History of the Peloponnesian War

The multitude, though annoyed to a certain extent by these negotiations, remained quiet because of their abundant hopes of pay from the king; while those who were for establishing the oligarchy, after they had communicated their designs to the mass of the people, again considered the proposals of Alcibiades [*](καὶ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς κ. τ. λ.] Dobree, Göller, Poppo, and Arnold, agree in thinking that ἐν must be inserted before σθίσιν, without which the passage seems to them not fairly intelligible. But may not this be regarded as a dativus instrumenti ? which is certainly used sometimes with reference to persons, though less commonly than to things. One instance of it is given by Jelf, Gr. Gr. § 608, Obs. 3, from Soph. El. 226, ti/ni gar pot' a)\n, w(= fili/a gene/qla, pro/sforon a)kou/saim' e)/pos; and perhaps a second might have been added from the same play, v. 441, ei)/ soi prosqilw=s au)th=| dokei=Ge/ra ta/d' ou(n ta/foisi decasqai ne/kus. Matthiae, § 396, brings forward another undoubted instance from Eur. Heracl. 392, ἄνδρα γὰρ χρεὼν——οὐκ ἀγγέλοισι τοὺς ἐναντίους ὁρᾶν and another less certain one from Xen. Cyrop. One instance may also, I think, be quoted from Thucydides himself, though I am not aware that it ever has, viz. VIII. 82. 3, ξυνέβαινε δὲ τῷ ʼαλκιβιάδῃ τῷ μὲν τισσαφέρνει τοὺς ʼαθηναίους φοβεῖν, ἐκείνοις δὲ τὸν τισσαφέρνην. There seems therefore to be no sufficient reason why the same construction should not have been used here. If this be admitted, I would apply the same principle to two other passages of our author, of which I have before taken a different view, viz. I. 25, οὔτε κορινθίῳ ἀνδρ́ι προκαταρχόμενοι, and V. 38. 4, οὐκ ἄλλα ψηφιεῖσθαι ἢ ἃ σφίσι προδιαγνόντες παραινοῦσιν. With regard to the former, when I wrote the note on it, I had not seen the quotation with which Poppo corroborates Bloomfield's interpretation, and which puts it beyond a doubt, I think, that Arrian, at any rate, took the same view of it.) amongst themselves and the greater part of their associates. To the rest, then, they appeared advantageous and worthy of their confidence;