- 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-grc2:10.46.1-10.46.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-05
The concrete setup of the signaling apparatus (dioptra and screens) designed by Cleoxenus and Democlitus is detailed, followed by a practical example of compressing a message and transmitting it letter by letter.
ὅταν δὲ ταῦτα συνθέμενοι χωρισθῶσιν, ἑκάτερον ἐπὶ τοῦ τόπου δεήσει πρῶτον μὲν διόπτραν ἔχειν δύʼ αὐλίσκους ἔχουσαν, ὥστε τοῦ μέλλοντος ἀντιπυρσεύειν1 τῷ μὲν τὸν δεξιὸν τόπον, τῷ δὲ τὸν εὐώνυμον δύνασθαι θεωρεῖν.
When they have parted after making these agreements, each of them at their respective stations will need, first of all, to have a dioptra with two tubes, so that they can observe, of the party who is to signal back, with one tube the right-hand station, and with the other the left-hand station.
παρὰ δὲ τὴν διόπτραν ἑξῆς ὀρθὰ δεῖ τὰ πλατεῖα πεπηγέναι, παραπεφράχθαι δὲ καὶ τὸν δεξιὸν καὶ τὸν εὐώνυμον τόπον ἐπὶ δέκα πόδας, τὸ δὲ βάθος ὡς ἀνδρόμηκες, εἰς τὸ τοὺς πυρσοὺς αἰρομένους μὲν παρὰ ταῦτα τὴν φάσιν ἀκριβῆ ποιεῖν, καθαιρουμένους δὲ τὴν κρύψιν.2
Beside the dioptra, the tablets must be fixed upright in order, and both the right and left-hand spaces must be fenced off to a width of ten feet, and to a height of a man’s stature, in order that the torches when raised beside these screens may show clearly, and when lowered may be hidden.
τούτων δʼ ἑτοιμασθέντων παρʼ ἀμφοτέροις, ὅταν βούλῃ δηλῶσαι λόγου χάριν διότι "τῶν στρατιωτῶν τινες εἰς ἑκατὸν ἀποκεχωρήκασι πρὸς τοὺς ὑπεναντίους," πρῶτον δεῖ διαλέξαι τῶν λέξεων, ὅσαι3 διʼ ἐλαχίστων γραμμάτων δύνανται ταὐτὸ δηλοῦν, οἷον ἀντὶ τοῦ προειρημένου "Κρῆτες ἑκατὸν ἀφʼ ἡμῶν ηὐτομόλησαν." νῦν γὰρ τὰ μὲν γράμματʼ ἐστὶν ἐλάττω τῶν ἡμίσεων, διασαφεῖται δὲ ταὐτόν.
When these preparations have been made on both sides, whenever you wish, for instance, to signal that “some of the soldiers, to the number of a hundred, have deserted to the enemy,” you must first select from the vocabulary those words which can express the same meaning with the fewest letters, for example, instead of the phrase just mentioned, “A hundred Cretans have deserted from us.” For in this way the letters are less than half, and yet the same meaning is made clear.
τούτου δὲ γραφέντος εἰς πινάκιον, οὕτω δηλωθήσεται τοῖς πυρσοῖς. πρῶτον δʼ ἐστὶ γράμμα τὸ κάππα·
When this has been written on a tablet, it will be signaled by the torches as follows. The first letter is kappa;
τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ μερίδι καὶ τῷ δευτέρῳ πλατείῳ. δεήσει δὲ καὶ πυρσοὺς ἐκ τῶν εὐωνύμων δύʼ αἴρειν, ὥστε τὸν ἀποδεχόμενον γινώσκειν ὅτι δεῖ τὸ δεύτερον πλατεῖον ἐπισκοπεῖν.
and as this is in the second group and on the second tablet, one must raise two torches from the left, so that the receiver may know that he must consult the second tablet.
εἶτʼ ἐκ τῶν δεξιῶν ἀρεῖ πέντε, διασαφῶν ὅτι κάππα· τοῦτο γὰρ πέμπτον ἐστὶ τῆς δευτέρας μερίδος, ὃ δεήσει γράφειν εἰς τὸ πινάκιον τὸν ἀποδεχόμενον τοὺς πυρσούς.
Next, he will raise five from the right, indicating that it is kappa; for this is the fifth letter of the second group, which the receiver of the torches must write on his tablet.
εἶτα τέτταρας ἐκ τῶν εὐωνύμων, ἐπεὶ τὸ ῥῶ τῆς τετάρτης ἐστὶ μερίδος. εἶτα δύο πάλιν ἐκ τῶν δεξιῶν· δεύτερον γάρ ἐστι τῆς τετάρτης. ἐξ οὗ τὸ ῥῶ γράφει [ὁ δεχόμενος τοὺς πυρσούς]· καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον.
Then he will raise four from the left, since rho belongs to the fourth group, and then again two from the right, since it is the second letter of the fourth group, from which [the receiver of the torches] writes down rho; and the rest of the letters in the same manner.
προδηλοῦται μὲν οὖν πᾶν τὸ προσπῖπτον ὡρισμένως κατὰ ταύτην τὴν ἐπίνοιαν,
In this way, every event that occurs is pre-signaled definitely according to this invention,
- 10.46.1τοῦ μέλλοντος ἀντιπυρσεύειν
The genitive of the future participle active substantivized. It can be taken as governed by θεωρεῖν, or as a possessive/limiting genitive qualifying the stations. Here τῷ μὲν ... τῷ δὲ ... refer to the two tubes (αὐλίσκῳ) in the dative, meaning 'with one tube ... with the other tube'.
- 10.46.3εἰς τὸ τοὺς πυρσοὺς αἰρομένους μὲν παρὰ ταῦτα τὴν φάσιν ἀκριβῆ ποιεῖν, καθαιρουμένους δὲ τὴν κρύψιν.
Purpose construction with εἰς τὸ and the infinitive ποιεῖν. The accusative plural τοὺς πυρσοὺς acts as the subject of the participles αἰρομένους and καθαιρουμένους. τὴν φάσιν and τὴν κρύψιν are accusatives of result or direct objects of ποιεῖν, meaning 'to make their appearance clear' and 'to make their hiding complete'.
- 10.46.4τῶν λέξεων, ὅσαι
Partitive genitive τῶν λέξεων serving as the antecedent of the relative pronoun ὅσαι. The relative clause ὅσαι ... δύνανται specifies the restriction on the choice of vocabulary. The following οἷον ἀντὶ τοῦ προειρημένου provides a concrete example of this selection.