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468A - 469B Touching the citizens' duty to one another in the field, Socrates enumerates various means by which cowardice will be discouraged and bravery rewarded. τί δὲ δὴ κτλ. This punctuation is better than to place the mark of interrogation after δή, and take τὰ περὶ τὸν πόλεμον as an internal accusative with πῶς ἑκτέον κτλ., because τὰ περὶ τὸν πόλεμον is already practically involved in the word στρατιώτας. I agree with Hartman that Richards' proposal—τί δὲ δή; εἶπον: τὰ περὶ τὸν πόλεμον, πῶς— πολεμίους, ἆρα κτλ.;—is far from elegant. ποῖα. See cr. n. ποἶ ἄν, which is generally read, surely cannot be right. Schneider remarks “ποἶ ἄν breviter dictum accipio pro ποῖα ἂν ὄντα τὰ περὶ τὸν πόλεμον ὀρθῶς ἔχειν λέγεις.” J. and C. are content with supplying εἴη τὰ σοὶ καταφαινόμενα. But ellipses of this kind are too severe a strain upon the imagination. ποῖα δή is suggested by Richards, πῇ δή by Hartman: but is δή in place here? I think not. I take ποῖα sc. ἐστι to refer to τὰ περὶ τὸν πόλεμον. Glauco addresses himself to the first of Socrates' questions: cf. 465 E note and Soph. Trach. 421—423. The corruption is common enough: see Introd. § 5. αὐτῶν = ‘ipsorum’ contrasts Plato's soldiers with their enemies (cf. πρὸς α<*>τούς τε καὶ τοὺς πολεμίους just before). μέν prepares us for the second part of this topic, beginning at 469 B. We certainly should not read μήν (with Hartman). Plato's treatment of cowardice in battle may be compared with the punishment of τρέσαντες in Sparta: see Gilbert Gk. Constit. Ant. E.T. p. 77. Cf. also Laws 943 D ff. ἑλοῦσι. Van Leeuwen's emendation—see cr. n.—seems to me admirable. The contrast between ἁλόντα and ἑλοῦσι is precisely what is wanted: cf. Xen. Cyr. VII 5. 73 νόμος γὰρ ἐν πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἀΐδιός ἐστιν, ὅταν πολεμούντων πόλις ἁλῷ, τῶν ἑλόντων ἐ̂ναι καὶ τὰ σώματα— καὶ τὰ χρήματα. With the infinitive van Leeuwen compares Laws 879 A παραδότω τὸν δοῦλον—χρῆσθαι ὅ τι ἂν ἐθέλῃ. θέλουσι is not free from objection. Paris A generally has ἐθέλω, the usual Attic form; moreover, the word itself, if taken with χρῆσθαι, is too weak; nor can we (with J. and C.) readily understand ἔχειν. Plato's ordinances on this matter are far more drastic than anything known even in Sparta: see Müller Dorians II p. 238.
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
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