Reginald Walter Macan, Herodotus, The Seventh, Eighth, & Ninth Books with Introduction and Commentary

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οἱ δὲ ἐν Σαλαμῖνι Ἕλληνες shifts the scene back to Salamis, as in c. 50 supra; but what of the time? The message there is not prima facie identical with the message here; and an appreciable interval of time might be held to occur between the news of the Persians' arrival in Athens and the news of the destruction of the Akropolis (cp. cc. 52, 53). But was it the news of the destruction of the Akropolis, or only the news of the blockade of the Akropolis, which reached the Greek camp? Hdt. does not here say clearly which. Would the destruction of the Akropolis have required to be reported? The conflagration would have been fully visible from Salamis. Whether reported or witnessed, the capture of the Akropolis might form a ground for reopening the question whether the Greek fleet should remain at Salamis or not. Perhaps the error in Hdt. lies in his having recorded a debate above, before the news of the Persian arrival, or the evidence of the Persian capture of the Akropolis, was conveyed to Salamis. As long as the Akropolis stood siege, there might be a hope that the Peloponnesian army would advance to its relief; and so long at least the Greek fleet would of course remain at Salamis. Once the Akropolis had been captured, or surrendered, a new situation did arise. The anecdote of Mnesiphilos is transparently apocryphal; but the notion that a debate on the next move arose after the capture of the Akropolis is not in itself so improbable.

ὡς: the word occurs four times in as many lines, but may be rendered differently: ‘when—how—that—as.’ But cp. App. Crit.

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ἔνιοι τῶν στρατηγῶν: these members of the council of war (c. 49 supra) are to be supposed to have treated the news about the Athenian Akropolis as leaving only one alternative, or at least as rendering the retreat from Salamis inevitable. But it had not yet been decided, when ‘they tumbled into their ships’ (ἐσέπιπτον imp.), what the scene of the naumachy was to be. They may have intended to wait to hear this. The θόρυβος was not exactly a panic, it was a hubbub (they would be all speaking at the same time now); but no one as yet actually takes to flight, though ἀποθευσόμενοι seems to expect it (cp. App. Crit.). It is not very probable that any actual members of the Synedrion conducted themselves in this fashion: subordinate officers and crews may have made preparations on the safe side.

τὸ προκείμενον πρῆγμα seems to refer back to the subject of discussion in c. 49, ὅκου δοκέοι ἐπιτηδεότατον εἶναι κτλ.

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ἱστία ἀείροντο: the voice is middle and the tense imperfect: even so, if they were in such a desperate hurry to be off, they would surely first get the oars out.

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τοῖσί τε ὑπολειπομένοισι αὐτῶν ἐκυρώθη: how this decision was arrived at Hdt. does not clearly indicate; it might seem by a sheer majority of votes, but below Eurybiades is treated as really supreme in the matter. When the others left the council (was it held in a building or sub Iove?) the Isthmos was still ex hypothesi only one of several potential stations, cp. c. 49 supra. The decision is still to fight a battle: only the venue is shifted. This more dignified section did not ‘tumble into their ships,’ but ἐσέβαινον. On πρό cp. c. 49. The parataxis νύξ τε ἐγ. καί is observable: οἵ is doubtless demonstrative. τὸ συνέδριον marks the meeting decidedly as a regular and formal one; cp. 7. 145 supra, cc. 75, 79 infra; it was probably held under cover, in a house on shore, perhaps occupied by Eurybiades.