- 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-grc2:1.37.1-1.37.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
Describing the catastrophic destruction of the Roman fleet by a storm, the author attributes the disaster to the commanders' recklessness in ignoring the pilots' warnings and points out that the Roman habit of relying on sheer force leads to failure at sea.
δος ἔπλεον αὖθις ἐπὶ τῆς Σικελίας. διάραντες δὲ τὸν πόρον ἀσφαλῶς καὶ προσμίξαντες τῇ τῶν Καμαριναίων χώρᾳ τηλικούτῳ περιέπεσον χειμῶνι καὶ τηλικαύταις συμφοραῖς ὥστε μηδʼ ἂν εἰπεῖν ἀξίως δύνασθαι1 διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τοῦ συμβάντος.
...pis, they sailed again towards Sicily. Having safely crossed the strait and approached the territory of the Camarinaeans, they fell into so great a storm and such great disasters that, owing to the magnitude of what happened, no one would be able to describe them adequately.
τῶν γὰρ ἑξήκοντα καὶ τεττάρων πρὸς ταῖς τριακοσίαις ναυσὶν ὀγδοήκοντα μόνον συνέβη2 περιλειφθῆναι σκάφη, τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν τὰ μὲν ὑποβρύχια γενέσθαι, τὰ δʼ ὑπὸ τῆς ῥαχίας πρὸς ταῖς σπιλάσι καὶ τοῖς ἀκρωτηρίοις καταγνύμενα πλήρη ποιῆσαι σωμάτων τὴν παραλίαν καὶ ναυαγίων.
For out of three hundred and sixty-four ships, it happened that only eighty vessels were left, while of the rest, some sank, and others, being shattered by the surf against the rocks and promontories, covered the shore with bodies and wrecks.
ταύτης δὲ μείζω περιπέτειαν ἐν ἑνὶ καιρῷ κατὰ θάλατταν οὐδʼ ἱστορῆσθαι συμβέβηκεν. ἧς τὴν αἰτίαν οὐχ οὕτως εἰς τὴν τύχην ὡς εἰς τοὺς ἡγεμόνας ἐπανοιστέον·
It has not even been recorded in history that a greater disaster than this occurred at one time at sea. The cause of this must be attributed not so much to fortune as to the commanders.
πολλὰ γὰρ τῶν κυβερνητῶν διαμαρτυραμένων μὴ πλεῖν παρὰ τὴν ἔξω πλευρὰν τῆς Σικελίας τὴν πρὸς τὸ Λιβυκὸν πέλαγος ἐστραμμένην διὰ τὸ τραχεῖαν εἶναι καὶ δυσπροσόρμιστον, ἅμα δὲ καὶ τὴν μὲν οὐδέπω καταλήγειν ἐπισημασίαν, τὴν δʼ ἐπιφέρεσθαι· μεταξὺ γὰρ ἐποιοῦντο τὸν πλοῦν τῆς Ὠρίωνος3 καὶ κυνὸς ἐπιτολῆς οὐθενὶ προσσχόντες τῶν λεγομένων ἔπλεον ἔξω πελάγιοι, σπουδάζοντές τινας τῶν ἐν τῷ παράπλῳ πόλεις τῇ τοῦ γεγονότος εὐτυχήματος φαντασίᾳ καταπληξάμενοι προσλαβέσθαι.
For although the pilots repeatedly protested against sailing along the outer coast of Sicily, which is turned towards the Libyan Sea, because it is rugged and offers few harbors, and at the same time because one sign of bad weather had not yet ceased while another was coming on; for they were making their voyage between the setting of Orion and the rising of the Dog Star, they paid no attention to anything that was said and sailed out in the open sea, being eager to strike terror into some of the cities along the coast by the display of their recent success and so to win them over.
πλὴν οὗτοι μὲν μικρῶν ἐλπίδων ἕνεκα μεγάλοις περιτυχόντες ἀτυχήμασι τότε τὴν αὑτῶν ἀβουλίαν ἔγνωσαν.
But they, having met with great misfortunes for the sake of small hopes, then recognized their own folly.
καθόλου δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι πρὸς πάντα χρώμενοι τῇ βίᾳ καὶ τὸ προτεθὲν οἰόμενοι δεῖν κατʼ ἀνάγκην ἐπιτελεῖν καὶ μηδὲν ἀδύνατον εἶναι σφίσι τῶν ἅπαξ δοξάντων, ἐν πολλοῖς μὲν κατορθοῦσι διὰ τὴν τοιαύτην ὁρμήν, ἐν τισὶ δὲ προφανῶς σφάλλονται, καὶ μάλιστʼ ἐν τοῖς κατὰ θάλατταν.
In general, the Romans, employing force in everything and thinking that what is proposed must of necessity be accomplished, and that nothing is impossible of what they have once resolved upon, succeed in many things through such impulse, but in some they fail manifestly, and especially in those at sea.
ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῆς γῆς πρὸς ἀνθρώπους καὶ τὰ τούτων ἔργα ποιούμενοι τὰς ἐπιβολὰς τὰ μὲν πολλὰ κατορθοῦσι διὰ τὸ πρὸς παραπλησίους δυνάμεις χρῆσθαι τῇ βίᾳ, ποτὲ δὲ καὶ σπανίως ἀποτυγχάνουσι·
For on land, making their attempts against men and their works, they succeed for the most part because they employ force against similar forces, and they fail only occasionally and rarely.
πρὸς δὲ τὴν θάλατταν καὶ πρὸς τὸ περιέχον ὅταν παραβάλλωνται καὶ βιαιομαχῶσι, μεγάλοις ἐλαττώμασι περιπίπτουσιν.
But when they match themselves against the sea and the atmosphere and try to fight by force, they meet with great defeats.
ὃ καὶ τότε καὶ πλεονάκις αὐτοῖς ἤδη συνέβη4 καὶ συμβήσεται πάσχειν, ἕως ἄν ποτε διορθώσωνται τὴν τοιαύτην τόλμαν καὶ βίαν, καθʼ ἣν οἴονται δεῖν αὑτοῖς πάντα καιρὸν εἶναι πλωτὸν καὶ πορευτόν.
Which indeed happened to them then, and has already happened to them many times, and will continue to happen, until they correct such daring and force, according to which they think that every season must be open for them to sail and to travel.
- 1.37.1ὥστε μηδʼ ἂν εἰπεῖν ἀξίως δύνασθαι
The particle ἂν with the infinitive δύνασθαι expresses potentiality ("no one would be able to speak"), adding a conditional nuance within the consecutive ὥστε clause. The subject of the infinitive is omitted and understood as general.
- 1.37.2συνέβη
Functions as an impersonal verb taking multiple infinitive clauses as its subjects/complements (περιλειφθῆναι and the subsequent coordinated clauses with γενέσθαι and ποιῆσαι), meaning "it resulted that..." or "it happened that...".
- 1.37.4μεταξὺ γὰρ ἐποιοῦντο τὸν πλοῦν τῆς Ὠρίωνος
The preposition μεταξύ ("between") governs the genitives τῆς Ὠρίωνος and κυνὸς ἐπιτολῆς (which appears at the start of §1.37.5). The phrase connects τῆς Ὠρίωνος and κυνὸς to the common noun ἐπιτολῆς ("between the rising of Orion and that of the Dog Star").
- 1.37.10ὃ καὶ τότε καὶ πλεονάκις αὐτοῖς ἤδη συνέβη
The neuter singular relative pronoun ὃ at the beginning of the sentence acts as a transitional relative, referring back to the entire preceding statement (that they suffer major defeats when fighting against nature at sea).
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1