- 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-grc2:15.26.1-15.26.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Agathocles, weeping, addresses the assembly of Macedonians to accuse Tlepolemus of aiming at the diadem, but his speech fails and meets with mockery. Meanwhile, supporters of Tlepolemus gather, and popular anger rises against the rulers.
πρώτους δὲ συναθροίσας τοὺς Μακεδόνας, εἰς τούτους εἰσῆλθε μετὰ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τῆς Ἀγαθοκλείας.
First assembling the Macedonians, he entered into their presence with the king and Agathocleia.
καὶ τὰς μὲν ἀρχὰς ὑπεκρίνετο τὸν οὐ δυνάμενον1 εἰπεῖν ἃ βούλεται διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐπιφερομένων δακρύων·
And at first he pretended to be unable to say what he wished because of the abundance of tears that welled up;
ἐπεὶ δὲ πλεονάκις ἀπομάττων τῇ χλαμύδι κατεκράτησε τῆς ἐπιφορᾶς, βαστάσας τὸ παιδίον "3Λάβετε"3 ἔφη "3τοῦτον, ὃν ὁ πατὴρ ἀποθνήσκων εἰς μὲν τὰς ἀγκάλας ἔδωκε ταύτῃ"3 δείξας τὴν ἀδελφὴν "3παρακατέθετο2 δʼ εἰς τὴν ὑμετέραν, ὦ ἄνδρες Μακεδόνες, πίστιν.
but when, after wiping his eyes many times with his chlamys, he mastered the flow of tears, he lifted up the child and said, “Take this child, whom his dying father placed in the arms of this woman,” pointing to his sister, “and committed to your loyalty, O men of Macedonia.
ἡ μὲν οὖν [καὶ] ταύτης εὔνοια βραχεῖάν τινα ῥοπὴν ἔχει πρὸς τὴν τούτου σωτηρίαν, ἐν ὑμῖν δὲ κεῖται καὶ ταῖς ὑμετέραις χερσὶ τὰ τούτου νυνὶ πράγματα.
Therefore, her affection has but a slight influence toward his preservation, but his present fortune lies in you and in your hands.
Τληπόλεμος γὰρ πάλαι μὲν ἦν δῆλος τοῖς ὀρθῶς σκοπουμένοις μειζόνων ἐφιέμενος ἢ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν πραγμάτων, νῦν δὲ καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ τὸν καιρὸν ὥρικεν, ἐν ᾗ μέλλει τὸ διάδημʼ ἀναλαμβάνειν.
For Tlepolemus has long been clear to those who look at things aright as aiming at power greater than belongs to him, and now he has even fixed the day and the hour when he is to assume the diadem.”
"3 καὶ περὶ τούτων οὐχ αὑτῷ πιστεύειν ἐκέλευεν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς εἰδόσι τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ παροῦσι νῦν ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων.
And concerning these matters, he bade them not to believe him, but those who knew the truth and were now present from the very scene of action.
καὶ τοῦτʼ εἰπὼν εἰσῆγε τὸν Κριτόλαον, ὃς ἔφη καὶ τοὺς βωμοὺς αὐτὸς ἑωρακέναι κατασκευαζομένους καὶ τὰ θύματα παρὰ τοῖς πλήθεσιν ἑτοιμαζόμενα πρὸς τὴν τοῦ διαδήματος ἀνάδειξιν.
Having said this, he introduced Critolaus, who said that he himself had seen both the altars being erected and the victims being prepared by the multitudes for the assumption of the diadem.
ὧν οἱ Μακεδόνες ἀκούοντες οὐχ οἷον3 ἠλέουν αὐτόν, ἀλλʼ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲν προσεῖχον τῶν λεγομένων, μυχθίζοντες δὲ καὶ διαψιθυρίζοντες ἐξελήρησαν οὕτως ὥστε μηδʼ αὐτὸν εἰδέναι [μήτε] πῶς τὸ παράπαν ἐκ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀπελύθη.
When the Macedonians heard this, so far from pitying him, they absolutely paid no attention to what was said, but sneering and whispering among themselves, they made such a clamour that Agathocles did not even know how he got away from the assembly.
παραπλήσια δὲ τούτοις ἐγίνετο καὶ περὶ τὰ λοιπὰ συστήματα κατὰ τοὺς ἐκκλησιασμούς.
Similar scenes took place at the meetings of the other military units.
ἐν δὲ τῷ μεταξὺ πολὺς ἦν ὁ καταπλέων ἐκ τῶν ἄνω στρατοπέδων, καὶ παρεκάλουν οἱ μὲν συγγενεῖς, οἱ δὲ φίλους, βοηθεῖν τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις, καὶ μὴ περιιδεῖν σφᾶς ἀνέδην ὑφʼ οὕτως ἀναξίων ὑβριζομένους.
Meanwhile, many were sailing down from the garrison stations up country, and some entreated their relatives, others their friends, to help the sufferers, and not to allow themselves to be so shamelessly insulted by such unworthy men.
μάλιστα δὲ παρώξυνε τοὺς πολλοὺς πρὸς τὴν κατὰ τῶν προεστώτων τιμωρίαν τὸ γινώσκειν ὅτι τὸ μέλλειν καθʼ αὑτῶν ἐστι διὰ τὸ πάντων τῶν παρακομιζομένων ἐπιτηδείων εἰς τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν κρατεῖν4
And what most of all incited the multitude to punish the rulers was their knowledge that delay was to their own disadvantage, because those in power had control of all the provisions brought into Alexandria.
- 15.26.2τὸν οὐ δυνάμενον
An accusative participle with the article and the negative particle οὐ, acting as the object or complement of ὑπεκρίνετο ("he pretended to be one who is unable...").
- 15.26.3παρακατέθετο
A parallel structure of two verbs (ἔδωκε and παρακατέθετο) sharing the relative pronoun ὃν as their direct object. In the latter clause, the possessive adjective ὑμετέραν (used instead of a genitive pronoun) is widely separated from its noun πίστιν (hyperbaton).
- 15.26.8οὐχ οἷον
The idiomatic expression οὐχ οἷον means "so far from [doing something]" or "not only not...", which here leads to the contrast introduced by ἀλλʼ ἁπλῶς... ("but on the contrary...").
- 15.26.11διὰ τὸ ... κρατεῖν
An accusative articular infinitive following the preposition διὰ, expressing cause ("because they had control"). The implicit subject of the infinitive is the rulers (τοὺς προεστῶτας) mentioned earlier, while the genitive phrase for provisions (πάντων τῶν... ἐπιτηδείων) functions as the object of κρατεῖν.