CHAPTER XXXIII
ὅπερ ἦν πλεῖστον—‘what was in fact the main portion of the troops’:
ii. 4,
τὸ πλεῖστον, ‘the main body’:
i. 73,
τὸ πλέον.
ἐσχεῖρας ἐλθεῖν—‘to come to close quarters’: so ch. 96, 9: ch. 43, 9,
ἦν ἡ μάχη ἐν χερσὶ πᾶσα.
ἐξ ἐναντίας—‘opposite, in face’: ch. 35, 13, etc.: so
iii. 92,
ἐκ καινῆς:
i. 77,
απὸ τῆς πρώτης, etc. A fem. noun is supposed in these expressions, but it is not always clear what noun.
τῇ σφετέρᾳ ἐμπειρίᾳ—‘their special skill’ as heavy armed infantry:
ii. 89,
διὰ τὴν ἐν τῷ πεζῷ ὲμπειρίαν τὰ πλείω κατορθοῦντες.
ᾖ μάλιστα—lit. ‘wherever especially’, i.e. at any particular point where: so
τί μάλιστα; ‘what in particular?’ The Latin use of maxime with tum, cum, etc. corresponds to this. The opt. and imperf. are frequentative.
καὶ οἱ ὑποστρέφοντες—‘and those who retired’: for the use of the article cf. ch. 46, 19,
τοὺς ἐλθόντας:
v. 5,
τούτοις ἐντυχὼν τοῖς κομιζομένοις, etc. In the present passage many editions read
οἵ demonstrative, as in ch. 68, 30. (See Jowett's note; and Lidd. and Scott on
ὁ and
ὅς.)
ἄνθρωποι κούφως τε—two reasons are given for the success of the light troops; their equipment enabled them to elude the enemy, and the ground was in their favour. The first reason is expressed by
ἐσκευασμένοι and
προλαμβάνοντες in agreement with
ἄνθρωποι, the second by the dat.
χωρίων τε χαλεπότητι κ.τ.λ. It is therefore the
τε after
χωρίων which corresponds to
κούφως τε. It is however possible to take
τε and
λαὶ as merely connecting
ἐσκευασμένοι and
προλαμβάνοντες.
προλαμβάνοντες τῆς φυγῆς—‘getting the advantage in their flight’:
vii. 80,
προὔλαβε πολλῷ, ‘got far ahead’.
φυγῆς is explained as a partitive genitive: so ch. 47, 17,
ἐπετάχυνον τῆς ὁδοῦ, ‘quickened on their road’: Hdt.
iii. 105,
προλαμβάνειν τῆς ὁδοῦ.
χωρίων τε χαλεπότητι—‘and from difficulty of ground’:
χωρία, various spots where a struggle took place.
καὶ .ὄντων—either this means ‘which also were’, or
καὶ connects the dative
χαλεπότητι with a gen. abs.
τραχέων ὄντων. In the latter case the construction is confused between
χωρίων τε χαλεπότητι καὶ τραχύτητι and
χωρίων τε χαλεπῶν καὶ τραχέων ὄντων. A somewhat similar irregularity is noticed on ch. 9, 20.
