INTRODUCTION.
 

The text which has been followed in this trans¬
lation (except where a departure from it is indicated
at the foot of the page) is that of the first smaller
edition of Poppo (1843-1851), which adheres more
closely to the authority of the MSS. than the later
edition begun by Poppo and continued by Stahl.
It was originally intended that the work should
contain a series of essays on subjects connected
with Thucydides. But the accomplishment of this
part of the design has been unavoidably delayed.
The writer hopes to complete what is wanting in
the course of a year or two.

He gratefully acknowledges the valuable help of
more than one friend; first, and above all, of W. H.
Forbes, Fellow of Balliol College, who during several
years has been his unwearied and disinterested
fellow-labourer in a long and necessarily tedious
work. Few persons take as much conscientious
pains about their own writings as he has taken
about those of another. To his admirable scholar¬
ship is due mainly the degree of accuracy which
the translator has been able to attain; and he is
indebted to him for many excellent remarks and
suggestions.     The   essay on   Inscriptions   in   the