- 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-grc2:12.28.1-12.28.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Polybius adapts Plato's philosopher-king thesis to state that only practical men should write history, and sharply criticizes Timaeus, who lacks first-hand experience, for falsely accusing Ephorus while trying to compare history with epideictic oratory.
δοκεῖ δέ μοι καὶ τὸ τῆς ἱστορίας πρόσχημα τοιοῦτον ἄνδρα ζητεῖν.
And it seems to me that the dignity of history also demands such a man.
ὁ μὲν οὖν Πλάτων φησὶ τότε τἀνθρώπεια καλῶς ἕξειν, ὅταν ἢ οἱ φιλόσοφοι βασιλεύσωσιν ἢ οἱ βασιλεῖς φιλοσοφήσωσι·
Now Plato says that human affairs will be well when either philosophers become kings or kings become philosophers;
κἀγὼ δʼ ἂν εἴποιμι διότι1 τὰ τῆς ἱστορίας ἕξει τότε καλῶς, ὅταν ἢ οἱ πραγματικοὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν γράφειν ἐπιχειρήσωσι τὰς ἱστορίας, μὴ καθάπερ νῦν παρέργως, νομίσαντες δὲ καὶ τοῦτʼ εἶναι σφίσι τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων καὶ καλλίστων, ἀπερίσπαστοι2 παράσχωνται πρὸς τοῦτο τὸ μέρος κατὰ τὸν βίον, ἢ οἱ γράφειν ἐπιβαλλόμενοι τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων ἕξιν ἀναγκαίαν ἡγήσωνται πρὸς τὴν ἱστορίαν. πρότερον δʼ οὐκ ἔσται παῦλα τῆς τῶν ἱστοριογράφων ἀγνοίας. ὧν Τίμαιος οὐδὲ τὴν ἐλαχίστην πρόνοιαν θέμενος, ἀλλὰ καταβιώσας ἐν ἑνὶ τόπῳ ξενιτεύων, καὶ σχεδὸν ὡς εἰ κατὰ πρόθεσιν ἀπειπάμενος καὶ τὴν ἐνεργητικὴν3 τὴν περὶ τὰς πολεμικὰς καὶ πολιτικὰς πράξεις καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς πλάνης καὶ θέας αὐτοπάθειαν, οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως ἐκφέρεται δόξαν ὡς ἕλκων τὴν τοῦ συγγραφέως προστασίαν.
and I would say that the affairs of history will be well when either practical men undertake to write histories— not, as now, in a casual manner, but believing this also to be one of the most necessary and noble tasks for them, and presenting themselves undistracted for this part throughout their lives— or those who attempt to write consider the experience gained from actual affairs to be necessary for history. Before this, there will be no end to the ignorance of historians. Timaeus, without paying even the slightest attention to these things, but spending his life in one place as an exile, and having almost, as if by design, renounced both the active experience in military and political affairs and the personal experience derived from travel and observation, has somehow or other won a reputation as though he claimed the preeminence of a historian.
καὶ διότι τοιοῦτός ἐστιν αὐτὸν ἀνθομολογούμενον4 εὐχερὲς παραστῆσαι τὸν Τίμαιον.
And that Timaeus is such a person is easy to demonstrate on his own admission.
κατὰ γὰρ τὸ προοίμιον τῆς ἕκτης βύβλου φησί τινας ὑπολαμβάνειν διότι τινὸς μείζονος δεῖται φύσεως καὶ φιλοπονίας καὶ παρασκευῆς τὸ τῶν ἐπιδεικτικῶν λόγων γένος ἢ τὸ τῆς ἱστορίας· ταύτας δὲ τὰς δόξας πρότερον μὲν Ἐφόρῳ φησὶ προσπεσεῖν, οὐ δυνηθέντος δʼ ἱκανῶς ἐκείνου πρὸς τοὺς ταῦτα λέγοντας ἀπαντῆσαι, πειρᾶται συγκρίνειν αὐτὸς ἐκ παραβολῆς τὴν ἱστορίαν τοῖς ἐπιδεικτικοῖς λόγοις, πρᾶγμα ποιῶν πάντων ἀτοπώτατον, πρῶτον μὲν τὸ καταψεύσασθαι5 τοῦ συγγραφέως. ὁ γὰρ Ἔφορος παρʼ ὅλην τὴν πραγματείαν θαυμάσιος ὢν καὶ κατὰ τὴν φράσιν καὶ κατὰ τὸν χειρισμὸν καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐπίνοιαν τῶν λημμάτων, δεινότατός ἐστιν ἐν ταῖς παρεκβάσεσι καὶ ταῖς ἀφʼ αὑτοῦ γνωμολογίαις, καὶ συλλήβδην ὅταν που τὸν ἐπιμετροῦντα λόγον διατίθηται·
For in the preface to his sixth book he says that some people suppose that the genre of epideictic oratory requires a greater nature, industry, and preparation than that of history; and he says that these opinions first occurred to Ephorus. But since the latter was unable to meet those who said this adequately, Timaeus himself attempts to compare history with epideictic oratory by way of contrast, doing the most absurd thing of all: first, lying about the historian. For Ephorus, while admirable throughout his entire work in expression, treatment, and conception of themes, is most capable in digressions and in his own moralizing reflections, and in short, whenever he delivers a supplementary discourse;
κατὰ δέ τινα συντυχίαν εὐχαριστότατα καὶ πιθανώτατα περὶ τῆς συγκρίσεως εἴρηκε τῆς τῶν ἱστοριογράφων καὶ λογογράφων.
and by some happy chance he has spoken most gracefully and persuasively concerning the comparison of historians and rhetoricians.
ὁ δʼ ἵνα μὴ δόξῃ κατακολουθεῖν Ἐφόρῳ, πρὸς τῷ κατεψεῦσθαι ʼκείνου καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἅμα κατέγνωκε· τὰ γὰρ παρʼ ἄλλων δεόντως κεχειρισμένα μακρῶς καὶ ἀσαφῶς καὶ τρόπῳ παντὶ χεῖρον ἐξηγούμενος οὐδένα τῶν
But Timaeus, in order not to seem to follow Ephorus, in addition to having lied about him, has at the same time condemned the rest; for explaining what had been properly handled by others at great length, obscurely, and in every way worse, he (...) no one of the (...)
- 12.28.3κἀγὼ δʼ ἂν εἴποιμι διότι
The conjunction διότι normally means 'because' in classical Attic prose, but here it functions like ὅτι to introduce a content clause after εἴποιμι. The main verb ἂν εἴποιμι is a potential optative expressing a cautious assertion.
- 12.28.4ἀπερίσπαστοι
Nominative plural of the adjective ἀπερίσπαστος ('undistracted'), agreeing predicatively with the subject of the subjunctive verb παράσχωνται. It functions adverbially, meaning 'without distraction' or 'undistractedly.'
- 12.28.6τὴν ἐνεργητικὴν
Feminine accusative singular adjective with an ellipsis of a noun such as ἕξιν ('experience/habit') or ἐμπειρίαν ('experience'), contrasted with the subsequent phrase καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς πλάνης καὶ θέας αὐτοπάθειαν ('personal experience derived from travel and observation').
- 12.28.7αὐτὸν ἀνθομολογούμενον
An accusative participle construction functioning as the object of παραστῆσαι ('to show/demonstrate'), signifying that Timaeus himself admits the fact.
- 12.28.10τὸ καταψεύσασθαι
Articular infinitive in the accusative, functioning in apposition to or as an explanation of 'doing the most absurd thing of all' (πρᾶγμα ποιῶν πάντων ἀτοπώτατον) in the preceding clause.