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Τῆς ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν—‘the indignation directed against him.’ δεινῶν—here regarded from the point of view of the sufferers; in 77, 1 from that of those who cause the suffering. ἀπάγειν τὴν γ.—cf. c. 59, 3.
Ἀνεπείθοντο—c. 14, 1. ὁ μὲν—cf. c. 21, 3. ἀπ᾽ ἐλασσόνων—‘having less to start with,’ i.e. before the war. ἐστέρητο—so Andoc. 3, 8; Aeschin. 2, 173 of this period. {ἐν} οἰκοδομίαις—‘consisting in buildings and costly furniture,’ with κτήματα. Cf. Dinarch. 1, 5 ἡ ἐν τῷ λέγειν δύναμις. τὸ δὲ μέγιστον—‘above all,’ adverbial accus.
Πρότερον ... πρὶν—this insertion of πρότερον is due to the comparative and negative nature of πρίν. It is very common. M. T. 658. χρήμασιν—cf. IV. 65 φυγῇ ἐζημίωσαν. For the probable circumstances see Intr. p. lxxvi.
Ὕστερον—Intr. p. lxxvii. οὐ πολλῷ—about six months. ὅπερ φιλεῖ—Thuc.'s objections to a thorough-going democracy are (1) that it is uncertain in its policy, (2) that it encourages rivalry among demagogues, and consequently party strife. Cf. Burke, Reflections, ‘Not being wholly unread in the authors who had seen the most of those constitutions, I cannot help concurring with their opinion, that an absolute democracy, no more than absolute monarchy, is to be reckoned among the legitimate forms of government.’ πάντα—i.e. made him στρατηγὸς αὐτοκράτωρ. ὧν ... ἤλγει—cf. Eur. Hec. 1256 παιδὸς ἀλγεῖν, a poetical construction. Supply ταῦτα, accus. of respect, to ἀμβλύτεροι, and to πλείστου ἄξιον. ἡ ξύμπασα—the state is contrasted with the individuals of which it consists. Cf. c. 7, 2. ξύμπασα ἡ would contrast the whole with part of the city.
Ὅσον τε ... ἐπεί τε—i.e. throughout his administra- tion, both before and after the outbreak of war. For τε ... τε, cf. c. 22, 1, 64, 2, 6. προύστη—Pericles had been decidedly the first man in Athens since the ostracism of Thucydides, son of Melesias, in 444 B.C. ἐν τῇ εἰρήνῃ —i.e. the Thirty Years' peace of 445 B.C. (So Bloomfield rightly; for the period 458-445 was regarded as πόλεμος, Andoc. 3, 6; Aeschin. 2, 174. Pericles' decisive appearance dates from B.C. 468, but as πόλεμος below cannot include B.C. 458-445, εἰρήνη cannot include 468-458.) διεφύλαξεν—the aor. gives the result of his policy. Cf. c. 49, 5. Andocides and Aeschines dilate on the advantages gained by Athens during the peace. μεγίστη—attributes the greatness of Athens, on which Pericles so often insisted, to Pericles himself. Andoc. and Aesch. wrongly assign the creation of the reserve fund (c. 24) to the period of the peace. Andoc., being a consummate liar, probably did this on purpose, and misled Aesch. and puzzled some modern historians. ὁ δὲ— cf. c. 46, 1. M. T. 564. δύναμιν—sc. τῆς πόλεως. Cf. 13 below. Unfortunately Pericles failed to notice two sources of weakness: (1) the growing discontent of the allies, (2) the lack of rising politicians who would carry on his policy after his death.
Ἐπεβίω—‘lived beyond’ the beginning of the war. δ. ἔτη καὶ μ. ἓξ—Intr. p. xvii. ἐγνώσθη—here follows a defence of Pericles' war policy. The proofs offered of his wisdom are (1) the reversal of his policy led to disaster, (2) in spite of that reversal, Athens held out against great odds until ruined by internal dissensions. This may prove that his policy was good, but Thuc. goes too far in 13 when he implies that Athens would certainly have succeeded if Pericles' advice had been followed. ἡ πρόνοια ἐς—cf. c. 64, 6, and for the order, c. 52, 1.
