- 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-grc2:1.80.1-1.80.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
Autaritus the Gaul incites mistrust and proposes the brutal execution of Gesco and his men, winning the enthusiastic support of the mercenaries. Those who attempt to plead for mercy are stoned, and Gesco and his followers are thrown alive into a trench after horrific torture.
πλήσια τοῖς ἐκ τῆς Σαρδόνος διασαφῶν. ἐφʼ ὃν1 Αὐτάριτος ὁ Γαλάτης ἐπιβαλὼν μίαν ἔφη σωτηρίαν εἶναι τοῖς ἑαυτῶν πράγμασι τὸ πάσας ἀπογνῶναι τὰς ἐν Καρχηδονίοις ἐλπίδας·
declaring things similar to those from Sardinia. Rising up to address him, Autaritus the Gaul said that the only safety for their affairs was to renounce all hope in the Carthaginians;
ἕως δʼ ἂν ἀντέχηταί2 τις τῆς ἐκείνων φιλανθρωπίας, οὐ δυνατὸν αὐτοῖς ἀληθινὸν γενέσθαι τὸν τοιοῦτον σύμμαχον.
as long as anyone clung to their humanity, it was not possible for such an ally to become a true one for them.
διόπερ ἠξίου τούτοις πιστεύειν, τούτοις ἀκούειν, τοῖς τοιούτοις προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν, οἵτινες ἂν ἀεί τι τῶν ἀπεχθεστάτων καὶ πικροτάτων εἰσαγγέλλωσι κατὰ Καρχηδονίων· τοὺς δʼ ἐναντία τούτοις λέγοντας προδότας καὶ πολεμίους ἡγεῖσθαι παρῄνει.
Therefore, he demanded that they should trust, listen to, and pay attention to those who always reported the most hostile and bitterest things against the Carthaginians; but he advised them to regard those who said the opposite to these as traitors and enemies.
ταῦτα δʼ εἰπὼν συνεβούλευε τόν τε Γέσκωνα καὶ τοὺς μετʼ αὐτοῦ συλληφθέντας καὶ τοὺς ὕστερον γενομένους αἰχμαλώτους τῶν Καρχηδονίων αἰκισαμένους ἀποκτεῖναι.
Having said this, he advised them to torture and kill Gesco and those arrested with him, as well as the Carthaginians who had subsequently become prisoners.
πρακτικώτατος δʼ ἦν οὗτος ἐν ταῖς συμβουλίαις διὰ τὸ πολλοὺς τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ συνιέναι.3
He was the most effective in counsel because many understood his speech.
πάλαι γὰρ στρατευόμενος ᾔδει διαλέγεσθαι Φοινικιστί· ταύτῃ δέ πως οἱ πλεῖστοι συνεσαίνοντο τῇ διαλέκτῳ διὰ τὸ μῆκος τῆς προγεγενημένης στρατείας.
For having served in the army for a long time, he knew how to speak Phoenician; and most of them somehow felt a rapport with this dialect due to the length of the previous campaign.
διόπερ ἐπαινέσαντος αὐτὸν ὁμοθυμαδὸν τοῦ πλήθους, οὗτος μὲν εὐδοκιμῶν ἀνεχώρησεν.
Therefore, when the multitude praised him with one accord, he withdrew in high favor.
πολλῶν δὲ προπορευομένων ἀφʼ ἑκάστου γένους ἅμα καὶ βουλομένων αὐτὴν παραιτεῖσθαι τὴν αἰκίαν διὰ τὰς γεγενημένας ἐκ τοῦ Γέσκωνος εἰς αὐτοὺς εὐεργεσίας, οὔτε μὴν τῶν λεγομένων οὐθὲν ἦν συνετόν,4 ὡς ἂν ἅμα πολλῶν, ἑκάστου δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν διάλεκτον συμβουλεύοντος·
While many from each race were stepping forward and at the same time wishing to beg off from the torture itself because of the benefits they had received from Gesco, yet none of what was said was intelligible, as many were advising at once, each according to his own dialect;
ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ παρεγυμνώθη διότι τὴν τιμωρίαν παραιτοῦνται, καί τις ἐκ τῶν καθημένων εἶπεν βάλλε, πάντας ἅμα κατέλευσαν τοὺς προπορευθέντας.
but when it became clear that they were begging off from the punishment, and someone from those sitting down said “Pelt!”, they all stoned to death at once all those who had stepped forward.
