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ὅτῳ τρόπῳ κατέστη ἐς κ.τ.λ. a free use of the so-called indirect question: ‘devised the whole matter, how it was brought to this result.’ Properly a mixture of the notions ξυνέθηκεν, ὅτῳ τρόπῳ καταστήσεται ἐς τοῦτο, ‘devised by what way the matter should be brought, etc.,’ and ξυνέθηκε τὸ πρᾶγμα, ᾧ τρόπῳ κατέστη ἐς τοῦτο, i.e. ‘he contrived the matter, as to the way in which it was brought to this issue.’ ὅτῳ can scarcely = ᾧ in classical Attic prose. The only instance in Thucydides where ὅστις apparently = ὃς is in vi. 3, βωμόν, ὅστις νῦν ἔξω τῆς πόλεώς ἐστιν, a passage where other peculiarities occur (see Wolfflin in Classen), and which is by no means decisive for the equivalence (v. P-S ad loc.） Ἀντιφῶν of Rhamnus, the earliest of the ten orators of the ‘canon,’ and the first λογογράφος. He was as unpopular with the comic poets as with the δῆμος. Thucydides is said to have been his pupil, but this statement, resting on a secondhand remark of the Pseudo-Plutarch (Vit. Orat.) and others, is of dubious truth. The authenticity of some of the extant orations of Antiphon (fifteen φονικοὶ λόγοι) is questioned. On his style and works see Jebb's Attic Orators. ἀρετῇ not in the moral sense of ‘virtue,’ but = ‘ability, force of character and faithfulness to party ties’ (Jowett). So ii. 37 a citizen at Athens οὐκ ἀπὸ μέρους τὸ πλέον ἐς τὰ κοινὰ ἢ ἀπ᾽ ἀρετῆς προτιμᾶται. In ii. 40 ἀρετή = ‘kindliness.’ ὕστερος There is little to choose between this and the δεύτερος of Vat. Both words are variously constructed, e.g. c. 41, § 1, ὕστερα πρὸς . . ., but i. 91, οὐδενὸς ὕστεροι. So δεύτερος πρὸς . . ., Soph. Frag. 325; δεύτερος οὐδενός, Hdt. i. 23; but πολὺ δευτέρα μετὰ . . ., Thuc. ii. 97. ἃ [ἂν] γνοίη M. Cf. c. 54, § 2, ὅπῃ [ἂν] αὐτοῖς δοκοίη ἄριστα ἕξειν. The present instance cannot be defended even on the ground which is possible there. For the general expression cf. ii. 60, ὁ γὰρ γνοὺς καὶ μὴ σαφῶς διδάξας ἐν ἴσῳ καὶ εἰ μὴ ἐνεθυμήθη. ἀγῶνα ‘arena,’ Jowett. The reference is particularly to judicial procedure. δεινότητος that sort of cleverness which can ‘make the worse appear the better reason,’ sophistry. Cf. iii. 37, μὴ δεινότητι καὶ ξυνέσεως ἀγῶνι ἐπαιρομένους παρὰ δόξαν τῷ ὑμετέρῳ πλήθει παραινεῖν. καὶ ἐν δικαστηρίῳ καὶ ἐν δήμῳ i.e., says P.S, in ordinary δίκαι which went straight to the courts, and also in cases of προβολὴ and εἰσαγγελία before the ecclesia. But ἀγωνιζομένους ἐν δήμῳ has a much more general reference, being used of other contests than those of litigation. A person wishing to speak (‘contend a point’) in the assembly on a ψήφισμα might seek the help of Antiphon beforehand, or one who sought political honours and position (τοῦ δήμου προεστάναι) might do the same. Cf Xen. Mem. iii. 7, 4, οὐ ταὐτόν ἐστιν, ἔφη, ἰδίᾳ τε διαλέγεσθαι καὶ ἐν τῷ πλήθει ἀγωνίζεσθαι (where Charmides has been encouraged to seek political distinction). ὠφελεῖν sc. as λογογράφος.
