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Ἃ δὲ ἀρωγὰ κ.τ.λ.—we on our side have dis cussed with the pilots and have provided all the means in our power which we found would help us in the narrow space of the harbour against the difficulties that gave us trouble before, namely the crowding of the vessels and the enemy's men on deck. ἐπὶ—describes the circumstances, as in II. 17 προῄδει μὴ ἐπ᾽ ἀγαθῷ ποτε αὐτὸ κατοικισθησόμενον. παρασκευὴν—force. For the fact see c. 40.5. οἷς—neut., referring to ὄχλος and παρασκευή. ἐκ τῶν παρόντων—cf. c. 77.1.
καὶ γὰρ τοξόται κ.τ.λ.—there will be many archers and javelin men on board and very many whom in a battle out at sea we should not have thought of using, since the overweighting of the ships would impede our skill; but here being forced to fight a land battle aboard ship, we shall find the plan convenient. διὰ τὸ βλάπτειν ἂν—frequent use. of the infin. with art. is a mark of the speeches and the higher style. πρόσφορα—the rel. ᾦ is lost sight of. Cf. Herod. 9.33 τῇ τε ἐπιμαχώτατον ἦν . . . καὶ πρόσοδος μάλιστα ταύτῃ ἐγίνετο. For the plur. cf. c. 43.2.
ηὕρηται δ᾽ ἡμῖν κ.τ.λ.—we have worked out all the plans needed on our side in the construction of our vessels, and to meet the thick beams on the enemy's prows which gave us most trouble, we have arranged iron grapnels, which when thrown at them will prevent any ship that has struck us from backing, if the marines work well afterwards. ηὕρηται ὴμῖν, like ἡτοίμασται above, is another example of the preference for the impers. pass. in Gk. παχύτητας—the plur. of the abstract used distributively, as also ἐπιβολαί. ᾧπερ is like ἐν ᾧ referring to a preceding clause. τῆς προσπεσούσης—ἑκάστης π.; cf. c. 65.2 τῆς νεώς. τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις—what follows, i.e. boarding the ships. Cf. Aristoph. Eccles. 82 τἀπὶ τούτοις δράσομεν.
ἐς τοῦτο γὰρ κ τ λ.—in fact we have, as I said, been forced into fighting. For ἐς τοῦτο . . . ὥστε cf. c. 48.3. ὅσον ἂν . . . ἐπέχῃ — ‘so much as our troops will occupy.’
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