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At the request of the Leontines the Athenians send to aid them against the Syracusans a fleet of twenty ships, which take their station at Rhegium. ἐς Σικελίαν: first fateful participation of Athens in Sicilian quarrels.— Λάχητα: from this his first appearance, in constant activity (c. 90. 8; 103. 12; 115. 7; iv. 118. 45; v. 19. 9; 24. 6; 43. 9) until his death at Mantinea 418 B.C. (cf. v. 61. 2; 74. 10). He is one of the speakers in Plato's Laches.—3. Χαροιάδην: killed in this campaign in Sicily, c. 90. 7. αἱ ἄλλαι Δωρίδες πόλεις: for particulars of these, as well as of the Χαλκιδικαὶ πόλεις (l. 9), cf. vi. 3-5.— 7. πρὸς τὴν τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων . . . ξυμμαχίαν: see on ii. 7. 9.— τὸ πρῶτον ἀρχομένου τοῦ πολέμου: at the very beginning of the war, to be construed with ἐτάχθησαν. See on c. 63. 8. πρῶτον is often joined with ἀρχομένου to emphasize the moment of beginning. See on i. 103. 16.—8. οὐ μέντοι ξυνεπολέμησάν γε: referring to πρὸς τὴν ξυμμαχίαν ἐτάχθησαν. They had joined the alliance, but, in spite of the great things expected from them (ii. 7. § 2), had so far taken no active part in the war.—10. Καμάρινα: founded 599 B.C. by the Syracusans, who afterwards expelled the inhabitants for revolting. Later Hippocrates, the tyrant of Gela, having received the place as the ransom of some Syracusan captives, colonized it anew. But the inhabitants having been again driven out by Gelo, the city was colonized for the third time by the Geloans. See vi. 5. § 3.— Συρακοσίων, Λεοντίνων: it is not necessary to understand ξύμμαχοι. Cf. v. 84. 13 οὐδετέρων ὄντες. —11. κατὰ τὸ ξυγγενές: since both were Chalcidians. Cf. vi. 44. 19. οἱ τῶν Λεοντίνων ξύμμαχοι: including the Leontines themselves. At the head of this embassy was the celebrated rhetorician Gorgias. Diod. xii. 53; [Plato] Hipp. Maj. 282 b. See on c. 38. 31.— κατά τε παλαιὰν ξυμμαχίαν kte(.: belongs to πείθουσι πέμψαι.—κατὰ παλαιὰν ξυμμαχίαν: in C. I. A. i. 33 (cf. Kirchhoff iv. p. 13) and iv. 33 a, there are fragments of treaties of alliance concluded under the archon Apseudes (433-32 B.C.) between Athens and the Rhegians and Leontines; probably there were still older treaties than these.—13. Ἴωνες: like the Athenians. Cf. iv. 61. 10; Strabo, p. 446 f.—15. τῆς γῆς εἴργοντο: cf. c. 6. 7; 115. 10; i. 141. 16; ii. 85. 4. τῆς μὲν οἰκειότητος προφάσει: on the pretext of relationship. Cf. iv. 61. 10; vi. 6. 5; 76. 10.—18. πρόπειράν τε ποιούμενοι: the natural const. would have been πρόπειράν τε ποιεῖσθαι, but the sent, continues as if τὸ δ᾽ ἀληθὲς οὔτε βουλόμενοι had gone before. (St.) See on c. 67. 24. πρόπειρα, a first trial, only here in Thuc. Cf. Hdt. ix. 48. 10 ἐν Ἀθηναίοισι τὴν πρόπειραν ποιευμένους. —σφίσι: belongs to ὑποχείρια.— δυνατὰ εἴη: as δυνατὰ εἶναι in viii. 106. 22, in personal const. with τὰ πράγματα. καταστάντες ἐς Ῥήγιον: when they had arrived at Rhegium. Cf. iv. 14. 23 καταστάντες ἐς τὸ στρατόπεδον, iv. 75. 8 ἔνθα οἱ φεύγοντες τῶν Σαμίων καταστάντες. See on i. 49. 10. They made Rhegium their base of operations. Cf. c. 88. 13; 115. 5.—20. τὸν πόλεμον ἐποιοῦντο kte(.: for further account of events in Sicily, see c. 88, 90, 99, 103, 115.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 3 Edited on the basis of the Classen-Steup Edition. Charles F. Smith. Boston. Ginn & Company. 1894.
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