Arrival of Roman Envoys to Antiochus in Selymbria — Polybius, The Histories Book 18 (18.49.1–18.49.3), Greek & English

§18.49.1

ἐάν, τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον, τρέχωσι τὴν ἐσχάτην,¹ ἐπὶ τοὺς Ῥωμαίους καταφεύξονται καὶ τούτοις ἐγχειριοῦσι σφᾶς αὐτοὺς καὶ τὴν πόλιν. —

If they, as the saying goes, run their last course, they will flee to the Romans and hand themselves and their city over to them. —

§18.49.2

ὅτι² προχωρούσης τῷ Ἀντιόχῳ κατὰ νοῦν τῆς ἐπιβολῆς παρόντι ἐν Θρᾴκῃ τῷ Ἀντιόχῳ³ κατέπλευσαν εἰς Σηλυβρίαν οἱ περὶ Λεύκιον Κορνήλιον.

While Antiochus’s enterprise was proceeding according to his wish, and while he was present in Thrace, Lucius Cornelius and his company sailed into Selymbria.

§18.49.3

οὗτοι δʼ ἦσαν παρὰ τῆς συγκλήτου πρέσβεις ἐπὶ τὰς διαλύσεις ἐξαπεσταλμένοι τὰς Ἀντιόχου καὶ

These were envoys dispatched by the Senate for the settlement of the affairs of Antiochus, and

Syntax notes3 items

18.49.1τρέχωσι τὴν ἐσχάτην
An idiomatic expression. The omitted noun is generally understood to be δρόμον (course) or πλάστιγγα (scale), meaning "to resort to the last extremity" or "to run the last course".
18.49.2ὅτι
Since this passage is preserved in excerpts, the initial ὅτι serves as an introductory marker ("that...") for the excerpt and is left untranslated to make a natural main clause.
18.49.2προχωρούσης τῷ Ἀντιόχῳ κατὰ νοῦν τῆς ἐπιβολῆς παρόντι ἐν Θρᾴκῃ τῷ Ἀντιόχῳ
Within the genitive absolute construction προχωρούσης ... τῆς ἐπιβολῆς ("as the enterprise was proceeding"), the dative of interest τῷ Ἀντιόχῳ is used and repeated with the appositive τῷ Ἀντιόχῳ accompanied by the participle παρόντι ("being present").

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-10-09)

2026-10-09 Collated with the printed edition — source 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:18.49.1-18.49.3