Ἡσυχάζοντας—i.e. they were to adopt the policy of wearing out Sparta, and not to attempt to bring the war to an end by a few battles. ναυτικὸν θεραπεύοντες—the object of Athens was to obtain the recognition of her maritime supremacy, as it existed in 431. ἀρχἡν μἡ ἐπικτωμένους— not to attempt conquests while the war lasted. τῇ πόλει κινδυνεύειν—‘endanger the existence of the state,’ by distant undertakings or great land battles. οἱ δὲ—other ancient authors contrasted Pericles with the demagogues who followed him, as Isocr. 8, 127, [Aristot.] Rep. Ath. 28 ἕως Π. προειστήκει τοῦ δήμου βελτίω τὰ κατὰ τὴν πολιτείαν ἦν, τελευτήσαντος δὲ Περικλέους πολὺ χείρω. ἔξω τοῦ πολέμου—‘things which seemed to have no connection with the war,’ but really had; e.g. the rivalry between politicians, which led to bad government and consequent mismanagement. σφίσι—for σφίσιν αὐτοῖς as c. 4, 1. κατὰ—cf. 11 below. τοὺς ξυμμάχους— by producing ill-feeling towards Athens among the allies. κατορθούμενα—reflecting on the selfish policy of Cleon and Alcibiades. βλάβη κ.—‘proved injurious.’ βλάβη sums up τὰ κακῶς πεπολιτευμένα, the result of which was seen in the Decelean war.
Ἀξιώματι—c. 37, 1. χρημἄτων δ. ἀδωρότατος— Thuc. again alludes to Pericles' trial. Cf. c. 60, 5. ἐλευθέρως—cf. c. 37, 2, ‘while respecting their liberty.’ οὐ μᾶλλον—‘instead of.’ διὰ τὸ μὴ . . λέγειν—this is answered by ἔχων. Cf. v. 16, 1 διὰ τὸ εὐτυχεῖν parallel to νομίζων, VII. 70, 4 διὰ τὸ φεύγειν parallel to ἐπιπλέουσα. ἐξ οὐ π.—contrast c. 17, 2 μὴ ἐπ᾽ ἀγαθῷ. ἐπ᾽ ἀξιώσει—c. 34, 6. Cf. ἐπ᾽ αἰσχρᾷ αἰτίᾳ VII. 48, 4; and Livy, XXI. 49 haud cum imparatis, for cum haud imparatis. πρὸς ὀργήν—‘angrily.’ (Arnold translates ‘so as to excite their anger,’ because πρὸς ὀργήν corresponds to πρὸς ἡδονήν; which no one would think of translating ‘willingly.’ But neither does πρὸς ἡδονὴν = ‘so as to excite their pleasure’; rather πρὸς ἡ. λέγειν = ‘to speak pleasantly,’ ‘to say pleasant things’: moreover Arnold presses the antithesis too closely. ἀντειπεῖν is not the opposite of λέγειν.) Cf. III. 43, 5; VIII. 27, 6. For Pericles' freedom of speech, cf Eupolis, frag. τὸ κέντρον ἐγκατέλιπε τοῖς ἀκροωμένοις, comparing Pericles to a bee.
Γοῦν—‘at any rate,’ introducing an illustration which explains in what sense the preceding statement is to be taken. κατέπλησσεν—later demagogues, on the contrary, tried only to humour the people. ἐγίγνετό τε—‘and so it came about that.’ This is an explicit statement that Pericles owed his ascendancy to the influence he had acquired by his abilities. λόγῳ μὲν—such a tempered democracy was the ideal constitution of Thuc. Cf. VIII. 24, 4, 97, 2. ὑπὸ ... ἀρχή—the verbal substantive constructed like a pass. partic.
