Charles D. Morris, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

δυνατώτατα γὰρ κτἑ.: not the reason of the preceding thought, but of the mention of the particular states named in last chap.

φαίνεται: to be joined with χρώμενα and ἐξηρτυμένα.

πολλαῖς...Τρωικῶν : though these naval powers arose many generations after the Trojan war.— 5. πλοίοις μακροῖς: πλοῖα usually opp. to war-ships, particularly to triremes, which are often called νῆες simply. Cf. ii.84.7; iv.116.5; vi.65.14. Here the epithet μακροῖς marks them as ships of war, though except in size they probably differed little from trading vessels. Kr. refers to Hdt. vii.21.9, where he speaks of μακρὰς νέας as furnished for Xerxes's bridge, to show that the epithet does not always have this force; but ibid. 36. 3 the same vessels are spoken of as πεντηκοντέρους καὶ τριήρεας.

ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνα : i.e. τὰ κατὰ τὰ Τρωικὰ ναυτικά.

ὀλίγον τε: see on c. 2. 6.

τοῦ Δαρείου θανάτου: B.C. 485.

ἐβασίλευσε: see on c. 3. 8.—περὶ Σικελίαν: see on c. 5. 17. Reference is made to Gelo, Hiero, and probably also to Anaxilas of Rhegium.—τοῖς τυράννοις...ἐγένοντο : cf. c. 13. 24. ἐς πλῆθος, in numbers, = πολλαί; usually πλήθει, as in ii.11.12; viii.22.3. Cf. Ar. Ach. 688, ἐς τάχος παίει.

ταῦτα : the Sicilian and Corcyraean navies. The subj. is conformed to the pred. ναυτικὰ ἀξιόλογα. τελευταῖα is adv. See on c. 12. 3.

βραχέα: of trifling importance. Cf. c. 74. 22; 117. 12; 130. 9; 141. 4, etc.—τὰ πολλά: agrees formally with the preceding whole (τὰ ναυτικά), but really refers only to a part to which πεντηκοντόρους is pred. The πεντηκόντορος had on each side 25 oarsmen arranged horizontally.

ὀψέ τε ἀφ᾽ οὗ: the event spoken of (ἔπεισε Θεμιστοκλῆς) stands at a point between the Trojan war and the time of the historian. Looking from the former one might say ὀψὲ ἔπεισεν; looking from the latter, οὐ πολὺς χρόνος ἀφ᾽ οὗ ἔπεισεν. Cl. considers the expression in the text as a mixture of the two. Such a σύγχυσις might easily occur in a long and complex period, but is hardly credible when the words stand close together. Kr. and v. H. bracket ἀφ᾽ οὗ, and Sh. suggests that ἐκέκτηντο may be repeated after ὀψέ.— 13. Αἰγινήταις πολεμοῦντας : no doubt the war mentioned in c. 41. 6; Hdt. vi. 87 ff., which was perhaps before the battle of Marathon (B.C. 490), though the invasion of Xerxes (B.C. 480) is referred to in the following lines. Hdt., vii. 144, himself says that the advice of Themistocles was given before the alarm caused by Xerxes' invasion. See Grote, IV. c. 39, p. 399, on the importance to Athens of this interval and its causes.—καὶ ἅμα: with ὄντος. See on c. 2. 8; 9. 20.

τὰς ναῦς: the well-known fleet; 100 triremes, acc. to Plut. Them. 4. 2; 200 acc. to Hdt. vii.144.8.—αἷσπερ καὶ ἐναυμάχησαν: with which they actually fought as he intended. Cf. c. 137. 2; ii.86.7.

καὶ αὗται κτἑ.: referring to c. 10. 31, οὐδὲ τὰ πλοῖα κατάφρακτα ἔχοντας, and showing an advance since the Trojan times, though not an entire change. The completion of the deck was due to Cimon. Cf. Plut. Cim. 12. 3: ἐκεῖνος τότε πλατυτέρας ἐποίησε τὰς τριήρεις καὶ διάβασιν τοῖς καταστρώμασιν ἔδωκεν, ὡς ἂν ὑπὸ πολλῶν ὁπλιτῶν μαχιμώτεραι προσφέροιντο τοῖς πολεμίοις. With διὰ πάσης, throughout, no definite word is to be supplied. Cf. ἀπὸ τῆς ἴσης, c. 15. 11; ἐπὶ τῇ ἴσῃ καὶ ὁμοίᾳ, c. 27. 3; ἀπὸ πρώτης, c. 77. 11; with art., vii.43.35; διὰ κενῆς, iv.126.22.