E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

2. ἢν ἐθέλητε—all this is prophetic, if, as is almost certain, it was really said by Pericles and not put into his mouth by Thuc. after the event.

[2] 7. ἐκεῖνα μέν—i.e. advice as to the conduct of the war, which is best given during the war itself. For the present (νῦν δέ) our course is clear.

11. ξενηλασίας—these expulsions took place from time to time, no doubt by order of the ephors. Plato suggests ironically that the Spartans used them when they wanted privacy for the study of philosophy; Xenophon says they feared corruption of the traditional character by contact with ξένοι. ποιῶσι , of course, ‘enact’ in their laws.

12. οὔτε γὰρ ἐκεῖνο κωλύει —οὐ κωλύει there is no hindrance to stands for οὐδὲν κωλύει in Aristoph. Av. 463, and in two or three passages from later authors. Hence there is probably no need to insert οὐδέν here. ἐκεῖνο ... τόδε=the ξενηλασίαι and Μεγαρέων ψήφισμα—there is as little to forbid the one as the other in the thirty years' truce.

16. σφίσιν ἐπιτηδείως—see c. 19; alluding to the form of constitution. The Schol. says he thinks τοῖς Λ. is a gloss on σφίσι.

18. αὐτοῖς ἑκάστοις—sc. ἐπιτηδείως.

20. ἄρξομεν, ἀρχομένους—we will not be the first to fight, but if they enter on a war, we will retaliate. The difference between ἄρχω and ἄρχομαι is not important to the sense, but it has a rhetorical effect.

[4] 2. γνώμῃ—insight: frequently contrasted with τύχη.

4. ἐς τάδε προήγαγον αὐτά—brought our empire to this; repeated almost in the same words by Alcibiades in 6.18.

ὧν=τῶν πατέρων.