And how he had the assurance to be sitting there holding suppliant boughs, in the face of the very men to whom he had frequently said that the day would never come in which the sun would see Hasdrubal alive and his native city in flames.... After an interview with [Scipio], in which he was kindly treated, Hasdrubal desired leave to go away from the town....
καὶ προσεπεμέτρησεν ἕτερον ψήφισμα παράνομον, ὥστε κυρίους εἶναι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οὓς [ἂν] ἐπὶ στρατηγίαν αἱρήσονται· διʼ οὗ τρόπου τινὰ μοναρχικὴν ἀνέλαβεν ἐξουσίαν.
At the sight of the city utterly perishing amidst the flames Scipio burst into tears, and stood long reflecting on the inevitable change which awaits cities, nations, and dynasties, one and all, as it does every one of us men. This, he thought, had befallen Ilium, once a powerful city, and the once mighty empires of the Assyrians, Medes, Persians, and that of Macedonia lately so splendid.
οὗτος μὲν οὖν ταῦτα διοικησάμενος ἐγίνετο περὶ τὸ πραγματοκοπεῖν καὶ Ῥωμαίοις ἐπιβάλλειν τὰς χεῖρας, οὐδενὶ λόγῳ τοῦτο πράττων, ἀλλὰ πάντων ἀσεβεστάτοις καὶ παρανομωτάτοις ἐπιβαλλόμενος·
And unintentionally or purposely he quoted,—the words perhaps escaping him unconsciously,—“The day shall be when holy Troy shall fall”“And Priam, lord of spears, and Priam’s folk.”And on my asking him boldly (for I had been his tutor) what he meant by these words, he did not name Rome distinctly, but was evidently fearing for her, from this sight of the mutability of human affairs....
τῶν δὲ πρέσβεων ὁ μὲν Γνάιος εἰς Ἀθήνας ἀπῆρεν κἀκεῖθεν εἰς Λακεδαίμονα προσεδρεύσων τοῖς καιροῖς, ὁ δʼ Αὖλος εἰς Ναύπακτον, οἱ δὲ δύο μέχρι τῆς τοῦ Καικιλίου παρουσίας ἔμειναν ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις. καὶ τὰ μὲν κατὰ τὴν Πελοπόννησον ἐν τούτοις ἦν. —
Another still more remarkable saying of his I may record... [When he had given the order for firing the town] he immediately turned round and grasped me by the hand and said: “O Polybius, it is a grand thing, but, I know not how, I feel a terror and dread, lest some one should one day give the same order about my own native city.”...
ὅτι Πυθέας ἦν μὲν ἀδελφὸς Ἀκαστίδου τοῦ σταδιέως, υἱὸς δὲ Κλεομνάστου, κακῶς δὲ βεβιωκὼς καὶ δοκῶν ἑαυτῷ παρακεχρῆσθαι τὴν πρώτην ἡλικίαν,
Any observation more practical or sensible it is not easy to make.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὴν πολιτείαν θρασὺς καὶ πλεονέκτης καὶ διʼ Εὐμένους καὶ Φιλεταίρου σεσωματοποιημένος διὰ τὰς προειρημένας αἰτίας. —
For in the midst of supreme success for one’s self and of disaster for the enemy, to take thought of one’s own position and of the possible reverse which may come, and in a word to keep well in mind in the midst of prosperity the mutability of Fortune, is the characteristic of a great man, a man free from weaknesses and worthy to be remembered.... Pytheas was a brother of Acatidas the runner, and son of Cleomenes. He had led an evil life, and was reported to have wasted the flower of his youth in unnatural debauchery.
πολψβιυς αξηιϝυς θυαμϝις τυνξ ιν αφριξα ξυμ σξιπιονε φυεριτ, ταμεν θυια δομεστιξαμ ξλαδεμ ιγνοραρε νον ποτυιτ, σεμελ ιν αξηαια πυγνατυμ ξριτολαο δυξε ασσεριτ. διαευμ ϝερο αδδυξεντεμ εχ αρξαδια μιλιτεμ αβ εοδεμ μετελλο πραετορε οππρεσσυμ ξυμ εχερξιτυ δοξετ. —
In political life also he was audacious and grasping, and had been supported by Eumenes and Philataerus for these very reasons.... Critolaus the Achaean Strategus being dead, and the law providing that, in case of such an event befalling the existing Strategus, the Strategus of the previous year should succeed to the office until the regular congress of the league should meet, it fell to Diaeus to conduct the business of the league and take the head of affairs.
ὅτι τοῦ Κριτολάου τοῦ στρατηγοῦ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν μετηλλαχότος, καὶ τοῦ νόμου κελεύοντος, ἐπὰν συμβῇ τι περὶ τὸν ἐνεστῶτα στρατηγόν, τὸν προγεγονότα διαδέχεσθαι τὴν ἀρχήν, ἕως ἂν ἡ καθήκουσα σύνοδος γένηται τῶν Ἀχαιῶν,
Accordingly, after sending forward some troops to Megara, he went himself to Argos;
ἐπέβαλε τῷ Διαίῳ χειρίζειν καὶ προεστάναι τῶν κοινῶν πραγμάτων.
and from that place sent a circular letter to all the towns ordering them to set free their slaves who were of military age, and who had been born and brought up in their houses, and send them furnished with arms to Corinth. He assigned the numbers to be furnished by the several towns quite at random and without any regard to equality, just as he did everything else.
διόπερ ἐκπέμψας εἰς τὰ Μέγαρα καὶ παραγενόμενος εἰς Ἄργος ἔγραψε ταῖς πόλεσι πάσαις τῶν οἰκογενῶν καὶ παρατρόφων τοὺς ἀκμάζοντας ταῖς ἡλικίαις εἰς μυρίους καὶ δισχιλίους ἐλευθεροῦν καὶ καθοπλίσαντας πέμπειν εἰς τὴν Κόρινθον.
Those who had not the requisite number of home-bred slaves were to fill up the quota imposed on each town from other slaves.
ἐμέρισε δὲ ταῖς πόλεσι τὴν ἐπιβολὴν τῶν σωμάτων εἰκῇ καὶ ἀνίσως, καθάπερ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἔπραττεν.
But seeing that the public poverty was very great, owing to the war with the Lacedaemonians, he compelled the richer classes, men and women alike, to make promises of money and furnish separate contributions. At the same time he ordered a levy en masse at Corinth of all men of military age.
οἷς δʼ ἂν ἐλλείπῃ τὸ τῶν παρατρόφων πλῆθος, ἀναπληροῦν ἔδει τὴν ἑκάστοις καθήκουσαν μοῖραν ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων οἰκετῶν.
The result of these measures was that every city was full of confusion, commotion, and despair: they deemed those fortunate who had already perished in the war, and pitied those who were now starting to take part in it; and everybody was in tears as though they foresaw only too well what was going to happen.
θεωρῶν δὲ τὴν ἀπορίαν τὴν ἐν τοῖς κοινοῖς ἰσχυρὰν οὖσαν διὰ τὸν πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους γεγονότα πόλεμον, ἐπαγγελίας ποιεῖσθαι συνηνάγκαζε καὶ κατʼ ἰδίαν εἰσφέρειν τοὺς εὐπόρους, οὐ μόνον τοὺς ἄνδρας ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας.
They were especially annoyed at the insolent demeanour and neglect of their duties on the part of the slaves,—airs which they assumed as having been recently liberated, or, in the case of others, because they were excited by the prospect of freedom.
ἅμα δὲ τούτοις παρήγγειλεν πανδημεὶ τοὺς ἐν ταῖς ἡλικίαις ἁθροίζεσθαι μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων εἰς τὴν Κόρινθον.
Moreover the men were compelled to make their contribution contrary to their own views, according to the property they were reputed to possess;
ἐξ ὧν συνέβαινε γίνεσθαι τὰς πόλεις πλήρεις ἀκρισίας, ταραχῆς, δυσθυμίας.
while the women had to do so, by taking the ornaments of their own persons or of their children, to what seemed deliberately meant for their destruction.
καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀπολωλότας ἐπῄνουν, τοὺς δʼ ἐκπορευομένους ἠλέουν, καὶ προσκατεκλαίοντο πάντες ὡσανεὶ προορώμενοι τὸ μέλλον·
As these measures came all at once, the dismay caused by the hardship of each individually prevented people from attending to or grasping the general question; or they must have foreseen that they were all being led on to secure the certain destruction of their wives and children.
τὴν δὲ τῶν οἰκετῶν ἀνάτασιν καὶ τὸν ἐπισυρμὸν βαρέως ἔφερον, ὡς ἂν τῶν μὲν ἠλευθερωμένων ἄρτι, τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν πρὸς τὴν ἐλπίδα ταύτην μεμετεωρισμένων.
But, as though caught in the rush of some winter torrent and carried on by its irresistible violence, they followed the infatuation and madness of their leader. The Eleians and Messenians indeed did not stir, in terror of the Roman fleet; for nothing could have saved them if the storm had burst when it was originally intended. The people of Patrae, and of the towns which were leagued with it, had a short time before suffered disasters in Phocis;
ἅμα δὲ τούτοις οἱ μὲν ἄνδρες εἰσφέρειν ἠναγκάζοντο παρὰ τὴν αὑτῶν προαίρεσιν ὅ,τι τις ἔχειν δόξειεν, αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες ἀφαιρούμεναι σφῶν αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἰδίων τέκνων τὸν κόσμον ὥσπερ ἐπίτηδες
and their case was much the most pitiable one of all the Peloponnesian cities: for some of them sought a voluntary death; others fled from their towns through deserted parts of the country, with no definite aim in their wanderings, from the panic prevailing in the towns. Some arrested and delivered each other to the enemy, as having been hostile to Rome; others hurried to give information and bring accusations, although no one asked for any such service as yet;
εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν ὄλεθρον εἰσέφερον. ἁπάντων δὲ τούτων ἐν ἑνὶ καιρῷ συμβαινόντων, ἡ τῶν κατὰ μέρος ἀεὶ προσπιπτόντων κατάπληξις ἀφῃρεῖτο τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν ὅλων ἐπίστασιν καὶ διάληψιν, διʼ ἧς ἔμελλον προνοεῖσθαι διότι πάντες εἰς πρόδηλον ὄλεθρον ἄγονται μετὰ τέκνων καὶ γυναικῶν.
while others went to meet the Romans with suppliant branches, confessing their treason, and asking what penance they were to pay, although as yet no one was asking for any account of such things.
