E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

8 ἐπὶ φανεροῖς—with a clear issue before us. χρῆν γάρ explains this clause.

10. οἱ γὰρ δρῶντες κτλ.—a notoriously difficult sentence. The transl. ‘for they who act advance with plans already formed and without delaying, against men who have not made up their minds,’ in ref. to Athenian energy, is simple; but the statement is not true when made universal, and we certainly look for a direct ref. to the Athenians (hence the conjectures οἵ γε, οἵπερ, οἱ γὰρ Ἀθηναῖοι for οἱ γάρ). Classen rendered οἱ γάρ as ‘for they,’ like οἱ δέ, i.e. the Athenians, but himself doubted it; there is no prose ex. of ὁ before γάρ as pronoun, and more important, it is very artificial to separate δρῶντες. I should like to refer this general statement, with the transl. given above, to the conduct of the Lac., so that the general sense is ‘men of action (which you are not) take immediate steps, with their minds made up before their opponents are resolved on their course.’ The Athenians have not yet decided on war, and now is your time σκοπεῖν καθ᾽ ὅ τι ἀμυνούμεθα. It is a case for τὸ προεπιβουλεύειν, not τὸ ἀντεπιβουλεύειν. I think that οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι in the next sentence strongly favours my suggestion, as we then get a proper antithesis.

12. οἵᾳ ὁδῷ ... καὶ ὅτι κατ᾽ ὀλίγον—the two clauses after ἐπιστάμεθα are differently expressed: we should say rather, ‘we know that the A. are encioaching on others and how they do it.’ (The sentence is awkwaid: Cobet bracketed καὶ ὅτι. Possibly something is lost alter Ἀθηναῖοι.)