Publius's Plan to Punish Ringleaders and Entice the Mutineers — Polybius, The Histories Book 11 (11.26.1–11.26.7), Greek & English

§11.26.1

οὗτοι μὲν οὖν ταῦτα διανοηθέντες ἐγίνοντο περὶ¹ τὴν τῶν χρημάτων ἐπιμέλειαν·.

Thus, having these intentions, they occupied themselves with the provision of the money.

§11.26.2

τῶν δὲ χιλιάρχων διασαφούντων² τὰ δεδογμένα, γνοὺς ὁ Πόπλιος ἀνεκοινοῦτο τῷ συνεδρίῳ τί δέον ἐστὶ ποιεῖν.

While the tribunes were explaining the decisions, Publius, having learned of this, consulted the council as to what should be done.

§11.26.3

ἔδοξεν οὖν αὐτοῖς,³ ἡμέραν διασαφήσαντας εἰς ἣν δεήσει παρεῖναι, πρὸς μὲν τὸ πλῆθος διαλύεσθαι, τοὺς δʼ αἰτίους κολάζειν πικρῶς· οὗτοι δʼ ἦσαν εἰς πέντε καὶ τριάκοντα τὸν ἀριθμόν.

They decided, therefore, having specified a day on which it would be necessary to be present, to reconcile with the multitude, but to punish the instigators severely; these were thirty-five in number.

§11.26.4

τῆς δʼ ἡμέρας ἐπελθούσης, καὶ παραγενομένων τῶν ἀποστατῶν ἐπί τε τὰς διαλύσεις καὶ τὴν κομιδὴν τῶν ὀψωνίων, τοῖς μὲν χιλιάρχοις τοῖς πρεσβεύσασι συνέταξε διʼ ἀπορρήτων ὁ Πόπλιος ἀπαντᾶν τοῖς ἀποστάταις καὶ διελομένους⁴ ἕκαστον πέντε τῶν ἀρχηγῶν τῆς στάσεως εὐθέως κατὰ τὴν ἀπάντησιν φιλανθρωπεῖν καὶ καλεῖν ὡς αὑτούς, μάλιστα μὲν πρὸς κατασκήνωσιν· οἳ δʼ ἂν μὴ δύνωνται τοῦτο, πρός γε δεῖπνον καὶ τοιαύτην συνουσίαν.

When the day arrived, and the mutineers came for both the reconciliation and the receipt of their pay, Publius secretly instructed the tribunes who had acted as envoys to meet the mutineers, and, with each tribune taking charge of five of the leaders of the mutiny, to treat them with kindness immediately upon meeting them and invite them to their own quarters, preferably for lodging; and if any were unable to do this, at least to dinner and similar hospitality.

§11.26.6

τῷ δὲ μεθʼ αὑτοῦ στρατοπέδῳ παρήγγειλε πρὸ ἡμερῶν τριῶν ἐφόδια παρεσκευάσθαι κατὰ πλείω χρόνον ὡς ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀνδοβάλην αὐτῶν μετὰ Μάρκου πορευομένων.⁵

Meanwhile, he ordered the army with him to prepare provisions for a longer period three days beforehand, as if they were about to march with Marcus against Andobales.

§11.26.7

ὃ καὶ θαρραλεωτέρους αὐτοὺς ἀκούσαντας ἐποίησε τοὺς ἀποστάτας· ἐν αὑτοῖς γὰρ ὑπέλαβον ἔσεσθαι τὴν πλείστην ἐξουσίαν, ἐπειδὰν συμμίξωσι τῷ στρατηγῷ τῶν ἄλλων στρατοπέδων κεχωρισμένων.

Hearing this made the mutineers more confident; for they supposed that the greatest power would be in their own hands when they joined the general, since the other forces had departed.

Syntax notes5 items

11.26.1ἐγίνοντο περὶ
The verb γίνομαι with the preposition περί and a accusative noun functions as an idiomatic expression meaning 'to occupy oneself with' or 'be engaged in' a certain activity.
11.26.2διασαφούντων
The phrase τῶν δὲ χιλιάρχων διασαφούντων is a genitive absolute, indicating a circumstance that runs parallel to and concurrent with the main action of the imperfect verb ἀνεκοινοῦτο ('consulted').
11.26.3ἔδοξεν οὖν αὐτοῖς
An impersonal construction consisting of the verb ἔδοξε ('it was decided') and the dative pronoun αὐτοῖς ('by them'), indicating the resolution of the council. The specific content of the decision is expressed by the contrasting infinitives διαλύεσθαι ('to reconcile') and κολάζειν ('to punish').
11.26.5διελομένους
The aorist middle participle διελομένους ('having divided among themselves'), while semantically modifying the preceding dative τοῖς χιλιάρχοις, is attracted into the accusative case as it functions as the subject of the infinitives φιλανθρωπεῖν and καλεῖν.
11.26.6ὡς ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀνδοβάλην αὐτῶν μετὰ Μάρκου πορευομένων
The conjunction ὡς with the genitive absolute (αὐτῶν... πορευομένων) is used to express a pretext or subjective purpose ('as if they were marching') rather than an objective fact, reflecting the deceptive impression Publius intended to project.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:11.26.1-11.26.7