- 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-grc2:16.6.1-16.6.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Attalus is isolated by Philip while attempting a rescue, forcing him to run his ships aground and retreat, but he escapes safely while the Macedonians plunder his abandoned royal goods. The Rhodians and the allied fleets also withdraw safely, bringing the naval battle to an end.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ1 παρὰ πολὺ τοῦ δεξιοῦ κέρατος κατακρατούντων τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἄτταλον,2 καὶ συνεγγιζόντων ἤδη πρὸς τὰς νησίδας ὑφʼ αἷς ὁ Φίλιππος ὥρμει καραδοκῶν τὸ συμβησόμενον, συνιδὼν Ἄτταλος μίαν πεντήρη τῶν ἰδίων ἐκτὸς τοῦ κινδύνου τετρωμένην καὶ βαπτιζομένην ὑπὸ νεὼς πολεμίας, ὥρμησε παραβοηθήσων ταύτῃ μετὰ δύο τετρήρων.
Nevertheless, as Attalus and his men were by far getting the upper hand over the right wing and were already approaching the small islands under which Philip was lying at anchor, watching for what would happen, Attalus, seeing one of his own quinqueremes damaged and sinking by an enemy ship outside the main sphere of danger, rushed to its assistance with two quadriremes.
τοῦ δὲ πολεμίου σκάφους ἐγκλίναντος καὶ ποιουμένου τὴν ἀποχώρησιν ὡς πρὸς τὴν γῆν, ἐπέκειτο φιλοτιμότερον, ἐγκρατὴς γενέσθαι σπουδάζων τῆς νεώς.
And as the enemy vessel turned away and made its retreat towards the land, he pressed on all the more eagerly, striving to make himself master of the ship.
ὁ δὲ Φίλιππος, συνθεασάμενος ἀπεσπασμένον πολὺ τὸν Ἄτταλον ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων, παραλαβὼν τέτταρας πεντήρεις καὶ τρεῖς ἡμιολίας, ἔτι δὲ τῶν λέμβων τοὺς ἐγγὺς ὄντας, ὥρμησε, καὶ διακλείσας τὸν Ἄτταλον ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκείων νεῶν ἠνάγκασε μετὰ μεγάλης ἀγωνίας εἰς τὴν γῆν ἐκβαλεῖν τὰ σκάφη.
But Philip, observing that Attalus was separated at a great distance from his own men, took four quinqueremes and three hemioliae, as well as those of the lembi that were nearby, and rushed forth; having cut Attalus off from his own ships, he forced him in great anxiety to run his vessels aground.
τούτου δὲ συμβάντος αὐτὸς μὲν ὁ βασιλεὺς μετὰ τῶν πληρωμάτων εἰς τὰς Ἐρυθρὰς ἀπεχώρησε, τῶν δὲ πλοίων καὶ τῆς βασιλικῆς κατασκευῆς ἐγκρατὴς ὁ Φίλιππος ἐγένετο.
When this happened, the king himself with his crews retreated to Erythrae, while Philip became master of the vessels and the royal baggage.
καὶ γὰρ ἐποίησάν τι τεχνικὸν ἐν τούτοις τοῖς καιροῖς οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἄτταλον· τὰ γὰρ ἐπιφανέστατα τῆς βασιλικῆς κατασκευῆς ἐπὶ τὸ κατάστρωμα τῆς νεὼς ἐξέβαλον.
For Attalus and his men performed a clever trick at this juncture: they threw out the most splendid of the royal belongings upon the deck of the ship.
ὅθεν οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν Μακεδόνων, συνάψαντες ἐν τοῖς λέμβοις, συνθεασάμενοι ποτηρίων πλῆθος καὶ πορφυρῶν ἱματίων καὶ τῶν τούτοις παρεπομένων σκευῶν, ἀφέμενοι τοῦ διώκειν ἀπένευσαν ἐπὶ τὴν τούτων ἁρπαγήν.
Hence the foremost of the Macedonians, coming alongside in their lembi and beholding a multitude of drinking cups, purple garments, and the utensils accompanying them, abandoned the pursuit and turned aside to plunder these things.
διὸ συνέβη τὸν Ἄτταλον ἀσφαλῆ ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἀποχώρησιν εἰς τὰς Ἐρυθράς.
Wherefore it came about that Attalus made his retreat in safety to Erythrae.
