Proper understanding of Iphicrates’ stratagem at Polyaenus 3.9.38, marred by a lacuna, can be derived from Leo Tact. 20.196, where anchoring a fleet off a harborless coastline is described. Emending Polyaenus’ text from the reading of a later MS also clarifies the anecdote’s meaning. Leo knew the full text of Polyaenus, since Polyaenus 3.9.38 does not occur in the abbreviated Excepta Polyaeni, which some recently suggest replaced the Strategica in Byzantine use of Polyaenus.
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