CHAPTER CIV
αὐτοῦ—seemingly subjective gen.; ‘his crossing’; or can it refer to
ποταμοῦ? Note the force of the imperfect participles in the following clause.
δοκεῖν ἂν ἐλεῖν—dependent on
λέγεται, Βρασίδαν being the subject to
δοκεῖν, which is imperfect, ‘they say that it was thought that he might have taken it’ (
εἰ ἠθέλησε...εἷλεν ἄν).
ἱδρύσας— =
καθίσας:
Hdt. iv. 124,
ἵδρυσε τὴν στρατιὴν ἐπὶ ποταμῷ Ὀάρῳ. Thucydides elsewhere uses only the passive
ἱδρύεσθαι. ἀπέβαινεν—ch. 39, 13.
τῷ πλήθει—dative of the instrument, ‘by reason of’.
μετὰ Εὐκλέους—‘in concert with, with the consent of’:
v. 44,
ου μετ᾽ Ἁθηναίων πραχθεῖσαν ξυμμαχίαν. We have the converse in ch. 78, 22,
ἄνευ τοῦ κοινοῦ.
τῶν ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης—there is some authority for
τόν, but
τῶν gives the better sense. Both commanders were probably jointly responsible for ‘the Thraceward regions’. For the responsibility of Thucydides for the loss of Amphipolis see Appendix.
ἡμίσευς ἡμέρας—the better supported reading: cf. ch. 83, 23:
Hdt. iv. 15,
κατὰ μέσον ἡμέρης. Bekker and Classen read
ἡμισείας, which Poppo calls ‘grammaticorum manifestam correctionem’. Such a construction is no doubt more usual.
μάλιστα μὲν οὖν...εἰ δὲ μή—so
iii. 101,
πρῶτον μὲν οὖν...ἔπειτα. For the alternative expression cf. ch. 63, 9. The addition of
οὖν is very unusual.
πρίν τι ἐνδοῦναι: so
ii. 12,
εἴ τι μᾶλλον ἐνδοῖεν. προκαταλαβών (ch. 89, 16) is to be taken with
φθάσαι.
