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Ἀφιδναῖος: cf. ix. 73. 2 n.

τὴν ἐς Λακεδαίμονα, &c. The proposals of Alexander as envoy of Mardonius (ch. 136) and the Spartan reply would give occasion for dragging in Themistocles' relations with Sparta. Diodorus declares (xi. 27) that the Athenians were so angry with Themistocles for accepting gifts from the Spartans that they deprived him of his command and gave it to Xanthippus, but the statement is only an inference drawn by Ephorus from the facts in H.


Βελβινίτης. Belbina is a rocky islet about ten miles south of Sunium at the entrance of the Saronic gulf, now St. George. It remained a separate community (Scylax, 52), paying tribute as late as 425 B.C. (C. I. A. i. 37; Hicks, 64). It is here a mere example of an utterly unimportant place (Teles in Stobaeus, xl. 8 ὀνειδίζουσι μὲν ὅτι Κύθνιος ὅτι Μυκόνιος ὅτι Βελβινίτης), the assailant of Themistocles being an Athenian (§ 2) of Aphidna (§ 1), and the saying meaning, ‘I should not have received this honour had I been of Belbina, nor will you though you are (like me) an Athenian.’ Plato (Rep. 329 E, followed by Cic. de Sen. 3. 8, Plut. Them. 18) spoils the double point of the story by making the assailant himself a Seriphian.

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