Book 3
82.1
For afterwards, even the whole of Greece, so to say, was convulsed; struggles being every where made by the popular leaders to call in the Athenians, by the oligarchical party, the Lacedaemonians. Here, as in I. 36. 3, the participle and the finite verb are made to answer to each other, οὐκ ἄν ἐχόντων—ἐπορίζοντο, whereas it should have been either οὐκ ἄν εἶχον πρόφασιν—ἐπορίζοντο, or οὐκ ἄν ἐχόντων—τῶνἐπαγωγῶν ποριζομένων. —Arnold. The only way to avoid this confusion of constructions would be to understand ἐχόντων and ἑτοίμων again after πολεμουμένων. And as they would have had no pretext for calling them in, nor have been prepared to do it, in time of peace, but were so in time of war,—occasions of inviting them were easily supplied, when this war had broken out. But from the fact of no commentator (so far as I am aware) having adopted this method, there are probably greater objections to it than, I confess, present themselves to my own mind. Now they would have had no pretext for calling them in, nor have been prepared to do so, in time of peace. But when pressed by war, and when an alliance also was maintained by both parties for the injury of their opponents and for their own gain therefrom, occasions of inviting them were easily supplied to such as wished to effect any revolution.
