- 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-grc2:1.64.1-1.64.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
Polybius questions why the now-hegemonious Rome cannot mobilize giant fleets like before, promising to explain this through his future exposition of their constitution, while highlighting the Roman soldiers' gallantry and Hamilcar's exceptional generalship in the war.
καθίκοντο1 τῆς προθέσεως. καὶ τί δήποτʼ ἔστι τὸ αἴτιον, ἀπορήσαι τις ἄν, ὅτι2 κεκρατηκότες τῶν ὅλων καὶ πολλαπλασίαν ἔχοντες ὑπεροχὴν νῦν ἢ πρόσθεν οὔτʼ ἂν πληρῶσαι τοσαύτας ναῦς οὔτʼ ἀναπλεῦσαι τηλικούτοις στόλοις δυνηθεῖεν;
attained their purpose. And one might wonder what indeed is the reason why, though they have now conquered the whole world and possess many times greater supremacy than before, they would be able neither to man so many ships nor to put to sea with such great fleets?
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν ταύτης τῆς ἀπορίας σαφῶς ἐξέσται τὰς αἰτίας κατανοεῖν, ὅταν ἐπὶ τὴν ἐξήγησιν αὐτῶν τῆς πολιτείας ἔλθωμεν· ὑπὲρ ἧς οὔθʼ ἡμῖν ἐν παρέργῳ ῥητέον οὔτε τοῖς ἀκούουσιν ἀργῶς προσεκτέον.
Nevertheless, concerning this difficulty, it will be possible to understand the causes clearly when we come to the exposition of their constitution; about which we must not speak in a casual manner, nor must our hearers attend to it sluggishly.
τὸ μὲν γὰρ θέαμα καλόν, σχεδὸν δʼ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ἄγνωστον ἕως τοῦ νῦν χάριν τῶν περὶ αὐτῆς συγγεγραφότων.3
For the subject is a noble one, and, so to speak, almost unknown up to the present time, owing to those who have written about it.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἠγνοήκασιν, οἱ δʼ ἀσαφῆ καὶ τελέως ἀνωφελῆ πεποίηνται τὴν ἐξήγησιν.
For some have been ignorant of it, while others have made their exposition obscure and entirely useless.
πλὴν ἔν γε τῷ προειρημένῳ πολέμῳ τὰς μὲν τῶν πολιτευμάτων ἀμφοτέρων προαιρέσεις ἐφαμίλλους εὕροι τις ἂν γεγενημένας οὐ μόνον ταῖς ἐπιβολαῖς ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῖς μεγαλοψυχίαις, μάλιστα δὲ τῇ περὶ τῶν πρωτείων φιλοτιμίᾳ, τούς γε μὴν ἄνδρας οὐ μικρῷ πολλῷ δὲ γενναιοτέρους ἐν παντὶ Ῥωμαίους·4 ἡγεμόνα δὲ καὶ γνώμῃ καὶ τόλμῃ θετέον ἄριστον Ἀμίλκαν τῶν τότε γεγονέναι τὸν Βάρκαν ἐπικαλούμενον, πατέρα δὲ κατὰ φύσιν Ἀννίβου τοῦ μετὰ ταῦτα πολεμήσαντος Ῥωμαίοις.
However, in the aforementioned war, one would find that the purposes of both states were well-matched, not only in their enterprises but also in their greatness of spirit, and most of all in their rivalry for pre-eminence; yet, as for the men, that the Romans were in every way not a little but much more gallant, and as for the general, that we must class Hamilcar, surnamed Barca—the natural father of Hannibal who afterwards waged war against the Romans—as the best of that time in both intellect and daring.
- 1.64.1καθίκοντο
This verb continues the clause left incomplete at the end of the previous chunk (§1.63.9 after ἀλλὰ καὶ). The subject (the Romans) is understood from the context. The verb καθικνέομαι takes a genitive object (τῆς προθέσεως), meaning 'to attain (one's purpose)'.
- 1.64.1ἀπορήσαι τις ἄν, ὅτι
The optative with ἄν (ἀπορήσαι ἄν) expresses potentiality ('one might wonder'). The ὅτι clause functions as an appositive noun clause explaining the content of τί δήποτʼ ἔστι τὸ αἴτιον ('what is the cause, namely that...').
- 1.64.3χάριν τῶν περὶ αὐτῆς συγγεγραφότων
The postposition χάριν here takes the genitive (τῶν ... συγγεγραφότων). While it often has a positive meaning ('for the sake of, thanks to'), in this critical context it designates a negative cause ('owing to, because of' the inadequate writers).
- 1.64.6τούς γε μὴν ἄνδρας ... Ῥωμαῖους
The accusative phrases τούς ... Ῥωμαῖους (and the comparative γενναιοτέρους) depend on the governing potential optative εὕροι τις ἄν from the previous section (§1.64.5), with an infinitive of existence (such as εἶναι) being omitted in this accusative-and-infinitive construction.