λοιπόν, οἷον ὑπὸ χειμάρρου τινὸς λάβρου προωθούμενοι καὶ φερόμενοι μετὰ βίας, ἐπηκολούθουν τῇ τοῦ προεστῶτος ἀγνοίᾳ καὶ παρακοπῇ.
The whole country seemed to be under an evil spell: everywhere people were throwing themselves down wells or over precipices; and so dreadful was the state of things, that as the proverb has it “even an enemy would have pitied” the disaster of Greece. For in times past the Greeks had met with reverses or indeed complete disaster, either from internal dissensions or from treacherous attacks of despots;
Ἠλεῖοι μὲν γὰρ καὶ Μεσσήνιοι κατὰ χώραν ἔμειναν, προσδοκῶντες τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ στόλου κίνδυνον· οὓς οὐδὲν ἂν τῶν παρόντων ὤνησεν, εἴπερ ἐφάνη τὸ νέφος ἐκεῖνο κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς πρόθεσιν.
but in the present instance it was from the folly of their leaders and their own unwisdom that they experienced the grievous misfortunes which befell them. The Thebans also, abandoning their city en masse, left it entirely empty;
Πατρεῖς δὲ καὶ τὸ μετὰ τούτων συντελικὸν βραχεῖ χρόνῳ πρότερον ἐπταίκει κατὰ τὴν Φωκίδα, καὶ τὸ συμβαῖνον ἦν πολλῷ τῶν κατὰ Πελοπόννησον ἐλεεινότερον.
and among the rest Pytheas retired to the Peloponnese, with his wife and children, and there wandered about the country.... He came upon the enemy much to his surprise. But to my mind the proverb, “the reckonings of the foolish are foolishness” applies to him. And naturally to such men things clear as day come as a surprise....
οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ ζῆν παραλόγως αὑτοὺς ἐξῆγον, οἱ δʼ ἔφευγον ἐκ τῶν πόλεων ἀνοδίαις, πρὸς οὐδὲν ὡρισμένον ποιούμενοι τὴν ἀναχώρησιν διὰ τὴν ἔκπληξιν τῶν γινομένων ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν.
He was even forming plans for getting back home, acting very like a man who, not having learnt to swim and being about to plunge into the sea, should not consider the question of taking the plunge; but, having taken it, should begin to consider how he is to swim to land.... Diaeus having recently come to Corinth after being appointed Strategus by the vote of the people, Andronidas and others came from Caecilius Metellus. Against these men he spread a report that they were in alliance with the enemy, and gave them up to the mob, who seized on them with great violence and threw them into chains.
καὶ οἱ μὲν ἦγον ἐκδώσοντες ἀλλήλους τοῖς πολεμίοις ὡς ἀλλοτρίους γεγονότας Ῥωμαίων, οἱ δʼ ἐμήνυον καὶ κατηγόρουν τῶν πέλας, οὐδενὸς ἐπιζητοῦντος κατὰ τὸ παρὸν τὴν τοιαύτην χρείαν· οἱ δὲ μεθʼ ἱκετηρίας ἀπήντων, ὁμολογοῦντες παρεσπονδηκέναι καὶ πυνθανόμενοι τί δεῖ πάσχειν, μηδέπω μηδενὸς ἐπιζητοῦντος λόγον ὑπὲρ τούτων.
Philo of Thessaly also came bringing many liberal offers to the Achaeans. And on hearing them, certain of the men of the country attempted to secure their acceptance; among whom was Stratius, now a very old man, who clung to Diaeus’s knees and entreated him to yield to the offers of Metellus.
πάντα δʼ ἦν πλήρη παρηλλαγμένης φαρμακείας τῶν ῥιπτούντων ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τὰ φρέατα καὶ κατὰ κρημνῶν, ὥστε κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν κἂν ἐχθρὸν ἐλεῆσαι θεασάμενον τὴν τότε περιπέτειαν τῆς Ἑλλάδος.
But he and his party would not listen to Philo’s proposals. For the fact was that they did not believe that the amnesty would embrace them with the rest;
τὸν μὲν γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ χρόνον ἐσφάλλοντο καὶ τοῖς ὅλοις ἔπταιον ἐνίοτε, ποτὲ μὲν ὑπὲρ πραγμάτων διαφερόμενοι, ποτὲ δὲ παρασπονδούμενοι διὰ τῶν μονάρχων·
and, as they regarded their own advantage and personal security as of the highest importance, they spoke as they did, and directed all their measures on the existing state of affairs to this end: although, as a matter of fact, they failed entirely to secure these objects. For as they understood quite clearly the gravity of what they had done, they could not believe they would obtain any mercy from Rome;
κατὰ δὲ τοὺς νῦν λεγομένους καιροὺς ἠτύχησαν ἀτυχίαν ὁμολογουμένην διὰ τὴν τῶν προεστώτων ἀβουλίαν καὶ διὰ τὴν ἰδίαν ἄγνοιαν.
and as to enduring nobly whatever should befall on behalf of their country and the safety of the people, that they never once took into consideration; yet that was the course becoming men who cared for glory, and professed to be the leaders of Greece.
οἱ δὲ Θηβαῖοι ἐκλιπόντες πανδημεὶ τὴν πόλιν ἔρημον τελέως κατέλειπον· ἐν οἷς καὶ Πυθέας εἰς Πελοπόννησον ἀποχωρήσας μετὰ γυναικὸς καὶ τῶν τέκνων ἠλᾶτο κατὰ τῆς χώρας. —
But indeed how or whence was it likely that such a lofty idea should occur to these men?
παράδοξος αὐτῷ ἐφάνη ἡ ἀπάντησις τῶν πολεμίων.
The members of this conclave were Diaeus and Damocritus, who had but recently been recalled from exile owing to the disturbed state of the times, and with them Alcamenes, Theodectes and Archicrates;
ἀλλά μοι δοκεῖ κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν κενὰ κενοὶ λογίζονται. λοιπὸν εἰκότως τοῖς τοιούτοις τὰ πρόδηλα παράδοξα φαίνεται. —
and of these last I have already stated at length who they were, and have described their character, policy, and manner of life.
καὶ ἐβουλεύετο περὶ τῆς εἰς οἶκον ἀνακομιδῆς,
Such being the men with whom the decision rested, the determination arrived at was what was to be expected. They not only imprisoned Andronidas and Lagius and their friends, but even the sub-Strategus Sosicrates, on the charge of his having presided at a council and given his voting for sending an embassy to Caecilius Metellus, and in fact of having been the cause of all their misfortunes.
ὅμοιον ποιῶν ὡς εἴ τις ἄπειρος ὑπάρχων τοῦ νεῖν καὶ μέλλων αὑτὸν ῥίπτειν εἰς τὸ πέλαγος περὶ μὲν τοῦ ῥῖψαι μὴ βουλεύοιτο, ῥίψας δὲ διανοοῖτο περὶ τοῦ πῶς ἂν ἐκνήξαιτο πρὸς τὴν γῆν. —
Next day they empanelled judges to try them; condemned Sosicrates to death;
ὅτι ἄρτι τοῦ Διαίου παρόντος εἰς τὴν Κόρινθον, καθεσταμένου στρατηγοῦ διὰ τῶν πολλῶν, ἧκον οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἀνδρωνίδαν παρὰ τοῦ Καικιλίου·
and having bound him racked him till he died, without however inducing him to say anything that they expected: but they acquitted Lagius, Andronidas and Archippus, partly because the people were scared at the lawless proceeding against Sosicrates, and partly because Diaeus got a talent from Andronidas and forty minae from Archippus;
καθʼ ὧν προδιαδοὺς φήμην ὡς συμφρονούντων τοῖς ἐχθροῖς, παρέβαλε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοῖς ὄχλοις, ὥστε μετὰ πάσης ὕβρεως συλληφθέντας ἀπαχθῆναι δεδεμένους.
for this man could not relax his usual shameless and abandoned principles in this particular even “in the very pit,” as the saying is.
ἧκε δὲ καὶ Φίλων ὁ Θετταλὸς πολλὰ φιλάνθρωπα τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς προτείνων·
He had acted with similar cruelty a short time before also in regard to Philinus of Corinth. For on a charge of his holding communication with Menalcidas and favouring the Roman cause, he caused Philinus and his sons to be flogged and racked in each other’s sight, and did not desist until the boys and Philinus were all dead.
ὧν ἀκούοντες συνέπραξάν τινες τῶν ἐκ τῆς χώρας, ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ Στρατίος ἤδη γηραιὸς ὤν, ὃς ἐμπλεκόμενος καὶ λιπαρῶν ἐδεῖτο τοῦ Διαίου πεισθῆναι τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ Καικιλίου προτεινομένοις.
When such madness and ferocity was infecting everybody, as it would not be easy to parallel even among barbarians, it would be clearly very natural to ask why the whole nation did not utterly perish.
οἱ δὲ συνεδρεύσαντες τοῖς μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ Φίλωνος λεγομένοις οὐ προσεῖχον·
For my part, I think that Fortune displayed her resources and skill in resisting the folly and madness of the leaders; and, being determined at all hazards to save the Achaeans, like a good wrestler, she had recourse to the only trick left; and that was to bring down and conquer the Greeks quickly, as in fact she did.
