Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 3

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The demos is too prone to mild treatment of subject states: it incurs thereby great harm, but will incur greater still, if it does not enforce decrees once adopted, and recognize that for the welfare of the state, sober judgment (σωφροσύνη) on the part of citizens is above all things requisite.

πολλάκις μὲν . . . καὶ ἄλλοτε . . . μάλιστα δέ: cf. vii. 8. 5.—2.

ἀδύνατον: incompetent. See Ullrich, Beitr. 1862, p. 20 ff. For the neut. pred. adj. with fem. subj., see G. 925; H. 617. Cf. l. 16; vi. 39. 1; Hdt. i. 62. 6; Ar. Eccl. 236.—

ἑτέρων: in the general and comprehensive sense of any others, as i. 85. 6; ii. 35. 14.

διὰ γὰρ τὸ . . . ἔχετε: cf. similar thought in i. 68. § 1.—4.

τὸ καθ̓ ἡμέ-

ραν . . . πρὸς ἀλλήλους: more fully expressed by Pericles in ii. 37. § 2. πρός and ἐς denoting general relations without difference of meaning here, as l. 7, 9 below; also c. 54. 2; i. 32. 10; 38. 1.—5.

τὸ αὐτό: sc. τὸ ἀδεὲς καὶ ἀνεπιβούλευτον.—καὶ ὅ τι ἂν . . . μαλακίζεσθαι: and whatever false step you make through being misled by their words, or whatever you yield through pity, you do not consider that your yielding brings danger to yourselces and does not win favour from your allies.—6.

ἢ λόγῳ πεισθέντες . . . ἢ οἴκτῳ ἐνδῶτε: i.e. the two chief sources from which Cleon has reason to fear opposition to his advice, to which is added in c. 40 ἡ ἐπιείκεια. Instead of ἐνδόντες, as was to be expected, ἐνδῶτε is made coord. with ἁμάρτητε.—οἴκτῳ: cf. c. 40. 7; 48. 1.—7.

ἐπικινδύνως ἐς ὑμᾶς: cf. i. 91. 26 ἐς τοὺς πάντας ὠφελιμώτερον.—καὶ οὐκ: and not, differing from οὐδέ as et non from neque. —

οὐκ ἐς τὴν χάριν: lit. not for the gratitude of. Cf. c. 40. 19; ii. 40. 22. —8.

μαλακίζεσθαι: as in c. 40. 34; vi. 29. 11.—

ὅτι τυραννίδα ἔχετε τὴν ἀρχήν: exactly as Pericles had expressed himself in ii. 63. 8. Thuc. prob. purposely puts into the mouth of Cleon turns of thought and expression which are clearly echoes of the speeches of Pericles. Cf. c. 38. § 1; 40. § 4. Far as Cleon was removed from him in mind and mode of thinking, he had yet learned from him what was effective in a speech. —9.

καὶ πρὸς ἐπιβουλεύοντας αὐτοὺς καὶ ἄκοντας ἀρχομένους: emphatically opp. to ἀνεπιβούλευτον πρὸς ἀλλήλους. And indeed as against those who are themselves plotting against you and bear your rule unwillingly. —10.

οὐκ ἐξ ὧν . . . περιγένησθε: this explanation of ἄκοντας ἀρχομένους is added without connecting word, as c. 63. 8 ἣν αὐτοὶ μάλιστα προβάλλεσθε: ἱκανή γε ἦν κτἑ., iv. 10. 10 τὸ δυσέμβατον ἡμέτερον νομίζω: μενόντων ἡμῶν ξύμμαχον γίγνεται. In all three cases a rel. pron. (here οἵ) is read in only a few and inferior Mss. They obey you not in consequence of the kindnesses you do them to your own hurt, but in consequence of the superiority you have acquired by strength rather than by their good will. So Cl. and Bm. explain, but see App. ἐξ ὧν, for the assimilation, see G. 1032; H. 996 a. μᾶλλον ἤ completely subordinates the second member. Cf. l. 26; c. 63. 20; 64. 9.

