advanced stage of society the term is often applied to the ruling party as opposed to the δῆμος. οἱ ἀσθενεῖς are those without means, the “feeble persons” of Psalm cv. 37. Cf. [Dem.] XLV. 67, συμφέρει . . . τὸν ἀσθενῆ παρὰ τοῦ πλουσίου δίκην, ἂν ἀδικῆται, δύνασθαι λαβεῖν. For the dat. with the subst. τροφῆς, see G. 185; H. 765 a; Kühn. 424, 1. When ἕνεκα stands with two or more gens., Thuc. places it after the first. Cf. c. 7. 4; 30. 16; 41. 16; 57. 11: 73. 17, etc.

πόλεσιν: used here in its political sense of associated communities, not of local cities.—κατὰ κώμας: as the Aetolians are described, iii.94.20. Such was the constant condition of Sparta. Cf. c. 10. 12.— 8. τὸν πλεῖστον τοῦ βίου: see on c. 2. 12. βίος here only in Thuc. in sense of victus, their living.

ἔχοντος: like φέροντος in 10, or παρέχοντος, bringing with it, implying. Cf. ii.61.9; iv.108.29; 126. 23; vii.75.35.— 10. τι δόξης: aliquid famae. Cf. ii.49.30, τι δυνάμεως. iii.44.6; iv.28.23; vii.69.12. With this rather rare combination, cf. ἐπὶ πλεῖστον δυνάμεως, c. 17. 6; ἐπὶ μέγα ἰσχύος, ii.97.24; ἐπὶ πολὺ τῆς θαλάσσης, c. 50. 6; ἐν παντὶ δὴ ἀθυμίας, vii.55.4; ἀμήχανον ἂν εἴη εὐδαιμονίας, Plat. Apol. 41 c. Arist. Pol. i.8.8 (1256 b 2), groups the λῃστρικὸς βίος with the νομαδικός, γεωργικός, ἁλιευτικός, θηρευτικός, as in the earliest times a recognized means of gaining a living.

δηλοῦσι: the statements of the preceding paragraph are the obj., as in c. 3. 12, in case of τεκμηριοῖ.

ἠπειρωτῶν : strictly a common noun; but with chief reference to the inhabitants of Epirus and the neighbouring districts, which even to recent times have been noted for brigandage.—ἔτι καὶ νῦν οἷς: see App.—κόσμος: means here, c. 32. 15; iv.17.4, adornment, honour. Elsewhere in Thuc. good order, discipline.—καλῶς...δρᾶν : καλῶς, dexterously, with good results. Cf. v.52.4; viii.50.25. τοῦτο (or αὐτὸ）δρᾶν is the regular expression in referring to an action just described. Cf. c. 6. 22; 69. 7; 131. 15; ii.49.23; v.49.20; vi.83.4; vii.68.14; 83. 3.

τὰς πύστεις...ἐρωτῶντες : putting the regular questions on all occasions alike to those who touched at their coasts. The art. implies what was likely under the circumstances, as in c. 2. 13, τὰς μεταβολάς. The rare word πύστις occurs, in the sense of ‘information gained by inquiry,’ also in c. 136. 6; iii.82.20. The acc. is cognate (G. 159; H. 715), and the gen. partic. limits it objectively. The poets are said to ask, in that they make their characters do so. With this Sh. compares Plat. Theaet. 181 a, τοὺς ῥέοντας, ‘those who teach the doctrine of flux and motion,’ and Virg. Ecl. vi. 62, circumdat . . . erigit = circumdari . . . erigi canit (Silenus). Mart. iv.14.3. It is probable from πανταχοῦ ὁμοίως that Thuc. was acquainted with other notices of such questions than those we find in Hom. γ 73; ι 252; Hymn. in Apoll. 452.

ὡς οὔτε...ὀνειδιζόντων : ὡς gives the view of the poets, implying that. The two partics. belong to the impf., with subjects to be supplied from the two rel. clauses. The attraction of the neg. to ὀνειδιζόντων (for οὔτε τούτων οἷς) has the effect of rendering more vivid the disclaimer of reproach. The in dic. πυνθάνονται implies that the question was as a matter of form always asked; the opt. εἴη that there might or might not be persons who would care to know. For a similar change of mood, cf. Xen. An. i.9.27, ὅπου δὲ χιλὸς σπάνιος πάνυ εἴη (as it might or might not be), αὐτὸς δὲ ἐδύνατο (as he naturally was at all times) παρασκευάσασθαι. Ages. 11. 3, ἐμίσει δὲ οὐκ εἴ τις κακῶς πάσχων ἠμύνετο (as it was natural he should), ἀλλ᾽ εἴ τις εὐεργετούμενος ἀχάριστος φαίνοιτο (as might possibly be the case). Dem. XVIII. 239, ἐν οἷς οὐχ ὅσα ἠβουλόμεθα ἀλλ᾽ ὅσα δοίη τὰ πράγματα ἔδει δέχεσθαι. In iv.67.9, οἷς ἐπιμελὲς ἦν εἰδέναι, the reference is entirely definite. So in Hdt. ii.150.6, ἐπιμελὲς γὰρ δή μοι ἦν.

τῷ παλαιῷ τρόπῳ: in the way just depicted, in reference to frequent changes of abode and to the habit of living by robbery; which latter is not excluded by the words ἀπὸ τῆς παλαιᾶς λῃστείας in 20; for in both places it is implied that what existed in the old time continued down to the present. —νέμεται: pass. of the mid. νέμεσθαι (c. 2. 6). G. 199, N. 3; H. 819 d; Kühn. 378, 9. Cf. c. 6. 5.—περί: of a geographical designation without defined limits. Cf. c. 14. 7; ii.47.10; 86. 2.

τό τε σιδηροφορεῖσθαι: τε, and so. Cf. c. 4. 5. Cl. thinks the mid. form is here preferred because its subjective character is appropriate to personal subjects (cf. φέρεσθαι), whereas in c. 6. 1 the act. is used of the country. Arist., Pol. ii.8.19, also has ἐσιδηροφοροῦντο οἱ Ἕλληνες. But the verb is more probably here in the pass. used impers. (see on c. 46. 1), the practice of bearing arms.