Charles D. Morris, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

φαίνεται: it is plain, placed first for emphasis, and, notwithstanding the change of subject and number, controlling the three partics. οἰκουμένη, οὖσαι, ἀπολείποντες, which belong to the impf. GMT. 16, 2; H. 853 a.— 2. τὰ πρότερα: in former times, indicating particular cases better than the more usual τὸ πρότερον. So iv.114.26. Cf. c. 3. 4, τὰ πρὸ Ἕλληνος. iii.54.9, τὰ ἐν τῇ εἰρήνῃ.

βιαζόμενοι : pass. as in c. 77. 15; iii.94.11; iv.10.15, etc. Sh. points out that βιάζεσθαι is dep. and pass. alike, except in two tenses, ἐβιασάμην (dep.), and ἐβιάσθην (pass.). βιᾶται = βιάσεται is pass. in Plat. Tim. 63 b.—ἀεί: from time to time (the sum of the particular times making up ‘always’) stands usually before an attribute (commonly a partic.). Cf. c. 11. 9, 14; ii.37.15; iii.77.3. But sometimes after it. Cf. c. 2. 13; iii.23.11.

τῆς ἐμπορίας: the art. implies ‘such as now exists.’

οὐκ οὔσης: = οὐχ ὑπαρχούσης. The verb εἶναι is often used in this pregnant sense, particularly after a neg. Cf. c. 49. 11; 52. 10; ii.89.35; vii.36.28; 70. 25; viii.96.6.—ἐπιμιγνύντες: this verb is used with ἀλλήλοις or παρ᾽ ἀλλήλους (c. 13. 19) in act. intr. or mid. (c. 146. 3; ii.1.3; iv.118.23) of mutual intercourse. So the subst. ἐπιμιξία, v.35.3; 78. 3. On compounds with ἐπί implying reciprocity, ἐπαλλαγή, ἐπιχρῆσθαι (c. 41. 4), ἐπιμαχία (c. 44. 8), etc., see Donaldson, New Cratylus, § 174.

διὰ θαλάσσης: the prep. implies that the sea was not merely the sphere but the helper of the intercourse.—νεμόμενοί τε: the postscript τε is not correlative to the following καί, but is used with the third or a later member of an enumeration. Cf. 9, τῆς τε καθ᾽ ἡμέραν, without reference to νεμόμενοί τε. Cf. c. 6. 16; 13. 12, 19; 14. 5; 33. 6; 69. 3; 80. 11; iii.42.18. νέμεσθαι implies possession and occupation of the soil in any way. Here it is exclusive of the planting of vines, olives, etc., which is expressed by φυτεύοντες, and would result from fixity of settlement.

ὅσον ἀποζῆν: enough to live upon = ἐπὶ τοσοῦτο μόνον ὥστε ἀποζῆν, quantum satis esset ad vitam sustentandam. Cf. iii.49.16. GMT. 93, 1, N. 1.

ἄδηλον ὄν: acc. abs. of impers. phrase (G. 278. 2; H. 973) giving the reason only of the preceding οὐδὲ . . . φυτεύοντες, and followed by the fut. indic. of the dir. disc., as in viii.96.7.

καὶ...ἅμα : not a simple copula, but, like ἄλλως τε καί, introducing a specially important circumstance. Cf. c. 9. 16, 20; 14. 13; 64. 14; 102. 11; iii.61.4. On the combination of partics. abs. and concordant, see GMT. 111.— ἀτειχίστων ὄντων: since they had yet no walled towns. Thuc. often uses the gen. abs. without an expressed subj. when it can easily be supplied from the connexion, or when, as here, it is of indefinite application. Cf. c. 3. 8; 73. 24. GMT. 110, 1, N. 2; H. 972 a.

ἀναγκαίου: only here in Thuc. of two terminations; for in vii.60.24, ἐξ ἀναγκαίου is adv. Often so in Plato.—πανταχοῦ...ἐπικρατεῖν : ἄν belongs to ἐπικρατεῖν, = ἐπικρατοῖεν ἄν. πανταχοῦ, anywhere.

οὐ χαλεπῶς ἀπανίσταντο: they changed their abodes without difficulty, the adv. having the same subjective meaning as ῥᾳδίως in 3. These words state the result of all the preceding clauses, only ἄδηλον ὂν . . . ἀφαιρήσεται being specially subord. to οὐ φυτεύοντες.

δἰ αὐτό : this pron. often in Thuc. refers to the preceding statement. Cf. c. 18. 10; 32. 14; 68. 3, and see on c. 1. 10.

οὔτε τῇ ἄλλῃ παρασκευῇ : σκευή, the equipment, dress, etc., of individuals (in vi.94.18, of horses); κατασκευή, the furniture of houses, ships, etc., and sometimes their construction, as Plat. Gorg. 455 b; παρασκευή, the equipment of military forces, supplies, etc.; here opp. to μέγεθος πόλεων, the number of the population; and, as παρασκευή is not included in this, ἄλλη must be rendered in general or any at all. G. 142, 2, N. 3; H. 705.