Οἱ δὲ ὕστερον—answering ἐκεῖνος μὲν in 8 above. So ἴσοι ... ὄντες corresponds to δυνατὸς ὢν. αὐτοὶ ... πρὸς ἀλλὴλους—might have been αὐτοὶ πρὸς ἁτούς. Cf. c. 5, 5 on διαβουλευόμενων. καθ᾽ ἡδονὰς—depends on ἐνδιὁόναι, ‘so as to suit any popular whim.’ καὶ τὰ πράγματα—i.e. to gain their object they were ready not only to flatter the people, but even to place the administration of the state entirely in their hands. ἐνδιδόναι—after ἐτράποντο ‘they set themselves to.’
Ἄλλα—e.g. the rejection of the Spartan overtures for peace in 410 B.C., and the aggressive warfare of 424 B.C. ὡς—‘as is natural’ when the administration of a great empire is entirely in the hands of the people. ὁ ... πλοῦς—sc. ἡμαρτήθη, ὁ πλοῦς being viewed as an ἔργον τοῦ πολέμου. Cf. III. 67 ἁμαρτανόμενα ἔργα, Plato, Rep. VIII. p. 544 D πόλεις ἡμαρτημένας. (ἡμαρτήθη is not impersonal, a constr. nearly confined to perf. pass.) ἁμάρτημα πρὸς οὓς—the construction is similar to c. 44, 1 τὸ δ᾽ εὐτυχἐς, οἳ ἂν κ.τ.λ., 62, 4 καταφρόνησις δὲ ὃς ἂν κ.τ.λ.; thus ἁμάρτημα ἦν πρὸς οὓς ἐ. follows the construction of ἡμἀρτανον πρὸς οὓς ἐ. ‘It was not so much an error of judgment with regard to the people whom they were intending to attack; the blunder they made was rather that the people responsible for the expedition did not consult the interests of those who had been sent out in their subsequent measures.’ ὅσον ... ἐπιγιγνώσκοντες—sc. ἁμάρτημα ἦν. Cf. IV. 26 αἴτιον ἦν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι προειπόντες. οἱ ἐκπέμψαντες—the extreme democrats. οὐ τὰ πρόσφορα —of the measures taken after the mutilation of the Hermae, esp. the recall of Alcibiades. κατὰ—‘in consequence of intrigues for the leadership of the democracy.’ Cf. κατὰ πενίαν c. 37, 1. Thuc. alludes to the position of δήμου προστάτης, recognised leader of the popular party. The list, according to [Arist.] Rep. Ath. 28, is Solon, Pisistratus, Cleisthenes, Xanthippus, Themistocles, Ephialtes, Pericles; after whom the popular leaders degenerated with Cleon and Cleophon. τά τε—‘they conducted the military operations without vigour.’ Thuc. shifts the blame of the disaster from Nicias to the home authorities. ἀμβλύτερα—with less vigour than they had since the war broke out. τὰ περὶ—accus. of respect; έταρἁχθησαν being ‘ingressive.’ πρῶτον—i.e. for the first time during the war. What ruined Athens in the war was the internal discord that broke out after Pericles' death.
Σφαλέντες ... παρασκευῇ—for the dat. cf. 7 above. δέκα—i.e. 413-404 B.C. μὲν—answered by καὶ οὐ πρότερον, just as we sometimes find μὲν ... τέ, τε .. δέ. βασιλέως— Darius. προσγενομένῳ—from 407 B.C. πρότερον ... ἢ— cf. c. 40, 2. M. T. 653. ἐν σφίσι—for ἐν σφίσιν αὐτοῖς. See c. 4, 1. κατὰ—cf. 11 above. [περιπεσόντες]—περιπίπτειν regularly takes the dat., and no case in which it takes any prep. but ἐν is known The phrase συμφοραῖς περιπεσεῖν is very common, and probably a commentator wrote this in the margin to illustrate κατὰ .. ἐσφάλησαν.
Τοσοῦτον—μὲν might have followed. ἐπερίσ- σευσε—sc. ταῦτα from ἀφ᾽ ὧν, ‘such an abundance of resources had Pericles, by means of which he of himself foresaw.’ καὶ πάνυ—c. 11, 6, 51, 2. αὐτῶν—‘alone.’ πολέμῳ— c. 13, 9.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 2. E.C. Marchant. London. MacMillan & Company. 1891.
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