οὐκ ἐνόμισαν γὰρ κοινὴν εἶναι τὴν σωτηρίαν, ἀλλʼ αὐτοὺς κατʼ ἰδίαν τὸ σφέτερον συμφέρον καὶ τὴν αὑτῶν ἀσφάλειαν ἐν πλείστῳ τιθεμένους ταῦτα λέγειν. διὸ πρὸς τοῦτον τὸν σκοπὸν ἐβουλεύσαντο περὶ τῶν ἐνεστώτων, εἰ καὶ πάντων ἅμα διήμαρτον.
For it was owing to this that the wrath and fury of the Romans did not blaze out farther; that the army of Libya did not come to Greece; and that these leaders, being such men as I have described, did not have an opportunity, by gaining a victory, of displaying their wickedness upon their countrymen.
σαφῶς γὰρ σφίσι τὰ πεπραγμένα συνειδότες οὐδαμῶς ἐδύναντο πιστεῦσαι διότι τύχοιεν ἄν τινος ἐλέου παρὰ Ῥωμαίων.
For what it was likely that they would have done to their own people, if they had got any ground of vantage or obtained any success, may be reasonable inferred from what has already been said.
τὸ δʼ ὑπὲρ τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ τῆς τῶν πολλῶν σωτηρίας παθεῖν ὅ,τι δέοι γενναίως οὐδʼ ἐν νῷ καθάπαξ ἐλάμβανον· ὅπερ ἦν ἀνδρῶν φιλοδόξων καὶ προστατεῖν φασκόντων τῆς Ἑλλάδος.
And indeed everybody at the time had the proverb on his lips, “had we not perished quickly we had not been saved.”... Aulus Postumius deserves some special notice from us here. He was a member of a family and gens of the first rank, but in himself was garrulous and wordy, and exceedingly ostentatious. From his boyhood he had a great leaning to Greek studies and literature: but he was so immoderate and affected in this pursuit, that owing to him the Greek style became offensive to the elder and most respectable men at Rome.
ἀλλὰ γὰρ πῶς ἔμελλε καὶ πόθεν παραστήσεσθαι τοῦτο τὸ φρόνημα τοῖς προειρημένοις; ἦσαν γὰρ οἱ βουλευόμενοι Δίαιος καὶ Δαμόκριτος, ἄρτι τῆς καθόδου τετευχὼς διὰ τὴν ἐνεστῶσαν ἀκρισίαν, σὺν δὲ τούτοις Ἀλκαμένης, Θεοδέκτης, Ἀρχικράτης.ὑπὲρ ὧν, τίνες ἦσαν καὶ τίνα φύσιν ἕκαστος εἶχε καὶ τίνα προαίρεσιν καὶ βίον, εἴρηται διὰ πλειόνων.
Finally he attempted to write a poem and a formal history in Greek, in the preface to which he desired his readers to excuse him if, being a Roman, he could not completely command the Greek idiom or method in the handling of the subject. To whom M.
ὅθεν ἐν τοιούτοις ὄντος τοῦ διαβουλίου καὶ τὸ τέλος ἀκόλουθον ἐξέβη τῶν δοξάντων.
Porcius Cato made a very pertinent answer. “I wonder,” said he, “on what grounds you make such a demand. If the Amphictyonic council had charged you to write the history, you might perhaps have been forced to allege this excuse and ask for this consideration. But to write it of your own accord, when there was no compulsion to do so, and then to demand consideration, if you should happen to write had Greek, is quite unreasonable.
παραυτίκα μὲν οὖν συνέκλεισαν οὐ μόνον τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἀνδρωνίδαν καὶ Λάγιον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ὑποστράτηγον Σωσικράτην, ἐπενέγκαντες αἰτίαν ὅτι προστατήσαι τοῦ διαβουλίου καὶ συναποφήναιτο πέμπειν πρὸς τὸν Καικίλιον καὶ συλλήβδην πάντων εἴη τῶν κακῶν αἴτιος·
It is something like a man entering for the boxing match or pancratium in the public games, and, when he comes into the stadium, and it is his turn to fight, begging the spectators to pardon him ‘if he is unable to stand the fatigue or the blows.’ Such a man of course would be laughed at and condemned at once.” And this is what such historiographers should experience, to prevent them spoiling a good thing by their rash presumption.
εἰς δὲ τὴν ἐπαύριον καθίσαντες δικαστὰς τοῦ μὲν Σωσικράτους κατεδίκασαν θάνατον καὶ δήσαντες καὶ στρεβλοῦντες προσεκαρτέρουν, ἕως διέφθειραν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, οὐδὲν εἰπόντα τῶν ἐκείνοις προσδοκωμένων.
Similarly, in the rest of his life, he had imitated all the worst points in Greek fashions; for he was fond of pleasure and averse from toil. And this may be illustrated from his conduct in the present campaign: for being among the first to enter Greece at the time that the battle in Phocis took place, he retired to Thebes on the pretence of illness, in order to avoid taking part in the engagement;
τὸν δὲ Λάγιον καὶ τὸν Ἀνδρωνίδαν καὶ τὸν Ἄρχιππον ἀφῆκαν, ἅμα μὲν τοῦ πλήθους εἰς ἐπίστασιν παραγενομένου διὰ τὴν εἰς τὸν Σωσικράτη παρανομίαν, ἅμα δὲ τοῦ Διαίου λαβόντος παρὰ μὲν Ἀνδρωνίδου τάλαντον, παρὰ δʼ Ἀρχίππου τετταράκοντα μνᾶς.
but, when the battle was ended, he was the first to write to the Senate announcing the victory, entering into every detail as though he had himself been present at the conflict.... back into Macedonia.
οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ σκάμματος ὤν, τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον, ἐδύνατο λῆξαι τῆς περὶ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος ἀναισχυντίας καὶ παρανομίας ὁ προειρημένος.
Mummius was accompanied by L. Aurelius Orestes, who had been nearly murdered in the riot at Corinth (38, 7), and, pitching his camp in the Isthmus, was joined by allies who raised his army to three thousand five hundred cavalry and twenty-six thousand infantry. The Achaeans made a sudden attack upon them and gained a slight success, which was a few days afterwards revenged by a signal defeat. Instead of retiring into Corinth, and from that stronghold making some terms with Mummius, Diaeus fled to Megalopolis, where he poisoned himself, after first killing his wife.
παραπλήσια δὲ τούτοις ἔπραξε καὶ βραχεῖ χρόνῳ πρότερον εἰς Φιλῖνον τὸν Κορίνθιον· προθεὶς γὰρ αἰτίαν ὅτι διαπέμπεται πρὸς Μεναλκίδαν καὶ τὰ Ῥωμαίων φρονεῖ, τόν τε Φιλῖνον καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ μαστιγῶν καὶ στρεβλῶν ἐν συνόψει πάντας ἀλλήλων οὐ πρότερον ἔληξε πρὶν ἢ διέφθειρε τὰ μειράκια καὶ τὸν Φιλῖνον.
The rest of the beaten Achaean army took refuge in Corinth, which Mummius took and fired on the third day after the battle with Diaeus. Then the commissioners were sent from Rome to settle the whole of Greece.;. The incidents of the capture of Corinth were melancholy.
τοιαύτης δὲ τῆς ἀνοίας καὶ τῆς ἀκρισίας συμβαινούσης περὶ πάντας οἵαν οὐδʼ ἂν ἐν βαρβάροις εὕροι τις ῥᾳδίως, δῆλον ὡς εἰκότως ἄν τις ἐπιζητήσειε πῶς οὐκ ἄρδην ἀπώλοντο πάντες.
The soldiers cared nothing for the works of art and the consecrated statues. I saw with my own eyes pictures thrown on the ground and soldiers playing dice on them; among them was a picture of Dionysus by Aristeides—in reference to which they say that the proverbial saying arose, “Nothing to the Dionysus,”—and the Hercules tortured by the shirt of Deianeira.... Owing to the popular reverence for the memory of Philopoemen, they did not take down the statues of him in the various cities. So true is it, as it seems to me, that every genuine act of virtue produces in the mind of those who benefit by it an affection which it is difficult to efface....
ἐγὼ γὰρ ἂν εἴποιμι διότι δοκεῖ μοι καθαπερανεὶ τύχη τις ἀντερεῖσαι πανοῦργος καὶ τεχνικὴ πρὸς τὴν ἄνοιαν καὶ μανίαν τῶν ἡγουμένων, ἥτις ἐξωθουμένη πάντῃ καὶ πάντως ὑπὸ τῆς ἀγνοίας τῶν προεστώτων, βουλομένη δὲ κατὰ πάντα τρόπον σῴζειν τοὺς Ἀχαιούς, ἐπὶ τὸ καταλειπόμενον ἦλθεν ὥσπερ ἀγαθὸς παλαιστής.
One might fairly, therefore, use the common saying: “He has been foiled not at the door, but in the road.”...
τοῦτο δʼ ἦν τὸ ταχέως σφῆλαι καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἡττῆσαι τοὺς Ἕλληνας· ὅπερ ἐποίησε.
There were many statues of Philopoemen, and many erections in his honour, voted by the several cities; and a Roman at the time of the disaster which befell Greece at Corinth, wished to abolish them all and to formally indict him, laying an information against him, as though he were still alive, as an enemy and illwisher to Rome.
διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο συνέβη μήτε τὴν τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὀργὴν καὶ θυμὸν ἐκκαυθῆναι πορρωτέρω, μηδʼ ἐλθεῖν τὰς ἐκ τῆς Λιβύης δυνάμεις, μήτε τοὺς προεστῶτας, ὄντας οἵους εἶπον, ἐπιλαβομένους δὲ προτερήματος, ἀποδείξασθαι τὴν αὑτῶν ἀσέβειαν εἰς τοὺς ὁμοφύλους.
