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

ἐπὶ κακῷ—iv. 86, 1, οὐκ ἐπὶ κακῷ ἐλήλυθα. The Lacedaemonian apology would involve some inconsistency with the statement in ch. 39, 14, εἰδότες μὲν ὅτι ἀδικήσουσιν Ἀθηναίους.

ἐν τῇ βουλῇ—foreign ambassadors first presented their credentials to the βουλή, they were afterwards introduced to the ἐκκλησία. μὴ καὶ ἤν—καί most probably goes with ἐς τὸν δῆμον, the order being slightly irregular: Classen compares iv 63, 2, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄγαν εἰ τύχοιμεν (=εἰ καὶ ἄγαν): i. 120, 2, κἂν μέχρι σφῶν, etc. Kruger and Poppo would read ἢν καί. It is also possible to take καί with ἐπαγάγωνται τὸ πλῆθος (μὴ καὶ, ᾔν..): this agrees with Plutarch (Nic. ch. 10) μὴ καὶ τὸν δῆμον απὸ τῶν αὐτῶν λόγων ἐπαγάγωνται.

ἐς τὸν δῆμον—i.e. in the ἐκκλησία. Classen follows Stahl in reading ταύτὰ for ταῦτα. ἀπωσθῇ—ch. 22, 6, ἀπεώσαντο.

μηχανᾶται δέ—Kruger suggests δή, which Classen reads, comparing vi. 64, 1, τοιόνδε τι οὖν μηχανῶνται. πείθει—from this is supplied the sense ‘he promises’ and ‘he says’ with the following infinitives; or they may be connected with πίστιν δούς ‘with the assurance that’. πίστιν δούς—Plut. Alc. 14, ὅρκους ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς: cf. i. 133, 1, πίστιν διδόντος: viii. 73, 3.

ὠ̔σπερ καὶ νῦν ἀντιλέγειν—for ὥσπερ καἰ see Jowett's note quoted on ch. 13, 8. For the infimtive ‘by assimilation’ in the relative clause in oratio obliqua, see Goodwin, § 755: cf. i. 91, 5, ὅσα μετ᾽ ἐκείνων βουλεύεσθαι (=ἐβουλεύοντο) οὐδενὸς ὕστεροι (ἔφασαν) γνώμῃ φανῆναι. τἆλλα ξυναλλάξειν—‘will effect a reconciliation in all other respects’: i. 24, 4, τοὺς φεύγοντας ξυναλλάξαι σφίσι.

βουλόμενος Νικίου τε—answered by καὶ ὅπως κ.τ.λ. τε and καί couple the most important words. For the form of the sentence cf. iv. 70, 1, ἔδεισε περί τε το<*>῀ς .καὶ μή: Plat. Protag. 326 A, σωφροσύνης τε ἐπιμελοῦνται καὶ ὅπως. ἀληθές— Krüger would read ὑγιἐς, the word used by Plut. Aic. 14 fin. (iv. 22, 2, εἰ τὶ ὑγιὲς διανοοῦνται); but there seems no justification for the change. ἐν νῷ ἔχουσιν—‘mean, intend’; so iv. 22, 2, οὐδὲν ἐν νῷ ἔχοντας δίκαιον: νῷ ἔχειν without ἐν is ‘to bear in mind’, remember: see note on iv. 8, 5, ἐν νῷ εἶχον.

παρελθόντες—the regular term for ‘coming forward’ in the assembly. παραγαγόντες, line 23, is the corresponding active word.

οὐκ ἔφασαν ὤσπερ—sc. ἔφασαν: ‘in answer to the question whether they had full powers replied No, in direct contradiction to what they had said in the Council’ (Jowett). οὔ φημι=to deny, but the clause is framed in accordance with the literal construction rather than the actual force. καταβοῶντος—i. 67, 1, κατεβόων τῶν Ἀθηναίων, ὅτι....