γεφυρα δε επην εζευγμενη πλοιοις. (G. Steadman, p.11)
H.G. Dakyns and Delphi Classics have “. . . a bridge made of seven boats.” Is there likely to be contextual information from a historical source or from another original text?
I assume that there are variations in the manuscripts. Mather & Hewitt have the same text as Steadman, but the Loeb edition has: γέφυρα δὲ ἐπῆν ἑπτὰ ἐζευγμένη πλοίοις
Yes, I don’t have a critical text but it looks as if επτα fell out after επην in some texts. Xerxes’ army famously used a very much longer pontoon bridge to cross the Hellespont and invade Greece in 480BCE. That too is described by Herodotus.
Coorection: I was wrong, betrayed by my weak eyes. See below.
Many thanks Mark for clearing that one up.
Thanks also to mwh and Hylander for interesting additional comments.
I’m wrong. Marchant’s apparatus indicates that the mss. he lumps together as “meliores” read ἐπεζευγμένη, while he ascribes ἑπτὰ ἐζευγμένη to Hug. A corrector’s hand in one ms. from the _meliores_group adds ἑπτὰ after πλοίοις, while two other mss. continue into the next sentence with ἔπειτα. In his text, Marchant prints γέφυρα δὲ ἐπῆν ἐζευγμένη πλοίοις.
Interesting, because I was just beginning to wonder whether there was just one “master” ms or several mss. Any idea how many mss there are in circulation and which one might be considered the “most correct”? Or is that an impossible question to ask, let alone to answer?
There are lots of mss. of the Anabasis, I think, and while Marchant in his Latin introduction to the OCT designates a few as “meliores,” “better,” he recognizes that even some of the "deteriores, “worse,” sometimes have correct readings against the better ones. On the whole, though, while there are many small conflicts among the mss. calling for editorial judgment, I believe the text of the Anabasis is considered quite sound..
That’s a relief! Again, many thanks.