- 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-grc2:18.22.1-18.22.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
King Philip of Macedon sends reinforcements and pushes the Romans back to the hills, but is checked by the brave resistance of the Aetolian cavalry. Urged by overly optimistic reports from his soldiers, Philip decides to deploy his forces for a decisive battle at the unfavorable terrain of Cynoscephalae.
ὁ δὲ Φίλιππος οὐδέποτʼ ἂν ἐλπίσας1 κατʼ ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν ὁλοσχερῆ γενέσθαι κίνδυνον διὰ τὰς προειρημένας αἰτίας, ἀφεικὼς ἔτυχε καὶ πλείους ἐκ τῆς παρεμβολῆς ἐπὶ χορτολογίαν.
Philip, on his part, who would never have expected a general engagement to take place on that day for the reasons already mentioned, happened to have sent a considerable number of men from the camp to forage.
τότε δὲ πυνθανόμενος τὰ συμβαίνοντα παρὰ τῶν διαποστελλομένων, καὶ τῆς ὀμίχλης ἤδη διαφαινούσης, παρακαλέσας Ἡρακλείδην τε τὸν Γυρτώνιον, ὃς ἡγεῖτο τῆς Θετταλικῆς ἵππου, καὶ Λέοντα τὸν τῶν Μακεδόνων ἱππάρχην ἐξέπεμπε, σὺν δὲ τούτοις Ἀθηναγόραν ἔχοντα πάντας τοὺς μισθοφόρους πλὴν τῶν Θρᾳκῶν.
But when he learned what was happening from the messengers, and as the mist was already clearing away, he summoned and sent out Heracleides of Gyrton, who commanded the Thessalian cavalry, and Leon, the commander of the Macedonian cavalry, and with them Athenagoras, who had all the mercenaries except the Thracians.
συναψάντων δὲ τούτων τοῖς ἐν ταῖς ἐφεδρείαις, καὶ προσγενομένης τοῖς Μακεδόσι βαρείας χειρός, ἐνέκειντο τοῖς πολεμίοις· καὶ πάλιν οὗτοι τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ἤλαυνον ἐκ μεταβολῆς ἀπὸ τῶν ἄκρων.
When these joined the outpost, and a strong reinforcement was added to the Macedonians, they pressed hard upon the enemy, and in their turn drove the Romans back from the summits.
μέγιστον δʼ αὐτοῖς ἐμπόδιον ἦν τοῦ μὴ τρέψασθαι2 τοὺς πολεμίους ὁλοσχερῶς ἡ τῶν Αἰτωλικῶν ἱππέων φιλοτιμία· πάνυ γὰρ ἐκθύμως οὗτοι καὶ παραβόλως ἐκινδύνευον.
The greatest obstacle to their completely putting the enemy to flight was the gallant spirit of the Aetolian cavalry, for they fought with great enthusiasm and recklessness.
Αἰτωλοὶ γάρ, καθʼ ὅσον ἐν τοῖς πεζικοῖς ἐλλιπεῖς εἰσι καὶ τῷ καθοπλισμῷ καὶ τῇ συντάξει πρὸς τοὺς ὁλοσχερεῖς ἀγῶνας, κατὰ τοσοῦτον τοῖς ἱππικοῖς διαφέρουσι πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων ἐν τοῖς κατὰ μέρος καὶ κατʼ ἰδίαν κινδύνοις.
For as much as the Aetolians are deficient in infantry, both in equipment and in tactics, for general engagements, so much do they excel the other Greeks in their cavalry for partial and individual combats.
διὸ καὶ τότε τούτων παρακατασχόντων τὴν ἐπιφορὰν τῶν πολεμίων, οὐκέτι συνηλάσθησαν ἕως εἰς τοὺς ἐπιπέδους τόπους, βραχὺ δʼ ἀποσχόντες ἐκ μεταβολῆς ἔστησαν.
Therefore, on this occasion too, as these held back the onset of the enemy, the Romans were no longer driven down as far as the level ground, but having retreated a short distance, they rallied and stood their ground.
ὁ δὲ Τίτος, θεωρῶν οὐ μόνον τοὺς εὐζώνους καὶ τοὺς ἱππέας ἐγκεκλικότας, ἀλλὰ διὰ τούτους καὶ τὴν ὅλην δύναμιν ἐπτοημένην, ἐξῆγε τὸ στράτευμα πᾶν καὶ παρενέβαλε πρὸς τοῖς βουνοῖς.
Titus, seeing not only his light-armed troops and cavalry giving way, but the whole army thrown into panic because of them, led out his entire force and drew them up near the hills.
κατὰ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν ἕτερος ἐφʼ ἑτέρῳ τῶν ἐκ τῆς ἐφεδρείας Μακεδόνων ἔθει πρὸς τὸν Φίλιππον, ἀναβοῶν "βασιλεῦ, φεύγουσιν οἱ πολέμιοι· μὴ παρῇς τὸν καιρόν· οὐ μένουσιν ἡμᾶς οἱ βάρβαροι· σὴ νῦν ἐστιν ἡμέρα, σὸς ὁ καιρός." ὥστε τὸν Φίλιππον,3 καίπερ οὐκ εὐδοκούμενον τοῖς τόποις, ὅμως ἐκκληθῆναι πρὸς τὸν κίνδυνον. οἱ γὰρ προειρημένοι λόφοι καλοῦνται μὲν Κυνὸς Κεφαλαί, τραχεῖς δʼ εἰσὶ καὶ περικεκλασμένοι καὶ πρὸς ὕψος ἱκανὸν ἀνατείνοντες.
At the same time, one after another of the Macedonians from the outpost ran to Philip, crying out: “O King, the enemy are fleeing! Do not let the opportunity slip! The barbarians cannot withstand us! Now the day is yours, the opportunity is yours!” with the result that Philip, although not pleased with the ground, was nevertheless drawn out to the hazard of a battle. For the hills mentioned before are called Cynoscephalae, and are rough, broken, and rising to a considerable height.
διὸ καὶ προορώμενος ὁ Φίλιππος τὴν δυσχρηστίαν τῶν τόπων, ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὲν οὐδαμῶς ἡρμόζετο πρὸς ἀγῶνα· τότε δὲ παρορμηθεὶς διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς εὐελπιστίας τῶν ἀγγελλόντων ἕλκειν παρήγγελλε τὴν δύναμιν ἐκ τοῦ χάρακος.
Therefore Philip, also foreseeing the disadvantage of the ground, had at first made no preparation at all for a battle; but on this occasion, urged on by the extreme confidence of those who brought the news, he ordered his force to advance out of the camp.
- 18.22.1οὐδέποτʼ ἂν ἐλπίσας
The participle ἐλπίσας with ἄν expresses a past potentiality or a hypothetical condition contrary to fact ("who would never have expected"). It highlights Philip's subjective belief at the time that a general engagement would not occur.
- 18.22.4τοῦ μὴ τρέψασθαι
A genitive infinitive dependent on the noun ἐμπόδιον (obstacle), which implies hindrance. In Greek, infinitives following verbs or nouns of hindering typically take a redundant negative μή, meaning "prevent from doing something."
- 18.22.8ὥστε τὸν Φίλιππον
The beginning of the consecutive clause introduced by ὥστε with an accusative and infinitive construction (ὥστε τὸν Φίλιππον ... ἐκκληθῆναι). Although the accusative subject τὸν Φίλιππον and the infinitive ἐκκληθῆναι are widely separated by the parenthetical sentence (οἱ γὰρ...), they are syntactically connected.