- 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-grc2:16.30.1-16.30.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Philip begins the siege of Abydos by land and sea, and though the inhabitants resist fiercely, the collapse of their wall forces them to offer a conditional surrender.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ1 ὅ γε Φίλιππος τὰ μὲν ἀποσταυρώσας, τὰ δὲ περιχαρακώσας τοὺς Ἀβυδηνοὺς ἐπολιόρκει καὶ κατὰ γῆν ἅμα καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν.
Nevertheless, Philip, barricading some points with palisades and enclosing others with trenches, besieged the Abydenians both by land and by sea at the same time.
ἡ δὲ πρᾶξις αὕτη κατὰ μὲν τὸ μέγεθος τῆς παρασκευῆς καὶ τὴν ποικιλίαν τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις ἐπινοημάτων, διʼ ὧν οἵ τε πολιορκοῦντες καὶ πολιορκούμενοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους εἰώθασιν ἀντιμηχανᾶσθαι καὶ φιλοτεχνεῖν, οὐ γέγονε θαυμάσιος, κατὰ δὲ τὴν γενναιότητα τῶν πολιορκουμένων καὶ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς εὐψυχίας, εἰ καί τις ἄλλη,2 μνήμης ἀξία καὶ παραδόσεως.
This operation was not remarkable in respect to the scale of the preparations and the variety of devices employed in the works, by which both the besiegers and the besieged are accustomed to counter-plan and display ingenuity against one another, but in respect to the nobility of the besieged and the extraordinary nature of their courage, if any other operation ever was, it is worthy of memory and record.
τὰς μὲν γὰρ ἀρχὰς3 πιστεύοντες αὑτοῖς οἱ τὴν Ἄβυδον κατοικοῦντες ὑπέμενον ἐρρωμένως τὰς τοῦ Φιλίππου παρασκευάς, καὶ τῶν τε κατὰ θάλατταν προσαχθέντων μηχανημάτων τὰ μὲν τοῖς πετροβόλοις τύπτοντες διεσάλευσαν, τὰ δὲ τῷ πυρὶ διέφθειραν, οὕτως ὥστε καὶ τὰς ναῦς μόλις ἀνασπάσαι τοὺς πολεμίους ἐκ τοῦ κινδύνου.
For at first, the inhabitants of Abydos, trusting in themselves, stoutly withstood Philip’s preparations, and of the engines brought against them by sea, some they shattered by striking them with their stone-projectors, and others they destroyed by fire, so that the enemy with difficulty managed to rescue even their ships from the danger.
τοῖς δὲ κατὰ γῆν ἔργοις ἕως μέν τινος προσαντεῖχον εὐψύχως, οὐκ ἀπελπίζοντες κατακρατήσειν τῶν πολεμίων.
Against the works on land they also held out courageously for a time, not despairing of getting the upper hand over the enemy.
ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὸ μὲν ἐκτὸς τοῦ τείχους ἔπεσε διὰ τῶν ὀρυγμάτων, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα διὰ τῶν μετάλλων ἤγγιζον οἱ Μακεδόνες τῷ κατὰ τὸ πεπτωκὸς ὑπὸ τῶν ἔνδοθεν ἀντῳκοδομημένῳ τείχει, τὸ τηνικάδε πέμψαντες πρεσβευτὰς Ἰφιάδην καὶ Παντάγνωτον ἐκέλευον παραλαμβάνειν τὸν Φίλιππον τὴν πόλιν, τοὺς μὲν στρατιώτας ὑποσπόνδους ἀφέντα τοὺς παρὰ Ῥοδίων καὶ παρʼ Ἀττάλου, τὰ δʼ ἐλεύθερα τῶν σωμάτων4 ἐάσαντα σῴζεσθαι κατὰ δύναμιν οὗ ποτʼ ἂν ἕκαστος προαιρῆται μετὰ τῆς ἐσθῆτος τῆς περὶ τὸ σῶμα.
But when the outer wall fell owing to the mines, and afterwards the Macedonians, through the underground passages, approached the counter-wall which had been built inside by the inhabitants behind the fallen section, then they sent Iphiades and Pantagnotus as envoys and offered to surrender the city to Philip, on condition that he should let the soldiers from Rhodes and Attalus depart under a truce, and allow the free citizens to save themselves, going with their clothes on their backs to whatever place each might choose, as far as they were able.
τοῦ δὲ Φιλίππου προστάττοντος περὶ πάντων ἐπιτρέπειν5
But when Philip ordered them to surrender at discretion,
- 16.30.1οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ
Adversative particle combination. It serves to transition from the extreme geographical difficulties of approaching Abydos described in the previous chapter to the fact that Philip nevertheless proceeded to besiege it.
- 16.30.3εἰ καί τις ἄλλη
An idiomatic elliptical expression meaning "if any other (event) ever was." It functions as a superlative, emphasizing that the bravery of the besieged Abydenians is worthy of remembrance above all others.
- 16.30.4τὰς μὲν ἀρχὰς
Adverbial accusative meaning "at first" or "in the beginning." It stands in contrast with the subsequent decline of their fortune introduced by ἐπειδὴ δὲ in §16.30.6.
- 16.30.7τὰ δʼ ἐλεύθερα τῶν σωμάτων
A metonymic expression referring to "free persons" (i.e., citizens who are not slaves). It combines the neuter plural adjective ἐλεύθερα with the partitive genitive τῶν σωμάτων (literally "of bodies," used here for individuals).
- 16.30.8περὶ πάντων ἐπιτρέπειν
An idiomatic diplomatic/military expression meaning "to surrender at discretion" (literally, "to entrust concerning all things"). The implied subject of the infinitive ἐπιτρέπειν is the Abydenians, and the infinitive itself depends on προστάττοντος.