William Watson Goodwin, Commentary on Demosthenes: On the Crown

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1. ἐκάλουν ὑμᾶς, i.e. called your army to Thebes. This is what Demosthenes provided for in § 178.2-4 (see notes), when he proposed to give the embassy concurrent power with the generals over the movements of the army. This march to Thebes, after the answer of the Thebans had been sent to Athens (μετὰ ταῦτα), is commonly thought to be directly opposed to the account of Aeschines in III. 140: Dissen exclaims indignantly, “Haeccine manifesta mendacia potuisse coram judicibus dici!” But Aeschines says only that the march to Thebes took place πρὶν περὶ συμμαχίας μίαν μόνην συλλαβὴν γράψαι Δημοσθένην. Now that the “decree of Demosthenes” (181—187) is known to be a forgery, we have no reason for thinking that any formal treaty of alliance preceded the invitation of the Athenian army to Thebes. Demosthenes could have proposed such a treaty only after his return to Athens. It appears from the criticisms of Aeschines on the treaty (141—144) that it was an elaborate document; and it is probable that it was not made and ratified until some time after the march to Thebes, which required no further legislation than the decree appointing the ambassadors. It must be remembered that Demosthenes (§ 178) proposed that the embassy should simply offer the Athenian army to Thebes without insisting on any formal terms, ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι βοηθήσειν ἂν κελεύωσιν.

3. ἔξω...ὄντων: this is commonly referred to the Athenian army, who are supposed to have first encamped outside the city and afterwards to have been invited to enter Thebes and occupy the houses. It is surely far more natural and agrees better with the context to understand that, while the Theban infantry and cavalry (i.e. the whole army) were encamped outside the walls, the Athenian army was quartered in the town. The lack of a pronoun to designate which army is meant is felt in both interpretations; but as the subject is the Thebans, it is more natural to refer the absolute clause to them. Again, the emphasis given twice to παῖδας καὶ γυναῖκας (5 and 13) implies that the men were absent; and ἐφ᾽ ὑμῖν ποιήσαντες (13), as a testimony to the σωφροσύνη of the Athenians, implies this still more strongly.

7. καθ᾽ ὑμῶν, upon you, as in VI. 9, καθ᾽ ὑμῶν ἐγκώμιον, not in its common hostile sense. See Arist. Pol. III. 13, 14, κατὰ δὲ τοιούτων οὐκ ἔστι νόμος, αὐτοὶ γάρ εἰσι νόμος, in respect to such men there is no law, for they are a law unto themselves. In the parallel passage of St Paul, Gal. v. 23, κατὰ τῶν τοιούτων is translated against such. See Rom. ii. 14, ἑαυτοῖς εἰσι νόμος, where we have the rest of the passage of Aristotle.

11. δικαιότερ᾽ ἀξιοῦν, that you made juster claims on them.

12. καὶ παρὰ πᾶσι δ̓, and indeed (καὶ) with all mankind, parenthetically after παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς.

14. ἔχοντες: or. obl. with ἔδειξαν.