- Source
- Polybius. Vols. 1-4. Büttner-Wobst, Theodor, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1893.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.32.1-1.32.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
Xanthippus, a Spartan soldier, arrives in Carthage and demonstrates that their defeats were caused by the inexperience of their leaders. After the Carthaginian generals entrust him with command, the army's morale is restored, and they prepare for battle.
περὶ δὲ τοὺς καιροὺς τούτους καταπλεῖ τις εἰς τὴν Καρχηδόνα ξενολόγος τῶν ἀπεσταλμένων εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα πρότερον [εἰς τὴν Καρχηδονίων], ἄγων στρατιώτας πλείστους, ἐν οἷς καὶ Ξάνθιππόν τινα Λακεδαιμόνιον, ἄνδρα τῆς Λακωνικῆς ἀγωγῆς μετεσχηκότα καὶ τριβὴν ἐν τοῖς πολεμικοῖς ἔχοντα σύμμετρον.
About this time, one of the recruiting officers who had previously been sent to Greece sailed into Carthage, bringing a large number of soldiers, among whom was a certain Xanthippus, a Lacedaemonian, a man who had been trained in the Spartan discipline and who possessed a fair amount of experience in military affairs.
ὃς διακούσας τὸ γεγονὸς ἐλάττωμα καὶ πῶς καὶ τίνι τρόπῳ γέγονεν, καὶ συνθεωρήσας τάς τε λοιπὰς παρασκευὰς τῶν Καρχηδονίων καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἱππέων καὶ τῶν ἐλεφάντων παραυτίκα συνελογίσατο καὶ πρὸς τοὺς φίλους ἐνεφάνισε διότι1 συμβαίνει τοὺς Καρχηδονίους οὐχ ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων, αὐτοὺς δʼ ὑφʼ αὑτῶν ἡττᾶσθαι διὰ τὴν ἀπειρίαν τῶν ἡγουμένων.
Having heard in detail of the defeat that had occurred, and how and in what manner it had happened, and having also taken into consideration the rest of the preparations of the Carthaginians and the number of their cavalry and elephants, he immediately reasoned and made it clear to his friends that the Carthaginians were being defeated not by the Romans, but by themselves through the inexperience of their leaders.
ταχὺ δὲ διὰ τὴν περίστασιν τῶν τοῦ Ξανθίππου λόγων διαδοθέντων εἰς τὰ πλήθη καὶ τοὺς στρατηγούς, ἔγνωσαν οἱ προεστῶτες ἀνακαλεῖσθαι καὶ πεῖραν αὐτοῦ λαμβάνειν.
As Xanthippus’ words were quickly spread abroad among the masses and the generals owing to the circumstances, the rulers decided to summon him and make trial of him.
ὁ δὲ παραγενόμενος εἰς τὰς χεῖρας ἔφερε τοῖς ἄρχουσι τοὺς ἀπολογισμοὺς καὶ παρὰ τί νῦν σφαλείησαν,2 καὶ διότι πεισθέντες αὐτῷ καὶ χρησάμενοι τοῖς ἐπιπέδοις τῶν τόπων ἔν τε ταῖς πορείαις καὶ στρατοπεδείαις καὶ παρατάξεσιν εὐχερῶς ἑαυτοῖς τε τὴν ἀσφάλειαν δυνήσονται3 παρασκευάζειν καὶ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους νικᾶν.
When he appeared, he laid before the rulers his explanations of their failures and the reasons why they had now met with defeat, and showed them that if they would follow his advice and make use of flat ground in their marches, encampments, and battle arrays, they would easily be able to secure safety for themselves and defeat their opponents.
οἱ δὲ στρατηγοὶ δεξάμενοι τὰ λεγόμενα καὶ πεισθέντες αὐτῷ παραχρῆμα τὰς δυνάμεις ἐνεχείρισαν.
The generals, accepting what he said and being persuaded by him, immediately entrusted the forces to his charge.
ἦν μὲν οὖν καὶ κατὰ ταύτην τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Ξανθίππου διαδιδομένην φωνὴν ὁ θροῦς καὶ λαλιά τις εὔελπις παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς·
Now, from this speech of Xanthippus which was being spread around, there was a buzz of excitement and a hopeful rumor among the common people.
ὡς δʼ ἐξαγαγὼν πρὸ τῆς πόλεως τὴν δύναμιν ἐν κόσμῳ παρενέβαλε καί τι καὶ κινεῖν τῶν μερῶν ἐν τάξει καὶ παραγγέλλειν κατὰ νόμους ἤρξατο, τηλικαύτην ἐποίει διαφορὰν παρὰ τὴν τῶν πρότερον στρατηγῶν ἀπειρίαν ὥστε μετὰ κραυγῆς ἐπισημαίνεσθαι τοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ σπεύδειν ὡς τάχιστα συμβαλεῖν τοῖς πολεμίοις, πεπεισμένους4 μηδὲν ἂν παθεῖν δεινὸν ἡγουμένου Ξανθίππου.
But when he led the army out in front of the city and drew them up in good order, and began to move parts of the division in regular formation and to give orders according to the rules of war, he showed such a vast difference compared to the inexperience of the former generals that the multitude expressed their approval with loud shouting and were eager to join battle with the enemy as quickly as possible, being convinced that they would suffer no disaster under the leadership of Xanthippus.
τούτων δὲ γινομένων οἱ στρατηγοὶ συνιδόντες τοὺς ὄχλους ἀνατεθαρρηκότας παραδόξως ταῖς ψυχαῖς, παρακαλέσαντες αὐτοὺς τὰ πρέποντα τῷ καιρῷ μετʼ ὀλίγας ἡμέρας ὥρμησαν ἀναλαβόντες τὴν δύναμιν.
While this was going on, the generals, seeing that the crowds had recovered their spirits in an extraordinary degree, exhorted them with words suitable to the occasion, and after a few days set out, taking the forces with them.
αὕτη δʼ ἦν πεζοὶ μὲν εἰς μυρίους καὶ δισχιλίους, ἱππεῖς δὲ τετρακισχίλιοι, τὸ δὲ τῶν ἐλεφάντων πλῆθος ἔγγιστά που τῶν ἑκατόν.
The army consisted of about twelve thousand infantry, four thousand cavalry, and the number of elephants was very close to one hundred.
- 1.32.2διότι
The conjunction διότι here does not express cause ('because'), but functions like ὅτι, introducing a declarative content clause ('that') dependent on the main verbs of reasoning and declaring.
- 1.32.4παρὰ τί νῦν σφαλείησαν
The preposition παρά combined with the accusative neuter interrogative pronoun τί expresses the 'cause' of their failure. The phrase forms an indirect question with the optative verb σφαλείησαν.
- 1.32.4πεισθέντες... δυνήσονται
Although the main verb is in the past tense (ἔφερε), the future indicative (δυνήσονται) is retained in the subordinate clause. This is an instance of repraesentatio temporis, preserving the tense of the original direct statement in indirect discourse.
- 1.32.7πεπεισμένους
An accusative masculine plural perfect participle agreeing not with the main subject, but with τοὺς πολλούς (accusative), which functions as the subject of the infinitive συμβαλεῖν in the result clause introduced by ὥστε.