But after a discussion, in which Polybius spoke against this sycophant, neither Mummius nor the commissioners would consent to abolish the honours of an illustrious man.... Polybius, in an elaborate speech, conceived in the spirit of what has just been said, maintained the cause of Philopoemen.
τί γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν πρᾶξαι τούτους κατὰ τῶν ἰδίων, ἐπιλαβομένους ἀφορμῆς τινος ἢ προτερήματος, δῆλόν ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων διὰ τὸ κατὰ λόγον.
His arguments were that “This man had indeed been frequently at variance with the Romans on the matter of their injunctions, but he only maintained his opposition so far as to inform and persuade them on the points in dispute;
ἅπαντες δὲ τότε τὴν παροιμίαν ταύτην διὰ στόματος ἔσχον, ὡς "εἰ μὴ ταχέως ἀπωλόμεθα, οὐκ ἂν ἐσώθημεν."
and even that he did not do without serious cause. He gave a genuine proof of his loyal policy and gratitude, by a test as it were of fire, in the periods of the wars with Philip and Antiochus. For, possessing at those times the greatest influence of any one in Greece, from his personal power as well as that of the Achaeans, he preserved his friendship for Rome with the most absolute fidelity, having joined in the vote of the Achaeans in virtue of which, four months before the Romans crossed from Italy, they levied a war from their own territory upon Antiochus and the Aetolians, when nearly all the other Greeks had become estranged from the Roman friendship.”
ἐπεὶ δὲ παρελθὼν εἰς τὸ τεῖχος, τῶν Καρχηδονίων ἐκ τῆς ἄκρας ἀμυνομένων, εὗρε τὴν διὰ μέσου θάλασσαν οὐ πάνυ βαθεῖαν οὖσαν, τοῦ Πολυβίου συμβουλεύοντος αὐτῷ κατασπεῖραι τριβόλους σιδηροῦς ἢ σανίδας ἐμβαλεῖν κεντρωτάς, ὅπως μὴ διαβαίνοντες οἱ πολέμιοι προσμάχωνται τοῖς χώμασιν, ἔφη γελοῖον εἶναι, κατειληφότας τὰ τείχη καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἐντὸς ὄντας, εἶτα πράττειν ὅπως οὐ μαχοῦνται τοῖς πολεμίοις. —
Having listened to this speech and approved of the speaker’s view, the ten commissioners granted that the complimentary erections to Philopoemen in the several cities should be allowed to remain. Acting on this pretext, Polybius begged of the Consul the statues of Achaeus, Aratus, and Philopoemen, though they had already been transported to Acarnania from the Peloponnese: in gratitude for which action people set up a marble statue of Polybius himself....
ὅτι τοῦ Ἀσδρούβου τοῦ τῶν Καρχηδονίων στρατηγοῦ ἱκέτου παραγενομένου τοῖς τοῦ Σκιπίωνος γόνασιν, ὁ στρατηγὸς ἐμβλέψας εἰς τοὺς συνόντας "ὁρᾶτʼ" ἔφη "τὴν τύχην, ὦ ἄνδρες, ὡς ἀγαθὴ παραδειγματίζειν ἐστὶ τοὺς ἀλογίστους τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
After the settlement made by the ten commissioners in Achaia, they directed the Quaestor, who was to superintend the selling of Diaeus’s property, to allow Polybius to select anything he chose from the goods and present it to him as a free gift, and to sell the rest to the highest bidders.
οὗτός ἐστιν Ἀσδρούβας ὁ νεωστὶ πολλῶν αὐτῷ καὶ φιλανθρώπων προτεινομένων ὑφʼ ἡμῶν ἀπαξιῶν, φάσκων δὲ κάλλιστον ἐντάφιον εἶναι τὴν πατρίδα καὶ τὸ ταύτης πῦρ, νῦν πάρεστι μετὰ στεμμάτων δεόμενος ἡμῶν τυχεῖν τῆς ζωῆς καὶ πάσας τὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχων ἐν ἡμῖν.
But, so far from accepting any such present, Polybius urged his friends not to covet anything whatever of the goods sold by the Quaestor anywhere:—for he was going a round of the cities and selling the property of all those who had been partisans of Diaeus, as well of such as had been condemned, except those who left children or parents.
ἃ τίς οὐκ ἂν ὑπὸ τὴν ὄψιν θεασάμενος ἐν νῷ λάβοι διότι δεῖ μηδέποτε λέγειν μηδὲ πράττειν μηδὲν ὑπερήφανον ἄνθρωπον ὄντα;
Some of these friends did not take his advice; but those who did follow it earned a most excellent reputation among their fellow-citizens.
" καὶ προελθόντες τινὲς τῶν αὐτομόλων ἐπὶ τὸ πέρας τοῦ τέγους παρῃτοῦντο τοὺς προμαχομένους ἀνασχεῖν μικρόν·
After completing these arrangements in six months, the ten commissioners sailed for Italy, at the beginning of spring, having left a noble monument of Roman policy for the contemplation of all Greece. They also charged Polybius, as they were departing, to visit all the cities and to decide all questions that might arise, until such time as they were grown accustomed to their constitution and laws.
τοῦ δὲ στρατηγοῦ κελεύσαντος ἐπισχεῖν, ἤρξαντο τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν λοιδορεῖν οἱ μὲν εἰς ἐπιορκίαν, φάσκοντες αὐτὸν πολλάκις ἐπὶ τῶν ἱερῶν ὀμωμοκέναι μὴ προλείψειν αὐτούς, οἱ δʼ εἰς ἀνανδρίαν καὶ καθόλου τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀγεννίαν·
Which he did: and after a while caused the inhabitants to be contented with the constitution given them by the commissioners, and left no difficulty connected with the laws on any point, private or public, unsettled.
καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐποίουν μετὰ χλευασμοῦ καὶ λοιδορίας ἀσυροῦς καὶ δυσμενικῆς.
[Wherefore the people, who always admired and honoured this man, being in every way satisfied with the conduct of his last years and his management of the business just described, honoured him with the most ample marks of their respect both during his life and after his death. And this universal verdict was fully justified. For if he had not elaborated and reduced to writing the laws relating to the administration of justice, everything would have been in a state of uncertainty and confusion.
κατὰ δὲ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ἡ γυνὴ θεωροῦσα τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν προκαθήμενον μετὰ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ προῆλθεν ἐκ τῶν αὐτομόλων, αὐτὴ μὲν ἐλευθερίως καὶ σεμνῶς ἠμφιεσμένη, τοὺς δὲ παῖδας ἐν χιτωνίσκοις ἐξ ἑκατέρου τοῦ μέρους προσειληφυῖα ταῖς χερσὶ μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων ἐνδυμάτων.
Therefore we must look upon this as the most glorious of the actions of Polybius.]... The Roman Proconsul, after the commissioners had left Achaia, having restored the holy places in the Isthmus and ornamented the temples in Olympia and Delphi, proceeded to make a tour of the cities, receiving marks of honour and proper gratitude in each.
καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὀνομαστὶ προσεφώνει τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν, τοῦ δʼ ἀποσιωπῶντος καὶ νεύοντος εἰς τὴν γῆν, τὰς μὲν ἀρχὰς τοὺς θεοὺς ἐπεκαλεῖτο καὶ τῷ στρατηγῷ μεγάλας ἀπένεμε τὰς χάριτας, διότι τὸ μὲν ἐκείνου μέρος οὐκ αὐτὴ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ τέκνα σῴζεται·
And indeed he deserved honour both public and private, for he conducted himself with self-restraint and disinterestedness, and administered his office with mildness, although he had great opportunities of enriching himself, and immense authority in Greece. And in fact in the points in which he was thought to have at all overlooked justice, he appears not to have done it for his own sake, but for that of his friends. And the most conspicuous instance of this was in the case of the Chalcidian horsemen whom he put to death....
βραχὺ δʼ ἐπισχοῦσα τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν ἤρετο πῶς αὐτῇ μὲν φάσκων οὐδὲν κατʼ ἰδίαν παρὰ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ πορίζοιτο τὴν σωτηρίαν αὐτομολήσας, πῶς δʼ οὕτως ἀναισχύντως ἐγκαταλιπὼν τὰ πράγματα καὶ τοὺς ἀστοὺς αὐτῷ πιστεύοντας ὑπέλθοι πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους,
Ptolemy, king of Syria, died from a wound received in the war: a man who, according to some, deserved great praise and abiding remembrance, and according to others the reverse. If any king before him ever was, he was mild and benevolent; a very strong proof of which is that he never put any of his own friends to death on any charge whatever;
πῶς δὲ παρὰ τούτοις τολμᾷ καθῆσθαι νῦν θαλλοὺς ἔχων πρὸς οὓς … πολλάκις οὐδέποτε ταύτην ἔσεσθαι τὴν ἡμέραν, ἐν ᾗ συμβήσεται τὸν ἥλιον ἅμα καθορᾶν Ἀσδρούβαν ζῶντα καὶ τὴν πατρίδα πυρπολουμένην· οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ …
and I believe that not a single man at Alexandria either owed his death to him. Again, though he was notoriously ejected from his throne by his brother, in the first place, when he got a clear opportunity against him in Alexandria, he granted him a complete amnesty; and afterwards, when his brother once more made a plot against him to seize Cyprus, though he got him body and soul into his hands at Lapethus, he was so far from punishing him as an enemy, that he even made him grants in addition to those which formerly belonged to him in virtue of the treaty made between them, and moreover promised him his daughter.
… γε το!εινε … δ … φυλα … ο?ι? ουσ?α?ν? συ πεποιηκας αισχρως δεγεπονειδιστως ηδε … ρω … και … τα τεκνα πράξομεν … κα … τ?α?υ?τ?α? π?α?λ?ι?ν? … εις αυτην … επω λενων το … σ? ν … ον … υ … πο … ου … τει λασα του?ς α?υ? … τοισα … τε παντας … συμπαθεις γενομενους τηι περπ?ε?τ?εια και … η … ας της τυχης … ν … δοξαι διαμ?
