- 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-grc2:1.41.1-1.41.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
Encouraged by the victory at Panormus, Rome dispatches a large fleet to besiege Lilybaeum in Sicily. The Carthaginians also prepare to defend this crucial stronghold at all costs.
τοῦ δὲ προτερήματος τούτου προσπεσόντος εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην, περιχαρεῖς ἦσαν οὐχ οὕτως ἐπὶ τῷ τοὺς πολεμίους ἠλαττῶσθαι τῶν θηρίων ἐστερημένους, ὡς ἐπὶ τῷ τοὺς ἰδίους τεθαρρηκέναι τῶν ἐλεφάντων κεκρατηκότας.1
When the news of this victory reached Rome, they were filled with joy, not so much because the enemy had been weakened by being deprived of their elephants, as because their own men had recovered their confidence by overcoming the elephants.
διὸ καὶ πάλιν ἐπερρώσθησαν διὰ ταῦτα κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς πρόθεσιν εἰς τὸ μετὰ στόλου καὶ ναυτικῆς δυνάμεως τοὺς στρατηγοὺς ἐπὶ τὰς πράξεις ἐκπέμπειν, σπουδάζοντες εἰς δύναμιν πέρας ἐπιθεῖναι τῷ πολέμῳ.
For this reason, they were again encouraged by these events to dispatch their generals to the scene of action with a fleet and naval force according to their original plan, being eager to put an end to the war to the best of their power.
παρασκευασθέντων δὲ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων πρὸς τὴν ἐξαποστολὴν ἔπλεον οἱ στρατηγοὶ διακοσίαις ναυσὶν ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς Σικελίας. ἔτος δʼ ἦν τῷ πολέμῳ τετταρεσκαιδέκατον.
When the necessary preparations for the expedition had been made, the generals sailed with two hundred ships for Sicily. This was the fourteenth year of the war.
καθορμισθέντες δὲ πρὸς τὸ Λιλύβαιον, ἅμα καὶ τῶν πεζικῶν ἐκεῖ στρατοπέδων αὐτοῖς ἀπηντηκότων, ἐνεχείρουν πολιορκεῖν, ὅτι κρατήσαντες ταύτης ῥᾳδίως μεταβιβάσουσι τὸν πόλεμον εἰς τὴν Λιβύην.
Having come to anchor at Lilybaeum, where the land forces also met them, they undertook to besiege it, believing that if they made themselves masters of this place, they would easily transfer the war to Libya.
σχεδὸν δὲ περί γε τούτου τοῦ μέρους καὶ τῶν Καρχηδονίων οἱ προεστῶτες ὡμοδόξουν καὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς εἶχον λογισμοὺς τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις.
On this point, indeed, the leaders of the Carthaginians were of almost the same mind and held the same views as the Romans.
διὸ καὶ τἄλλα πάρεργα ποιησάμενοι περὶ τὸ βοηθεῖν ἐγίνοντο2 καὶ παραβάλλεσθαι καὶ πᾶν ὑπομένειν ὑπὲρ τῆς προειρημένης πόλεως διὰ τὸ μηδεμίαν ἀφορμὴν καταλείπεσθαι σφίσιν, πάσης δὲ τῆς ἄλλης Σικελίας ἐπικρατεῖν Ῥωμαίους πλὴν Δρεπάνων.3
Therefore, making all other matters of secondary importance, they devoted themselves to sending aid, running every risk, and enduring everything for the sake of the aforesaid city, because no other stronghold was left to them, and the Romans were masters of all the rest of Sicily except Drepana.
ἵνα δὲ μὴ τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι τοὺς τόπους ἀσαφῆ τὰ λεγόμενα γίνηται, πειρασόμεθα διὰ βραχέων ἀγαγεῖν εἰς ἔννοιαν τῆς εὐκαιρίας καὶ θέσεως αὐτῶν τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας.
But in order that what is said may not be obscure to those who are unacquainted with these places, we shall endeavor to give our readers, in a few words, an idea of their advantageous situation and position.
- 1.41.1οὐχ οὕτως ἐπὶ τῷ τοὺς πολεμίους ἠλαττῶσθαι τῶν θηρίων ἐστερημένους, ὡς ἐπὶ τῷ τοὺς ἰδίους τεθαρρηκέναι τῶν ἐλεφάντων κεκρατηκότας.
The comparison is structured by the correlative οὐχ οὕτως ... ὡς ... ('not so much for ... as for ...'), which contrasts two articular infinitive clauses introduced by the preposition ἐπί with the dative article τῷ. In the first clause, τοὺς πολεμίους is the subject accusative of the perfect passive infinitive ἠλαττῶσθαι, with the genitive of deprivation τῶν θηρίων depending on the participle ἐστερημένους. In the second clause, τοὺς ἰδίους is the subject accusative of the perfect active infinitive τεθαρρηκέναι, and the genitive τῶν ἐλεφάντων is governed by the participle κεκρατηκότας.
- 1.41.6περὶ τὸ βοηθεῖν ἐγίνοντο
The phrase γίνομαι followed by the preposition περί with the accusative is an idiomatic construction meaning 'to be occupied with' or 'devote oneself to'. Here, the articular infinitive τὸ βοηθεῖν and the infinitives παραβάλλεσθαι and ὑπομένειν, sharing the same article, are coordinated as the objects of the preposition περί.
- 1.41.6διὰ τὸ μηδεμίαν ἀφορμὴν καταλείπεσθαι σφίσιν, πάσης δὲ τῆς ἄλλης Σικελίας ἐπικρατεῖν Ῥωμαίους πλὴν Δρεπάνων.
This is a causal construction consisting of διὰ τὸ followed by two infinitive clauses coordinated by δέ. In the first clause, the passive infinitive καταλείπεσθαι has the accusative μηδεμίαν ἀφορμὴν as its subject (with the dative σφίσιν meaning 'for them'). In the second clause, the active infinitive ἐπικρατεῖν has the accusative Ῥωμαίους as its subject, and it governs the genitive object πάσης τῆς ἄλλης Σικελίας, which is placed at the beginning of the clause for emphasis.