βέβαιον: the adj. is pred. to καθεστηκέναι, as c. 102. 25; i. 70. 2; 102. 6; ii. 59. 8; iv. 26. 24; 78. 12; vi. 15. 17; vii. 28. 31. Pred. adjs. occur with the pres. καθίστασθαι, iv. 92. 15; with the aor. καταστῆναι, i. 6. 16; 23. 11; vi. 59. 4.—

ὧν ἂν δόξῃ πέρι: i.e. περὶ τούτων, περὶ ὧν ἂν δόξῃ, or, with Ullrich (Beitr. p. 23), = περὶ τούτων ἃ ἂν δόξῃ, in which case it would be an instance of the rare attraction of the nom., as in vii. 67. 19. G. 1033; Kühn. 555, N. 4.—15.

κρείσσων ἐστίν: is stronger, i.e. can use its strength more effectually, as also c. 48. 8.—

ἀκύροις: without authority, i.e. not enforced. The antithesis to ἀκίνητοι is not logically exact, but suits the case. Alcibiades uses a similar paradox, vi. 18. § 7; but in neither case is the argument fair, because the question is not one of abolishing a fundamental law of the state (κινεῖν νόμον), but of rescinding a decree of the demos (καθαιρεῖν ψήφισμα), which could be set aside by another ψήφισμα. Cleon's wish seems to be ‘to confound ψηφίσματα and νόμοι together, and to excite against the repeal of one of the former the same strong feeling which was entertained in Greece against any alteration of the latter.’ Arn. On the relation of νόμος, which, ace. to Aristotle, was a law of general application, to ψήφισμα, a decree for an individual case (Eth. v. 14; Pol. iv. 4), see Tarbell, Am. J. of Ph. x. p. 79 ff. See also Hermann, Gr. Ant. i.^{6} § 91. Cf. Dio C.'s imitation of the passage (liii. 10), τὰ γὰρ ἐν ταὐτῷ μένοντα, κἂν χείρω ᾖ, συμφορώτερα τῶν ἀεὶ καινοτομουμένων, κἂν βελτίω εἶναι δοκῇ, ἐστίν. Junge, zur Rede d. Kleon, 1879, p. 2 ff., thinks that the words μηδὲ . . . ἀκύροις, and in § 4, οἱ μὲν φαίνεσθαι and οἱ δὲ . . . εἶναι, refer to a law against reconsidering, within a certain period, things concerning which there was already a ψήφισμα. A comparison with vi. 14 makes this argument seem plausible; but surely in that case Cleon would have made the charge of παρανόμων.—16. ἀμαθία: ignorance, i.e. lack of training and experience. Cf. i. 68. 4; ii. 40. 14. The whole sentiment is like that of Archidamus in i. 84. § 3 (cf. Arist. Rhet. i. 15. 12), and is more in accord with Spartan ideas than with Athenian, as expressed by Pericles in ii. 40.—

δεξιότης: cleverness, = ξύνεσις, l. 23; c. 82. 50.—17.

οἱ φαυλότεροι: the simpler, i.e. humbler, inferior, as c. 83. 8. Cf. also vii. 77. 9.—

πρός: in comparison with, as in c. 56. 16; i. 6. 15; 10. 8; ii. 35. 11. Kühn. 441, iii, 3 c; Kr. Spr. 49, 2, 8.—18.

ὡς

ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖον: for the most part, only here, like ὡς τὰ πλείω, c. 83. 8, for the usual ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ, ii. 13. 23; v. 107. 3. See App. on i. 12. 4.—

ἄμεινον οἰκοῦσι τὰς πόλεις: administer their states better. The passive occurs viii. 67. 6 ἄριστα ἡ πόλις οἰκήσεται. Cf. also i. 17. 4; vi. 18. 44. For the sentiment, cf. Eur. El. 386 οἱ γὰρ τοιοῦτοι τὰς πόλεις οἰκοῦσιν εὖ καὶ δώματα.

οἱ μέν: sc. οἱ ξυνετώτεροι.— 20. τῶν τε αἰεὶ . . . περιγίγνεσθαι: and to surpass whatever is on every occasion said for the public good. λέγεσθαι ἐς τὸ κοινόν = ἐς τὸ κοινὸν βουλεύεσθαι, i. 91. 29. Cf. in commune consulere, Ter. Andria iii. 3. 16; in commune consultare, Plin. Epist. vi. 15. 16. With the general sentiment Arn. compares Tac. Hist. i. 26 consilii quamvis egregii, quod non ipse adferret, inimicus, et adversus peritos pervicax.—21.