However, in the course of a series of successes and prosperity, his mind became corrupted; and he fell a prey to the dissoluteness and effeminacy characteristic of the Egyptians: and these vices brought him into serious disasters.... Having accomplished these objects, I returned home from Rome, having put, as it were, the finishing-stroke to my whole previous political actions, and obtained a worthy return for my constant loyalty to the Romans. Wherefore I make my prayers to all the gods that the rest of my life may continue in the same course and in the same prosperity; for I see only too well that Fortune is envious of mortals, and is most apt to show her power in those points in which a man fancies that he is most blest and most successful in life.
κα?ι? … χ … ς επεισαγαγο … δε … σδ … αυ … της … επειμιαν … τι … παρ … καὶ δι … νι … τὸ δικ?αιον ευ … ρων φησιν ὁ πολυβιος εγων οτι και τιν〈ο〉 … ραν επι … α?ν … τούτου καλλιον … ουτ … και τοῦτʼ εἴρηται παρὰ τῷ ποιητῇ· καὶ ἐπιστρέψας ἐξ αὐτῆς καὶ λαβόμενός μου τῆς δεξιᾶς "ὦ Πολύβιε," ἔφη "καλὸν μέν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως ἐγὼ δέδια καὶ προορῶμαι μή ποτέ τις ἄλλος τοῦτο τὸ παράγγελμα δώσει περὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας πατρίδος·"
Such was the result of my exertions.
ταύτης δὲ δύναμιν πραγματικωτέραν καὶ νουνεχεστέραν οὐ ῥᾴδιον εἰπεῖν·
But having now arrived at the end of my whole work, I wish to recall to the minds of my readers the point from which I started, and the plan which I laid down at the commencement of my history, and then to give a summary of the entire subject. I announced then at starting that I should begin my narrative at the point where Timaeus left off, and that going cursorily over the events in Italy, Sicily, and Libya—since that writer has only composed a history of those places,—when I came to the time when Hannibal took over the command of the Carthaginian army;
τὸ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς μεγίστοις κατορθώμασι καὶ ταῖς τῶν ἐχθρῶν συμφοραῖς ἔννοιαν λαμβάνειν τῶν οἰκείων πραγμάτων καὶ τῆς ἐναντίας περιστάσεως καὶ καθόλου πρόχειρον ἔχειν ἐν ταῖς ἐπιτυχίαις τὴν τῆς τύχης ἐπισφάλειαν ἀνδρός ἐστι μεγάλου καὶ τελείου καὶ συλλήβδην ἀξίου μνήμης. —
Philip son of Demetrius the kingdom of Macedonia; Cleomenes of Sparta was banished from Greece;
ὁ δὲ Σκιπίων πόλιν ὁρῶν … τότε ἄρδην τελευτῶσαν ἐς πανωλεθρίαν ἐσχάτην, λέγεται μὲν δακρῦσαι καὶ φανερὸς γενέσθαι κλαίων ὑπὲρ πολεμίων·
Antiochus succeeded to the kingdom in Syria, and Ptolemy Philopator to that in Egypt,—I promised that starting once more from that period, namely the 139th Olympiad, I would give a general history of the world: marking out the periods of the Olympiads, separating the events of each year, and comparing the histories of the several countries by parallel narratives of each, up to the capture of Carthage, and the battle of the Achaeans and Romans in the Isthmus, and the consequent political settlement imposed on the Greeks. From all of which I said that students would learn a lesson of supreme interest and instructiveness. This was to ascertain how, and under what kind of polity, almost the whole inhabited world came under the single authority of Rome, a fact quite unparalleled in the past.
ἐπὶ πολὺ δʼ ἔννους ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ γενόμενός τε καὶ συνιδὼν ὅτι καὶ πόλεις καὶ ἔθνη καὶ ἀρχὰς ἁπάσας δεῖ μεταβαλεῖν ὥσπερ ἀνθρώπους δαίμονα, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἔπαθε μὲν Ἴλιον, εὐτυχής ποτε πόλις, ἔπαθε δὲ ἡ Ἀσσυρίων καὶ Μήδων καὶ Περσῶν ἐπʼ ἐκείνοις ἀρχὴ μεγίστη γενομένη καὶ ἡ μάλιστα ἔναγχος ἐκλάμψασα ἡ Μακεδόνων, εἴτε ἑκών, εἴτε προφυγόντος αὐτὸν τοῦδε τοῦ ἔπους εἰπεῖν,ἔσσεται ἦμαρ ὅταν ποτʼ ὀλώλῃ Ἴλιος ἱρὴ
These promises then having all been fulfilled, it only remains for me to state the periods embraced in my history, the number of my books, and how many go to make up my whole work....
καὶ Πρίαμος καὶ λαὸς ἐυμμελίω Πριάμοιο. Πολυβίου δʼ αὐτὸν ἐρομένου σὺν παρρησίᾳ·
I believe Rome to have been founded in the second year of the 7th Olympiad. Polybius, like Aristodemus of Elis, informs us that the register of the athletic victors at the Olympic games began to be kept from the 27th Olympiad, at which Coroebus of Elis was first registered as conqueror in the stadium; and this Olympiad was regarded as an era by the Greeks from which to calculate dates. The Palatine was named after Pallas, who died there.
καὶ γὰρ ἦν αὐτοῦ καὶ διδάσκαλος· ὅ τι βούλοιτο ὁ λόγος, φασὶν οὐ φυλαξάμενον ὀνομάσαι τὴν πατρίδα σαφῶς, ὑπὲρ ἧς ἄρα ἐς τἀνθρώπεια ἀφορῶν ἐδεδίει. καὶ τάδε μὲν Πολύβιος αὐτὸς ἀκούσας συγγράφει. ὅτι Αὖλος Ποστόμιος ἄξιος γέγονεν ἐπισημασίας ἀπεντεῦθεν.
He was the son of Heracles and Lavina, daughter of Evander. His maternal grandfather raised a barrow as his tomb on this hill, and called the place after him the Pallantium. Among the Romans women are forbidden to drink wine;
οἰκίας μὲν γὰρ ἦν καὶ γένους πρώτου, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἰδίαν φύσιν στωμύλος καὶ λάλος καὶ πέρπερος διαφερόντως.
and they drink what is called passum, which is made from raisins, and tastes very like the sweet wine of Aegosthena or Crete. This is what they drink to quench their thirst. But it is almost impossible for them to drink wine without being found out. For, to begin with, the woman has not got the charge of wine;
ἐπιθυμήσας δʼ εὐθέως ἐκ παίδων τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς ἀγωγῆς καὶ διαλέκτου πολὺς μὲν ἦν ἐν τούτοις καὶ κατακορής, ὥστε διʼ ἐκεῖνον καὶ τὴν αἵρεσιν τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν προσκόψαι τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις καὶ τοῖς ἀξιολογωτάτοις τῶν Ῥωμαίων,
and, in the next place, she is bound to kiss all her male relatives and those of her husband, down to his cousins, every day on seeing them for the first time; and as she cannot tell which of them she will meet, she has to be on her guard. For if she has but tasted wine, there is no occasion for any formal accusation. He also founded Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber.
τέλος δὲ καὶ ποίημα γράφειν καὶ πραγματικὴν ἱστορίαν ἐνεχείρησεν, ἐν ᾗ διὰ τοῦ προοιμίου παρεκάλει τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας συγγνώμην ἔχειν, ἐὰν Ῥωμαῖος ὢν μὴ δύνηται κατακρατεῖν τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς διαλέκτου καὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸν χειρισμὸν οἰκονομίας.
Lucius, the son of Demaratus of Corinth, came to Rome relying on his own ability and wealth, and convinced that the advantages he possessed would place him in the front rank in the state: for he had a wife who, among other useful qualities, was admirably suited by nature to assist in any political enterprise.
πρὸς ὃν οἰκείως ἀπηντηκέναι δοκεῖ Μάρκος Πόρκιος Κάτων· θαυμάζειν γὰρ ἔφη πρὸς τίνα λόγον ποιεῖται τοιαύτην παραίτησιν.
Arrived at Rome, and admitted to citizenship, he devoted himself to flattering the king; and before very long his wealth, his natural dexterity, and, more than all, his early training, enabled him so to please the king’s taste that he gained his cordial liking and confidence.
εἰ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῷ τὸ τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων συνέδριον συνέταττε γράφειν ἱστορίαν, ἴσως ἔδει προφέρεσθαι ταῦτα καὶ παραιτεῖσθαι·
As time went on his intimacy became so close that he lived with [Ancus] Marcius, and assisted him in managing his kingdom.
μηδεμιᾶς δʼ ἀνάγκης οὔσης ἐθελοντὴν ἀπογράψασθαι κἄπειτα παραιτεῖσθαι συγγνώμην ἔχειν, ἐὰν βαρβαρίζῃ,
While so engaged, he contrived to make himself useful to every one. All who were suitors for anything found in him an active supporter and friend: his wealth was spent with noble liberality and judgment on various objects of national importance; and thus he secured for himself the gratitude of many, and the goodwill and good word of all, and finally obtained the throne.... Every branch of virtue should be practised by those who aim at good training, from childhood, but, above all, courage...
τῆς ἁπάσης ἀτοπίας εἶναι σημεῖον, καὶ παραπλησίως ἄχρηστον ὡσανεί τις εἰς τοὺς γυμνικοὺς ἀγῶνας ἀπογραψάμενος πυγμὴν ἢ παγκράτιον, παρελθὼν εἰς τὸ στάδιον, ὅτε δέοι μάχεσθαι, παραιτοῖτο τοὺς θεωμένους συγγνώμην ἔχειν, ἐὰν μὴ δύνηται μήτε τὸν πόνον ὑπομένειν μήτε τὰς πληγάς.
