- 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-grc2:16.15.1-16.15.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Polybius points out the contradiction in Zeno and Antisthenes, who describe various objective facts indicating the defeat of the Rhodians but still claim a Rhodian victory, and notes that an official letter from the admiral of that time supports his own account.
δῆλον δʼ ἔστι τὸ λεγόμενον ἐκ τῶν ἐνεστώτων. ὁμολογοῦντες1 γὰρ οἱ προειρημένοι διὰ τῶν κατὰ μέρος ἐν τῇ περὶ Λάδην ναυμαχίᾳ δύο μὲν αὐτάνδρους πεντήρεις τῶν Ῥοδίων ὑποχειρίους γενέσθαι τοῖς πολεμίοις, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ κινδύνου μιᾶς νηὸς ἐπαραμένης τὸν δόλωνα διὰ τὸ τετρωμένην αὐτὴν θαλαττοῦσθαι, πολλοὺς καὶ τῶν ἐγγὺς τὸ παραπλήσιον ποιοῦντας ἀποχωρεῖν πρὸς τὸ πέλαγος, τέλος δὲ μετʼ ὀλίγων καταλειφθέντα τὸν ναύαρχον ἀναγκασθῆναι ταὐτὸ τοῖς προειρημένοις πράττειν, καὶ τότε μὲν εἰς τὴν Μυνδίαν ἀπουρώσαντας καθορμισθῆναι, τῇ δʼ ἐπαύριον ἀναχθέντας εἰς Κῶ διᾶραι, τοὺς δὲ πολεμίους τὰς πεντήρεις ἐνάψασθαι καὶ καθορμισθέντας ἐπὶ τὴν Λάδην ἐπὶ τῇ ʼκείνων στρατοπεδείᾳ ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἔπαυλιν, ἔτι δὲ τοὺς Μιλησίους, καταπλαγέντας τὸ γεγονός, οὐ μόνον τὸν Φίλιππον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν Ἡρακλείδην στεφανῶσαι διὰ τὴν ἔφοδον, ταῦτα δʼ εἰρηκότες ἃ προφανῶς ἐστιν ἴδια τῶν ἡττημένων, ὅμως καὶ διὰ τῶν κατὰ μέρος καὶ διὰ τῆς καθολικῆς ἀποφάσεως νικῶντας ἀποφαίνουσι τοὺς Ῥοδίους, καὶ ταῦτα2 τῆς ἐπιστολῆς ἔτι μενούσης ἐν τῷ πρυτανείῳ τῆς ὑπʼ αὐτοὺς τοὺς καιροὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ ναυάρχου πεμφθείσης περὶ τούτων τῇ τε βουλῇ καὶ τοῖς πρυτάνεσιν, οὐ ταῖς Ἀντισθένους καὶ Ζήνωνος ἀποφάσεσι συμφωνούσης ἀλλὰ ταῖς ἡμετέραις.
What is being said is clear from the actual facts. For the aforementioned writers, while admitting in their detailed account of the naval battle around Lade that two Rhodian quinqueremes with their entire crews fell into the hands of the enemy, and that, as one ship in the danger raised her foresail because she was damaged and taking in water, many of the nearby ships did the same and retreated toward the open sea, and that finally the admiral, left behind with a few ships, was forced to do the same as those mentioned before, and that at that time, having retreated to the territory of Myndia, they came to anchor, and on the next day, having set sail, they crossed over to Cos, and that the enemy lashed the quinqueremes to their own ships and, having come to anchor at Lade, made their camp on the site of the Rhodians’ encampment, and furthermore, that the Milesians, astonished at what had happened, crowned not only Philip but also Heraclides for their assault— although they have stated these things which are clearly characteristic of the defeated, they nevertheless declare, both in their detailed accounts and in their general assertion, that the Rhodians were victorious, and this, too, while the letter sent concerning these matters by the admiral to the senate and the prytaneis at that very time still remains in the prytaneum, agreeing not with the assertions of Antisthenes and Zeno, but with our own.
- 16.15.1ὁμολογοῦντες
The participle ὁμολογοῦντες (nominative plural masculine) modifies the subject οἱ προειρημένοι (the aforementioned writers) and governs the long series of accusative with infinitive clauses (γενέσθαι, ἀποχωρεῖν, ἀναγκασθῆναι, καθορμισθῆναι, διᾶραι, ἐνάψασθαι, ποιήσασθαι, στεφανῶσαι) spanning from §16.15.1 to §16.15.6. This entire structure is finally picked up by the main verb ἀποφαίνουσι in §16.15.7.
- 16.15.8καὶ ταῦτα
καὶ ταῦτα is an idiomatic expression meaning "and that too" or "and this despite the fact that," which here introduces the genitive absolute construction τῆς ἐπιστολῆς... μενούσης... to emphasize a strong concession or contrast against the main clause.