Charles D. Morris, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

τὴν πόλιν...κρατῦναι : see c. 90-93. κρατῦναι, a poetic word; act., iii.18.7; mid., iii.82.40; iv.52.13; 114. 10. In tragedy=κρατεῖν.

τὰ μακρὰ τείχη : see c. 107. § 1.—στῆ σαι: to raise; probably only here of walls; but with στήλας, v.18.54; 23. 22; and often with τροπαῖον, c. 30. 2; 54. 3; 105. 30; ii.22.16.—ἐς τόδε τε: the postscript τε connects an important third particular. Cf. c. 2. 6; 50. 4; 56. 8. ἐς τόδε = μέχρι τοῦδε (Schol.) is rare. Cf. Hdt. iv.10.17, ἔτι καὶ ἐς τόδε; and ἐς τοῦτο, v.26.6.— ἀποστεροῦντες: expresses not so much the act of depriving, as the continued withholding of what is due. See on c. 40. 7.

τοὺς...δεδουλωμένους : an invidious expression for the Attic ξύμμαχοι, to which is opposed τοὺς ὑμετέρους ξυμμάχους with the emphasizing ἤδη, now even.

αὐτὸ δρᾷ: i.e. δουλοῦται. See on c. 5. 11.—τὴν ἀξίωσιν τῆς ἀρετῆς: reputation for magnanimity. ἀρετή, particularly of generous dealing with the weak. Cf. c. 37. 21; iii.58.2; iv.19.12. See Introd. p. 36.

ὡς ἐλευθερῶν κτἑ.: this claim of Sparta often occurs. See ii.8.15; 71. § 2; iii.32.5; 59. 30; 63. 16; iv.108.12. φέρεσθαι, properly of bearing off a prize; and so to gain, enjoy. Cf. ii.11.36.

νῦν γε: so Stephanus for νῦν τε of the Mss., rightly adopted by the recent editors (not by Sh., who renders ‘now too’).

ἐπὶ φανεροῖς: ἐπί with dat. of conditioning circumstances, as c. 13. 4; 65. 7; 70. 10; iv.22.13; upon a basis of openly expressed purpose, from which alone a sure decision can be reached.—χρῆν γὰρ κτἑ.: “by this time we ought to have been considering not whether we are wronged but how we are to be revenged.” J. On the formation of χρῆν=χρὴ ἦν, Kühn. 298, 6. For καθ᾽ ὅ τι, how, cf. vi.8.16; and see on c. 35. 16.

οἱ γὰρ δρῶντες...ἐπέρχονται : Cl., considering that we need in this clause a special designation of the Athenians, renders οἱ γάρ, for they (cf. vi.36.6), though this use of the art. for dem. pron. with γάρ is extremely doubtful in prose (Kühn. 458, 3; 459; Kr. Dial. 50, 1, 2). It seems better to regard this as a general proposition of which the application to the Athenians is found in 12, καὶ ἐπιστάμεθα κτἑ. The previous clause χρῆν γὰρ . . . ἀμυνούμεθα implies the dilatory, indecisive behaviour of the Lacedaemonians; and it is proper that this should be contrasted first with the resolute practice of energetic natures in general, and then with actual policy of the Athenians. The commas, therefore, are to be removed and ἤδη to be connected with οὐ μέλλοντες. “For men who act (men of energy and action, actuosi), with plans fully formed, advance at once and without hesitation against men who have not yet made up their minds.” This does not necessarily imply impetuous action; and therefore the words involve nothing inconsistent with the slow and steady aggression attributed to the Athenians. See App.

καὶ ἐπιστάμεθα κτἑ.: observe that a verb (ἐπεξέρχονται or χωροῦσι) must be supplied for οἵᾳ ὁδῷ, unless, with Cobet, καὶ ὅτι is bracketed. For ὅτι can hardly be taken as=καθ᾽ ὅ τι of 10.—κατ᾽ ὀλίγον: by little and little. Cf. c. 61. 18.—τοὺς πέλας: see on c. 32. 3.

καὶ λανθάνειν...θαρσοῦσι : while they think themselves unobserved merely because your perceptions are dull, they are not so wholly (ἧσσον) free from fear. On τὸ ἀναίσθητον, see on c. 36. 3. Cf. c. 82. 1; vi.86.17.

γνόντες δὲ...ἐγκείσονται : but when they have come to the conclusion that you know their doings and yet do not interfere, they will press on with vigour. ἐγκεῖσθαι often of actual fighting. Cf. c. 49. 29; ii.79.24; iii.98.6; iv.22.5; v.73.17; viii.85.18.

οὐ τῇ δυνάμει...ἀμυνόμενοι : defending yourselves not by using your power but by looking as if you were going to use it. For the sing. τινα, cf. c. 95. 16; 141. 29; ii.37.2; iii.46.20; iv.85.19.

