Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 3

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Reflections evoked by the number of Attie ships then at sea, and remarks upon the exhaustion of the Attic treasury. This chapter is seen upon close examination to be clearly the work of a glossator, as Steup first argued in Rh. Mus. xxiv. p. 350. See App.

ὅν: κατά is omitted with the rel. after the prepositional phrase, as usual in Attic writers. G. 1025; H. 1007; Kühn. 451, 4; Kr. Spr. 51, 11, 1.—

ἔπλεον: were afloat. This pregnant force seems not to occur elsewhere. πλεῖν is never without pred, modification: whether local, as ἐς Αἴγυπτον, i. 110. 11; ἐκ τῆς Μιλήτου ἐς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον, viii. 108. 12; or qualitative, as ἄριστα, i. 48. 12; vii. 31. 22; viii. 104. 11; ἄμεινον, ii. 84. 12; οὐ σπουδῇ, iii. 49. 14; <*>ὖ, vii. 23. 11.—

ἐν τοῖς πλεῖσται: the purely formulaic ἐν τοῖς with the sup. is explained by some as intensive (H. 652 a; Kr. Spr. 49, 10, 6 and on i. 6, 6; Kühn. 349^{b}, 7 i; Madv. Syntax^{2} 96, 2, and others); by others as restrictive (Arn. here and vii. 19. 19; L. Herbst, Philol. xvi. p. 345 ff.; C. Spormann, de ellipsis apud Hdt. et Thuc. usu, 1888. p. 29 sqq., and others). Acc. to the latter view, not absolute pre-eminence, but prominence among competitors is indieated, so that ἐν τοῖς πλεῖσται would mean, among the most. At any rate, that ἐν τοῖς πλεῖσται (fem. with ἐν τοῖς also c. 82. 2) should be followed by παραπλήσιαι δὲ καὶ ἔτι πλείους, is very peculiar. With the first view, it must be assumed that the author corrected himself; with the second, it still seems strange that to a number thus emphasized another still greater should be immediately opposed. Steup thinks no absolutely certain case of the restrictive ἐν τοῖς with sup. has been found. Of the cases cited by Herbst, ἐν τοῖς is not formulaie in viii. 68. 4, καὶ Θηραμένης ἐν τοῖς ξυγκαταλύουσι τὸν δῆμον πρῶτος ἦν, while in viii. 90. 4, Ἀρίσταρχος, ἀνὴρ ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα καὶ ἐκ πλείστου ἐναντίος τῷ δήμῳ, the phrase ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα might well mean most of all. On the other hand, in i. 6. 6 and iii. 82. 2 the thought, he claims, suits the context far better with ἐν τοῖς intensive; and in vii. 19. 19 only the intensive meaning is admissible, since Thuc. could hardly have meant to compare the departure of the ὁλκάδες carrying hoplites to Sicily (vii. 19. 19) with that of the 25 Corinthian triremes (vii. 17. 14) sent to engage the attention of the Athenian fleet at Naupactus, esp. as the triremes were despatched in the winter, the ὁλκάδες the following summer. But Steup's objection to rendering ἐν τοῖς πρῶτοι (vii. 19. 19) ‘among the first’ does not seem conclusive, and certainly Aristarchus (viii. 90. 4) was, as Herbst and Jow. say, not the ‘very’ foremost among the subverters of democracy. If all the cases of ἐν τοῖς with the sup. be compared, it is hard to escape Jow.'s conclusion, that the formula is sometimes restrictive, as in vii. 24. 12; viii. 90. 4; sometimes intensive, as in c. 81. 2 (cf. c. 85. 2); Plato Symp. 178 b.—2.

ἐνεργοὶ κάλλει: ἐνεργός is not elsewhere used of ships, and both words occur only here in Thucydides. Goell., Arn., and Jow. explain, ‘effective by their fine condition’; Bl., ‘effective and handsome’ (by their handsomeness); Sheppard, ‘on active service in handsome trim.’ Peile takes κάλλει as dat. consilii, for display. Of the emendations proposed—by Herbst κάλῳς, St. καὶ ἄλλῃ, v. H. ἄλλαι ἄλλῃ —none is satisfactory.—3.

παραπλήσιαι δὲ καὶ ἔτι πλείους: for similar expressions, see on vii. 19. 8. See App.

τήν τε γὰρ . . . διακόσιοι καὶ πεντήκοντα: describes the disposition of the Attic fleet ἀρχομένου τοῦ πολέμου, which strangely alone of the two armaments here compared is more fully discussed. This follows necessarily from l. 15, καὶ νῆες τοσαῦται δὴ πλεῖσται επληρώθησαν, which can only refer to the 250 ships of For if 250 was the highest number reached, this, acc. to 1. 3, παραπλήσιαι δὲ καὶ ἔτι πλείους ἀρχομένου τοῦ πολέμου, must refer to the first year of the war. Besides, the reader would be more likely to reckon for himself the number of ships of the summer under consideration (428) than that of 431 B.C. Further the words in l. 6 περὶ Ποτείδαιαν καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις χωρίοις are unintelligible, if § 2 refers to the year 428.—5.

ἕτεραι ἑκατόν: cf. ii. 23. § 2; 25; 30; 31. § 1.—6.

