οὗτος δὲ τοσαῦτα ἐξεργάσατο στρατηγήσας.
“He (Otanes) accomplished this much after he became general.”
What nuance does τοσαῦτα bring here? Is it neutral or does this rather mean something like “that’s all he was able to achieve after he became general”?
Thanks.
I think it’s colorless, and could be read either way. Positively it’s He achieved all that [and it was a helluva lot], but negatively it’s He achieved just that much [and no more than that]. There’s no μέν, as there often is in such summing-up statements, but still you expect it to be followed by a reversal such as “but then disaster struck.” (I wrote this before looking it up!)
Thanks and sorry, I should have provided more context. There’s no reversal, this just sums up the preceding passage before turning the narrative to the Ionians. I don’t see any coloration from context, so I was wondering if it’s possible to see any by just looking at this sentence alone.
οὗτος δὲ τοσαῦτα ἐξεργάσατο στρατηγήσας. μετὰ δὲ οὐ πολλὸν χρόνον ἄνεσις κακῶν ἦν, καὶ ἤρχετο τὸ δεύτερον ἐκ Νάξου τε καὶ Μιλήτου Ἴωσι γίνεσθαι κακά.