Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides Book 6

ὑπὲρ Παντακύου ποταμοῦ: cf. 1. 46. 10 ἔστι δὲ λιμήν, καὶ πόλις ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ κεῖται ἀπὸ θαλάσσης. For omission of the art., see Gild., Syn. II, 559.

Τρώτιλόν τι ὄνομα χωρίον: the site is uncertain; see Holm I, 131, 390. The unnatural order is as in 1. 106. 3. For ὄνομα, by name, cf. 4. 133. 11; 8. 85. 7.

ἐς Λεοντίνους: see on 3. 10. For particulars of the treachery by which Thucles expelled from Leontini first the Sicels by means of the Megarians, then the latter also, see Polyaen. 5. 5.—ὀλίγον χρόνον: six months, acc. to Polyaen. 5. 5. 2.—ξυμπολιτεύσας: i.e. μετοικήσας ἐς Λεοντίνους καὶ ἐκεῖ ξυμπολιτεύσας τοῖς Χαλκιδεῦσι.

Θάψον : peninsula just north of Syracuse (now called Isola di Magnisi). Cf. 97. 6.— 6. ἀναστάντες: with pass. force, as in l. 11 and freq. Possibly they were ousted by hostile Sicels.—βασιλέως Σικελοῦ: for adj. use of Σικελός, see on Ἕλλην 3. 103. 2.

παραδόντος...καὶ καθηγησαμένου : i.e. he gave them the land and himself led them in. Cl.'s παραδόντος, for προδόντος of the Mss., seems necessary, since from the context there could be no idea of treachery. —Μεγαρέας ᾤκισαν τοὺς Ὑβλαίους: the personal acc. with οἰκίζειν, as in 1. 12. 14; rare in prose. Megara Hyblaea (sometimes simply Megara, 49. 19, 75. 5, 97. 26; 7. 25. 15) was the name of the new Hellenic city, beside which the Sicel Hybla (Υ῞βλα ἡ Γελεᾶτις 62. 21) still existed. The name Hyblaean is still given to the neighboring heights. See Holm I, 132.

κληθέντας: aor., because when Thuc. wrote the Hyblaean Megarians had long ceased to exist. See App. on 2-5.

ἔτη οἰκήσαντες κτἑ.: Ol. 74. 2; 483 B.C.

ὑπὸ Γέλωνος: ruler in Syracuse from 485 B.C.

ἀνέστησαν: sc. Μεγαρῆς οἱ Ὑβλαῖοι κληθέντες.

ὕστερον ἢ αὐτοὺς οἰκῆσαι : the inf. as with πρότερον ἤ 1. 69. 21 and freq. The antithesis to αὐτούς is Σελινοῦντα: “a hundred years after they themselves had settled, they founded Selinus.” For οἰκῆσαι, see App.— Πάμμιλον: for the form (not Πάμιλλον with most of the Mss.), see Herodian 1. 162; 2. 446; and Lobeck, Pathol. s. Gr. Proleg. 117.

Σελινοῦντα: in the Mss. ἐς precedes, which Duker rejected as originally due to an unconscious repetition of the final letters of πέμψαντες. On the uncertain derivation of this name,—acc. to Steph. Byz. s.v. Ἀκράγαντες from a river, acc. to others from σέλινον, parsley,—see Holm I, 394.—καὶ ἐκ Μεγάρων...ξυγκατῴκισε : co-ord. for rel. connection, and he had come from Megara, the mother-state, to take part in the colony. For the custom, see 1. 24. § 2 ταύτην ἀπῴκισαν μὲν Κερκυραῖοι, οἰκιστὴς δ᾽ ἐγένετο Φαλίος . . . Κορίνθιος . . . κατὰ δὴ τὸν παλαιὸν νόμον ἐκ τῆς μητροπόλεως κατακληθείς.

Ἀντίφημος...καὶ Ἔντιμος : for the oracle which they obeyed, see Diod. 8. 23. 1. On the uncertain site of Gela, near the present Terranova, see Holm I, 392.

μετὰ Συρακουσῶν οἴκισιν: as 5. 10 μετὰ Συρακουσῶν κτίσιν. The preceding gen. takes the place of the article. See on 1. 1. 11. —ἀπὸ τοῦ Γέλα ποταμοῦ: cf. l. 21. Duris apud Steph. Byz. s.v. Ἀκράγαντες: αἱ πλεῖσται τῶν Σικελῶν πόλεων ἐκ τῶν ποταμῶν ὀνομάζονται. The Doric gen. as in 1. 103. 6; 5. 25. 3; 8. 58. 2.— 17. ἡπόλις: = ἡ ἀκρόπολις. Cf. 2. 15. § 6. But Steup remarks that Thuc. has nowhere himself used this general designation for the Acropolis (5. 18. 55, 23. 23, 47. 65 being documentary), and that he could not in such a passage contrast ἡ πόλις (in the sense of the whole city) and τὸ χωρίον οὖ νῦν ἡ πόλις ἐστί without any explanation. He suggests therefore ἡ πόλις ἡ ἐντός (cf. 3. 8). Van Herw., Mnem. N.S. VIII (1880), 146, would write ἡ ἀκρόπολις.

καὶ ὅ : the rel. pron. expressed here in the second clause because of its importance; besides, to supply it from the adv. would be a harsh const. Cf. 89. 23, 101. 3.—Λίνδιοι: evidently from Lindus in Rhodes. Cf. Hdt. 7. 153 κτιζομένης Γέλης ὑπὸ Λινδίων τε τῶν ἐκ Ῥόδου καὶ Ἀντιφήμου.

