E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

12. τὰ πολλά—in most cases.

13. τῶν προσόδων μ. γιγνομένων—this goes closely with καθίσταντο, tyrannies were established where the revenues (of the government) increased. But δυνατωτέρας ... ποιουμένης is a general statement with regard to Greece, and qualifies the whole sentence down to ἀντείχοντο. Thuc. means that a tyranny was generally established in a city enjoying a large revenue, which one man, whether a member of the governing class or not, succeeded in getting into his hands as the result of political agitation.

14. πρότερον δέ—not necessarily immediately before, for in most cases oligarchy preceded tyranny, but in earlier days where one man ruled, his power was limited.

ἐπὶ ῥητοῖς γέρασι—with (under the condition of) fixed prerogatives, viz. as priest, judge and leader (Arist. Pol. 3.14, 12). The purpose of this parenthesis is to point out that the rule of a single man, though it was known before the age of the tyrants, had been of a wholly different character. The age of the tyrants synchronises with an advance in Greece; yet the deeds even of the tyrants were relatively insignificant. As to tyranny, Aristotle agrees with Thuc.: ἐπεὶ δὲ χεἰρους γενόμενοι ἐχρηματίζοντο ἀπὸ τῶν κοινῶν, ἐντεῦθέν ποθεν εὔλογον γενέσθαι τὰς ὀλιγαρχίας ... ἐκ δὲ τούτων πρῶτον εἰς τυραννίδας μετέβαλον.

[2] 17. ἐγγύτατα—superlative of ἐγγύς. Cf. prope and propius.

18. μεταχειρίσαι—Thuc., like Herod., uses the act. of this word, whereas other authors use mid.

19. καὶ ... ναυπηγηθῆναι —καί = and in fact, the building of a trireme marking a climax in naval affairs (τὰ περὶ τὰς ναῦς).

τῆς Ἑλλάδος goes with πρῶτον: cf. 2.18 ἀφίκετο τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐς Οἰνόην πρῶτον. Hdt. 1.163 πρώτῃ δὲ Φωκαίῃ Ἰωνιης επεχείρησε.—The τετρήρης made its appearance in the second half of the fourth cent., and was the normal type of ship in the hellenistic period. It is not likely that it had four banks of oars.

22. ναῦς—whether these were triremes or not does not appear.

[3] 23. τοῦδε τοῦ πολέμου—the dates given are circ. 704 and 664 B.C. (or, if the Archidamian War is meant, see Introd. p. xxvi, circ. 721 and 681 B.C.).

24. ὅτε—since.

Σαμίοις ἦλθε—the dat, after (simple) verbs of motion is common in tragedy, but does not occur in Attic prose outside Thuc.; cp. c. 27. 1; 61. 1; 107. 7.

[4] 25. γίγνεται—turns out to be.

26. καὶ ταύτῃ—lit. this too reckons 260 years. The καί brings the battle into relation with the event above. (Thuc. seems to be maintaining the priority of Corinth against some other claimant.) The ταύτῃ is possessive dat, as Herod. 2.33 Ἡρακλέἱ ὅσα φασὶ εἷναι ἔτεα ἐς Ἄμασιν.

[5] 1. τὴν πόλιν—their city.

2. αἰεὶ δή ποτε—as δή ποτε means in the past (frequent in tragedy), so αἰεὶ δή ποτε = always in the past, i.e. ‘from the earliest times.’

3. τῶν Ἑλλήνων ... ἐπιμισγόντων—two points are made: (1) the early commerce of the Greeks was carried on mainly by land, (2) the Isthmus was on the high-road between οἱ ἐντός and οἱ ἔξω Π. The sentence would be much clearer with a partic. like πορευομένων, as proposed by Steup, after Ἑλλήνων, so that τε would mean and.

7. ἀφνειόν—we have only one instance, Il. 2.570.

9. μᾶλλον ἔπλῳζον—cf. c. 8. 2.

τὰς ναῦς—the ships referred to in 13.2. These enabled Greece to extinguish piracy, and thus to further her commerce; and the outcome of that, it is implied, was the formation of a considerable fleet.

11. ἀμφότερα with παρέχοντες, in both ways, i.e. as the context shows, by sea and land. ἀμφότερα and κατ᾽ ἀμφότερα do not of themselves mean on both elements, but show the same accus. as τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον, and κατὰ πολλοὺς τρόπους. It is the context that gives the special meaning.

ἔσχον—ingressive.

[6] 12. Ἴωσιν — those of Asia Minor, among whom the Phocaeans and Samos are specially mentioned.

13. ἐπὶ Κύρου—556-529 B.C.

16. Κύρῳ πολεμοῦντες—they were ultimately reduced by Harpagus. Cf. c. 16.

17. ἐπὶ Καμβύσου—C. reigned 529-521 B.C Polycrates ruled 532-521 B.C. According to Herod. 3.33, Samos was πολίων πασέων πρώτη Ἑλληνίδων καὶ βαρβάρων in the time of Polycrates.

19. Π̔ηνείαν ἑλών—Herod. 3.33 assigns far more imposing achievements to Polycrates: cf. ib. 122 τῆς δὲ ἀνθρωπίνης (i.e. not ‘heroic,’ like Minos) λεγομένης γενεῆς Πολυκράτης πρῶτος, ἐλπίδας πολλὰς ἔχων Ἰωνίης τε καὶ νήσων ἄρξειν. This gift was made to the Delian Apollo as the Ionian deity.

21. Μασσαλίαν οἰκίζοντες—at the time when they founded Massilia. Hdt. 1.166 gives an account of a victory of the Etruscans and Carthaginians about 546 B.C., the time of which Thuc. is here speaking. But Eusebius and others placed the foundation of Marseilles 600 B.C.: there is plainly a diserepancy in the dates given for its foundation. (Classen in the 3rd ed. took ἐνίκων to mean gained victories, and referred them to 600 B.C.; but Thuc. is plainly referring to circ. 546 B.C. See Steup's appendix.)