- 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-grc2:18.46.1-18.46.15
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
At the Isthmian Games, the Roman herald proclaims the complete freedom of the Greek cities, and the assembled crowd erupts in joy, offering enthusiastic gratitude to the commander Titus.
δοξάντων δὲ τούτων,1 καὶ τῆς Ἰσθμίων πανηγύρεως ἐπελθούσης, καὶ σχεδὸν ἀπὸ πάσης τῆς οἰκουμένης τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων ἀνδρῶν συνεληλυθότων διὰ τὴν προσδοκίαν τῶν ἀποβησομένων, πολλοὶ καὶ ποικίλοι καθʼ ὅλην τὴν πανήγυριν ἐνέπιπτον λόγοι, τῶν μὲν ἀδύνατον εἶναι φασκόντων Ῥωμαίους ἐνίων ἀποστῆναι τόπων καὶ πόλεων, τῶν δὲ διοριζομένων ὅτι τῶν μὲν ἐπιφανῶν εἶναι δοκούντων τόπων ἀποστήσονται, τοὺς δὲ φαντασίαν μὲν ἔχοντας ἐλάττω, χρείαν δὲ τὴν αὐτὴν παρέχεσθαι δυναμένους καθέξουσι.
When these matters were decided, and the Isthmian festival was approaching, with the most distinguished men from almost the entire world assembled there owing to their expectation of what would happen, many and various rumors were circulating throughout the festival, some asserting that it was impossible for the Romans to withdraw from certain places and cities, while others declared that they would withdraw from those places that seemed conspicuous, but would retain those which, though having less prestige, were capable of rendering the same service.
καὶ τούτους εὐθέως ἐπεδείκνυσαν αὐτοὶ καθʼ αὑτῶν2 διὰ τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους εὑρεσιλογίας.
And they immediately pointed these out themselves, to their own disadvantage, through their arguments with one another.
τοιαύτης δʼ οὔσης ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τῆς ἀπορίας, ἁθροισθέντος τοῦ πλήθους εἰς τὸ στάδιον ἐπὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα, προελθὼν ὁ κῆρυξ καὶ κατασιωπησάμενος τὰ πλήθη διὰ τοῦ σαλπικτοῦ τόδε τὸ κήρυγμʼ ἀνηγόρευσεν· "
While there was such perplexity among the people, when the crowd had gathered in the stadium for the games, the herald came forward, and having silenced the crowd by means of the trumpeter, made the following proclamation:
ἡ σύγκλητος ἡ Ῥωμαίων καὶ Τίτος Κοΐντιος στρατηγὸς ὕπατος, καταπολεμήσαντες βασιλέα Φίλιππον καὶ Μακεδόνας, ἀφιᾶσιν ἐλευθέρους, ἀφρουρήτους, ἀφορολογήτους, νόμοις χρωμένους τοῖς πατρίοις, Κορινθίους, Φωκέας, Λοκρούς, Εὐβοεῖς, Ἀχαιοὺς τοὺς Φθιώτας, Μάγνητας, Θετταλούς, Περραιβούσ".
”The Senate of the Romans and Titus Quinctius, proconsul, having defeated King Philip and the Macedonians, leave free, ungarrisoned, untaxed, and governed by their ancestral laws, the Corinthians, Phocians, Locrians, Euboeans, Phthiotic Achaeans, Magnetes, Thessalians, and Perrhaebians.”
κρότου δʼ ἐν ἀρχαῖς εὐθέως ἐξαισίου γενομένου τινὲς μὲν οὐδʼ ἤκουσαν τοῦ κηρύγματος, τινὲς δὲ πάλιν ἀκούειν ἐβούλοντο.
At first, an extraordinary outburst of applause immediately occurred, so that some did not even hear the proclamation, while others wished to hear it again.
τὸ δὲ πολὺ μέρος τῶν ἀνθρώπων διαπιστούμενον καὶ δοκοῦν ὡς ἂν εἰ καθʼ ὕπνον ἀκούειν τῶν λεγομένων διὰ τὸ παράδοξον τοῦ συμβαίνοντος, πᾶς τις ἐξ ἄλλης ὁρμῆς ἐβόα προάγειν τὸν κήρυκα καὶ τὸν σαλπικτὴν εἰς μέσον τὸ στάδιον καὶ λέγειν πάλιν ὑπὲρ τῶν αὐτῶν, ὡς μὲν ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, βουλομένων τῶν ἀνθρώπων μὴ μόνον ἀκούειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ βλέπειν τὸν λέγοντα διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν τῶν ἀναγορευομένων.
But the greater part of the people, being incredulous and seeming as if they were hearing what was said in a dream because of the unexpectedness of the event, everyone from a different impulse shouted to bring the herald and the trumpeter into the middle of the stadium and to speak again on the same matters, because, as it seems to me, the people wished not only to hear but also to see the speaker on account of the incredibility of the announcement.
ὡς δὲ πάλιν ὁ κῆρυξ, προελθὼν εἰς τὸ μέσον καὶ κατασιωπησάμενος διὰ τοῦ σαλπικτοῦ τὸν θόρυβον, ἀνηγόρευσε ταὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως τοῖς πρόσθεν, τηλικοῦτον συνέβη καταρραγῆναι τὸν κρότον ὥστε καὶ μὴ ῥᾳδίως ἂν ὑπὸ τὴν ἔννοιαν ἀγαγεῖν3 τοῖς νῦν ἀκούουσι τὸ γεγονός.