καὶ τούτους μὲν ὥσπερ ὑπὸ θηρίων διεφθαρμένους ἐξέφερον οἱ προσήκοντες.
And their relatives carried these men out, mangled as if by wild beasts.
τοὺς δὲ περὶ τὸν Γέσκωνα λαβόντες, ὄντας εἰς ἑπτακοσίους, ἦγον ἐκ τοῦ χάρακος οἱ περὶ τὸν Σπένδιον· καὶ προαγαγόντες βραχὺ πρὸ τῆς στρατοπεδείας πρῶτον μὲν ἀπέκοπτον τὰς χεῖρας, ποιούμενοι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ Γέσκωνος, ὃν βραχεῖ χρόνῳ πρότερον ἐκ πάντων Καρχηδονίων προκρίναντες ἀνέδειξαν5 μὲν εὐεργέτην αὑτῶν, ἐπέτρεψαν δὲ περὶ τῶν ἀμφισβητουμένων.
Spendius and his men, taking Gesco and his party, who were about seven hundred, led them out of the stockade; and having led them a short distance in front of the camp, they first cut off their hands, making a beginning with Gesco, whom a short time before they had selected from all the Carthaginians and declared as their benefactor, and to whom they had entrusted their disputes.
ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὰς χεῖρας ἀπέκοψαν, ἠκρωτηρίαζον τοὺς ταλαιπώρους· κολοβώσαντες δὲ καὶ τὰ σκέλη συντρίψαντες ἔτι ζῶντας ἔρριψαν εἴς τινα τάφρον.
When they had cut off their hands, they mutilated the extremities of the wretched men; and having lopped off their limbs and crushed their legs, they threw them while still alive into a trench.
- 1.80.1ἐφʼ ὃν
The relative pronoun ὅς (accusative ὅν) refers back to the 'other letter-carrier' (ἄλλος γραμματοφόρος) in the preceding sentence. The combination of the preposition ἐπί with the verb ἐπιβάλλω (here as participle ἐπιβαλών) functions intransitively, meaning 'to break in upon him' or 'to address him immediately following his report'.
- 1.80.2ἕως δʼ ἂν ἀντέχηται
The conjunction ἕως with ἄν and the subjunctive (ἀντέχηται) expresses temporal duration or condition: 'as long as'. The middle voice ἀντέχομαι takes the genitive (τῆς ἐκείνων φιλανθρωπίας), meaning 'to cling to' or 'to hold on to'.
- 1.80.5διὰ τὸ πολλοὺς τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ συνιέναι
An infinitive phrase introduced by the preposition διά with the accusative articular infinitive τὸ ... συνιέναι. The accusative πολλούς is the subject of the infinitive, and τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ is its object, explaining why Autaritus was influential (because so many could understand his voice/speech).
- 1.80.8οὔτε μὴν τῶν λεγομένων οὐθὲν ἦν συνετόν
The double negation with οὔτε and οὐθέν reinforces the negative: 'none of what was said was at all intelligible'. The genitive participle τῶν λεγομένων functions as a partitive genitive qualifying the subject οὐθέν.
- 1.80.12ὃν βραχεῖ χρόνῳ πρότερον ... ἀνέδειξαν
The relative pronoun ὅν (accusative) refers back to the genitive antecedent Γέσκωνος. It is in the accusative case as the direct object of the verb ἀνέδειξαν in the relative clause. This highlights the tragic contrast that the very man they once set up as their benefactor is now the first to be tortured.