(6, 1) An impossible lie admits of no defence even. (6, 1) It is the act of a wise and sensible man to recognise—as Hesiod puts it—“how much greater the half is than the whole.” To learn sincerity towards the Gods is a kind of image of truthfulness towards each other. It generally happens in the world that men who acquire have a natural turn for keeping;
δῆλον γὰρ ὡς εἰκὸς γέλωτα τὸν τοιοῦτον ὀφλεῖν καὶ τὴν δίκην ἐκ χειρὸς λαμβάνειν· ὅπερ ἔδει καὶ τοὺς τοιούτους ἱστοριογράφους, ἵνα μὴ κατετόλμων τοῦ καλῶς ἔχοντος.
while those who succeed to wealth, without any trouble to themselves, are apt to squander it. The strongest fortifications are in general dangerous to both sides;
παραπλησίως δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὸν λοιπὸν βίον ἐζηλώκει τὰ χείριστα τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν· καὶ γὰρ φιλήδονος ἦν καὶ φυγόπονος.
which may be illustrated from what occurs in the case of citadels. These last are regarded as contributing greatly to the security of the cities in which they stand, and to the protection of their freedom; but they often turn out to be the origin of slavery and indisputable misfortunes.
τοῦτο δʼ ἔσται δῆλον ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν ἐνεστώτων· ὃς πρῶτος παρὼν ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα τόποις, καθʼ ὃν καιρὸν συνέβαινε γίνεσθαι τὴν ἐν Φωκίδι μάχην, σκηψάμενος ἀσθένειαν εἰς Θήβας ἀνεχώρησεν χάριν τοῦ μὴ μετασχεῖν τοῦ κινδύνου·
Some few approved of his doing so, but the majority objected, saying, some that it was folly, and others that it was madness for a man thus to risk and hazard his life, who was quite unacquainted with the kind of fighting in use among these barbarians. “Secure retreat in case disaster fall.” One ought always to keep this line in mind. From failing to do so Lucius the Roman met with a grave disaster. So narrow is the risk of destruction to the most powerful forces when the leaders are unwise. A sufficient illustration to thoughtful men is furnished by the headstrong invasion of Argos by Pyrrhus king of the Epirotes, and the expedition through Thrace of king Lysimachus against Dorimichaites, king of Odrysae; and indeed many other similar cases. Marcellus never once conquered Hannibal, who in fact remained unbeaten until Scipio’s victory.
συντελεσθείσης δὲ τῆς μάχης πρῶτος ἔγραψε τῇ συγκλήτῳ περὶ τοῦ κατορθώματος, προσδιασαφῶν τὰ κατὰ μέρος, ὡς μετεσχηκὼς αὐτὸς τῶν ἀγώνων. — Πολύβιος δὲ τὰ συμβάντα περὶ τὴν ἅλωσιν ἐν οἴκτου μέρει λέγων προστίθησι καὶ τὴν στρατιωτικὴν ὀλιγωρίαν τὴν περὶ τὰ τῶν τεχνῶν ἔργα καὶ τὰ ἀναθήματα· φησὶ γὰρ ἰδεῖν παρὼν ἐρριμμένους πίνακας ἐπʼ ἐδάφους, πεττεύοντας δὲ τοὺς στρατιώτας ἐπὶ τούτων.
No darkness, no storm however violent, turned him from his purpose. He forced his way through all such obstacles; he overcame even disease by resolute labour, and never once failed in an object or experienced a variation in his uniform good fortune. In old times single combats among the Romans were conducted with good faith [but in our days many contrivances have been hit upon]. The horse, from the agony of the wound, first fell forward, and then galloped furiously through the middle of the camp. Seeing that the superstitious feelings of the soldiers were roused by these portents, he exerted himself to remove the scruples of the men by means of his own intelligence and strategic skill.
ὀνομάζει δʼ αὐτῶν Ἀριστείδου γραφὴν τοῦ Διονύσου, ἐφʼ οὗ τινες εἰρῆσθαί φασι τὸ "3Οὐδὲν πρὸς τὸν Διόνυσον"3, καὶ τὸν Ἡρακλέα τὸν καταπονούμενον τῷ τῆς Δηιανείρας χιτῶνι. — ὅτι διὰ τὴν προϋπάρχουσαν τοῦ πλήθους πρὸς Φιλοποίμενα εὔνοιαν οὐ καθεῖλον τὰς εἰκόνας αὐτοῦ ἐν πόλεσί τισιν οὔσας· οὕτως μοι δοκεῖ πᾶν τὸ γινόμενον ἀληθινῶς ἐνεργάζεσθαί τινα δυσεξάλειπτον εὔνοιαν τοῖς εὖ παθοῦσι. —
These vessels appear to be as swift sailers as penteconters, but to be much inferior to triremes;
διὸ καὶ δικαίως ἂν εἴποι τις τὸ περιφερόμενον,
and their construction has been abandoned for many years past.
οὐ θύρᾳ, τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον, ἀλλʼ ἀμφόδῳ διέψευσται. —
Polybius, however, is supposed to lay down the measurements of such vessels, which the Romans and Carthaginians appear to have often employed in their wars with each other. Getting completely drunk, and all flung on the ground in the various tents, they neither heard any word of command nor took any thought of the future whatever. In consultations of war, as in those relating to bodily sickness, one ought to take as much account of the symptoms that have since arisen as of those originally existing. Cappadocia extends from Mount Taurus and Lycaonia up to the Pontic Sea. The name is Persian and arose thus. A certain Persian [named Cappadocus?]
οὐσῶν δὲ πολλῶν μὲν εἰκόνων αὐτοῦ μεγάλων δὲ τιμῶν, ἃς αἱ πόλεις ἐψηφίσαντο, Ῥωμαῖος ἀνὴρ ἐν τοῖς περὶ Κόρινθον ἀτυχήμασι τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἐπεχείρησεν ἀνελεῖν ἁπάσας καὶ διώκειν αὐτόν, ἐνδεικνύμενος ὥσπερ ἔτι ζῶντα Ῥωμαίοις πολέμιον καὶ κακόνουν γενέσθαι. λόγων δὲ λεχθέντων καὶ Πολυβίου πρὸς τὸν συκοφάντην ἀντειπόντος, οὔθʼ ὁ Μόμμιος οὔτε οἱ πρέσβεις ὑπέμειναν ἀνδρὸς ἐνδόξου τιμὰς ἀφανίσαι. —
was present at a hunt with Artaxerxes, or some other king, when a lion sprang upon the king’s horse. This Persian happened to be in that part of the hunting company, and drawing his sword rescued the king from his imminent danger and killed the lion.
ἐπεβάλετο διδάσκειν διὰ πλειόνων ἀκολούθως τοῖς ἐν ἀρχαῖς ἡμῖν εἰρημένοις περὶ τἀνδρός.
This Persian therefore ascending the highest mountain in the neighbourhood received as a gift from the king as much territory as the human eye could take in, looking east, west, north, and south. The Celtiberians have a peculiar manœuvre in war.
ταῦτα δʼ ἦν ὅτι διαφέροιτο μὲν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους πολλάκις ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπιταττομένων, διαφέροιτο δʼ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐφʼ ὅσον διδάσκειν καὶ πείθειν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀμφισβητουμένων, οὐδὲ τοῦτο ποιεῖν εἰκῇ.
When they see their infantry hard pressed, they dismount and leave their horses standing in their places. They have small pegs attached to their leading reins, and having fixed them carefully into the ground, they train their horses to keep their places obediently in line until they come back and pull up the pegs.
πεῖραν δὲ τῆς προαιρέσεως αὐτὸν ἀληθινὴν ἔφη καὶ τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον ἐκ πυρὸς παρεσχῆσθαι χάριν κατὰ τοὺς Φιλιππικοὺς καὶ κατὰ τοὺς Ἀντιοχικοὺς καιρούς·
The Celtiberians excel the rest of the world in the construction of their swords; for their point is strong and serviceable, and they can deliver a cut with both edges. Wherefore the Romans abandoned their ancestral swords after the Hannibalian war and adopted those of the Iberians.
πλείστην γὰρ ἔχοντα ῥοπὴν τότε τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ διὰ τὴν αὑτοῦ δύναμιν καὶ τὴν τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἀληθινώτατα διατετηρηκέναι τὴν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους φιλίαν,
They adopted, I say, the construction of the swords, but they can by no means imitate the excellence of the steel or the other points in which they are so elaborately finished. The Roman praetor Marcus wished to get rid of the war against the Lusitani, and laying aside war altogether, to shirk— as the saying is—“the men’s hall for the women’s bower,” because of the recent defeat of the praetor by the Lusitani.
μετασχόντα τοῦ δόγματος τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς, ἐν ᾧ τετραμήνῳ πρότερον τῆς Ῥωμαίων διαβάσεως Ἀντιόχῳ καὶ τοῖς Αἰτωλοῖς τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς χώρας πόλεμον ἐξήνεγκαν, τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων σχεδὸν ἁπάντων ἀπηλλοτριωμένων τῆς Ῥωμαίων φιλίας.
(103) But those of the Ligurians who fought against Mago were unable to do anything important or great. A mora consisted of nine hundred men. A general needs good sense and boldness;
ὧν οἱ δέκα διακούσαντες καὶ τὴν προαίρεσιν ἀποδεξάμενοι τοῦ λέγοντος συνεχώρησαν καταμόνους αὐτῷ τὰς τιμὰς ὑπάρχειν ἐν πάσαις ταῖς πόλεσι.
they are the most necessary qualities for dangerous and venturesome undertakings. The second king of Egypt, called Philadelphus, when giving his daughter Berenice in marriage to Antiochus king of Syria, was careful to send her some Nile water, that the young bride might drink no other water.
