- 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-grc2:16.4.1-16.4.15
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The general balance of forces in the naval battle between Attalus and Philip, and the Rhodians' fierce attack on the Macedonian fleet using superior nautical tactics.
τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν νεῶν τοῦ πλήθους ὁ κίνδυνος ἐφάμιλλος ἦν·
As for the rest of the multitude of ships, the struggle was equally matched.
καθʼ ὅσον γὰρ ἐπλεόναζον οἱ παρὰ τοῦ Φιλίππου λέμβοι, κατὰ τοσοῦτον διέφερον οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἄτταλον τῷ τῶν καταφράκτων νεῶν πλήθει.
For in proportion as Philip’s lembi were more numerous, to that same extent Attalus’s men were superior in the number of their decked ships.
καὶ τὰ μὲν περὶ τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας τοῦ Φιλίππου τοιαύτην εἶχε τὴν διάθεσιν ὥστʼ ἀκμὴν ἄκριτα μένειν τὰ ὅλα, πολὺ δὲ τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἄτταλον ἐπικυδεστέρας ἔχειν1 τὰς ἐλπίδας.
And the situation on Philip’s right wing was such that, while the general issue still remained undecided, those on Attalus’s side had far more glorious hopes.
οἱ δὲ Ῥόδιοι κατὰ μὲν τὰς ἀρχὰς εὐθέως ἐκ τῆς ἀναγωγῆς ἀπεσπάσθησαν τῶν πολεμίων, καθάπερ ἀρτίως εἶπα, τῷ δὲ ταχυναυτεῖν παρὰ πολὺ διαφέροντες2 τῶν ἐναντίων συνῆψαν τοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς οὐραγίας Μακεδόσι.
The Rhodians, on the other hand, at the very beginning immediately became separated from the enemy upon putting to sea, as I have just said, but being far superior to their opponents in the speed of their sailing, they overtook the Macedonians who were in the rear.
καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὑποχωροῦσι τοῖς σκάφεσι κατὰ πρύμναν ἐπιφερόμενοι τοὺς ταρσοὺς παρέλυον·
And at first, bearing down from behind on the retreating vessels, they disabled their banks of oars.
ὡς δʼ οἱ μὲν παρὰ τοῦ Φιλίππου συνεπιστρέφειν ἤρξαντο παραβοηθοῦντες τοῖς κινδυνεύουσι, τῶν δὲ Ῥοδίων οἱ καθυστεροῦντες ἐκ τῆς ἀναγωγῆς συνῆψαν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Θεοφιλίσκον, τότε κατὰ πρόσωπον ἀντιπρώρρους τάξαντες τὰς ναῦς ἀμφότεροι συνέβαλον εὐψύχως, ὁμοῦ ταῖς σάλπιγξι καὶ τῇ κραυγῇ παρακαλοῦντες ἀλλήλους.
But when Philip’s men began to turn back to assist those in danger, and those of the Rhodians who had been delayed in putting to sea joined Theophiliscos and his men, then, positioning their ships head-on, prow to prow, both sides clashed courageously, encouraging one another with trumpets and shouting alike.
εἰ μὲν οὖν μὴ μεταξὺ τῶν καταφράκτων νεῶν ἔταξαν οἱ Μακεδόνες τοὺς λέμβους, ῥᾳδίαν ἂν καὶ σύντομον ἔλαβε3 κρίσιν ἡ ναυμαχία· νῦν δὲ ταῦτʼ ἐμπόδια πρὸς τὴν χρείαν τοῖς Ῥοδίοις ἐγίνετο κατὰ πολλοὺς τρόπους.
Now if the Macedonians had not stationed their lembi between their decked ships, the naval battle would have reached an easy and speedy decision; but as it was, these vessels became an obstacle to the Rhodians’ operations in many ways.
μετὰ γὰρ τὸ κινηθῆναι τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τάξιν ἐκ τῆς πρώτης συμβολῆς πάντες ἦσαν ἀναμὶξ ἀλλήλοις, ὅθεν οὔτε διεκπλεῖν εὐχερῶς οὔτε στρέφειν ἐδύναντο τὰς ναῦς οὔτε καθόλου χρῆσθαι τοῖς ἰδίοις προτερήμασιν, ἐμπιπτόντων αὐτοῖς τῶν λέμβων ποτὲ μὲν εἰς τοὺς ταρσούς, ὥστε δυσχρηστεῖν ταῖς εἰρεσίαις, ποτὲ δὲ πάλιν εἰς τὰς πρώρρας, ἔστι δʼ ὅτε κατὰ πρύμναν, ὥστε παραποδίζεσθαι καὶ τὴν τῶν κυβερνητῶν καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐρετῶν χρείαν.
