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14.
22. ταῦτα γάρ—these, in fact, were the strongest navies, i.e. the strongest possessed by Iomans (cf. 14.6).
23. φαίνεται with χρώμενα and ἐξηρτυμένα: ‘though these fleets were built ... we find’ etc.
25. πεντηκοντόροις—Gardner and Jevons, p. 652. It is plain from Herod. 1. 163 that penteconters counted as νῆες μακραί, and stand in contrast to νῆες στρογγύλαι, merchant-ships (cf. Thuc. 2.97. 1). Therefore the πλοῖα μακρά are doubtless long ships of larger and smaller size than penteconters. To their resemblance in size to merchant - ships the word πλοῖα seems to point.
26. ἐκεῖνα—those existing in the time of the Trojan War.
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27. τοῦ Δαρείου θανάτου—485 B.C. ἐβασίλευσε, ‘reigned,’ rather than ‘became king.’
29. περί τε Σικελίαν —for the vague use of περί cf. Isocr. v. 111 εῖχε μεγίστην δύναμιν τῶν περὶ τὴν Ἀσίαν. This is the age of the great Sicilian tyrants—Thero, Gelo, Hiero.
30 ἐς πλῆθος ἐγένοντο—reached a considerable number; probably the lit. sense is ‘came to.’
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3. εἴ τινες ἄλλοι—sc. ἐκέκτηντο ναυτικά.
4. βραχέα—sc. ναυτικά, small fleets. This sense of βραχύς is fiequent in Thuc.
5. τὰ πολλά—the greater part of these consisted of.
ὀψέ τε ἀφ᾽ οὗ—sc ἧν, it was late when. For ἀφ οὗ we should expect ὅτε. but instead of saying ‘already when they started to build, it was so late that they could not get a strong fleet before the invasion of Xeixes,’ he says ‘from the time that they started’ etc. The building of the ships took place in 483-82 B C., the archonship of Nicodemus, and the invasion in 480 B.C. Herod. 7.33 does not say that Them, looked forward to a Persian invasion when he advised the building of the ships. It is thought that Herod, wanted to belittle Them
9. ἐναυμάχησαν—at Salamis
διὰ πάσης—throughent, an adverbial expression like ἀπὸ τῆς ἴσης c. 15; ἀπὸ(τῆς)πρώτης, etc. (This is better than supplying νεώς)
10. καταστρώματα—the Homeric ship was covered only fore and aft, the part in which the men rowed being open. (Cf. on c. 10. 4.)
12. τὰ παλαιά—i.e. the early fleets mentioned in c. 13. τὰ ὕστερον γενόμενα—i.e. those mentioned in c. 14.3.
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