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Huitink (L.), Rood (T.) (edd.) Xenophon: Anabasis Book III. Pp. xvi + 219, ill., maps. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Paper, £22.99, US$29.99 (Cased, £69.99, US$89.99). ISBN: 978-1-107-43743-2 (978-1-107-07923-6 hbk).
As the back cover of this latest addition to the renowned ‘Green and Yellow’ series informs the reader, this is the first commentary on a section of Xenophon's Anabasis in the English language in almost 100 years. Specifically, the commentary deals with Book 3, providing readers with a vastly updated analysis of the book's key historical, literary and linguistic features.
In a rather lengthy introduction (pp. 1–44) Huitink and Rood outline the historical context of Xenophon's account, the composition of the so-called Ten Thousand and details surrounding Xenophon's life as well as the genre, publication date, methods and purpose of the Anabasis. They also include two engaging sections on Xenophon's diction and style, in which they dissent from the view that Xenophon failed to employ a ‘pure’ Attic dialect; throughout the commentary the authors repeatedly stress that Xenophon's lexical choices are more complex than most scholars have previously allowed. The introduction also provides a brief examination of Anabasis 3's manuscript tradition as well as a useful appendix providing a chronological and topographical breakdown of the events that occur in this section of Xenophon's work.
As is customary with this series, the book comes equipped with the Greek text, which is then followed by a detailed commentary that covers a variety of linguistic, historical, cultural and political points. Unsurprisingly, Huitink and Rood make a wide suite of observations and suggestions concerning language that will be of considerable value to the book's student readership. For instance, readers learn that ἐξὸν … ὁρᾶν (3.2.26) is a concessive accusative absolute participle, which is commonly ‘used of feasible but rejected opportunities’ (p. 121), and that in the fixed phrase καὶ ὅς, ὅς acts...