χωρὶς δέ: besides, abs., without expressed or easily supplied predicate. In the passages cited by St. as parallel (Plato Euthyd. 289 c.; Soph. O. C. 808), χωρίς means of a different kind, not besides. In Thuc. χωρὶς δέ either has its own verb (ii. 31. 11), or the pred. of the preceding clause belongs also to it (i. 61. 15; ii. 97. 16; vi. 31. 29), or is to be supplied with it (ii. 13. 29; 31. 13). Here ἦσαν cannot be supplied from the preceding clause, since there it means ‘chanced to be.‘—

αἱ περὶ . . . χωρίοις: see App.—7.

αἱ πᾶσαι: in all. H. 672a; Kr. Spr. 50, 11, 13. Cf. c. 85. 12; i. 60. 6; vii. 1. 31.

τοῦτο: must refer grammatically to the number of ships either of 431 or 428 B.C. But as ὑπαναλίσκειν, gradually consume (ll. 8, 14), suits neither of these cases, the author of the chapter must have meant to indicate by τοῦτο “this fitting out of such large armaments,”—a loose form of expression without parallel in Thuc. Besides, there seem to have been in the summer of 429 B.C., if one excepts the ships which may have remained on the Thracian coast after the capture of Potidaea, as well as the few at stations like Salamis and Atalante, only 40 Attie ships at sea at one time (ii. 80. 21; 85. 17).—

ὑπανήλωσε: gradually consumed. The word is found in Thuc. only here and l. 14 below. With neut. subj., as ἀπαναλίσκειν, vii. 11. 13. Cf. c. 13. 33 ὑφ αιροῦντες, i. 77. 23 ὑπεδείξατε. On the augment see St. Qu. Gr.^{2} p. 60; Meisterhans,^{2} p. 137.

μετὰ Ηοτειδαίας: Potidaea had been already for a year and a half again in the possession of the Athenians (ii. 70). But still more strange is the manner in which Potidaea is here set over against the fitting out of large naval armaments, since Potidaea itself had been besieged by a fleet (i. 64. § 3). The costs of this siege had been 2000 talents (ii. 70. § 2). Besides, the building of ships had doubtless entailed considerable expense.—

δίδραχμοι: i.e. one drachma each for the hoplite and for his attendant, more than usual, since the average daily pay of a hoplite was 4 obols. Cf. vii. 27. 7. See Boeckh P. E. p. 373; Herm. Gr. Ant. i.^{6} § 112. The word is found here only in Thuc., and seldom elsewhere.—10.

ἐφρούρουν: obsidebant, as περιεφρουροῦντο, c. 21. 15. Cf. Arr. Anab. i. 7. 10; ii. 1. 4; iv. 3. 4; 5. 2; and Eur. Or. 760 φυλασσόμεσθα φρουρίοισι πανταχῇ. Elsewhere in Thuc., to garrison or guard, as i. 103. 15; 107. 16; iv. 1. 16; v. 33. 6, 10; 35. 28; 64. 12; vii. 60. 11. In the passage cited by Pp. and others, i. 64. 2, 4, there is no reason why both ἐφρούρουν and φρουρεῖν may not be intr., keep watch (cf. c. 90. 11; ii. 80. 22; 83. 7; iv. 24. 2; 66. 20). —

αὑτῷ: for sing, after preceding plur., cf. i. 120. 20 ἀνδρῶν σωφρόνων . . . ἡδόμενον. Otherwise such a const. is without parallel in Thuc., though common in Hdt. Cf. Plato Prot. 324 a οὐδεὶς κολάζει τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας . . . <*>ούιον ἕνελα, ὅ<*>ι ἠδίληοεν. Kr. Spr. 61, 4, 1.—

ὑπηρέτῃ: as in vi. 102. 10. Each Athenian hoplite was accompanied by an attendant, θεράπων, just as each Spartan by a Helot. Cf. iv. 16. 9.—

ἐλάμβανε: sc. ὁπλίτης ἕκαστος, to be supplied from δίδραχμοι ὁπλῖται. ἕκαστος ἐλάμβανον was to be expected (cf. vii. 27. 8). The omission of ἕκαστος is without parallel in Thuc., or even in Hdt.—11.

τρισχίλιοι kte(.: see App.—12.

διεπολιόρκησαν: ἅπαξ εἰρημένον. Schol. ἔμειναν ἕως ἁλώσεως τῆς πόλεως πολιορκοῦντες.— ἑξακόσιοι δὲ καὶ χίλιοι κτἑ.: cf. i. 64. 8; 65. 13, and see on ii. 31. 11.— 13.

τὸν αὐτὸν μισθόν: i.e. a drachma per man, since the seamen had no θεράποντες. This was double the usual pay of seamen. Cf. vi. 31. 19; viii. 45. 11, and see Boeckh, P. E. p. 377. —

ἔφερον; Schol. ἐλάμβανον, as vi. 24. 13; viii. 97. 7.

δή: as l. 2 with the sup., so here with the emphatic τοσαῦται. Cf. i. 33. 13; ii. 17. 17; 77. 7.—

πλεῖσται: pred., as the largest number, i.e. 250.