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“On our side every precaution has been taken to protect our ships against the contrivances devised by the enemy before the last battle; and our crews have been strengthened, so as to render our attacks on their ships more effective.” 1. ἀρωγά: used oftener in poetry. Cf. also Plat. Prot. 334 b.—ἐνείδομεν: see on c. 36. 6.—ἐπὶ τῇ...στενότητι : in the matter of the narrowness of the harbour. ἐπί with the dat. as in i.70.10; ii.17.15; iv.22.13. πρὸς τὸν μέλλοντα ὄχλον...ἔσεσθαι : ἔσεσθαι depends on μέλλοντα, and ὄχλος means, not the great number (for this was present from the beginning), but the press of the ships, as in i.49.8, ὑπό τε πλήθους καὶ ὄχλου. πρὸς τὴν...παρασκευήν : cf. c. 36. § 3-5. οἷς πρότερον ἐβλαπτόμεθα: cf. c. 40. § 5. οἷς is neut. and refers to ὄχλος as well as παρασκευή. Kr. Spr. 58, 3, 5. μετὰ τῶν κυβερνητῶν: belongs with ἐσκεμμένα: “after careful consideration in company with the pilots.” 6. ἐπιβήσονται: will serve as epibatae. The epibatae were as a rule hoplites, or men armed as such (see on vi.43.9).—καὶ ὄχλος: Cl. puts a comma before καί and renders, and so a crowd (sc. ἐπιβήσεται, will come together on board). But rather it seems that the whole is added to a part, viz. the archers and javelin-men, ὄχλος signifying here the whole multitude of men by whom the ships were filled. διὰ τὸ βλάπτειν: the subj. is τὸν ὄχλον. τὸ τῆς ἐπιστήμης : see on c. 61. 12. ἐν δὲ...πρόσφορος ἔσται: understand ὅς from the preceding ᾧ. Cf. i.10.20, ἣν εἰκὸς . . . ποιητὴν ὄντα κοσμῆσαι, ὅμως δὲ φαίνεται ἐνδεεστέρα. G. 156; H. 1005; Kühn. 561, 1. With this view πρόσφορος, the reading of a single Ms. (the rest, πρόσφορα), is necessary. Most other editt. read πρόσφορα, sc. ἐπιβῆναι αὐτόν（τὸν ὄχλον). For a state of affairs similar to that here described (ἐν τῇ . . . πεζομαχίᾳ), cf. i. 49. § 2, and ii. 89. § 8. 11. χρὴ ἀντιναυπηγῆσαι: the reading of Vat., for the unintelligible μὴ ἀντιναυπηγεῖσθαι of the other Mss. The aor. inf. is preferable for the single case. The fact that Thuc. in i.31.3 and vi.90.12 used the mid., both times after pers. subjs., does not exclude the act. form in an impers. const.—τῶν ἐπωτίδων: see on c. 34. 22; 36. 8.—αὐτοῖς: in the sense of a loose gen. See on c. 34. 7. παχύτητας: attracted into the number of ἐπωτίδων, as ἐπιβολαί (13) into that of χειρῶν. ᾧπερ : on the neut. of the rel. referring to preceding clause, see Kr. Spr. 58, 3, 6.—χειρῶν σιδηρῶν ἐπιβολαί: the laying on of grapplingirons. ἐπιβολή here and in c. 65. 5 signifies the device to be employed in battle, not the application of it, as is shown by iv.25.14, χειρὶ σιδηρᾷ ἐπιβληθείσῃ μίαν ναῦν ἀπώλεσαν. σχήσουσι : = κωλύσουσι. See on i.73.22.—πάλιν: back, here pleonastically added to ἀνάκρουσις for emphasis. Cf. c. 44. 42. τῆς νεώς: in the sense of ἑκάστης νεώς, as also in c. 65. 7. Kr. Spr. 50, 2, 4. τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις: what is necessary under these circumstances (or next in order), i.e. to board the hostile ships, and fight hand to hand. Cf. i.65.7; vi.45.3. 15. πεζομαχεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν νεῶν: as in iv.14.20. καὶ τὸ μήτε...ὠφέλιμον φαίνεται : independent const. where we should expect the inf. dependent on ὥστε. ἐᾶν : sc. ἀνακρούεσθαι. Cf. i.70.33. ἐπέχῃ: will have possession of. Cf. i.48.7; 50. 7.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 7. Charles F. Smith. 1886. Boston. Ginn and Company.
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