καλεῖται : van Herw. and St. write καλοῦνται with Cod. B, though that has -ειται in rasura.

ἐγγύτατα: see on 2. 29.

Ἀκράγαντα: Agrigentum (Girgenti); on the situation and history of this important city, see Schubring, Hist. Topographie von Akragas, Leipz. 1870.

ὀνομάσαντες, ποιήσαντες, δόντες: aor. ptcs, synchronous with ᾤκισαν. Cf. γενόμενος 5. 15; also 1. 86. 2; 2. 68. 10; 3. 20. 21.

τὰ Γελῴων: where τὰ ἑαυτῶν would be expected. Cf. 5. 36. 11 μετὰ Βοιωτῶν for μεθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν, and 5. 18. 29 αὐτοὺς Ἀθηναίοις for ἑαυτοῖς.

Ζάγκλη: on old coins Δάγκλη. For divergent, but little credible, traditions about the origin and fortunes of this city, see Strabo 6, p. 268 c and Paus. 4. 23. 6 ff.—ἀπὸ Κύμης: “acc. to uniform tradition the oldest Greek city on Italian soil.” See Curtius, Gr. Gesch.^{6} I, 426. Acc. to more recent researches, however, Cumae is hardly much older than the earliest Greek cities of Sicily. See Busolt, Gr. Gesch.^{2} I, 391 f., and Freeman, Hist. of Sicily I, 311 f.— 24. ἐν Ὀπικίᾳ: the later Latium and Campania are meant. See Niebuhr, Röm. Gesch.^{3} I, 71 ff.

ξυγκατενείμαντο τὴν γῆν: shared the land with them. The pl. with collective noun as in 1. 125. 4. The word seems to occur clsewhere only in late writers. Cf. κατανέμεσθαι 2. 17. 18.

ὄνομα : explan. acc. with pass. verb of naming, as 1. 122. 25. Kr. Spr. 50, 7, 5.—Ζάγκλη ἦν...κληθεῖσα : was called Zancle by the Sicels. See App. on 2-5. For the periphrasis ἦν κληθεῖσα = ἐκλήθη, cf. ἦσαν γενόμενοι 4. 54. 12.

δρεπανοειδὲς τὴν ἰδέαν : somewhat pleonastic, like ὄνομα κληθεῖσα. In the sense of form, ἰδέα is used only here by Thuc., who is fond of the word. See on 1. 109. 2. “The harbor of Zancle is one of the finest and safest in the world; the sickle-shaped tongue of land which forms it extends northward.” See Holm I, 133. 30. οἱ Σικελοί: B. Heisterbergk, Fragen d. ältest. Gesch. Siziliens, p. 98 ff. (Berl. Stud. IX, H. 3), attempts to prove that not the Sicels, but the Siceliotes, called the sickle ζάγκλον. Acc. to Diod. 4. 85 Ζάγκλη was named after a King Zanklos.— 31. αὐτοί: i.e. the former Chalcidian inhabitants.—ὑπὸ Σαμίων...ἐκπίπτουσιν κτἑ.: for particulars, see Hdt. 6. 22 ff.—καὶ ἄλλων Ἰώνων: besides the Samians Hdt. 6. 22 mentions Μιλησίων οἱ ἐκπεφευγότες.

Μήδους φεύγοντες : after the sea fight at Lade.

Ἀναξίλας Ῥηγίνων τύραννος: acc. to Hdt. 6. 23 it was this very Anaxilas who had first caused the Samians to take Zancle.

αὐτός: correctly restored by Dobree for αὐτοῖς. Cf. 5. 15.—ξυμμείκτων ἀνθρώπων οἰκίσας: having colonized it with men of mixed nationality. Gen. of material as with πληρώσας. G. 1113; H. 743.— 35. ἀπὸ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ τὸ ἀρχαῖον πατρίδος: cf. Paus. 4. 23. 6 τέταρτος ἀπόγονος ἦν Ἀλκιδαμίδου: μετῴκησε δὲ Ἀλκιδαμίδας ἐκ Μεσσήνης ἐς Ῥήγιον μετὰ τὴν Ἀριστοδήμου τελευτήν. The adv. τὸ ἀρχαῖον is unusual for ἀρχαίας. See on 4. 3. 18.— ἀντωνόμασεν: with Bk. for αὐτὸ ὠνόμασεν of most of the better Mss.; for αὐτό would be superfluous, and so near τὴν πόλιν would seem strange in spite of τὸ χωρίον in l. 30. St. thinks this would require μετ ωνόμασεν. But cf. Dio C. 55. 6 τὸν μῆνα τὸν Σεξτίλιον ἐπικαλούμενον Αὔγουστον ἀντ ωνόμασεν. The statement of Hdt. 7. 164 παρὰ Σαμίων ἔσχε τε καὶ κατοίκησε πόλιν Ζάγκλην τὴν ἐς Μεσσήνην μεταβαλοῦσαν τὸ ὄνομα does not make it necessary to refer the change of name to the Samians. See Unger, Rh. Mus. XXXVII, 184 n.—The complete destruction by earthquake and tidal wave of Messina and Reggio on December 28, 1908, has recently drawn the attention of the whole world to this region.