E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 3

ἀξίωσιν belongs to ἐς τὰ ἔργα, ‘in relation to facts,’ as well as to ὀνομάτων. It is not necessary to repeat the art. before ἐς because ἀξίωσις has another qualifying word.

τῇ δικαιώσει—by the arbitrary construction they put on them.

τὸ δ᾽ ἐμπλήκτως ὀξύ—‘impulsive rashness’: cf. Plutarch, Eum. 3 ἔμπληκτον καὶ φορᾶς μεστὸν ὀξείας.

ἀνδρὸς μοίρᾳ προσετέθη—‘was ascribed, or set down, to the part of a man.’

ἀσφαλείᾳ δὲ . . εὔλογος—this appears to have been obscure already to Dionysius, who, while commenting on what precedes and what follows, discreetly leaves this alone. The usual explanation is as follows: (1) ἀσφαλείᾳ is dat. of manner, in contrast with ἐμπλήκτως; (2) τὸ ἐπιβουλεύσασθαι= ‘reconsideration,’ or ‘further reflexion’; (3) the verb to be supplied is ἐνομίσθη. Each of these suppositions is surprising ἀποτροπή=‘evasion.’ It has been proposed to supply προσετέθη (with Herbst and Fr. Müller) and to take ἀποτροπῆς π. εὔλογος as apposition to τὸ ἐπιβουλεύσασθαι. We should then transl. ‘to form a hostile design was regarded as a measure of selfdefence, (being) the specious pretence of fending off enmity.’