- 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-grc2:18.26.1-18.26.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
A Roman military tribune took the initiative to attack the Macedonian rear, securing victory. Philip fled upon realizing his defeat, while Titus attempted to spare the surrendering Macedonian left wing, but advanced Roman soldiers slaughtered them.
οἱ μὲν οὖν πλείους τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἑπόμενοι τούτους ἔκτεινον·
Thus, the greater part of the Romans pursued and began to slaughter them.
εἷς δὲ τῶν χιλιάρχων τῶν ἅμα τούτοις, σημαίας ἔχων οὐ πλείους εἴκοσι, καὶ παρʼ αὐτὸν τὸν τῆς χρείας καιρὸν συμφρονήσας ὃ δέον εἴη ποιεῖν,1 μεγάλα συνεβάλετο πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὅλων κατόρθωσιν.
But one of the military tribunes with them, who had no more than twenty maniples, having grasped what was necessary to do at the very moment of crisis, contributed greatly to the overall victory.
θεωρῶν γὰρ τοὺς περὶ τὸν Φίλιππον ἐπὶ πολὺ προπεπτωκότας τῶν ἄλλων καὶ πιεζοῦντας τῷ βάρει τὸ σφέτερον εὐώνυμον, ἀπολιπὼν τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ νικῶντας ἤδη καταφανῶς, ἐπιστρέψας ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀγωνιζομένους καὶ κατόπιν ἐπιγενόμενος προσέβαλλε κατὰ νώτου τοῖς Μακεδόσι.
For, seeing that those under Philip had advanced far ahead of the others and were hard pressing the Roman left with their weight, he left those on the right who were already visibly victorious, wheeled round towards the scene of combat, and coming up behind them, attacked the Macedonians in the rear.
τῆς δὲ τῶν φαλαγγιτῶν χρείας ἀδυνάτου καθεστώσης2 ἐκ μεταβολῆς καὶ κατʼ ἄνδρα κινδυνεύειν, οὗτος μὲν ἐπέκειτο κτείνων τοὺς ἐν ποσίν, οὐ δυναμένους αὑτοῖς βοηθεῖν, ἕως οὗ ῥίψαντες τὰ ὅπλα φεύγειν ἠναγκάσθησαν οἱ Μακεδόνες, συνεπιθεμένων αὐτοῖς ἐκ μεταβολῆς καὶ τῶν κατὰ πρόσωπον ἐγκεκλικότων. ὁ δὲ Φίλιππος ἐν μὲν ταῖς ἀρχαῖς, καθάπερ εἶπα, τεκμαιρόμενος ἐκ τοῦ καθʼ αὑτὸν μέρους ἐπέπειστο τελέως νικᾶν·
Since the nature of the phalangites made it impossible for them to face about and fight individually, he pressed hard on them, slaughtering those in his path who were unable to defend themselves, until the Macedonians were forced to throw away their weapons and flee, as those who had been giving way in front also turned back and joined in the attack. Philip, indeed, at first, as I said, judging from the part of the field where he was, had been convinced that he was completely victorious;
τότε δὲ συνθεασάμενος ἄφνω ῥιπτοῦντας τὰ ὅπλα τοὺς Μακεδόνας καὶ τοὺς πολεμίους κατὰ νώτου προσβεβληκότας, βραχὺ γενόμενος ἐκ τοῦ κινδύνου μετʼ ὀλίγων ἱππέων καὶ πεζῶν συνεθεώρει τὰ ὅλα.
but when he suddenly saw that the Macedonians were throwing away their weapons and that the enemy had attacked them in the rear, he withdrew a short distance out of danger with a few horsemen and foot-soldiers, and surveyed the whole scene.
κατανοήσας δὲ τοὺς Ῥωμαίους κατὰ τὸ δίωγμα τοῦ λαιοῦ κέρως τοῖς ἄκροις ἤδη προσπελάζοντας, ἐγίνετο πρὸς τὸ φεύγειν, ὅσους ἐδύνατο πλείστους ἐκ τοῦ καιροῦ συναθροίσας τῶν Θρᾳκῶν καὶ Μακεδόνων.
Grasping that the Romans, in their pursuit of his left wing, were already approaching the heights, he turned to flight, having collected as many Thracians and Macedonians as he could under the circumstances.
Τίτος δὲ τοῖς φεύγουσιν ἑπόμενος, καὶ καταλαβὼν ἐν ταῖς ὑπερβολαῖς ἄρτι τοῖς ἄκροις ἐπιβαλλούσας τὰς εὐωνύμους τάξεις τῶν Μακεδόνων τὰς μὲν ἀρχὰς ἐπέστη, τῶν πολεμίων ὀρθὰς ἀνασχόντων τὰς σαρίσας, ὅπερ ἔθος ἐστὶ ποιεῖν τοῖς Μακεδόσιν, ὅταν ἢ παραδιδῶσιν αὑτοὺς ἢ μεταβάλλωνται πρὸς τοὺς ὑπεναντίους·
Titus, following those in flight and coming upon the Macedonian left-wing divisions just as they reached the ridges on the pass, at first halted his men, since the enemy held their sarissas upright, which is the custom of the Macedonians when they either surrender or go over to the enemy.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πυθόμενος τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ συμβαίνοντος παρακατεῖχε τοὺς μεθʼ αὑτοῦ φείσασθαι κρίνων τῶν ἀποδεδειλιακότων.
After this, on learning the reason for what was happening, he held back those with him, deciding to spare those who had lost their courage.
ἀκμὴν δὲ τοῦ Τίτου ταῦτα διανοουμένου3 τῶν προηγουμένων τινὲς ἐπιπεσόντες αὐτοῖς ἐξ ὑπερδεξίου προσέφερον τὰς χεῖρας, καὶ τοὺς μὲν πλείους διέφθειρον, ὀλίγοι δέ τινες διέφυγον ῥίψαντες τὰ ὅπλα.
But while Titus was still contemplating this, some of those who were in advance fell upon them from higher ground and attacked them, destroying the greater part of them, while only a few escaped after throwing away their weapons.
- 18.26.2ὃ δέον εἴη ποιεῖν
An indirect question clause ('what was necessary to do'), where the indicative of the direct form (δέον ἐστί) has changed into the oblique optative (δέον εἴη) due to the main verb being in the past tense (συνεβάλετο). The participle δέον is functioning as the neuter participle of the impersonal verb δεῖ.
- 18.26.4τῆς δὲ τῶν φαλαγγιτῶν χρείας ἀδυνάτου καθεστώσης
A genitive absolute construction. The noun χρεία here refers to the 'function,' 'utility,' or 'tactical characteristic' of the phalangites. The adjective ἀδυνάτου, followed by the infinitive κινδυνεύειν ('to run a risk', 'to fight'), functions as a predicative modifier meaning 'rendering it impossible to...'.
- 18.26.12ἀκμὴν δὲ τοῦ Τίτου ταῦτα διανοουμένου
The accusative noun ἀκμήν is used adverbially to mean 'just at the moment' or 'still,' emphasizing the temporal coincidence of the genitive absolute 'τοῦ Τίτου ταῦτα διανοουμένου' ('while Titus was contemplating these things'). This is a characteristic usage frequently found in post-classical Greek (Koine).