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οὐκ ἀξιῶν—for the double partic. ὁρῶν ... ἀξιῶν, cf. c. 59, 3. ἐν ὀρρωδίᾳ ἔχειν—c. 59, 2.
Οὐκ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου—the neg. of τὸ πλῆθος, as in c. 13, 1 παραλίπῃ καὶ μὴ δηώσῃ. ᾧ—i.e. τοῦτο ᾧ, the τοῦτο belonging to θαρσοῦσιν, lit. ‘as to that in which they feel confidence,’ viz. ὡς προσῇκον σφίσιν ἀ. εἶναι, the courage which they have shown so often. For the construction, cf. Livy, XXI. 10 id de quo ambigebatur, eventus belli, unde jus stabat, ei victoriam dedit. κατορθοῦντες—antithesis to ού δι᾽ ἄλλο τι. Cf. c. 65, 8. διὰ ... ἐμπειρίαν depends on κατορθοῦντες. τὰ πλείω— because they had so seldom fought at sea. καὶ οἴονται— ‘and so they think.’ For the change from partic. to indic., cf. V. 61, 4 βουλόμενοι ἄλλως τε ... καὶ ὅμηροι ἦσαν. So Eur. Bacchae, 225 πρόφασιν μὲν ὡς δὴ μαινάδας θυοσκόους (sc. οὔσας), τὴν δ᾽ Ἀφροδίτην πρόσθ᾽ ἄγειν τοῦ Βακχίου. ποιήσειν—subject τὴν ἐμπειρίαν.
Τὸ δ᾽—i.e. τὸ κατορθοῦν. ἐκ τοῦ δικαίου—cf. c. 44, 3, = δικαίως. περιέσται—‘will be found on our side.’ ἐν ἐκείνῳ—i.e. ἐν τῷ πεζῷ. εὐψυχίᾳ—answers the statement made in c. 87, 5. προφέρουσι— = προέχειν, only used by Herod., Thuc. and poets. τῷ δὲ—‘owing to our superiority in experience, we are more confident.’
Τε—adds the third fact to πρῶτον μὲν. ἔπειτα above, and so gives another reason for the conclusion μὴ δείσητε διὰ τὴν—‘for the sake of,’ with ἡγούμενοι. The statement is general. οὐκ ἂν—the prot., ‘if they had had their own way’ is implied in ἄκοντας. ἐπεχείρησαν—emphatic. παρὰ πολὺ—‘decisively’; cf. c. 8, 4
Κατὰ ... καὶ ὅτι—cf. c. 65, 7 for κατά. τοῦ παρα- λόγου—cf. τῷ οὐκ εἰκότι below; explained in οἱ δ᾽ ἐκ πολλοῦ ... ἀντιτολμῶσιν: ‘worthy of our astonishing action,’ in offering battle with such inferior numbers. (τοῦ παρὰ πολὺ is explained to mean τοῦ παρὰ πολὺ προνενικηκέναι, but (1) this is not clear, (2) the previous victory has just been referred to and the probability of another sufficiently implied in κατὰ τὸ προνενικηκέναι: a new reason is now wanted, (3) the next section, introduced by γὰρ, is meaningless.)
Ἀντίπαλοι—‘most men, when they are a match for the enemy.’ πίσυνοι—found also V. 14, 3; VI. 2, 6; otherwise only in Herod. and poets. Cf. Ruth. New Phryn. p. 21. The ordinary word is πιστεύων, as in 2 above. ἐκ πολλῷ ὑποδεεστέρων—sc. ἐπιόντες: cf. ἀπ᾽ ἐλασσόνων ὁρμώμενος c 65, 2, ‘whose means are far inferior.’ τῆς διανοίας τὸ β.—‘strength of will.’ τῷ οὐκ εἰκότι—‘because of what they never expected than on account of our expected preparations.’ (Ste. gives up this passage, and other edd. put a sense upon it which the words will not bear.) κατὰ λόγον—the Peloponnesians were expecting the immediate arrival of reinforcements from Athens; cf. c. 86, 6.
Ἡμεῖς—he hints that the enemy are both ἄπειροι and ἄτολμοι.
Τὸν ἀγῶνα—topic τὸ ξυμφέρον; cf. c. 11, 3. εἶναι —infin. of limitation, in this phrase almost confined to neg. sentences. ἐμβολὴν—charge broadside, with the ἔμβολον) (προσβολή, charge prow to prow. ἐκ πολλοῦ—e longinquo. ἀναστροφαί—turning back after any manœuvre to regain the original position of the ship. ἐν τούτῳ—‘in these circumstances’; cf. ἐν ᾧ c. 1.
Τούτων—in the analysis the peroration is made to begin here. There was in antiquity some doubt about the place where the πίστις ends. The schol. on 10 ὁ δὲ ἀγὼν remarks τινὲς ἀπὸ τοῦ δὲ τοὺς ἐπιλόγους, and the same writer puts οἱ ἐπίλογοι to 11. Cf. the opening of the peroration in c. 11, 9, 87, 8. παρὰ ταῖς ναυσὶ—Intr. p. xliii. παρὰ is rarely used thus with things, cf. c. 43, 2; but the frequent personification of πόλις, ναῦς, etc. renders the phrase possible. The Athenians, up to the beginning of the action, were on shore, c. 90, 3. δι᾽ ὀλίγου—local; cf. c. 29, 3. κόσμον καὶ σιγὴν—cf. c. 11, 9. ἔς τε τὰ πολλὰ ... ναυμαχίᾳ—for ἐς, with ξυμφέρει, cf. IV. 26, 5. The only other passage in which an impersonal noun is in dat. with ξυμφέρει is VI. 83 λόγου μὲν ἡδονῆ̣ τὸ παραντίκα τερπομένους, τῆ̣ δ᾽ ἐγχειρήσει ὕστερον τὰ ξυμφέροντα πράσσοντας.
Ἀγὼν ... καταλῦσαι—generally περί, ὑπέρ, or ἕνεκα, as c. 63, 1, but here the infin. are epexegetic. ἐλπίδα τοῦ ναυτικοῦ—cf. πενίας ἐλπίδι, c. 42, 4.
Αὖ—‘again.’ ἐθέλουσιν— = εἰώθασι, φιλοῦσι, as in Herod. and Xen.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 2. E.C. Marchant. London. MacMillan & Company. 1891.
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