CHAPTER LXXXVIII
ἐπ᾽ ἀμφότερα—ch. 58, 7.
κρύφα—by ballot,
κρύβδην is more common in this sense. For the force of the compound
διαψηφίσασθαι see note on ch. 74, 17,
ψῆφον φανερὰν διενεγκεῖν. At Acanthus secret voting permitted freedom of choice.
ἐπαγωγά—
v. 85,
ἐπαγωγὰ καὶ ἀνελεγκτά:
vi. 8,
ἐπαγωγὰ καὶ οὐκ ἀληθῆ. οἱ πλείους—partial apposition; we may render ‘by a majority’.
πιστώσαντες—Lid. and Scott give no other instance of the active. The middle occurs
Soph. O. C. 650,
ὑφ᾽ ὅρκου σεπιστώσομαι, ‘I will bind you to myself’: more usually in a reflexive sense, as
Hom. Il. vi. 233,
πιστώσαντο, they exchanged mutual pledges. The pass.=‘to be pledged’,
Hom. Od. xv. 436,
ὄρκῳ πιστωθῆναι:
Eur. Iph. A. 66,
ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἐπιστώθησαν.
τὰ τέλη—see note on ch. 15, 2:
ὀμόσαντα agrees with
τὰ τέλη and not with
αὐτόν, as seems plain from ch. 86, 3; the position of
αὐτόν however is awkward.
οὕτω—‘on these terms’, or ‘after this’;
iii. 96,
τἄλλα καταστρεψάμενος οὔτως...στρατεῦσαι.
Grote points out (vol. iv. ch. 53) that it is clear that the Acanthians had no great reason to complain of the rule of Athens. They did not welcome Brasidas as a deliverer, but only joined him under compulsion. So in the other towns of Thrace, while a party was in favour of Sparta, the main bulk of the people seem to have been well satisfied to be subject allies of Athens. It follows that the empire of the Athenians could not have been so harsh and burdensome as it was often represented.
With regard to the surrender of Acanthus, Grote remarks that ‘Grecian political reason and morality’ appear to unusual advantage in the free discussion, the care to protect individual independence of judgment, and the established respect to the vote of the majority, which the citizens observed. It would be more difficult to praise the reason and morality of the decision itself, which is rather an instance of the political untrustworthiness of a democracy, and its readiness to adopt any change however momentous. The Acanthians revolted from Athens, not because they were dissatisfied or oppressed, but ‘because Brasidas said what was attractive, and from fear for their fruit’.
