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διαιρέαι, as in c. 47 supra. ἀτάρ, a rare word in prose, introduces a marked alternative; cp. 6. 133, answering μέν more emphatically than δέ. Xerxes repays his uncle in his own sententious coin: ‘nothing venture, nothing have.’
εἰ ... ἀποδέξη̣ς. Stein cps. 4. 172 for subjunctive with εἰ.
ἐν αὐτοῖσι, ‘thereby’; cp. c. 81. 34.
ποιέειν, ‘to be doing . .’
ὁμοίῃσι καί: cp. ο<*>μοίως καί just above.
κινδύνους ἀναρριπτέοντες: cp. Thuc. 4. 85. 4 “κίνδυνόν [τε] τοσόνδε ἀνερρίψαμεν διὰ τῆς ἀλλοτρίας πολλῶν ἡμερῶν ὁδὸν ἰόντες κτλ.”: 1b. 95. 2 παραστῆ̣ δὲ μηδενὶ ὑμῶν ὡς ἐν τῆ̣ ἀλλοτρίᾳ ου<*> προσῆκον τοσόνδε κίνδυνον ἀναρριπτοῦμεν: and 6. 13. 1 ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος ὡς μέγιστον δὴ τῶν πρὶν κίνδυνον ἀναρριπτοὐσης ἀντιχειροτονεῖν. Thuc. 5. 103. 1 suggests the origin of the metaphor: τοῖς δ᾽ ἐς ἄπαν τὸ ὑπάρχον ἀναρριπτοῦσι (δάπανος γὰρ φύσει) ἅμα τε γιγνώσκεται σφαλέντων κτλ. (dice-throwing, gambling: άναρρῖψαι τὸν περὶ τῆς πατρίδος κύβον Plutarch, Brutus 40).
μεγάλα γὰρ ... καταιρέεσθαι, more ‘gnomic’ wisdom. The sense of καταιρέεσθαι here is perhaps unusual; ‘to be won,’ ‘achieved’: Thuc. 1. 121. 4 d “δ᾽ ἐκεῖνοι ἐπιστήμῃ προύχουσι, καθαιρετὸν ἡμῖν ἐστὶ μελέτῃ”: Eurip. Supp. 749 φόνῳ καθαιρεῖσθ᾽ οὐ λόγῳ τὰ πράγματα.
ὥρην ... καλλίστην, from a military point of view. Acc. of ‘duration’ or ‘date’ passim.
πᾶσαν τὴν Εὐρώπην, a large order! Artabanos disapproved even of the attempt to conquer ‘Hellas,’ c. 47 supra. The objective of the expedition fluctuates passim; cp. c. 54. οὔτε λιμῷ ... οὔτε ἄλλο ἄχαρι . .: in view of the sequel, these words may be regarded as ‘ironical.’
φορβήν: cp. cc. 107, 119 infra. In Homer only of fodder, but in Hdt. of food for men, 1. 202, 4. 121.
ἐπ᾽ ἀροτῆρας ... ἄνδρας: an obvious reference, from Xerxes' point of view, to the Skythian expedition: his uncle had used the same fact to enhance the dread of attacking Greeks ἄνδρας πολλὸν ἀμείνονας ἢ Σκύθας c. 10 supra.
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