E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

68. 25. τὸ πιστόν—honesty, the good faith you show in your public and private life. This is the outcome of the ‘Lycurgean’ system. Cf. what Xen. says in the Polity of the Lac., of their virtues, which, when he wrote, were a thing of the past: ‘They endeavoured to be worthy to lead ... Others would go to Sparta and ask to be led by her against those who were thought guilty of wrong-doing... . Nowadays they obey neither God nor the ordinances of Lycurgus.’

26. καθ᾽ ὑμᾶς αὐτούς—among yourselves.

27. ἀπιστοτέρους ἐς τοὺς ἄλλους—i e ἐς（ἡμᾶς）τοὺς ἄλλους, hence λέγωμεν. Some, however, take ἐς τοὺς ἄλλους ἤν τι λ. together=‘if we bring any charge against others.’

28. ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ—i.e. ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀπιστοτέρους εἶναι. It is a mark of prudence or sobriety, but it leads you into more mistakes than you would make if you were less cautious in believing complaints.

[2] 5. τῶν λεγόντων=(τόδε）τῶν λεγόντων, so that the ὡς clause governs τῶν λεγοντων, cf. c. 52. 3. The gen. is often similarly used with θαυμάζω.

6. τῶν ... διαφόρων—private interests, i e. the interests of their city apart from the interests of the Pel. confederacy. ἰδίᾳ does not mean individual here. For such complaints to Sparta see c. 90, and for the negligence of Sparta see c. 118. 2.

7. πάσχειν—we begin to ...

9. ἐν οἷς—(1) some render, ‘before whom’; cf. e.g. c. 85; (2) others, after Classen, with οὐχ ἥκιστα, and we among them have the best right, as in viii. 68 ἐν τοῖς ξυγκαταλύουσι ... πρῶτος ἦν. The latter suits the passage better.

10. ὅσῳ—inasmuch as; the καί balances μέγιστα with οὐχ ἥκιστα. We should render ‘inasmuch as ... , we have also the greatest right.’

[3] 15. εἰδόσι—sc. ὑμῖν.

16. μακρηγορεῖν, ὧν — most edd. supply ἡμᾶς (=τοὺς ξυμμάχους). And τοὺς μέν is then explained as Aegina; but how can Aegina be included under the ξύμμαχοι of Sparta? See c. 67. 3 εἴ τις. It is on all grounds better to understand ὧν as for ἐπεὶ ἐκείνων (i.e. τῶν Ἑλλήνων from τὴν Ἑλλάδα) with Conradt who is followed by Steup. Thus τοὺς μέν naturally refers to the subject allies of Athens, against whom it was a constant complaint that she ‘enslaved the Greeks.’

18. ἡμετέροις ξ.—Potidaea and her allies in Chalcidice: since they had revolted from Athens, they are reckoned as allies of Corinth.

19. προπαρεσκευασμένους—the relative is now lost sight of.

πολεμήσονται—pass., ‘shall become involved in war.’

[4] 20. ὑπολαβόντες—a gross misrepresentation.

23. ἀποχρῆσθαι—to make full use of (as a base of operations) in dealing with ... . (Poppo's view that αὐτοῖς=τοῖς ἐπὶ Θ is to be supplied to ἀποχρῆσθαι is clearly wrong.)