For after the initial formation was disrupted by the first clash, everyone became mingled together. Consequently, they were able neither to sail through the enemy’s line easily, nor to turn their ships, nor to make any use of their own advantages, since the lembi fell upon them, sometimes striking their oars so as to hamper their rowing, and sometimes again charging their prows, and occasionally their sterns, so as to impede the services of both helmsmen and rowers.
κατὰ δὲ τὰς ἀντιπρώρρους συμπτώσεις ἐποίουν τι τεχνικόν·
But in the head-on collisions of prow to prow, they practiced a certain artifice.
αὐτοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἔμπρωρρα τὰ σκάφη ποιοῦντες4 ἐξάλους ἐλάμβανον τὰς πληγάς, τοῖς δὲ πολεμίοις ὕφαλα τὰ τραύματα διδόντες ἀβοηθήτους ἐσκεύαζον τὰς πληγάς.
For by depressing the bows of their own vessels, they received the blows above the waterline, but by dealing underwater wounds to the enemy, they made their hits fatal.
σπανίως δʼ εἰς τοῦτο συγκατέβαινον· καθόλου γὰρ ἐξέκλινον τὰς συμπλοκὰς διὰ τὸ γενναίως ἀμύνεσθαι τοὺς Μακεδόνας ἀπὸ τῶν καταστρωμάτων ἐν ταῖς συστάδην γινομέναις μάχαις.
However, they rarely resorted to this; for they generally avoided close entanglements because the Macedonians fought bravely from their decks in hand-to-hand combat.
τὸ δὲ πολὺ κατὰ μὲν τοὺς διέκπλους παρασύροντες τῶν πολεμίων νεῶν τοὺς ταρσοὺς ἠχρείουν· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πάλιν ἐκπεριπλέοντες, καὶ τοῖς μὲν κατὰ πρύμναν ἐμβάλλοντες, τοῖς δὲ πλαγίοις καὶ στρεφομένοις ἀκμὴν προσπίπτοντες οὓς μὲν ἐτίτρωσκον, οἷς δὲ παρέλυον ἀεί τι τῶν πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἀναγκαίων.
For the most part, indeed, by shearing off the oars of the enemy’s ships as they sailed through their lines, they rendered them useless; and then, wheeling round again, they would ram some in the stern and strike others on the beam as they were still turning, either damaging them or always disabling some part of their essential gear.
καὶ δὴ τῷ τοιούτῳ τρόπῳ μαχόμενοι παμπληθεῖς τῶν πολεμίων ναῦς διέφθειραν.
And indeed, fighting in this manner, they destroyed a great number of the enemy’s ships.
- 16.4.3ὥστʼ ἀκμὴν ἄκριτα μένειν... ἔχειν
A consecutive ὥστε clause. The adverbial accusative ἀκμὴν is used in the sense of 'still/yet' (= ἔτι). The subject of the first infinitive μένειν is the neuter plural τὰ ὅλα ('the general state of things'). The second infinitive ἔχειν, connected by δέ, has the accusative τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἄτταλον as its subject, and τὰς ἐλπίδας as its object, with the adjective ἐπικυδεστέρας modifying the object predicatively ('to have their hopes more glorious').
- 16.4.4τῷ δὲ ταχυναυτεῖν παρὰ πολὺ διαφέροντες
The dative articular infinitive τῷ ταχυναυτεῖν is a dative of respect (or cause), 'in speed of sailing', qualifying the participle διαφέροντες ('differing from / superior to'). The prepositional phrase παρὰ πολύ is used adverbially to mean 'by far/by a great deal', strengthening the degree of difference expressed by the participle.
- 16.4.8εἰ μὲν οὖν μὴ... ἔταξαν... ἂν... ἔλαβε
A past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. The protasis is formed with εἰ + indicative aorist (ἔταξαν), and the apodasis with ἄν + indicative aorist (ἔλαβε). It expresses a past hypothesis contrary to reality: 'If they had not stationed..., the battle would have reached... (but in fact they did, so it did not).'
- 16.4.12ἔμπρωρρα τὰ σκάφη ποιοῦντες
Meaning 'making the ships bow-heavy/dipping their prows'. The neuter plural accusative of the adjective ἔμπρωρρος is used adverbially or predicatively. This refers to a sophisticated Rhodian naval tactic where they intentionally depressed the bows of their vessels, causing their own ships to receive enemy blows above the waterline (ἐξάλους) while their own rams dealt fatal underwater hits (ὕφαλα) to the enemy.