- 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-grc2:15.6.1-15.6.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Publius pitches camp at Naragara and proposes a meeting, prompting Hannibal to approach and camp nearby. The two generals meet in person with an interpreter, and Hannibal begins by expressing regret over past conflicts and seeking a peaceful resolution.
ὑδρείαν ἐντὸς βέλους ποιησάμενος. κἀντεῦθεν ἐξέπεμψε πρὸς τὸν τῶν Καρχηδονίων στρατηγόν, φάσκων ἕτοιμος εἶναι συμπορεύεσθαι πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰς λόγους.
watering-place within missile range. And from there he sent a message to the general of the Carthaginians, saying that he was ready to meet him for a conference.
ὧν ἀκούσας Ἀννίβας ἀνέζευξε, καὶ συνεγγίσας, ὥστε μὴ πλεῖον ἀπέχειν τριάκοντα σταδίων, κατεστρατοπέδευσε πρός τινα λόφον, ὃς τὰ μὲν λοιπὰ πρὸς τὸν παρόντα καιρὸν ὀρθῶς ἔχειν ἐδόκει, τὴν δʼ ὑδρείαν ἀπωτέρω μικρὸν εἶχε· καὶ πολλὴν ταλαιπωρίαν ὑπέμενον οἱ στρατιῶται περὶ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἑξῆς ἡμέραν προῆλθον ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας παρεμβολῆς ἀμφότεροι μετʼ ὀλίγων ἱππέων, κἄπειτα χωρισθέντες ἀπὸ τούτων αὐτοὶ συνῆλθον εἰς τὸ μέσον ἔχοντες ἑρμηνέα μεθʼ αὑτῶν.
On hearing this, Hannibal decamped, and having approached so as to be not more than thirty stades away, pitched his camp near a certain hill, which in other respects seemed well suited to the present occasion, but had the watering-place a little too far off; and the soldiers suffered great hardship in this respect. On the following day, both advanced from their respective camps with a few horsemen, and then, separating themselves from these, they met by themselves in the middle, having an interpreter with them.
δεξιωσάμενος δὲ πρῶτος Ἀννίβας ἤρξατο λέγειν ὡς ἐβούλετο μὲν ἂν1 μήτε Ῥωμαίους ἐπιθυμῆσαι μηδέποτε μηδενὸς τῶν ἐκτὸς Ἰταλίας μήτε Καρχηδονίους τῶν ἐκτὸς Λιβύης·
Hannibal, having been the first to greet him, began to speak, saying that he could have wished that neither the Romans had ever coveted anything outside Italy, nor the Carthaginians anything outside Libya;
ἀμφοτέροις γὰρ εἶναι ταύτας καὶ καλλίστας δυναστείας καὶ συλλήβδην ὡς ἂν εἰ περιωρισμένας2 ὑπὸ τῆς φύσεως.
for to both these were most excellent empires, and, in a word, as if fenced off by nature.
"ἐπεὶ δὲ πρῶτον μὲν ὑπὲρ τῶν κατὰ Σικελίαν ἀμφισβητήσαντες ἐξεπολεμώσαμεν ἀλλήλους, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πάλιν ὑπὲρ τῶν κατʼ Ἰβηρίαν, τὸ δὲ τέλος ὑπὸ τῆς τύχης οὔπω νουθετούμενοι μέχρι τούτου προβεβήκαμεν ὥστε καὶ περὶ τοῦ τῆς πατρίδος ἐδάφους οὓς μὲν κεκινδυνευκέναι, τοὺς δʼ ἀκμὴν ἔτι καὶ νῦν κινδυνεύειν, λοιπόν ἐστιν, εἴ πως δυνάμεθα διʼ αὑτῶν παραιτησάμενοι τοὺς θεοὺς διαλύσασθαι τὴν ἐνεστῶσαν φιλοτιμίαν.
”But since, having first disputed over Sicily, we went to war with each other, and after that again over Iberia, and finally, not yet chastened by Fortune, we have advanced so far that even concerning the very soil of our native land, the one side has been in danger, and the other is even now still in danger, it remains, if by any means we can, by ourselves imploring the gods, to settle our present rivalry.
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ἕτοιμός εἰμι τῷ πεῖραν εἰληφέναι3 διʼ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων ὡς εὐμετάθετός ἐστιν ἡ τύχη καὶ παρὰ μικρὸν εἰς ἑκάτερα ποιεῖ μεγάλας ῥοπάς, καθά
I, then, am ready, because I have learned by actual experience how changeable Fortune is, and how by a small turn she makes a great difference to either side, just as
- 15.6.4ἐβούλετο μὲν ἂν
The imperfect indicative with the particle ἄν expresses an unrealized wish in the past (or a present contrary-to-fact situation). Here, Hannibal voices a regretful and impossible wish that both powers had remained content with their original territories, which would have prevented the war.
- 15.6.5ὡς ἂν εἰ περιωρισμένας
The conjunction ὡς ἂν εἰ ('as if') is used here with the passive participle περιωρισμένας, which agrees with the noun δυναστείας ('empires'). It conveys a hypothetical comparison, indicating how they would appear if they had been strictly delimited by nature.
- 15.6.8τῷ πεῖραν εἰληφέναι
The dative of the articular infinitive in the perfect tense (τῷ εἰληφέναι) functions as a dative of cause or reason ('because of having gained experience'). The perfect tense denotes a state of completed action with ongoing results, and the experience itself is further specified by the following ὡς clause.