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The Thracian mercenaries who are sent back, betake themselves, on the way home, to robberies and cruelties on the Boeotian coast, especially in Mycalessus. 1. τῷ Δημοσθένει: dat. of advantage (cf. c. 26. 1), since they were intended as reinforcements for him. Cf. c. 27. § 1. δαπανᾶν: i.e. to be at great expense on account of them. Cf. c. 27. § 2.—ἀπέπεμπον: for the use of the impf., see on c. 20. 7. Kühn. 383, 3, takes it as equiv. to the aor. That they returned by ship is shown by what follows, and is implied in κομίσαι. Διιτρέφει : prob. the grandson of the Diitrephes mentioned in iii.75.2; iv.53.5; 119. 10. It is he, doubtless, who is mentioned again in viii.64.7. See App. to c. 30. 15. St. writes, following inscriptions, Διειτρέφης in all the places just cited.—εἰπόντες: in sense of κελεύειν, as in iii.3.16; iv.2.8, and freq. Kühn. 473, 2. ἄν τι δύνηται: so Vat. correctly, instead of ἤν τι δύνωνται, since the sing. is required in connexion with ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν βλάψαι, the subj. of which is Diitrephes. ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν βλάψαι: Schol. ἀντὶ τοῦ δἰ αὐτῶν, to do injury by means of them. “ἀπό expresses the instrument, that from which the hurt proceeded.” Arn. Cf. βλάπτεσθαι ἀφ᾽ ὧν (of things) in c. 67. 19. The idea seems to be, “at their cost,” i.e. to use them as “food for powder.” Ταναγραίαν: for Τάναγραν of the Mss. The reference here can be only to the land extending down to the coast (cf. iv.76.17), not to the city, which was situated on a height at some distance from the sea. See Bursian, I. p. 122. After a short stay (διὰ τάχους) they embarked again (though Thuc. does not mention this), and sailed over to Chalcis; then, recrossing the Euripus, they surprised Mycalessus. The two plundering incursions are connected by τε (in 6) and καί before ἐκ Χαλκίδος. ἀφ̓ ἑσπέρας : directly after nightfall, as in iii.112.8; viii.27.27 = ὑπὸ νύκτα in i.115.19; vi.64.3. Μυκαλησσόν: see Bursian, I. p. 217. 11. ηὐλίσατο: pitched his camp. οὐ μεγάλῃ : οὐ added from Vat. Strab., ix.2.11, calls it κώμη τῆς Ταναγρικῆς, and this agrees with ὡς ἐπὶ μεγέθει in c. 30. 20. ἀπροσδοκήτοις: in the act. sense (see on vi.69.2) it takes, in consequence of the implied negation (= οὐ προσδοκῶσι), also the dependent inf. with neg. μή after it. See on c. 6. 19; iii.32.14. τοσοῦτον: about 30 stadia, and not so far as the city Tanagra is distant from the coast. πεπτωκότος: fallen down. Cf. i.89.19; iv.112.6. βραχέος ᾠκοδομημένου: the adj. is pred. as in c. 4. 11, ἐποικοδομήσαντες . . . ὑψηλότερον. This part of the wall had not been built high in the beginning. 19. τοὺς ἀνθρώπους...ἡλικίας : Paus., i.23.3, says of the same occurrence, Μυκαλησσίων οὐ μόνον τὸ μάχιμον οἱ Θρᾷκες, ἀλλὰ καὶ γυναῖκας ἐφόνευσαν καὶ παῖδας. ὅτῳ ἐντύχοιεν : prot. of general cond. For ὅτῳ in collective sense referring to pl. antec., see Kühn. 359, 3 c β. ὅσα ἄλλα ἔμψυχα : in the strong expression may be perceived the aversion with which the historian tells the story.— 24. ὁμοῖα τοῖς μάλιστα: sc. φονικοῖς. ὁμοῖα is adv., as in i.25.18; Hdt. iii.8.2; 57. 8; vii.118.8; 141. 4. On the phrase (= ut qui maxime), see Kühn. 349^{b}, note 5.—ἐν ᾧ ἂν θαρσήσῃ: wherever they have courage, i.e. have nothing to fear. The aor. occurs also in ii.79.19. 25. καὶ τότε...παίδων : and on this occasion not only did no slight tumult and every kind of destruction ensue, but also falling upon a boys' school, etc. καὶ τότε introduces an example under a general remark. Kr. Spr. 69, 32, 8. Cf. c. 71. 41. To ἄλλη τε corresponds καί before ἐπιπεσόντες. πᾶσα ἰδέα as in ii.19.1; 77. 7; iii.81.22; 83. 1; 98. 15; 112. 23. ὅπερ μέγιστον ἦν...καὶ ἄρτι ἔτυχον οἱ παῖδες ἐσεληλυθότες: without repetition of the rel. pron. (ἐς ὅ) in the second clause (cf. vi.64.18), and even without αὐτό, which is expressed in the similar passage ii.4.25. G. 156; II. 1005; Kr. Spr. 60, 6, 2. καὶ ξυμφορὰ τῇ πόλει...καὶ δεινή : Thuc. sums up the horror of the whole affair in the most impressive manner, the subst. placed first, followed by the phrases οὐδεμιᾶς ἥσσων and μᾶλλον ἑτέρας, which have the force of sups., and the dem. pron. The position of the subst. gives it a character of generality with nearly the effect of the part. gen. See on i.1.8. This passage differs, however, from those cited at i.1.8 in this respect, that here two qualities in their highest expression unite in a single case, viz. the extent of the destruction (οὐδεμιᾶς ἥσσων) and the complete unexpectedness of it (μᾶλλον ἑτέρας ἀδόκητος). “And so this blow, than which no greater ever affected a whole city, was in the highest degree both unexpected and terrible.” μᾶλλον . . . ἀδόκητος and δεινή stand in pred. relation to ἐπέπεσεν. See App.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 7. Charles F. Smith. 1886. Boston. Ginn and Company.
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