E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

5. ξυνειργασμένων—shaped for fitting together.

6. στῆλαι—fragments of some of these belonging to the walls of Themistocles have been found. Hicks, Man. p. 13.

8. πανταχῇ—the extension did not include the SW. side of the city. For μείζων cf. c. 90. 3.

10. κινοῦντες ἠπείγοντο—disturbed in their haste: κινεῖν is specially used of things that should not be interfered with.

[3] 12. ὑπῆρκτο δ᾽ αὐτοῦ—a beginning had been made on it; αὐτοῦ is neut. = ‘the work.’

13. ἐπὶ τῆς ... ἦρξε—during his office of archon, which he had held for a year at Athens. It is not necessary to understand by κατ᾽ ἐνιαυτόν annually, which complicates the grammar of the sentence. κατά, with words dcnoting time, is not always distributive. The year is now thought to be 482 B.C.

15. λιμένας—Piraeus, Zea, Munychia.

16. καὶ αὐτούς—and that the A., having once become a naval people, were in a very advantageous position for the acquisition of power. (Classen understands προφέρειν as fut. in sense.)

[4] 18. τῆς γὰρ δή—as often, there is an ellipse here; in full the sense is ‘he naturally thought of this, for,’ etc.

19. τὴν ἀρχὴν εὐθὺς ξυγκατεσκεύαζεν—at once began to help them to lay the foundation of their empire. This seems, on the whole, better than the version preferred by Classen and others, ‘prepared to begin (ἀρχήν) the building,’ in which ξυν- is left obscure, and is, in fact, variously explained; and ἀρχήν (cf. c. 96. 2) is strange for ἔργον. The allusion is to the whole period after Salamis.

[5] 21. νῦν ἔτι—generally supposed to have been written after the destruction of the walls of Piraeus by Lysander in 404 B.C. There is, however, no certainty in the matter; cf. 93.2.

22. δύο γὰρ ἅμαξαι—this is supposed to mean that wagons in two rows drawing up stones from opposite ends met and passed one another on the wall (Classen); or, much better— because the idea of Classen could not possibly be carried out in building—the wagons worked from one end up an incline, and after discharging their load turned and passed the laden wagons still coming along the wall. (So already Procopius.) It is almost incredible, however, that Thuc. should have intended this Greek to represent (1) two rows of wagons (2) passing along the wall, and (3) the one set returning empty. But I have no other explanation to offer. Some suppose that two wagons worked on the level and deposited stones ready for the building on either side; perhaps this does prove τὸ πάχος τοῦ τείχους.

24. ἐντὸς δέ—i.e. the inside was not filled with clay and small stones, but large blocks were cut and fitted and fastened together on the outside by iron clamps.

25. ἐντομῇ—by cutting into them, so that the ends could fit together and overlap. This is much better than ἐν τομῇ, which cannot=‘at the ends.’

28. οὗ διενοεῖτο—i.e. εκείνου δ διενοεῖτο τελεῖν.

[6] 1. ἐπιβουλάς—an ὲπιβουλή would lead to an ἐπιβολή: Thuc. as often gives to the cause the meaning of its effect: there is no need to alter the text, despite the gloss in the Schol.

2. ἀχρειοτάτων—in its strict military sense.