- 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-grc2:14.12.1-14.12.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Polybius explains his departure from the chronological year-by-year method to provide a continuous narrative of Egyptian affairs over a longer span of time. He argues that, given Ptolemy Philopator's dissolution and the nature of the subsequent war, presenting the king's policy as a unified whole is more effective for both the writer and the reader.
ἴσως δέ τινες ἐπαπορήσουσι πῶς ἡμεῖς τὰς ἄλλας πράξεις ἁπάσας κατʼ ἐνιαυτὸν γράφοντες1 τὰς καταλλήλους περὶ μόνων τῶν κατʼ Αἴγυπτον ἐν καιρῷ τῷ νῦν ἐκ πλείονος χρόνου πεποιήμεθα τὴν ἐξήγησιν.
Perhaps some will wonder why, while we write about all other appropriate events year by year, we have at the present time made our explanation concerning the affairs of Egypt alone over a longer span of time.
ἡμεῖς δὲ τοῦτο πεποιήκαμεν διά τινας τοιαύτας αἰτίας.
We have done this for some such reasons as follow.
Πτολεμαῖος ὁ βασιλεύς, περὶ οὗ νῦν ὁ λόγος, ὁ Φιλοπάτωρ, μετὰ τὸ συντελεσθῆναι τὸν περὶ Κοίλην Συρίαν πόλεμον ἀποστὰς πάντων τῶν καλῶν ἐτράπη πρὸς βίον ἄσωτον καὶ τοιοῦτον οἷον ἀρτίως διεληλύθαμεν.
King Ptolemy Philopator, of whom we are now speaking, after the conclusion of the war over Coele-Syria, abandoned all noble pursuits and turned to a dissolute life, such as we have just described.
ὀψὲ δέ ποτε βιασθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐνέπεσεν εἰς τὸν νῦν δεδηλωμένον πόλεμον, ὃς χωρὶς τῆς εἰς ἀλλήλους ὠμότητος καὶ παρανομίας οὔτε παράταξιν οὔτε ναυμαχίαν οὔτε πολιορκίαν οὔθʼ ἕτερον οὐδὲν ἔσχε μνήμης ἄξιον.
But later, forced by circumstances, he fell into the war now indicated, which, apart from mutual cruelty and lawlessness, had neither a pitched battle, nor a naval battle, nor a siege, nor anything else worthy of memory.
διόπερ ὑπέδραμεν2 οὕτω κἀμοὶ τῷ γράφοντι ῥᾳδίαν ἔσεσθαι καὶ τοῖς ἀναγινώσκουσιν εὐμαθεστέραν τὴν διήγησιν, εἰ μὴ κατʼ ἐνιαυτὸν ἐπιψαύων μικρῶν [καὶ] οὐκ ἀξίων ἐπιστάσεως πραγμάτων ἀποδιδοίην τὸν λόγον, ἀλλʼ εἰσάπαξ οἷον εἰ σωματοειδῆ3 ποιήσας τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως προαίρεσιν ἀπαγγείλαιμι περὶ αὐτῆς.
Therefore, the thought occurred to me that the narrative would be easy for me who write it, and easier to understand for those who read it, if I should not deliver the account by touching year by year upon small matters unworthy of attention, but if, once for all, as if making the king’s purpose into a single unified whole, I should report concerning it.
- 14.12.1γράφοντες
The participle γράφοντες ('writing') functions concessively ('although we write' or 'while writing') in relation to the main perfect verb πεποιήμεθα.
- 14.12.5ὑπέδραμεν
Aorist of the intransitive verb ὑποτρέχω, used here in the sense of 'to steal into one's mind' or 'to occur to someone.' It takes κἀμοὶ τῷ γράφοντι ('to me who write') as a dative of interest/agent, with the subsequent accusative and infinitive clause serving as the logical subject.
- 14.12.5σωματοειδῆ
Accusative feminine singular of the adjective σωματοειδής ('body-like' or 'organic'), modifying τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως προαίρεσιν. This is a key methodological term in Polybian historiography, denoting the treatment of historical themes not as isolated fragments, but as a unified, organic whole where parts are systematically interconnected.