Φίλιππος δὲ τοῖς μὲν ὅλοις ἠλαττωμένος παρὰ πολὺ τὴν ναυμαχίαν, τῇ δὲ περιπετείᾳ τῇ κατὰ τὸν Ἄτταλον ἐπαρθείς, ἐπανέπλει, καὶ πολὺς ἦν συναθροίζων3 τὰς σφετέρας ναῦς καὶ παρακαλῶν τοὺς ἄνδρας εὐθαρσεῖς εἶναι, διότι νικῶσι τῇ ναυμαχίᾳ·
But Philip, though on the whole heavily defeated in the sea fight, yet elated by the unexpected turn of fortune concerning Attalus, sailed back and was very active in collecting his own ships and encouraging his men to be of good cheer, on the ground that they were victorious in the naval battle.
καὶ γὰρ ὑπέδραμέ τις ἔννοια καὶ πιθανότης τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὡς ἀπολωλότος τοῦ βασιλέως Ἀττάλου διὰ τὸ κατάγειν τοὺς περὶ τὸν Φίλιππον ἀναδεδεμένους τὴν βασιλικὴν ναῦν.4
For indeed, a certain belief and appearance of probability stole upon the men that King Attalus had perished, because Philip’s men were towing away the royal flagship which they had taken in tow.
ὁ δὲ Διονυσόδωρος ὑπονοήσας τὸ περὶ τὸν αὑτοῦ βασιλέα γεγονός, ἥθροιζε τὰς οἰκείας ναῦς ἐξαίρων σύνθημα· ταχὺ δὲ συλλεχθεισῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπέπλει μετʼ ἀσφαλείας εἰς τοὺς κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν ὅρμους.
But Dionysodorus, suspecting what had happened to his own king, collected his own ships by raising a signal; and when they had quickly gathered to him, he sailed away in safety to the harbors on the Asian coast.
κατὰ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν οἱ πρὸς τοὺς Ῥοδίους ἀγωνιζόμενοι τῶν Μακεδόνων, πάλαι κακῶς πάσχοντες, ἐξέλυον αὑτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ κινδύνου μετὰ προφάσεως κατὰ μέρη ποιούμενοι τὴν ἀποχώρησιν, ὡς ταῖς οἰκείαις σπεύδοντες ἐπικουρῆσαι ναυσίν.
At the same time, those of the Macedonians who were fighting against the Rhodians, having long been in a bad plight, began to extricate themselves from the danger by retreating in separate detachments under the pretext of hastening to the aid of their own ships.
οἱ δὲ Ῥόδιοι, τὰς μὲν ἀναδησάμενοι τῶν νεῶν, τὰς δὲ προδιαφθείραντες ταῖς ἐμβολαῖς, ἀπέπλευσαν εἰς τὴν Χίον.
The Rhodians, having taken some of the ships in tow and destroyed others beforehand by ramming, sailed away to Chios.
- 16.6.1οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ
This combination of particles acts as a strong adversative, introducing a new and decisive turn in the narrative ('nevertheless', 'but indeed') in contrast to the previously stalemated battle.
- 16.6.1κατακρατούντων τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἄτταλον
This is a genitive absolute construction led by the participles κατακρατούντων and συνεγγιζόντων. Although the logical subject refers to Attalus and his men, which is essentially identical to the main subject of the following sentence (Ἄτταλος in §16.6.2), the genitive absolute is used here to describe the collective action of his entire division.
- 16.6.9πολὺς ἦν συναθροίζων
The adjective πολύς used with the imperfect ἦν and the present participle συναθροίζων is an idiomatic expression meaning 'he was very active in doing' or 'he was busy doing', emphasizing the energetic state of the subject's activity.
- 16.6.10διὰ τὸ κατάγειν τοὺς περὶ τὸν Φίλιππον ἀναδεδεμένους τὴν βασιλικὴν ναῦν
This is an articular infinitive construction governed by the preposition διὰ. The subject of the infinitive κατάγειν is the accusative phrase τοὺς περὶ τὸν Φίλιππον (Philip and his men), and its direct object is τὴν βασιλικὴν ναῦν (the royal ship), while the masculine accusative plural participle ἀναδεδεμένους (having fastened/taken in tow) modifies the subject τοὺς περὶ τὸν Φίλιππον.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1