τῆς γῆς ἡ ἀρίστη: this assimilation of the articular adj. to the gender of the part. gen. occurs in Thuc. in c. 5. 8; 30. 10; vi.7.5; viii.3.5, and is freq. in Plat., e.g. Phaed. 104 a, ὁ ἥμισυς τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ. G. 168, N. 1; H. 730 e; Kr. Spr. 47, 28, 9; Kühn. 405, 5 c.

εἶχεν: nearly = ἔπασχεν. Cf. vi.17.9; viii.86.15.

ἥ τε νῦν Θεσσαλία κτἑ.: the districts indicated by Thuc. are those of the chief plains and river-valleys, e.g. of the Peneus, Cephissus, Inachus, Eurotas, Pamisus, Alpheus. νῦν καλουμένη is to be repeated with Βοιωτία. These words indicate merely that these districts in the earliest times had no common names. Cf. 1, above.

ἀρετήν: fertility. Cf. Hdt. iv.198.1, δοκέει δέ μοι οὐδ̓ ἀρετὴν εἶναί τις ἡ Λιβύη σπουδαίη, ὥστε ἢ Ἀσίῃ ἢ Εὐρώπῃ παραβληθῆναι.

τισι : the indef. pron. is used purposely to include the districts as well as their inhabitants; since at this early stage of development πόλεις would be inapplicable. δυνάμεις is pl. in reference to the various districts. Cf. c. 10. 17; iii.62.12.— 17. ἐφθείροντο: dwindled; φθείρεσθαι（φθίνειν) opp. to αὐξάνεσθαι.

ἐπεβουλεύοντο : pers. pass. from intr. act. Cf. ἐφορμεῖσθαι, c. 142. 19; πολεμοῦνται, c. 37. 3. G. 197, 1; H. 819; Kühn. 378, 7.—γοῦν: at any rate; introduces an argument which, though of limited scope, is highly illustrative; here a seeming exception which confirms the previous statement. Kühn. 508, 2 a.

ἐκ τοῦ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον: from the remotest period, ἐπὶ πλεῖστον being a complete adv. Cf. c. 71. 3; 82. 20; ii.35.20; v.46.9; vi.54.20. The words apply to the partic. as well as to the verb.—διὰ τὸ λεπτόγεων: “It was stony, deficient in water, adapted chiefly to the cultivation of barley, and everywhere needing labour and regulated industry.” E. Curtius, Hist. of Greece, I. p. 322. Thuc. often uses a neut. adj. or partic. for an abstract subst. Cf. c. 6. 7; 36. 3; 39. 6; 68. 1; 69. 14; 76. 20; 84. 1.

καὶ παράδειγμα...αὐξηθῆναι : on the order of the first words, see on c. 1. 8. τοῦ λόγου refers to the statement of the evil effects of frequent migration on the growth of states, and is repeated in the words διὰ τὰς . . . αὐξηθῆναι. τόδε refers to the following sentence introduced by γάρ, as in c. 3. 2; Hdt. vii.221.1, μαρτύριον δέ μοι καὶ τόδε οὐκ ἐλάχιστον τούτου πέρι γέγονε: οὐ γὰρ μοῦνον κτἑ. The ‘proof from example,’ παράδειγμα, of the above proposition consists in the fact that Attica not merely retained its old inhabitants, but grew at the expense of other states by constantly receiving accessions of powerful citizens who were forced by war or faction to leave their old homes. Note the position of ἐκ τῆς ἄλλης Ἑλλάδος at the head of its clause with direct reference to τὰ ἄλλα preceding. See App.

οἱ δυνατώτατοι: as appos. to οἱ . . . ἐκπίπτοντες restricts the whole to the designated part. Cf. c. 13. 18; 18. 22.—ὡς βέβαιον ὄν: thinking that there was security there. Schol. ὡς βεβαίας οὔσης τῆς οἰκήσεως. Cf. 8, ἄδηλον ὄν. But Cl. takes βέβαιον as referring to the country, in a kind of appos. to Ἀθηναίους, and so governed by the continued influence of παρά, as in c. 91. 20.

γιγνόμενοι: partic. impf. to indicate the repetition of such occurrences, like ἐκπίπτοντες, 23; the effect of the whole is expressed in the aor. μείζω ἐποίησαν, to which the phrase εὐθὺς ἀπὸ παλαιοῦ (cf. v.44.8) belongs.—ἔτι: i.e. still more than was implied by the words τὰ ἄλλα . . . αὐξηθῆναι.

ἐς Ἰωνίαν : proleptic for ἐς τὴν νῦν Ἰωνίαν καλουμένην.

ἐξέπεμψαν : sc. οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι.