The references to an epiteichismos

The references to an epiteichismos in Attica have provoked much scholarly discussion, because they so obviously call to mind the fortification of Deceleia in 413. As so often the composition question has obscured the problem, with advocates of a late dating for this section of the work arguing that the references to such fortifications must belong after Deceleia and advocates of earlier composition point out that such ideas were discussed long before the actual operations began. See Gomme in HCT on 1.124.3 (p. 418). Nothing can be proved about the date of original composition, but as he read through these passages a post-war reader would certainly be reminded, as the scholiast in 1.122.1 was, of Deceleia., Since Thucydides surely revised his work in the post-war period, he must have been willing to let the remainder of Deceleia stand, even though it might easily have been suppressed in a narrative as succinct as this.