C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5

εἶναι—for the relative and infinitive in the report of a decree, cf. ii. 24, fin. ὧν μὴ χρῆσθαι μηδεμίᾳ: so Dem. Lept. 505, § 158. ἔθηκεν ἐφ̓ οἷς ἐξεῖναι ἀποκτιννύναι (Goodwin § 756). ἀπάγειν—i.e. he was not to begin any operations. As ἀπάγειν is generally used not of marching out from home (ἐξάγειν) but of withdrawing troops from an enemy's land, there is something to be said for Haase's conjecture ἐκ τῆς πολεμίας for ἐκ τῆς πόλεως. Can the last words be merely an explanatory gloss? The Spartans now hear of the danger of Tegea, and realize at length that the leadership of Peloponnesus is at stake. They accordingly act with unusual promptitude and vigour.

Ὀρέσθειον—this town gave name to the district of Oresthis; iv. 134, 1; where see note. Pausanias speaks of a founder Orestheus, but Eur. Or. 1647 gives Ὀρέστειον from Orestes. τῆς Μαιναλίας—w. of Tegea and N. W. of Sparta.

τοῖς μὲν Ἀρκάδων—Krüger collects instances of this position of the partitive genitive in his note on i. 126, 5, οί τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐπιτετραμμένοι τὴν φυλακήν: so iv. 111. 2, οἱ τῶν Τορωναίων ἔνδοθεν παρασκευάζοντες.

ἀθροισθεῖσι—as this is closely connected with the infinitive ἰέναι, we should expect the accusative; but the practice of Thucydides is not iuvariable. Thus in vii. 20, 1, ᾧ είρητο... ὐφικομένῳ παρακαλεῖν is followed by εἴρητο δ̓ αὐτῷ περιπλέοντα ξυστρατεύεσθαι: cf. i. 31, 2, ἔδοξεν αὐτοῖς ἐλθοῦσιν ω:ς τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ξυμμάχους γενέσθαι. In iv. 5, 1, <*>ρμὴ ἐσέπεσε περιστᾶσιν ἐκτειχίσαι, the connexion of the dative is ambiguous.

κατὰ πόδας αὐτῶν—‘to follow them closely’; iv. 126 fin. For αὐτῶν referring to the primary subject, see ch. 32, 26, note.

τὸ πρεσβύτερον—=οἱ πρεσβύτεροι: cf. i. 105, 5, οἵ τε πρεσβύτατοι καὶ οἱ νεώτατοι: ii. 13, 7, τοσοῦτοι ἐφύλασσον ἀπὸ τῶν πρεσβυτάτων καὶ νεωτάτων. Spartans were liable to serve abroad in emergency up to the age of 60, but in Athens men over 40 were usually exempt. See Müller's Dorians, Bk. iii. ch. 12.

τοῖς μέν—answered by the clause Λακεδαιμόνιοι δέ κ.τ.λ. ἐξ ὀλίγου—‘at short notice’; iv. 108, 5: ii. 11, 3, ἐξ ὀλίγου τὰ πολλὰ τῶν πολέμων γίγνεται. The subject of ἐγίγνετο, ‘it came’, is implied in the context, as is common with εἰμί and γίγνομαι and with passives; see Krüger's Grammar, § 61. 5, 6.

μὴ ἀθρόοις—‘unless they waited for one another and came all together’ (Jowett). Poppo notices the combination of an adjective and a participle: so iii. 69, 1, χειμασθεῖσαι καὶ σποράδες.

τὴν πολεμίαν—the districts north of Tegea generally, which either belonged to Argos or had joined the confederacy.

ξυνέκλῃε—the object is implied in the context. The meaning is ‘it blocked their way’ or ‘closed them in’: further explained by διὰ μέσου, which denotes an ‘intervening’ obstacle: cf. Hdt. i. 104, ἓν τὸ διὰ μέσου ἔθνος αὐτῶν ἐστί, i. e. between Media and Colchis, the countries spoken of. Kruger takes ξυνέκλῃε in a quasi-intransitive sense as in ch. 72, 9, ‘it closed in’, i. e. was continuous. The scholiast explains it by ἀπέκλειε.