Textus Originalis

DE CODICIBUS LIBRORUM XIII—XV.

Numerum vero eorum, qui caesi sunt, apud Thucydidem frustra quaeres, quamquam ille, id quod Diodorus neglexit, Atheniensium qui ab Syracusis re male gesta profecti sunt, non minus quadraginta milia fuisse tradidit (Thuc. VII 75, 5). Idem numerus postea quidem in oratione, quam Diodorus Nicolaum habentem fecit, invenitur XIII 21, 3, sed ita ut Thucydidis verba cum verbis Diodori minime conveniant. Thucydides enim τοῦ ὄχλου ξύμπαντος ab Syracusis proficiscentis quadraginta milia fuisse prodit, Diodorus totidem τοὺς ἀγωνιζομένους ἄνδρας ab Atheniensibus Syracusas missos esse memorat. Ceterum hi a Diodoro traditi numeri iam Wesselingio in suspicione erant, qui non tam verba ἐζώγρησαν δὲ ἑπτακισχιλίους quam quae antecedunt addubitans, haec adnotavit: 'At amplior caesorum fuit multitudo, si numerum quadraginta milium aequarint, qui Nicia et Demosthene ducibus post infelix navale proelium iter sunt ingressi. Sint sane plures fuga elapsi: de quindecim tamen milibus, cum Syracusani obsaeptis itineribus fugientes urgerent undique, haud iniuria dubites'. — Cf. Diod. XIII 2, 5. 11, 2. 3. 33, 1. XIII 64, 5 Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἐστράτευσαν ἐπὶ Πύλον... κατὰ μὲν ϑάλατταν ἕνδεκα ναυσίν, ὧν ἦσαν αἱ μὲν ἀπὸ Σικελίας ἐκ τῶν πολιτῶν πεπληρωμέναι, πεζῇ δὲ παρήγαγον ἱκανὴν δύναμιν. Hic locus multo ignobilior et tamen in re superiori est similis, quod hic quoque de vocabulo numerali in libris PF omisso disceptatur. Addunt enim ceteri codices (non omnes puto, sed codices tantum classis a) post Σικελίας verbum πέντε. quod omnes editores receperunt, capti Wesselingi speciosa coniectura, qui orationem ita restituendam esse censuit: ὧν ἦσαν αἱ μὲν ἀπὸ Σικελίας πέντε, αἱ δὲ ἐκ τῶν πολιτῶν πεπληρωμέναι. Suo iure huic loco contulerunt ea, quae scripta sunt apud Xenoph. Hell. I 2, 8: ἐβοήϑησαν Συρακόσιοι αἷς τ᾽ ἀπὸ τῶν προτέρων εἴκοσι νεῶν καὶ ἀπὸ ἑτέρων πέντε, αἳ ἔτυχον τότε παραγενόμεναι... καὶ Σελινούσιαι δύο. Quorum locorum discrepantiam quamquam nemo non videt, tamen hic verbum πέντε ex Xenophonte, ut c. 19, 2 ἐζώγρησαν δὲ ἑπτακισχιλίους ex Thucydide, interpolatum esse haud incredibile videtur. At si Diodorus sententiam exprimere voluisset, quam editores ex eius verbis elicere conantur, hunc fere in modum scripsisset: ὧν

Traduzione

ON THE MANUSCRIPTS OF BOOKS XIII—XV.

But the number of those who were slain you will seek in vain in Thucydides, although he—a thing Diodorus neglected—handed down that the Athenians who set out from Syracuse after the disastrous battle were not less than forty thousand (Thuc. VII 75, 5). The same number is indeed found later in the speech which Diodorus composed for Nicolaus, XIII 21, 3, but in such a way that Thucydides' words by no means agree with Diodorus' words. For Thucydides reports that the entire crowd setting out from Syracuse amounted to forty thousand, Diodorus records that the same number of fighting men (τοὺς ἀγωνιζομένους ἄνδρας) were sent by the Athenians to Syracuse. Moreover, these numbers handed down by Diodorus were already suspected by Wesseling, who, doubting not so much the words ἐζώγρησαν δὲ ἑπτακισχιλίους (and took seven thousand alive) as what precedes them, noted this: 'But the multitude of the slain was greater, if they equalled the number of forty thousand who, under the leadership of Nicias and Demosthenes, began the march after the unfortunate naval battle. Granted that many escaped by flight: yet one might not unreasonably doubt about fifteen thousand, when the Syracusans, blocking the roads, pressed the fugitives on all sides.' — Cf. Diod. XIII 2, 5. 11, 2. 3. 33, 1. XIII 64, 5 Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἐστράτευσαν ἐπὶ Πύλον... κατὰ μὲν θάλατταν ἕνδεκα ναυσίν, ὧν ἦσαν αἱ μὲν ἀπὸ Σικελίας ἐκ τῶν πολιτῶν πεπληρωμέναι, πεζῇ δὲ παρήγαγον ἱκανὴν δύναμιν (The Lacedaemonians marched against Pylos... by sea with eleven ships, of which some had been manned from Sicily from their citizens, and by land they led a considerable force). This passage is much less famous and yet is similar to the previous case, because here too there is a dispute about a numeral word omitted in manuscripts PF. For the other manuscripts add (not all, I think, but only manuscripts of class a) after Σικελίας (Sicily) the word πέντε (five), which all editors have accepted, captivated by Wesseling's specious conjecture, who thought the text should be restored thus: ὧν ἦσαν αἱ μὲν ἀπὸ Σικελίας πέντε, αἱ δὲ ἐκ τῶν πολιτῶν πεπληρωμέναι (of which five were from Sicily, and the others were manned from their citizens). By right they compared to this passage what is written in Xenoph. Hell. I 2, 8: the Syracusans came to the aid with the twenty ships from the previous fleet and with five others, which happened to have arrived then... and two Selinuntian ships. Although everyone sees the discrepancy between these passages, nevertheless it seems not incredible that the word πέντε (five) here, as in c. 19, 2 the words ἐζώγρησαν δὲ ἑπτακισχιλίους (and took seven thousand alive) from Thucydides, was interpolated. But if Diodorus had wished to express the meaning which the editors attempt to extract from his words, he would have written something like: ὧν

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