καὶ αὐτός τε. Most editors read δὲ for τε. The Herodotean τε in the sense of ‘too’ is claimed here by Classen and Jowett as well as in i. 9, where MSS. give καὶ ναυτικῷ τε (one omitting τε), and in vi. 44, καὶ πρός τε τοὺς Ῥηγίνους (where 3 MSS. omit τε). See Jowett's lengthy argument and citations on i. 9. The correction γε would perhaps be nearer than δὲ, if any correction were required. But Jowett's sufficient vindication of καὶ . . . τε is hardly called for here, since τε is the particle connecting the sentences and καὶ merely emphasises αὐτὸς, thus, τε (‘and’) καὶ αὐτὸς (‘in his own case’). ἐπειδὴ τὰ κ.τ.λ. There is great confusion of reading at this point. Most of the best MSS. give ἐπειδὴ μετέστη ἡ δημοκρατία καὶ ἐς ἀγῶνας κατέστη μετὰ (τὰ for μετὰ one inferior MS.) τῶν τετρακοσίων ἐν ὑστέρῳ μεταπεσόντα ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου ἐκακοῦτο. The rest mostly have ἐπειδὴ τὰ τῶν τετρακοσίων κ.τ.λ., which is, of course, entirely easy. There is yet another variant ἐπειδὴ μετὰ τῶν τετρακοσίων μεταπεσόντα κ.τ.λ. The divergence is not easy to explain. We might with P-S assume that μετέστη ἡ δημοκρατία is a gloss on τὰ . . . μεταπεσόντα ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου, and we might perhaps further suppose εἰς ἀγῶνας κατέστη to be a gloss on ἐκακοῦτο; but, on the other hand, the omission of the words from μετέστη to μετὰ may be due to the eye of the copyist passing from the former to the latter, while the omission of τὰ after μετὰ may be accidental. For readings proposed, see crit. note. The reading of the best MSS. is plainly untranslatable, and its tautology is quite unendurable. The tautology might be lessened somewhat and a tolerable construction made by reading ὅτε τὰ for μετὰ, i.e. ἐπειδὴ μετέστη ἡ δημοκρατία καὶ ἐς ἀγῶνας κατέστη (sc. Ἀντιφῶν), ὅτε τὰ τῶν τετρακοσίων ἐν ὑστέρῳ μεταπεσόντα ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου ἐκακοῦτο (‘at the time when, etc.’) If there is any truth in this conjecture, it might next be supposed that the vulgate ἐπειδὴ . . . κατέστη, ὅτε τὰ . . . ἐκακοῦτο arose from conflation of a genuine reading and its gloss, i.e. either ὅτε τὰ . . . ἐκακοῦτο is a gloss on ἐπειδὴ . . . κατέστη or vice versa. From the fact that some MSS. give ἐπειδὴ τὰ τῶν κ.τ.λ., and from the quality of the expressions, I am induced to prefer the reading given in the text, though ὅτε and not ἐπειδὴ may, according to the theory offered, be what Thucydides wrote. The question is one which scarcely admits of settlement. Fortunately the general meaning is in no way affected. [Keeping the whole suggested reading ἐπειδὴ μετέστη . . . ὅτε τὰ . . . ἐκακοῦτο, we might render ‘after the democracy had come about again and Antiphon was arraigned, at the time when the acts of the 400 (which had subsequently been overturned by the people) were meeting with punishment.’ In this case μετέστη ἡ δημοκρατία = ‘the democracy came about through a change,’ not (as P-S seems to suppose) ‘the democracy was overthrown.’ Cf. Plat. Rep. 553 E, ἐξ ἧς μεταβολῆς ὀλιγαρχία μετέστη (‘came about’). ἐς ἀγῶνας κατέστη would refer to his several arraignments on the several charges.] On the return to democracy and the subsequent arraignments see Grote, Hist. Gr. pt. ii. c. lxii. (vol. vii. pp. 315-329). μεταπεσόντα ‘reversed.’ As a quasi-passive (of μεταβάλλειν) it is joined with ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου, though these words are felt ἀπὸ κοινοῦ with ἐκακοῦτο. δίκην άπολ. acc. of closer definition or extent of action, analogous to δίκην διώκειν, ἑλεῖν etc. τινα. ἀπολογησάμενος in the lost speech περὶ μεταστάσεως. This encomium is quoted by Cic. Brut. xii. 47, Antiphontem Rhamnusium . . . quo neminem umquam melius ullam oravisse capitis causam cum se ipse defenderet, se audiente, locuples auctor scripsit Thucydides (a sufficiently inexact statement).
διαφερόντως προθυμότατον. P-S quotes Plato, Prot. 349 D, ἀνδρειοτάτους διαφερόντως. The genitive belongs rather to διαφερόντως than to the superlative. Homer, Herodotus, etc., similarly use μάλιστα with superlative. ὑπ᾽ ὀλιγαρχίας κατελθεῖν cf. c. 35, § 1, ἀφειστήκει ὑπὸ Τισσαφέρνους.
Θηραμένης. For his subsequent history see cc, 89-98, Xen. Hell. i. 1, 12; 6, 35; ii. 2, 3. He was afterwards one of the thirty tyrants. His shiftiness earned him the name of Κόθορνος, the boot that fits either foot (Xen. Hell. ii. 3, 31, 47; Poll. vii. 91, διὰ τὸν περὶ τὴν πολιτείαν ἀμφοτερισμόν). τοῦ Ἅγνωνος according to the scholiast on Arist. Ran. 541 (cf. 970) he was a Cean adopted by Hagnon. Cf. Plut. Nic. 2. Xen. Hell. ii. 3, 30 has οὗτος ἐξ ἀρχῆς τιμώμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου κατὰ τὸν πατέρα Ἅγνωνα προπετέστατος ἐγένετο τὴν δημοκρατίαν μεταστῆσαι εἰς τοὺς τετρακοσίους καὶ ἐπρώτευεν ἐν ἐκείνοις. πρῶτος ‘a leading man.’ ἀπ᾽ ‘proceeding from.’ ἐπ᾽ ἔτει ἑκατοστῷ μάλιστα The expulsion of the tyrants took place in the year B.C. 510. This is B.C. 411. ἐπ᾽ is rejected by many editors, nor as a mere expression of ‘time at which’ can it be paralleled from Attic prose, though that use can be met with in Epic verse, e.g. ἐπ᾽ ἤματι τῷδε, Il. xiii. 234; ἐφ᾽ ἡμέρῃ ἡδ᾽ ἐπὶ νυκτί, Hes. Op. 102. Here ἐπὶ rather = ‘after.’ ‘After the lapse of about a hundred years since. . . .’ καὶ οὐ μόνον μὴ κ.τ.λ. μὴ depends on the infinitive παῦσαι ἐλευθερίας, while οὐ μόνον belongs to χαλεπὸν ἦν (Cl.) ὑπὲρ ἥμισυ The leadership of Athens gradually tightened into command from B.C. 479.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 8. T.G. Tucker. London. MacMillan & Company. 1892.
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