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“So I admonish you all to hold out bravely in the combat which is before us, the hoplites in the consciousness of their superiority, the seamen in dependence on our preparations and on the ancient glory of Athens, to sustain which is now our duty. Show your adversaries that you do not bow before misfortunes.” 1. ὧν: the rel. serves as an em phatic connective. Cf. i.9.19; 42. 1, etc.—διαμάχεσθαι: to fight to the last (utmost). ἐς αὐτήν: sc. τὴν γῆν πολεμίαν οὖσαν. ἀξιοῦν : to be resolved.—ἀπολύεσθαι: cf. c. 44. 40. —πρότερον ἤ: with the subjv. without ἄν, as πρίν in vi.10.19; μέχρι, i.137.13. GMT. 66, 2, N. 3; 67, 2, N. 3; H. 921 a; Kühn. 398, note 2 c; Kr. Dial. 54, 17, 9. ἀπαράξητε: cf. Hdt. viii.90.10, τοὺς ἐπιβάτας ἀπὸ τῆς καταδυσάσης νεὸς βάλλοντες ἀπήραξαν. See on c. 6. 15. 5. τῶν ναυτῶν: i.e. ἢ τοῖς ναύταις. H. 643 b; Kühn. 543, 1 b. τῶν ἄνωθεν: i.e. τῶν ἐπὶ τῶν καταστρωμάτων, τῶν ἐπιβατῶν. τὰ πλείω : cognate acc. with ἐπικρατεῖν, as in iv.19.9. 8. ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τῷδε: Schol. ἐν τῷ παραινεῖν. τι : to be connected with μή: “not to be in any way too much dismayed.” ἀπό: as in c. 70. 20, instead of ἐπί (c. 62. 3) because the deck is thought of as the point from which they are to fight. Kr. Spr. 50, 8, 17. βελτίω νῦν: sc. ἢ ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ ναυμαχίᾳ. ἐκείνην τε τὴν ἡδονήν : that proud feeling. The proleptic const. as in ii.67.23; vi.88.5. From here to the end of the chap. the exhortation is directed esp. to the metoeci, who served principally in the fleet. They are more particularly designated in 12 by οἳ τέως Ἀθηναῖοι νομιζόμενοι κτἑ. (Schol. τοὺς μετοίκους λέγει).—ἀξία ἐστὶ διασώσασθαι: pers. const. GMT. 93, 1, N. 2 b; H. 944 a. Cf. i.40.13; iii.11.1. οἳ τέως κτἑ.: in the rel. clause the speaker passes from the feeling to the subjects of it, and the sent. proceeds in the second person because τοῖς ναύταις (7) = ὑμῖν τοῖς ναύταις. ἡμῶν : Cl. and St. adopt this reading of a few Mss., for ὑμῶν, because the directreference to the Athenians throughout the whole passage is more natural than the vague ὑμῶν. τῆς φωνῆς τῇ ἐπιστήμῃ...Ἑλλάδα : remarkable testimony to the recognized superiority of Att. over all other Hellenic cul ture, and to its power of propagation. κατὰ τὸ ὠφελεῖσθαι κτἑ.: the sense is, “and you have become sharers in our empire not less than we in point of advantage, both in inspiring fear in our subjects (i.e. securing respect from them), and in freedom from injury.” But it is hardly possible that both οὐκ ἔλασσον (15) and πολὺ πλεῖον (16) can be correct. Cl. rejects the former, but St., Kr., and Lamb. more prop. consider the latter a gloss to οὐκ ἔλασσον. See App. 17. ἐλευθέρως: in a free manner, i.e. without limitation of your freedom. Cf. vi.85.9, πάνυ ἐλευθέρως ξυμμαχοῦντες. δικαίως [ἄν ]: Cl. brackets both words on the ground that no satisfactory explanation has been found. Most editt. omit ἄν (with a few Mss.). The sense would then be, “act justly, and do not betray it.” “δικαίως is synonymous with ὡς τὸ δίκαιον βούλεται” (Arn.). Kühn. 497, 5. See App. ἡμῖν: to be taken with ἀντιστῆναι as well as with ἤκμαζε. ἠξίωσεν : presumed. Cf. i.42.2; 74. 12. ἐπιστήμη: freq. used of technical knowledge and skill, esp. in seamanship. Cf. c. 62. 8; i.49.12; 121. 15. ἑτέρας εὐτυχούσης ῥώμης: than confidence on the part of others resulting from lucky events. With ἑτέρας, for which Bauer proposed ἑτέρων, cf. σφετέραν in c. 17. 17; παρ᾽ ἀμφοτέροις τοῖς πράγμασι, v.26.27. On ῥώμη, see App. to vi.31.3.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 7. Charles F. Smith. 1886. Boston. Ginn and Company.
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