λαβόμενος δὲ τῆς ἀφορμῆς ταύτης Πολύβιος τὰς εἰκόνας ᾐτήσατο τὸν στρατηγόν, καίπερ ἤδη μετακεκομισμένας εἰς Ἀκαρνανίαν ἐκ Πελοποννήσου, λέγω δὲ τὴν Ἀχαιοῦ καὶ τὴν Ἀράτου καὶ Φιλοποίμενος.
I say this to point out the wisdom of the Romans, and the folly of those who despise the practice of making comparisons with the habits of foreign nations, and believe themselves competent to reform their own armies without reference to others. The Romans were wont to take great care not to appear to be the aggressors, or to attack their neighbours without provocation; but to be considered always to be acting in self-defence, and only to enter upon war under compulsion. When Scipio Africanus, the younger, was commissioned by, the Senate to settle the kingdoms throughout the world, and see that they were put in proper hands, he only took five slaves with him; and, on one of these dying during the journey, he wrote home to his relations to buy another and send him to take the place of the dead one. If one ought to speak of Fortune in regard to such things; for I fear she often gets credit of that sort without good reason;
ἐν οἷς ἀγασθὲν τὸ πλῆθος αὐτοῦ τὴν προαίρεσιν ἔστησεν αὐτοῦ λιθίνην εἰκόνα. — ὅτι μετὰ τὴν κατάστασιν τῶν δέκα, ἣν ἐποιήσαντο ἐν τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ, οὗτοι οἱ δέκα τῷ ταμίᾳ τῷ μέλλοντι πωλεῖν τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ Διαίου συνέταξαν, ὅ,τι ποτʼ ἂν ἐκλέξασθαι βουληθῇ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ὁ Πολύβιος, ὑφελόντα καὶ δόντα δωρεάν, τἄλλα πωλεῖν τοῖς ὠνουμένοις. ὁ δὲ προειρημένος τοσοῦτον ἀπέσχε τοῦ προσδέξασθαί τι τῶν τοιούτων ὡς καὶ τοὺς φίλους παρεκάλεσε καθόλου μηθενὸς ἐπιθυμῆσαι τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ ταμίου πωλουμένων.
while the real fault lies with the men who administer public business, who sometimes act with seriousness and sometimes the reverse. But not making at all a good guess at the king’s mind, he acted in a most inconsiderate manner. Want of civilisation appears to have an extraordinary influence on mankind in this direction.
συνέβαινε γὰρ τοῦτον ἐπιπορευόμενον τὰς πόλεις πάντων τῶν τῷ Διαίῳ κοινωνησάντων πωλεῖν τὰς οὐσίας, τῶν καὶ κατακριθέντων, ὅσοι μὴ παῖδας ἢ γονέας εἶχον.
But the general being unable to endure the unfairness of those who made these assertions... But he determined to hold out to the last, trusting to the supplies from Egypt. But having fallen in with him he gained an extremely fortunate victory. In all these things the Aetolians had been deceived. And some he honoured with gold cloths and spears, because he wished that his promises should agree with his performances.
ὧν τινὲς μὲν οὐ προσέσχον, οἱ δὲ κατακολουθήσαντες τῇ συμβουλίᾳ καλλίστην δόξαν ἐξηνέγκαντο παρὰ τοῖς πολίταις. ταῦτα δὲ διοικήσαντες ἐν ἓξ μησὶν οἱ δέκα [καὶ] τῆς ἐαρινῆς ὥρας ἐνισταμένης ἀπέπλευσαν εἰς τὴν Ἰταλίαν, καλὸν δεῖγμα τῆς Ῥωμαίων προαιρέσεως ἀπολελοιπότες πᾶσι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν.
He wrote in bitter and frantic terms, calling them fiends and murderers in his letter, if they abandoned the positions thus disgracefully, before they had suffered or witnessed any hardship. There is a courage in words too which can despise death. Before he had been rejoined by the stragglers of the skirmishing parties.
ἐνετείλαντο δὲ τῷ Πολυβίῳ χωριζόμενοι τὰς πόλεις ἐπιπορευθῆναι καὶ περὶ ὧν οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἀμφιβάλλουσι διευκρινῆσαι, μέχρις οὗ συνήθειαν ἔχωσι τῇ πολιτείᾳ καὶ τοῖς νόμοις.
Being utterly at a loss, at last he rested his chance of escape from the difficulty which was upon him on some such hope as this. None of the citizens being aware of what was taking place owing to the distance, for the city was a large one. But trusting to them he undertook the war against Ariarathes.
ὃ δὴ καὶ μετά τινα χρόνον ἐποίησε πρὸς λόγον τοὺς ἀνθρώπους στέρξαι τὴν δεδομένην πολιτείαν καὶ μηδὲν ἀπόρημα μήτε κατʼ ἰδίαν μήτε κατὰ κοινὸν ἐκ τῶν νόμων γενέσθαι περὶ μηδενός.
Harpyia is a city in Illyria near Encheleae, to which Baton, charioteer of Amphiaraus, removed after the latter’s disappearance. And he waited for the coming of Hasdrubal. Hearing all this through the curtain the king laughed. Foreseeing and fearing the fierce temper and obstinacy of the men. At that time, persuaded that he was enduring a fiery test, he was released from the suspicion. He thought therefore that it was dangerous to have shared in their enterprise when their plan had failed and come to an end.
διὸ καὶ καθόλου μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀποδεχόμενοι καὶ τιμῶντες τὸν ἄνδρα, περὶ τοὺς ἐσχάτους καιροὺς καὶ τὰς προειρημένας πράξεις εὐδοκούμενοι κατὰ πάντα τρόπον ταῖς μεγίσταις τιμαῖς ἐτίμησαν αὐτὸν κατὰ πόλεις καὶ ζῶντα καὶ μεταλλάξαντα.
Having urged the soldiers to make haste, and exhorted the tribunes to engage. Thinking it better and safer not to be present at the hour of the enemy’s opportunity, nor when they were under the influence of popular excitement and fury.
πάντες δʼ ἔκριναν κατὰ λόγον τοῦτο ποιεῖν· μὴ γὰρ ἐξεργασαμένου τούτου καὶ γράψαντος τοὺς περὶ τῆς κοινῆς δικαιοδοσίας νόμους ἄκριτα πάντα ἦν καὶ πολλῆς γέμοντα ταραχῆς.
Whenever it is possible to obtain satisfaction from those who have wronged us either by law or by any other settled forms of justice. Having drawn his army from the pass he encamped.
διὸ καὶ τοῦτο κάλλιστον Πολυβίῳ πεπρᾶχθαι νομιστέον πάντων τῶν προειρημένων. —
And then they took up some sort of order, as though by mutual consent, and fought the battle in regular formation. That which causes the most pain at the time involves also the most signal revulsion of joy. Having ordered the pilots to steer the ships as fast as they could to Elaea. They not only drove themselves off the stage, but ruined also all Greece. But he, from his long experience of war, did not all lose his presence of mind.
ὅτι ὁ στρατηγὸς τῶν Ῥωμαίων μετὰ τὸ χωρισθῆναι ἐξ Ἀχαΐας τὸ συνέδριον, ἐπισκευάσας τὸν ἐν Ἰσθμῷ τόπον καὶ κοσμήσας τὸν ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ καὶ Δελφοῖς νεὼν ταῖς ἑξῆς ἡμέραις ἐπεπορεύετο τὰς πόλεις, τιμώμενος ἐν ἑκάστῃ καὶ τυγχάνων τῆς ἁρμοζούσης χάριτος.
He persuades them by reckoning all the wealth he considered they would gain in the battle.
εἰκότως δὲ τιμᾶσθαι συνέβαινεν αὐτὸν καὶ κοινῇ καὶ κατʼ ἰδίαν·
The Romans had been inspired by some divine influence, and having fortified their courage with irresistible might... To signalise some by favours, and others by punishments, that they might be a warning to the rest.
καὶ γὰρ ἐγκρατῶς καὶ καθαρῶς ἀνεστράφη καὶ πρᾴως ἐχρήσατο τοῖς ὅλοις πράγμασι, μέγαν καιρὸν ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἔχων καὶ μεγάλην ἐξουσίαν.
And they, being persuaded, and throwing themselves in the way of the enemy’s charge, died gallantly. He tried to take the city by an intrigue, having long secured a party of traitors within it. He brought up the transports, by lading which with rocks and sinking them at the mouth of the harbour he planned to shut out the enemy entirely from the sea.
καὶ γὰρ ἐν οἷς ἐδόκει παρεωρακέναι τι τῶν καθηκόντων, ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐκ ἐφαίνετο διʼ ἑαυτὸν τοῦτο πεποιηκέναι, διὰ δὲ τοὺς παρακειμένους φίλους.
Though I have much more to say, I fear lest some of you may think that I am unnecessarily diffuse. They are reserving themselves for an opportunity, and are quite ready to meet them again. To be eager for life and to cling to it is a sign of the greatest baseness and weakness.
τοῦτο δʼ ἦν ἐκφανέστατον ἐν τοῖς τῶν Χαλκιδέων ἱππεῦσιν, οὓς ἀνεῖλεν. ὅτι Πτολεμαῖος ὁ τῆς Συρίας βασιλεὺς κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον πληγεὶς ἐτελεύτησε τὸν βίον, κατὰ μέν τινας μεγάλων ἐπαίνων καὶ μνήμης ὢν ἄξιος,
He was feeling something like starters in horse races, which are started by the raising of torches.
κατὰ δέ τινας τοὐναντίον.
Their boldness transgresses the bounds of propriety, and their actions are a violation of duty.
πρᾷος μὲν γὰρ ἦν καὶ χρηστός, εἰ καί τις ἄλλος τῶν προγεγονότων βασιλέων.
Seeing that the Carthaginians had obeyed all injunctions in the most honourable spirit. To have fifty ships built entirely new, and to launch fifty of those already existing from the docks. Lucius being appointed to go on a mission to the Lapateni and speak to them in favour of an unconditional surrender, was unprepared for the task before him.
