previous next


τῶν δὲ ἀγγέλων τούς. The Spartans come forward from among the other envoys, because the demands of the Argives affect Sparta most.

ἀνοίσειν ἐς τοὺς πλεῦνας = ἐξενεῖκαι ἐς τὸν δῆμον, ix. 5. 1; cf. v. 79. 1.

τοὺς πλεῦνας (cf. Thuc. viii. 73, 89) = τοὺς πολλούς, τὸ πλῆθος (iii. 81. 1, 80. 6). The ultimate decision lay with the Apella (called ἁλίη, ch. 134. 2). Cf. App. XVII, § 2.

According to Pausanias (ii. 19. 2) the Argive kings in the second generation from Temenus lost all real power [Pheidon's reassertion of royal power later being regarded as a Tyranny], and ten generations later, Meltas, the last Heraclid, was deposed. Plutarch (Mor. 340 C) says that Aegon was made king after the fall of the Heracleids. Presumably the monarch only retained the old royal right to priesthood and other formal honours, perhaps presidency of the Boule.

Since the law said to have been passed in the days of Cleomenes I (cf. v. 75), that only one king should go with the army, was observed in practice, the Spartan reply is a mere evasion. H. would seem to have forgotten his earlier statement.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: