- 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-grc2:14.6.1-14.6.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Scipio pursues the fleeing enemies and plunders neighboring cities while sparing those who surrendered. The Carthaginian senate, though terrified, decides to continue the war in alliance with Syphax, who has retreated to Abba.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐπιγενομένης, καὶ τῶν πολεμίων τῶν μὲν ἀπολωλότων, τῶν δὲ προτροπάδην πεφευγότων, παρακαλέσας τοὺς χιλιάρχους ἐκ ποδὸς1 ἐπηκολούθει.
Nevertheless, when day broke, since some of the enemy had perished and others had fled headlong, Scipio, having encouraged his tribunes, followed closely on their heels.
τὰς μὲν οὖν ἀρχὰς2 ὁ Καρχηδόνιος ὑπέμενε, καίπερ αὐτῷ προσαγγελίας γενομένης· τοῦτο δʼ ἐποίει πιστεύων τῇ τῆς πόλεως ὀχυρότητι.
At first, the Carthaginian general remained there, although message of the enemy’s approach had been brought to him; and this he did because he trusted in the strength of the city.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα συνθεωρήσας τοὺς ἐγχωρίους στασιάζοντας, καταπλαγεὶς τὴν ἔφοδον τοῦ Σκιπίωνος, ἔφευγε μετὰ τῶν διασεσωσμένων· οὗτοι δʼ ἦσαν ἱππεῖς μὲν οὐκ ἐλάττους πεντακοσίων, πεζοὶ δὲ περὶ δισχιλίους.
But after this, seeing that the local inhabitants were in a state of faction, and being terrified by the approach of Scipio, he fled with those who had been saved; these were not fewer than five hundred horsemen, and about two thousand infantry.
οἱ δʼ ἐγχώριοι συμφρονήσαντες ἐπέτρεψαν περὶ σφῶν αὐτῶν τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις.3
The local inhabitants, having come to a common agreement, surrendered themselves to the Romans.
ὁ δὲ Πόπλιος τούτων μὲν ἐφείσατο, δύο δὲ τὰς παρακειμένας πόλεις ἐφῆκε τοῖς στρατοπέδοις διαρπάζειν, καὶ ταῦτα διαπραξάμενος αὖθις ἐπὶ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπανῄει παρεμβολήν.
Publius spared these, but gave up the two neighboring cities to his legions to plunder; and having accomplished these things, he returned again to his original camp.
οἱ δὲ Καρχηδόνιοι, παλιντρόπου τῆς ἐλπίδος αὐτοῖς ἀποβαινούσης πρὸς τὰς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπιβολάς, βαρέως ἔφερον τὸ γεγονός·
But the Carthaginians, as their hope turned out to be the reverse of their original plans, took the event heavily;
ἐλπίσαντες γὰρ πολιορκήσειν τοὺς Ῥωμαίους συγκλείσαντες εἰς τὴν ἄκραν τὴν προσοῦσαν τῆς Ἰτύκης, ἐν ᾗ τὴν παραχειμασίαν ἐποιοῦντο, κατὰ γῆν μὲν τοῖς πεζοῖς στρατεύμασι, κατὰ θάλατταν δὲ ταῖς ναυτικαῖς δυνάμεσι, καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο πάσας ἡτοιμακότες τὰς παρασκευάς, ἅμα τῷ4 μὴ μόνον τῶν ὑπαίθρων οὕτως ἀλόγως καὶ παραδόξως ἐκχωρῆσαι τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν περὶ σφῶν αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς πατρίδος ὅσον οὐκ ἤδη προσδοκᾶν κίνδυνον, τελέως ἐκπλαγεῖς ἦσαν καὶ περίφοβοι ταῖς ψυχαῖς.
for they had hoped to besiege the Romans, shutting them up in the promontory adjacent to Utica, in which they were passing the winter, by land with their infantry forces and by sea with their naval power, and had made all preparations for this purpose; so that at the same time as having thus unreasonably and unexpectedly yielded the open country to their adversaries, they were also expecting danger to themselves and their country almost immediately, being completely astounded and terrified in their souls.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀναγκαζόντων ποιεῖσθαι πρόνοιαν καὶ βουλὴν ὑπὲρ τοῦ μέλλοντος, ἦν τὸ συνέδριον ἀπορίας καὶ ποικίλων καὶ τεταραγμένων ἐπινοημάτων πλῆρες.
Nevertheless, as circumstances compelled them to take thought and counsel for the future, the senate was full of perplexity and of various and confused proposals.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἔφασαν δεῖν πέμπειν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀννίβαν καὶ καλεῖν ἐκ τῆς Ἰταλίας, ὡς μιᾶς ἔτι καταλειπομένης ἐλπίδος τῆς ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ στρατηγῷ καὶ ταῖς μετʼ ἐκείνου δυνάμεσιν, οἱ δὲ διαπρεσβεύεσθαι πρὸς τὸν Πόπλιον ὑπὲρ ἀνοχῶν καὶ λαλεῖν ὑπὲρ διαλύσεων καὶ συνθηκῶν, ἕτεροι δὲ θαρρεῖν καὶ συνάγειν τὰς δυνάμεις καὶ διαπέμπεσθαι πρὸς τὸν Σόφακα·
For some said that they ought to send for Hannibal and recall him from Italy, on the ground that there was still one hope left in that general and the forces with him; others that they should send embassies to Publius for a truce and treat for terms and treaties, and others that they should take courage, assemble their forces, and send to Syphax;
καὶ γὰρ πλησίον αὐτὸν5 εἰς τὴν Ἄββαν ἀποκεχωρηκέναι, συναθροίζειν δὲ τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ κινδύνου διαφυγόντας. καὶ δὴ καὶ τέλος αὕτη τῶν γνωμῶν ἐπεκράτησεν. οὗτοι μὲν οὖν τάς τε δυνάμεις ἥθροιζον, ἐκπέμψαντες τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν, καὶ διεπέμψαντο πρὸς τὸν Σόφακα, δεόμενοι σφίσι βοηθεῖν καὶ μένειν ἐπὶ τῶν ὑποκειμένων κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς πρόθεσιν, ὡς αὐτίκα μάλα τοῦ στρατηγοῦ6 μετὰ τῶν δυνάμεων
for they said that he had retreated nearby to Abba, and was collecting those who had escaped from the danger. And indeed, in the end, this opinion prevailed. They therefore began to assemble their forces, having sent Hasdrubal out, and they sent to Syphax, entreating him to assist them and to remain in his original purpose under the current situation, on the ground that very shortly the general with his forces—
- 14.6.1ἐκ ποδὸς
Literally 'from the foot,' but here used adverbially to mean 'immediately on their heels' or 'closely,' equivalent to the Latin 'e vestigio.'
- 14.6.2τὰς μὲν οὖν ἀρχὰς
An adverbial accusative meaning 'at first' or 'in the beginning,' contrasted with μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ('but after this') in the following section.
- 14.6.3τοὺς Ῥωμαίοις
Although the manuscript reads the dative τοὺς Ῥωμαίοις, it should be understood as a scribal error (or variant) for the accusative τοὺς Ῥωμαίους as the direct object of the participle συγκλείσαντες. All translations treat it as an accusative ('shutting the Romans up').
- 14.6.8ἅμα τῷ
A construction consisting of ἅμα τῷ followed by infinitives (here, μὴ μόνον ... ἐκχωρῆσαι ... ἀλλὰ καὶ ... προσδοκᾶν), meaning 'at the same time as...'. This long prepositional phrase stands at the head of the sentence and modifies the main clause's verb/predicate τελέως ἐκπλαγεῖς ἦσαν.
- 14.6.12καὶ γὰρ πλησίον αὐτὸν...
The infinitives ἀποκεχωρηκέναι and συναθροίζειν are part of the indirect discourse explaining the reason for the proposal in the previous section (διαπέμπεσθαι πρὸς τὸν Σόφακα), implying 'for they said that he had retreated... and was collecting...'.
- 14.6.13ὡς αὐτίκα μάλα τοῦ στρατηγοῦ...
The particle ὡς representing a subjective or alleged reason is followed by a genitive absolute (τοῦ στρατηγοῦ ...). The verb is either omitted or the text of Polybius breaks off here unfinished (or contains a lacuna), indicating grammatical and structural incompleteness.