ὡς ἐν ἄλλοις . . . τὴν γνώμην: as if in no other affairs of greater importance could they display their opinion, i.e. show their insight. Cf. Dio C. xlvii. 1 ὡς οὐκ ἂν ἄλλως τὴν ἐαυτοῦ δεινότητα διαδείξας. For partic. with ἂν representing aor. opt., see GMT. 215; H. 987 a; Kr. Spr. 69, 7, 1. See on vii. 67. 26.—22.

σφάλλουσι τὰς πόλεις: cf. vi. 15. 20.— 23.

οἱ δέ: sc. οἱ φαυλότεροι.—τῇ ἐξ ἑαυτῶν ξυνέσει: their own cleverness. Cf. τὸ ἀφ̓ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν εὔψυχον, ii. 39. 6.—

ἀμαθέστεροι τῶν νόμων: cf. the expression of Archidamus, i. 84. 13, ἀμαθέστερον τῶν νόμων τῆς ὑπεροψίας παιδευόμενοι.—24. ἀδυνατώτεροι . . . λόγον: less able to criticise the speech of a good speaker. It is only in the order of the words that the clause is like the preceding. See on i. 69. 32. ἀδυνατώτεροι, sc. ἢ ξυνετώτεροι, limited by μέμψασθαι, τοῦ καλῶς εἰπόντος depending on λόγον.—25. κριταὶ δὲ ὄντες . . . ἀγωνισταί: being impartial judges rather than contending disputants. For ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου, see on c. 10. 12; i. 77. 8. ἀγωνισταί has also the secondary meaning of partisans striving for personal pre-eminence and advantage. Cf. l. 27 ξυνέσεως ἀγῶνι, and c. 82. 50 ξυνέσεως ἀγώνισμα.—26. ὀρθοῦνται τὰ πλείω: they are generally in prosperity, and with them the state, which, as the antithesis to σφάλλουσι τὰς πόλεις shows, is esp. had in mind. ὀρθοῦνται as in c. 30. 15; 42. 20; ii. 60. 5; v. 9. 14; 111. 24; vi. 9. 11; viii. 64. 18; Hdt. i. 208. 8. τὰ πλείω is a little stronger than τὰ πολλά in Bl. and Jow. render ὀρθοῦνται here judge rightly, or are in the right.

ὥς: for καὶ οὕτως only here in Thuc. and rare also elsewhere in Attic prose. It occurs in Plato, Prot. 338 a (as here with οὖν); Rep. 530 d. Cf. Hdt. ix. 18. 11. It is common in Homer and other poets, rare in the Attic poets. See Kr. Dial. 77, 1. Cf. Soph. O. C. 1242; Eur. Bacch. 1068. Kr. Spr. 25, 10, 11; Kühn. 561, N. 4.—27.

ἡμᾶς: we, who come forward as orators, as opp. to ὑμέτερον πλῆθος. Cf. c. 43. 13. —

δεινότητι καὶ ξυνέσεως ἀγῶνι: with eloquence and the exercise of elererness. Strietly the gen. δεινότητος was to be expected, but instead of this, one quality (δεινότης) and the ambitious exercise of the other (ξυνέσεως ἀγών) are loosely connected. δεινότητι, Schol. τῇ ῥητορικῇ δυνάμει. Cf. viii. 68. 9. —28.

παρὰ δόξαν: “contrary to our own judgment,” as in Plato Crit. 49 c; Prot. 337 b. So Steup explains, citing in support of his view c. 38. § 2, and c. 42. 29 παρὰ γνώμην τι καὶ πρὸς χάριν λέγοι. See also Junge, ibid. p. 7 f. But Cl. adopts, with St. and Bm., Reiske's conjecture (see also Ullrich, Beitr. 1862, p. 48) παρὰ τὸ δόξαν (contrary to the decree of the majority), because παρὰ δόξαν means everywhere else in Thuc. contrary to expectation, which is, of course, inadmissible here. Cf. c. 39. 25; 93. 4; i. 141. 21; ii. 49. 28; iv. 106. 10; viii. 42. 13. With this view, τὸ δόξαν is as τὸ δοκοῦν, c. 38. 11; i. 84. 8, and παραινεῖν, absolute, as in ii. 13. 15; vi. 24. 7; viii. 46. 29; 71. 25.