E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 7

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τότε—refers to c. 26.3.

ἐκ τῆς Λακωνικῆς—the prep. is attracted to ἀποπλέων.

Φειᾷ—now Katakolo, the landing-place for visitors to Olympia.

ἔπλεον—proceeded on the voyage.

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Ζάκυνθον καὶ Κ — the policy and interests of Zacynthus coincided with those of Corcyra. In 430 Sparta made an effort to obtain Z., but failed. Cephallenia, after remaining for a time neutral, joined Athens in the autumn of 431. Pericles had seen that the possession of the islands which lay on the road to Sicily was of extreme importance, and already in 433 he began to form alliances with them This was not with a view to invading Sicily, but to prevent Sparta from obtaining help from Syracuse, her ally, and from controlling the route to Sicily.

τῶν Μεσσηνίων—sc. ὁπλίτας.

Ἀκαρνανίας—all Acarnania, except Oeniadae, had made an alliance with Athens in the autumn of 430, and Demosthenes himself had taken Oeniadae into the alliance in 424.

Ἀλύζειαν—near the coast of Acarnania. Here Timotheus, son of Conon, set up his trophy in 375 during his successful voyage to restore Athenian supremacy in the north-west.

Ἀνακτόριον—had been an ally of Sparta; but it was seized by the Athenians at Naupactus and the Acarnanians in 425. Hence αὐτοὶ=οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι.

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περὶ ταῦτα—occupied in this. περὶ is much commoner in this sense than ἀμφί, which prep. occurs only twice in Thuc. and not at all in the Orators.

τότε—see c. 16.2. τότε is often used in referring back to what has been already mentioned. Cf. c. 31.1, 81, 2.

κατὰ πλοῦν—cf. καθ᾽ ὁδόν, κατὰ τὴν πορείαν, κατὰ τὴν στρατηγίαν.

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Κόνων—the admiral and statesman who opposed Thrasybulus at the end of the war. After Aegospotami he lived in exile in Cyprus. In 394 he won the battle of Cnidus after which he rebuilt the walls of Athens. He was probably sent to Naupactus in 414.

κατοκνοῦσι—the MSS. καταλυουσι is not appropriate, because there could be no question of bringing the war to an end, since the fortification of Decelea. (Classen's explanation is that war was not yet declared between Αthens and the Peloponnesians. But, if not, between whom is ὁ πόλεμος? It certainly had not been declared between the Corinthian ships and the A. squadron.)

πέμπειν—the request points to the decline of Athenian naval supremacy.

ὡς . . . οὔσας—even the partic. of personal verbs sometimes stand with their nouns in the accus. abs. . . if they are preceded by ὡς or ὥσπερ. M.T. 853.

δυοῖν δεούσας εἴκοσι — the number of A. ships at Naupactus was generally twenty.

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τῆς στρατιᾶς τὸν ξ—cf. c. 24.2. περὶ governs τὸν ξ.

ἀποτραπόμενος—turning back from his homeward voyage. Fr. Muller renders ‘after his return from Sicily.’

ὥσπερ καὶ ᾑρέθη—not as στρατηγός, which office he had held since Hecatombaeon 414, while the election was probably early in 414, but as colleague, ξυνάρχων, of Demosth. in this expedition.