And when the herald, having again come forward into the middle and silenced the noise by means of the trumpeter, made the same proclamation in the same manner as before, such a burst of applause occurred that it would not be easy for those who hear of it now to grasp the event in their minds.
ὡς δέ ποτε κατέληξεν ὁ κρότος, τῶν μὲν ἀθλητῶν ἁπλῶς οὐδεὶς οὐδένα λόγον εἶχεν ἔτι, πάντες δὲ διαλαλοῦντες, οἱ μὲν ἀλλήλοις, οἱ δὲ πρὸς σφᾶς αὐτούς, οἷον εἰ παραστατικοὶ τὰς διανοίας ἦσαν.
When the applause at length ceased, absolutely no one had any regard for the athletes any longer, but all were talking, some to one another and some to themselves, as if they were out of their minds.
ᾗ καὶ μετὰ τὸν ἀγῶνα διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς χαρᾶς μικροῦ διέφθειραν τὸν Τίτον εὐχαριστοῦντες·
And so even after the games, on account of the excess of their joy, they almost killed Titus in expressing their gratitude;
οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀντοφθαλμῆσαι κατὰ πρόσωπον καὶ σωτῆρα προσφωνῆσαι βουλόμενοι, τινὲς δὲ τῆς δεξιᾶς ἅψασθαι σπουδάζοντες, οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ στεφάνους ἐπιρριπτοῦντες καὶ λημνίσκους, παρʼ ὀλίγον διέλυσαν τὸν ἄνθρωπον.
for some wishing to look him in the face and call him savior, some eager to touch his right hand, and the majority throwing crowns and ribbons, they came near to tearing the man to pieces.
δοκούσης δὲ τῆς εὐχαριστίας ὑπερβολικῆς γενέσθαι, θαρρῶν ἄν τις εἶπε4 διότι πολὺ καταδεεστέραν εἶναι συνέβαινε τοῦ τῆς πράξεως μεγέθους.
And though this gratitude seemed excessive, one might confidently say that it was far inferior to the greatness of the deed.
θαυμαστὸν γὰρ ἦν καὶ τὸ Ῥωμαίους ἐπὶ ταύτης γενέσθαι τῆς προαιρέσεως καὶ τὸν ἡγούμενον αὐτῶν Τίτον, ὥστε πᾶσαν ὑπομεῖναι δαπάνην καὶ πάντα κίνδυνον χάριν τῆς τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐλευθερίας· μέγα δὲ καὶ τὸ δύναμιν ἀκόλουθον τῇ προαιρέσει προσενέγκασθαι·
For it was marvelous that the Romans and their leader Titus should have adopted such a policy as to undergo every expense and every danger for the sake of the freedom of the Greeks; and it was also a great thing that they brought to bear a power corresponding to their purpose;
τούτων δὲ μέγιστον ἔτι τὸ μηδὲν ἐκ τῆς τύχης ἀντιπαῖσαι πρὸς τὴν ἐπιβολήν, ἀλλʼ ἁπλῶς ἅπαντα πρὸς ἕνα καιρὸν ἐκδραμεῖν, ὥστε διὰ κηρύγματος ἑνὸς ἅπαντας καὶ τοὺς τὴν Ἀσίαν κατοικοῦντας Ἕλληνας καὶ τοὺς τὴν Εὐρώπην ἐλευθέρους, ἀφρουρήτους, ἀφορολογήτους γενέσθαι, νόμοις χρωμένους τοῖς ἰδίοις.
but greatest of all was that fortune offered no opposition to their enterprise, but that everything simply ran its course to one single moment, so that by a single proclamation all the Greeks, both those inhabiting Asia and those in Europe, became free, ungarrisoned, untaxed, and governed by their own laws.
- 18.46.1δοξάντων δὲ τούτων
A genitive absolute construction with the neuter plural pronoun τούτων as its subject. Although Greek rules typically require a singular verb or participle with a neuter plural subject, the plural form δοξάντων is used here, emphasizing the individual distinct decisions that had been made.
- 18.46.3τούτους ... καθʼ αὑτῶν
τούτους (these) is a masculine plural accusative pronoun referring to the "places of practical value (though less conspicuous)" mentioned at the end of §18.46.2. καθʼ αὑτῶν (against themselves) indicates that their own arguments turned out to be evidence to their own disadvantage.
- 18.46.9ὥστε καὶ μὴ ῥᾳδίως ἂν ὑπὸ τὴν ἔννοιαν ἀγαγεῖν
An infinitive clause introduced by the conjunction of result ὥστε. The presence of the particle ἄν gives it a potential force ("so that they would not easily grasp"), meaning that even the present hearers (τοῖς νῦν ἀκούουσι) would not easily be able to conceive of the event if they tried to imagine it.
- 18.46.13θαρρῶν ἄν τις εἶπε
The participle θαρρῶν (with confidence) combined with the aorist indicative εἶπε (said) and the particle ἄν forms a potential past construction, meaning "anyone would have said with confidence."