CHAPTER LXVI
κατὰ ἔτος ἕκαστον δίς—cf.
ii. 31, where we have the first invasion under Pericles in the autumn of 431. Plutarch (Per. ch.
30) records a decree that the strategi should swear to invade Megara twice a year, and speaks of the strong feeling of Pericles against the Megarians. In
i. 67 and 139 reference is made to their exclusion from Attic ports and markets. For their starving condition vid. Ar. Ach.
535 and 729—818. This play was exhibited in Feb. 425.
τῶν ἐκ Πηγῶν—Pegae was the Megarian harbour on the gulf of Corinth; ch. 21, 14. We are not told before this of its occupation by the
φυγάδες. They were possibly the same as those who were allowed to settle for a year or so in Plataeae,
iii. 68. As the Athenians commanded Nisaea the hostility of Pegae was a serious evil.
στασιασάντων—cf. ch. 3. 8,
ἀντιλεγόντων. ἐκπεσόντες— ‘having been expelled’:
ἐκπίπτω is virtually pass. of
ἐκβάλλω, and so constructed with
ὑπό: cf.
i. 131,
ἐς τὴν εἱρκτὴν ἐσπίπτει ὑπὸ τῶν ἐφόρων, ‘is thrown into prison’. The same constr. is common with
ἀποθνήσκω, πληγὰς λαμβάνω, κακῶς ἀκούω, etc.
ἀμφοτέρωθεν—by intestine as well as foreign war; or possibly from Pegae as well as Minoa.
τὸν θροῦν—‘the general talk’:
v. 7 and
viii. 79 with
αἰσθόμενος:
v. 30,
αίσθόμενοι τὸν θροῦν καθεστῶτα:
v. 59,
ἐς θροῦν καθίστατο.
ἠξίουν—‘thought fit’, i.e. felt themselves in a position to urge the question of recalling their friends
λόγου—the proposal for the restoration of the exiles.
ἔχεσθαι—cf.
v. 49,
τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγου εἴχοντο, ‘held fast to, insisted on’.
οἱ τοῦ δήμου προστάται—cf. ch. 46, 17.
ἑνδοῦναι—so ch. 76, 15,
Χαιρώνειαν ἐνεδίδοσαν:
v. 62,
ἑνεδίδοσαν τὰ πράγματα. For other uses of
ἐνδίδωμι cf. ch. 35, 17;
iii. 37,
οἴκτῳ ἐν δῶτε, ‘concede’:
ii. 49,
σπασμὸν ἐνδιδοῦσα, ‘causing, bringing with it’.
κατελθεῖν—cf.
περιπλεῖν,
v. 53.
ἦν δὲ σταδίων—gen. of measure.
Xen. Anab. i. 2. 8,
τὸ εὖρος εἴκοσι καὶ πἐντε ποδῶν: Madv. § 54. As regards the length of the walls Thucydides differs from Strabo, according to whom the distance to the port was 18 stades. These walls were constructed and garrisoned by the Athenians in 455, when Megara joined their alliance (
i. 103).
τὴν Νίσαιαν τόν—so ch. 46, 14,
τὴν νῆσον τὴν Πτυχίαν: ch. 67, 7,
τοῦ Δημοσθένους τοῦ:
v. 46,
περὶ τὸν Ξενάρη τὸν ἔφορον, etc.
βεβαιότητος ἕνεκα—‘in order to secure’ with object. gen.
Μεγάρων. πειρᾶσθαι—sc. themselves; change of subject, as in ch. 65, 20.
ἔμελλον—sc.
οἱ Μεγαρῆς.
