Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 1.djvu/56

Hi THUCYDIDES an examination of the inscriptions ; except as regards the Islands they leave the question nearly as it was. One other statement remains to be discussed. It is asserted with confidence by Kohler (p. 129) that the quota lists contain mention of arrears. This assertion rests (i) on the fact that the names of certain states occur twice or even oftener in the sam.e lists, being those of the fifth and eighth years ; and further (2), in the sixth and eighth lists some coincidences appear of defects and excesses in the payment. Abdera, for example, in the sixth year pays a quota of 1,400 drachmae to the Goddess, 100 drachmae less than the ordinary payment : in the eighth year there is no entry of a larger payment, but a small sum of 100 drachmae is recorded. It is inferred therefore that, while the regular payment is lost or effaced, the 100 drachmae represent the arrear of the sixth year. In like manner the ordinary payment of Thasos is 300 drachmae, whereas in the sixth year the treasury of the Goddess only acknow- ledges the receipt of 246 drachmae. But there appears in the eighth year a single payment of 54 drachmae credited to Thasos. This again is explained as an arrear, 246 drachmae and 54 drachmae = 300 drachmae. Once more, the whole payment of Dardanus in ordinary years is 100 drachmae. But Dardanus is found paying 46 drachmae in the sixth year and 54 in the eighth year. Upon these three coincidences the theory of arrears seems chiefl}' to rest. We may assume that there is some explanation of the same names recurring more than once in the lists. But it does not follow that the explanation can be discovered in the extant lists with any degree of certainty. To the theory of arrears several objections maybe made, (i) The alleged coincidences are only found in three instances. Thirteen other instances are cited by Kohler as of more or less weight ; but in three of these the payment of the sixth year is fragmentary ; in two the payment of the sixth j'ear only, in eight the payment of the eighth year only, is preserved ; so that there is no possibility of comparison.