σημεῖον δὲ τούτου μέγιστον· ὃς πρῶτον μὲν οὐδένα τῶν ἑαυτοῦ φίλων ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων ἐπανείλετο· δοκῶ δὲ μηδὲ τῶν ἄλλων Ἀλεξανδρέων μηδένα διʼ ἐκεῖνον ἀποθανεῖν·
Of all the determining forces in war the most decisive of failure or success is the spirit of the combatants. Having mentioned summarily the defeats they had sustained, and putting before them the successes of the Macedonians.
ἔπειτα δόξας ἐκπεσεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς ὑπὸ τἀδελφοῦ, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ λαβὼν κατʼ αὐτοῦ καιρὸν ὁμολογούμενον ἀμνησικάκητον ἐποιήσατο τὴν ἁμαρτίαν·
For he perceived that the Macedonian kingdom would become contemptible, if the rebels succeeded in their first attempt. Therefore it was intolerable that the Romans even then should make their way into Macedonia unobserved. He, if any one of our time has done so, has examined all that has been said scientifically on tactics. Metrodorus and his colleagues, frightened at the threatening aspect of Philip, departed. The Romans made no show of bearing a grudge for what had taken place.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πάλιν ἐπιβουλεύσαντος τῇ Κύπρῳ, κύριος γενόμενος ἐν Λαπήθῳ τοῦ σώματος ἅμα καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ, τοσοῦτον ἀπέσχε τοῦ κολάζειν ὡς ἐχθρὸν ὥστε καὶ δωρεὰς προσέθηκε παρὰ τὰς πρότερον ὑπαρχούσας αὐτῷ κατὰ συνθήκας καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα δώσειν ὑπέσχετο.
But putting both spurs to his horse he rode on as hard as he could. Being annoyed at the treaty, Nabis paid no attention to its provisions. It was neither possible to examine the man closely in his state of physical weakness, nor to put a question to him for fear of worrying him. The Pannonians having seized the fort at the beginning of the war, had taken it as a base of operations, and had fitted it up for the reception of booty. But wishing to point the contrast between his policy to those who trusted and those who disobeyed him, he commenced the siege. So that those in the assembly were thunderstruck and unable to collect their thoughts, sympathising with the poignant sorrow of those thus dispossessed of their all.
κατὰ μέντοι γε τὰς ἐπιτυχίας καὶ κατορθώσεις ἐξελύετο τῇ ψυχῇ, καί τις οἷον ἀσωτία καὶ ῥᾳθυμία περὶ αὐτὸν Αἰγυπτιακὴ συνέβαινεν· καὶ κατὰ τὰς τοιαύτας διαθέσεις εἰς περιπετείας ἐνέπιπτεν. ὅτι ὁ Πολύβιός φησι κατὰ τὸ τέλος τῆς συγγραφῆς· ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἡμεῖς καταπράξαντες ἐκ τῆς Ῥώμης ἐπανήλθομεν, ὡσανεὶ κεφάλαιά τινα τῶν προπεπολιτευμένων κατειργασμένοι, χάριν ἀξίαν τῆς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους εὐνοίας.
They immediately sent a courier to Perseus to tell him what had happened. (132) It was Perseus’s design to keep it close, but he could not hide the truth. In other respects he was well equipped for service, but his spear was limp. Publius was anxious to engage and avail himself of the enthusiasm of the barbarians. (135) He put in at Naupactus in Aetolia. (136) He escorted Publius out with great respect. (137) Having received Publius and Gaius with kindness and honour.
διὸ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς θεοῖς εὐχὰς ποιούμεθα τὸ λοιπὸν μέρος τῆς ζωῆς ἐν τούτοις καὶ ἐπὶ τούτων διαμεῖναι, θεωροῦντες τὴν τύχην ὡς ἔστιν ἀγαθὴ φθονῆσαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις καὶ μάλιστα κατὰ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος ἰσχύει καθʼ ὅ τις ἂν δοκῇ μάλιστα μακαρίζεσθαι καὶ κατορθοῦν ἐν τῷ βίῳ.
It was the deliberate intention of the Romans to fight at sea.
καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὕτω γενέσθαι συνέπεσεν·
While they were still together and were fighting at close quarters with their swords, taking his stand behind them he stabbed him under the armpit. This man presented Prusias with many silver and gold cups during the banquet. Taking a wise view of the future, he came to the conclusion to get rid of the garrison sent by Ptolemy. On that occasion both Romans and Carthaginians bivouacked on the embankment.
ἡμεῖς δὲ παραγεγονότες ἐπὶ τὸ τέρμα τῆς ὅλης πραγματείας βουλόμεθα, προσαναμνήσαντες τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ τῆς προεκθέσεως ἧς ἐποιησάμεθα καταβαλόμενοι τὴν ἱστορίαν, συγκεφαλαιώσασθαι τὴν ὅλην ὑπόθεσιν, οἰκειώσαντες τὴν ἀρχὴν τῷ τέλει καὶ καθόλου καὶ κατὰ μέρος.
Not being able to persuade him again, owing to that king’s cautious and inactive character, he was forced to offer five hundred talents. And so Seleucus agreed to give the aid. Chance and Fortune, so to speak, enhanced the achievements of Scipio, so that they always appeared more illustrious than was expected.
ἐξεθέμεθα τοιγαροῦν ἐν ἀρχαῖς ὅτι τῆς μὲν προκατασκευῆς ποιησόμεθα τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀφʼ ὧν Τίμαιος ἀπέλιπεν·
One must not pass over even a minor work of his, as in the case of a famous artist. Scipio counselled him either not to try, or to do so in such a manner as to succeed at all risks. For to make an attempt on the same man twice was dangerous in itself, and was apt to make a man altogether contemptible. But being jealous of Scipio they tried to decry his achievements. Fixing the stocks upright in the ground in a semicircle touching each other. The important point of their resolution was that they would not admit a garrison or governor, and would not give up their constitution as established by law. He said that we should not let the enemy escape, or encourage their boldness by shirking a battle.... Conceiving a slight hope from the besieged garrison, he made the most of it....
ἐπιδραμόντες δὲ κεφαλαιωδῶς τὰς κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν καὶ Σικελίαν καὶ Λιβύην πράξεις, ἐπειδὴ περὶ μόνων τῶν τόπων τούτων κἀκεῖνος πεποίηται τὴν ἱστορίαν, ὅτʼ ἀνήλθομεν ἐπὶ τοὺς χρόνους, ἐν οἷς Ἀννίβας μὲν παρέλαβε τὰς Καρχηδόνος δυνάμεις, ὁ δὲ Δημητρίου Φίλιππος τὴν ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ βασιλείαν, Κλεομένης δʼ ὁ Σπαρτιάτης ἔφυγεν ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος, ἅμα δὲ τούτοις Ἀντίοχος μὲν τὴν ἐν τῇ Συρίᾳ βασιλείαν διεδέδεκτο, Πτολεμαῖος δὲ τὴν κατʼ Αἴγυπτον ὁ κληθεὶς Φιλοπάτωρ,
Pretending warm friendship, he tried every manœuvre whereby he might promote the enemy’s interests, and surround us by the gravest perils.... As the rock caused them difficulty because they were obliged to bore a hole in it, they completed the mine which they were making by using wooden bolts. He did not think it right to leave the war in Etruria, and give his attention to the cities in that part of the country. He feared that he should waste all the time, which was not very long to begin with, in less important details. And having got his boats and hemioliae dragged across the Isthmus he put to sea, being anxious to be in time for the Achaean congress. Philip was annoyed at the request of the Corcyreans.
ἐπηγγειλάμεθα διότι πάλιν ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν καιρῶν ἀρξάμενοι καθʼ οὓς ἦν ὀλυμπιὰς ἐνάτη καὶ τριακοστὴ πρὸς ταῖς ἑκατόν, διέξιμεν τὰς κοινὰς τῆς οἰκουμένης πράξεις, περιγράφοντες κατʼ ὀλυμπιάδας καὶ διαιροῦντες κατʼ ἔτος καὶ συγκρίνοντες ἐκ παραβολῆς τὰς καταλλήλους ἕως τῆς Καρχηδόνος ἁλώσεως καὶ τῆς Ἀχαιῶν καὶ Ῥωμαίων περὶ τὸν Ἰσθμὸν μάχης, ἔτι δὲ τῆς ἐπιγενομένης ἐκ τούτων ἀποκαταστάσεως περὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας.
Since circumstances debar Philip, the king wishes to give that man the credit of the achievement, making the proposal to him in the light of a favour. Philip, having given out that he was about to serve out rations, made a proclamation that a return should be made to him of all who had not provisions for more than thirty days. After two days from starting for the seat of war Philip passed the order to make two rations three, whenever he wanted an additional day, and sometimes to make two four.
ἐξ ὧν τὸ κάλλιστον ἔφαμεν, ἅμα δʼ ὠφελιμώτατον περιγενέσθαι τοῖς φιλομαθοῦσι· τοῦτο δʼ ἦν τὸ γνῶναι πῶς καὶ τίνι γένει πολιτείας ἐπικρατηθέντα σχεδὸν ἅπαντα τὰ κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην ὑπὸ μίαν ἀρχὴν ἔπεσε τὴν Ῥωμαίων, ὃ πρότερον οὐχ εὑρίσκεται γεγονός.
(? Cp..) A swipe (φρεατοτόπανον) is one of the implements mentioned by Polybius. (See, Hultsch.) It was impossible to convey the equipments and provisions for the legions by sea or upon beasts of burden; they must carry ten days’ provisions in their wallets.
τούτων δὴ πάντων ἡμῖν ἐπιτετελεσμένων λείπεται διασαφῆσαι τοὺς χρόνους τοὺς περιειλημμένους ὑπὸ τῆς ἱστορίας καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν βύβλων καὶ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῆς ὅλης πραγματείας.