CHAPTER LXXII
παρῆσαν—arrived at Tripodiscus. The rest of the sentence as far as
ἀπῆλθον πάλιν is parenthetical, and relates to what passed before this: cf.
iii. 2,
βουληθέντες μὲν καὶ πρὸ τοῦ πολέμου, κ.τ.λ. διανενοημένοι μέν—the construction is slightly irregular, as the corresponding clause with
δέ has a finite verb
ἐρρώσθησαν, line 6; the participial and subordinate character of the parenthesis is in fact lost sight of.
οὐκ ἀλλοτρίου—cf. note on ch. 6, 5,
οἰκεῖον.
ἐρρώσθησαν—‘were ardent’:
ii. 8,
ἔρρωντο ἐς τὸν πόλεμον: ib.
ἔρρωτο πᾶς with inf.:
viii. 78,
ἔρρωντο μᾶλλον. ἀποστείλαντες—they despatched at once a large force to cooperate with Brasidas: the rest of their army was no longer required. This explains who were
οἱ Βοιωτοί, line 1.
οὐκ ἔλασσον—so
vi. 95,
ἐπράθη ταλάντων οὐκ ἔλασσον πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι. ‘When a magnitude expressed in numbers is increased by
πλέον (
πλεῖον, πλεῖν), or diminished by
ἔλαττον (
μεῖον), these words, with or without
ἤ, are attached to the denomination of the magnitude without influencing its case’ (Madv. § 92). So in Latin with plus, minus, etc., e.g.
Liv. xlii. 7, pugnatum est amplius tres horas.
ἐν γάρ—explanatory of
ἀπροσδοκήτοις. ἐν τῷ πρὸ τοῦ—so
i. 32 with
πω: cf. ch. 12, 18,
ἐν τῷ τότε.
ἀντεπεξελάσαντες—a compound like
ἀντεπαναγόμενοι, ch. 25, 4: cf. ch. 131, 1,
ἀντεπεξελθόντες:
viii. 104,
ἀντεπεξῆγον. οἱ τῶν Ἀθηναίων—sc.
ἱππῆς, understood from line 14 and implied by
ἁντεπεξελάσαντες. ἐπὶ πολύ—of time, as in
v. 16,
χρῆσαι τάδε ἐπὶ πολύ. The phrase more commonly denotes extent of space rather than of time, while in such passages as the following its meaning is doubtful;
i. 6,
ἐπὶ πολὺ αὕτη ἠ σκευὴ κατέσχε:
i. 7,
διὰ τὴν ληστείαν ἐπὶ πολὺ ἀντισχοῦσαν.
ἀξιοῦσιν ἑκάτεροι—‘both sides claim the victory’:
i. 105,
ἐνόμισαν αὑτοὶ ἑκάτεροι οὐκ ἔλασσον ἔχειν: cf.
i. 54,
ἑκάτεροι νικᾶν ἠξίουν.
προσελάσαντας—a conjecture of Portus for
προσελάσαντες, so Classen. The latter shows that the word is used of cavalry ‘riding up’ or ‘pushing on’;
vi. 63,
ἱππῆς προσελαύνοντες πρὸς τὸ στράτευμα:
vi. 65,
οἱ ἱππῆς προσελάσαντες ἐς τὴν Κατάνην. It therefore applies exactly to the Boeotians, who pushed their advance as far as the walls of Nisaea. One manuscript has
προσελάσαντα, which might possibly be retained in agreement with
ἵππαρχον. The only objection to reading
προσελάσαντας is the awkwardness of the following
καί, which must be taken in the sense of ‘both’, connecting
ἀποκτείναντες ἐσκύλευσαν with
καὶ τῶν τε...ἔστησαν, instead of simply joining two participles of the same construction.
Poppo retains
προσελάσαντες, which he considers may mean that the Athenians retired on Nisaea, so as to draw the enemy in that direction. Arnold, followed by Krüger, reads
πρὸς αὺτῇ τῇ Νισαίᾳ, ‘under the walls of Nisaea’, and explains
προσελάσαντες of the Athenians ‘charging the enemy’.
οὐ μέντοι—the general action however had no decisive result.
ἐν τῷ παντὶ ἔργῳ is opposed to the success of the Athenians at a single point.
βεβαίως—with
τελευτήσαντες, ‘certum pugnae eventum adepti’, Poppo. If the text be right we must adopt this explanation. Classen takes
τελευτήσαντες adverbially, ‘in the end’; but I believe that the present participle only can be thus used. Krüger and others suspect an error in
τελευτήσαντες.
ἀπεκρίθησαν—‘separated’; so
διεκρίθησαν, ch. 14, 24, etc. Lid. and Scott give no other instance of
αποκρίνομαι thus used. In
ii. 49 ἐς τοῦτο πάντα ἁπεκρίθη means ‘all diseases ended in this alone’.
ἀλλ᾽ οἱ μέν—sc.
ἀπεκρίθησαν, neither side got the victory, but they retired to their respective camps. The disjunction is awkward, and the whole sentence somewhat unsatisfactory. It would seem as if
ἀπεκρίθησαν ought to follow
ἀλλά, some finite verb being lost in the first clause.
