Harold North Fowler, Commentary on Thucydides Book 5

αὐτῶν: sc. τῶν Ἀργείων.

αἱ σπονδαί : the treaty of peace which was now ardently desired. σφίσιν also here and in 4 (where Kr. and v. Herwerden would omit it) points to the lively interest of the Argives in the matter.

ἐς πόλιν: with the subst. ἐπιτροπή, whereas with the verb ἐπιτρέπειν the dat. is used. Cf. i. 28. 9; iv. 83. 10; v. 31. 14.

ἧς ἀεὶ πέρι: ἀεί is freq. inserted between closely connected words. See on i. 18. 29.

νέμονται δ᾽ αὐτὴν Λακεδαιμόνιοι: the Lacedaemonians had established there the Aeginetans who had been expelled from their home. See iv. 56. 13 f. On the situation of the towns, see Curtius, Pelopon. II. p. 376; Bursian, Geogr. v. Griech. II. p. 71.

μεμνῆσθαι: mentionem facere: elsewhere used by Thuc. only in the aor. μνησθῆναι (i. 10. 26; 37. 4; ii. 45. 7; iii. 90. 6; vi. 15. 6; viii. 47. 10); nor is the pf. found in other Att. writers, nor in Hdt. (hence v. Herwerden writes μνησθῆναι).

ὥσπερ πρότερον: i.e. on the same conditions as in the thirty years' peace concluded in 451 B.C. See on c. 14. 21.—ἑτοῖμοι εἶναι: anacoluthon after ἐώντων, but no change in the text should be made, for οὐκ ἐώντων suggests the idea of indir. disc., as if we had λεγόντων after ἀλλά, 9. Cf. viii. 48. § 6; 104. 13 ff., ἐπειγομένων δὲ τῶν Πελοποννησίων πρότερόν τε ξυμμῖξαι, καὶ . . . ὑπερσχόντες αὐτοί. Kühn. 593, N. 1.

τάδε: const. with ξυγχωρῆσαι.

διαμάχεσθαι : decertare, “fight it out.” Cf. i. 143. 25.

ὥσπερ καὶ πρότερον: this battle is described in detail in Hdt. i. 82. The conditions of the struggle were to be agreed upon now as in the old days (about 550 B.C.). Fair warning was to be given (προκαλεσαμένοις), the enemy was not to be taken at a disadvantage (μήτε νόσου μήτε πολέμου κτἑ.), nor was the defeated party to be pursued beyond the boundary of Cynuria (16, διώκειν δὲ μὴ ἐξεῖναι κτἑ.).

αὐτοὶ ἑκάτεροι ἠξίωσαν (claimed) νικᾶν: so in Hdt.i. 82. 27, αὐτοὶ ἑκάτεροι ἔφασαν νικᾶν. Cf. i. 105. 23, καὶ ἐνόμισαν αὐτοὶ ἑκάτεροι οὐκ ἔλασσον ἔχειν.

ἐπεθύμουν γάρ: cf. c. 36. 17, where καλῶς is quite as justifiable as here πάντως, under all circumstances, in any case.—φίλιον: for Mss. φίλον. Cf. c. 36. 18.

ξυνεγράψοντο: συνθήκην ἔγγραφον δεδώκασι, Schol. They drew up the treaty in writing, but withheld the ratification for the present, and ἐκέλευον δεῖξαι (to present il, cf. i. 133. 1) τῷ πλήθει.

τέλος ἔχειν : go into effect. The subj. is τι αὐτῶν.

ἀρέσκοντα : adj.; cf. i. 38. 8, εἰ τοῖς πλέοσιν ἀρέσκοντές ἐσμεν. —τὰ Ὑακίνθια: about midsummer. See on c. 23. 21.