- 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-grc2:13.8.1-13.8.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
After describing the various illegalities during Nabis's rule, the narrative relates how a dispute involving Boeotian foreigners who took a white horse led to Nabis plundering livestock, which became the cause of the war.
καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ δʼ ἦν τούτοις ὅμοια καὶ σύστοιχα κατὰ τὴν ἀρχήν.1
And the rest of his actions were similar to these and of the same character during his rule.
ἐκοινώνει μὲν γὰρ τοῖς Κρησὶ τῶν κατὰ θάλατταν λῃστειῶν· εἶχε δὲ καθʼ ὅλην τὴν Πελοπόννησον ἱεροσύλους, ὁδοιδόκους, φονέας, οἷς μερίτης γινόμενος τῶν ἐκ τῆς ῥᾳδιουργίας λυσιτελῶν ὁρμητήριον καὶ καταφυγὴν παρείχετο τούτοις2 τὴν Σπάρτην.
For he shared in pirate raids by sea with the Cretans; and he kept throughout the Peloponnese temple-robbers, highwaymen, and murderers, to whom, by becoming a sharer in the profits from their villainy, he offered Sparta as a base of operations and a refuge.
πλὴν κατά γε τοὺς καιροὺς τούτους ξένοι τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Βοιωτίας εἰς τὴν Λακεδαίμονα παρεπιδημήσαντες ἐψυχαγώγησάν τινα τῶν τοῦ Νάβιδος ἱπποκόμων ὥστε συναποχωρῆσαι μεθʼ ἑαυτῶν ἔχοντα λευκὸν ἵππον, ὃς ἐδόκει γενναιότατος εἶναι τῶν ἐκ τῆς τυραννικῆς ἱπποστάσεως.
But just about this time, some foreigners from Boeotia who were visiting Lacedaemon enticed one of Nabis’s grooms to escape with them, taking a white horse which was considered the finest from the tyrant’s stud.
τοῦτο δὲ πεισθέντος καὶ πράξαντος τοῦ προειρημένου, καταδιώξαντες οἱ παρὰ τοῦ Νάβιδος εἰς τὴν Μεγάλην πόλιν καὶ καταλαβόντες τὸν μὲν ἵππον εὐθὺς ἀπῆγον καὶ τὸν ἱπποκόμον, οὐδενὸς ἀντιποιουμένου, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ τοῖς ξένοις ἐπέβαλον τὰς χεῖρας.
When the aforementioned groom was persuaded and did this, Nabis’s men pursued them to Megalopolis, and having caught them, immediately led away the horse and the groom, since no one disputed it, and after this they also laid hands on the foreigners.
οἱ δὲ Βοιωτοὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἠξίουν ἄγειν αὑτοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχήν· οὐδενὸς δὲ προσέχοντος ἀνεβόα τις τῶν ξένων " 3βοήθεια"3. συνδραμόντων δὲ τῶν ἐγχωρίων καὶ μαρτυρομένων3 τοὺς ἄνδρας ἐπανάγειν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχήν, ἠναγκάσθησαν προιέμενοι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οἱ παρὰ τοῦ Νάβιδος ἀπελθεῖν.
But the Boeotians at first demanded to be taken before the authorities; however, since no one paid attention, one of the foreigners cried out, ”3Help!”3 When the local people ran together and demanded that the men be brought before the authorities, Nabis’s men were forced to release the men and depart.
ὁ δὲ πάλαι ζητῶν ἀφορμὰς ἐγκλημάτων καὶ πρόφασιν εὔλογον διαφορᾶς, τότε λαβόμενος ταύτης εὐθέως ἤλαυνε τὰ Προαγόρου θρέμματα καί τινων ἑτέρων. ἐξ ὧν ἐγένετο καταρχὴ τοῦ πολέμου.
He, who had long been seeking grounds for charges and a plausible pretext for a quarrel, then seized upon this and immediately drove off the cattle of Proagoras and some others. From these things arose the beginning of the war.
- 13.8.1κατὰ τὴν ἀρχήν
The noun ἀρχή can mean either 'beginning' or 'rule, government'. Here, interpreting it as 'during his rule' or 'in his government' fits the context of characterizing the general nature of Nabis's tyranny. Although it could be translated adverbially as 'at first', the context refers to his entire administration.
- 13.8.2οἷς ... τούτοις
A pleonastic use of pronouns where the relative pronoun οἷς (dative) is followed by the demonstrative pronoun τούτοις (dative) within the same relative clause. Both refer to the same antecedents (temple-robbers, highwaymen, etc.), serving to reinforce the relative connection and secure the syntax.
- 13.8.6μαρτυρομένων
The middle participle μαρτυρομένων is used here in the sense of 'attesting, insisting' or 'demanding', taking the accusative with infinitive construction τοὺς ἄνδρας ἐπανάγειν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχήν ('that the men be brought back to the authorities') as its object. It functions as part of the genitive absolute.