διπλασιουμένην: the usual form of the verb is διπλασιάζειν. Some concrete notion like δύναμιν must be supplied as obj. from αὔξησιν.

καίτοι: and yet, introduces an objection adduced by the speaker to his own disparaging account. “If you were disinclined to move, at least people said you were secure against dangers from without.” Kr.'s interpretation ‘cautious’ is not justified by the usage of Thuc.

ὧν: refers to the antecedent ὑμεῖς implied in ἐλέγεσθε (cf. c. 68. 15), and has an adversative meaning, as in c. 35. 15. ὧν is objective gen. to λόγος in the sense of repute. Cf. ii.42.7; Eur. El. 937, τἀνδρὸς μὲν οὐδεὶς τῶν δὲ θηλειῶν λόγος; I. T. 517; Plat. Apol. 26 b.— ἄρα: chiefly with the impf. (cf. c. 35. 20) emphasizes the revelation of a fact not before realized: “but it turns out that your reputation was greater than the facts warranted.” Kr. Spr. 53, 2, 6; Kühn. 509, 4.

ἴσμεν...ἐλθόντα : Thuc. never uses εἰδέναι with the inf., but with either ὅτι, ὡς, or a partic. Cf. c. 76. 5; 122. 14; 127. 3; 140. 3; ii.40.22, etc. GMT. 73, 2; H. 982.—ἐκ περάτων γῆς: proverbial. Cf. Alcae. frg. 8; Xen. Ages. 9. 4. Often imitated by later writers. —πρότερον ἤ: like πρίν with inf., ii. 40. 11; vi.58.3; viii.45.29; ὕστερον ἤ, vi.4.12. Sturm, ΠΡΙΝ, p. 97.—ἐπὶ τὴν Πελοπόννησον: even to the confines of Peloponnesus, in hostile sense.

τὰ παρ᾽ ὑμῶν: your defensive forces. Cf. vi.22.14; 46. 9.—ἀξίως: sc. τῆς ὑμετέρας δυνάμεως.

προαπαντῆσαι : went forth to withstand him. Cf. iv.92.28.

ἐκεῖνον: assimilated to τοὺς Ἀθηναίους. Kr. Spr. 62, 4, 3; Kühn. 581, 3. Cf. v.99.4; vi.68.9; Dem. IV. 21.

ἐγγὺς ὄντας: not to be construed with περιορᾶτε, which is here used without a partic., as in 6, but pred. to τοὺς Ἀθηναίους, although they are not far off but close at hand. —ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐπελθεῖν: cf. vii.75.40.— ἐπελθεῖν αὐτοί: ultro adoriri, with reference to the following ἐπιόντας.— 25. ἐς τύχας καταστῆναι : used specially of the uncertainties of war. Cf. c. 78. 5; vi.11.22.

ἐπιστάμενοι: though you know.

αὐτὸν περὶ αὑτῷ: by his own fault. Cf. vi.33.29; Hdt. ix.101.13, μὴ περὶ Μαρδονίῳ πταίσῃ ἡ Ἑλλάς. “Propr. circa se tanquam scopulum, i.e. sua culpa.” P.—τὰ πλείω: see on c. 13. 17.

ἡμᾶς: not the Corinthians alone, but the other allies also who depended on Sparta.

περιγεγενημένους: see on c. 55. 11.—αἱ ὑμέτεραι ἐλπίδες: the hopes which rested on you. See on c. 33. 18.

ἤδη τινὰς...ἔφθειραν : have already ruined some, who remained unprepared just because they trusted you; alluding perhaps to the Thasians, c. 101, and the Euboeans, c. 114. The aor. is empiric, drawing a general inference from special occurrences. GMT. 30, 1; H. 840; Kühn. 386, 7. For ἤδη, cf. c. 120. 6; ii.77.15; iv.62.13; vi.86.14; vii.77.2, 16.

τὸ πλέον ἤ: after a neg. See on c. 9. 21.—ἐπ̓ ἔχθρᾳ...αἰτίᾳ : see on c. 37. 8. Here, as there, ἐπί indicates the end; but the two nouns do not exactly correspond, ἔχθρα referring to a sentiment, and αἰτία, expostulation, to an action: “not to lay bare our hostile feelings, but to make a well-grounded complaint.” Accordingly in the following explanation, in which αἰτία stands first chiastically, instead of an elucidation of ἔχθρα we have κατηγορία, the real opposite of αἰτία. The genitives φίλων ἀνδρῶν and ἐχθρῶν are objective. The course of thought is this: our reproaches are not κατηγορία but αἰτία, for we regard you as φίλοι ἀμαρτάνοντες, not as ἐχθροὶ ἀδικήσαντες.