Conference at Lysimacheia and Demands of the Roman Envoys — Polybius, The Histories Book 18 (18.50.1–18.50.9), Greek & English

§18.50.1

Πτολεμαίου.¹ κατὰ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν ἧκον καὶ τῶν δέκα Πόπλιος μὲν Λέντλος ἐκ Βαργυλίων, Λεύκιος δὲ Τερέντιος καὶ Πόπλιος Οὐίλλιος ἐκ Θάσου.

of Ptolemy. And at the same time, of the ten commissioners, Publius Lentulus arrived from Bargylia, and Lucius Terentius and Publius Villius from Thasos.

§18.50.2

ταχὺ δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ διασαφηθείσης τῆς τούτων παρουσίας, πάντες ἐν ὀλίγαις ἡμέραις ἡθροίσθησαν εἰς τὴν Λυσιμάχειαν.

And their arrival having been quickly reported to the king, they all assembled within a few days at Lysimacheia.

§18.50.3

συνεκύρησαν δὲ καὶ οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἡγησιάνακτα καὶ Λυσίαν οἱ πρὸς τὸν Τίτον ἀποσταλέντες εἰς τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον.

At this very time also happened to arrive Hegesianax and Lysias and their company, who had been dispatched to Titus.

§18.50.4

αἱ μὲν οὖν κατʼ ἰδίαν ἐντεύξεις τοῦ τε βασιλέως καὶ τῶν Ῥωμαίων τελέως ἦσαν ἀφελεῖς καὶ φιλάνθρωποι· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα γενομένης συνεδρείας κοινῆς ὑπὲρ τῶν ὅλων ἀλλοιοτέραν ἔλαβε τὰ πράγματα διάθεσιν.

Now the private interviews between the king and the Romans were entirely frank and friendly; but after this, when a joint council was held to discuss the general situation, matters took on a different character.

§18.50.5

ὁ γὰρ Λεύκιος ὁ Κορνήλιος ἠξίου μὲν καὶ τῶν ὑπὸ Πτολεμαῖον ταττομένων πόλεων, ὅσας νῦν εἴληφε κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν, παραχωρεῖν² τὸν Ἀντίοχον, τῶν δʼ ὑπὸ Φίλιππον διεμαρτύρετο φιλοτίμως ἐξίστασθαι·

For Lucius Cornelius demanded that Antiochus should evacuate all those cities subject to Ptolemy which he had recently taken in Asia, and strongly protested that he must withdraw from those subject to Philip;

§18.50.6

γελοῖον γὰρ εἶναι³ τὰ Ῥωμαίων ἆθλα τοῦ γεγονότος αὐτοῖς πολέμου πρὸς Φίλιππον Ἀντίοχον ἐπελθόντα παραλαμβάνειν.

for he said it was ridiculous that Antiochus should come and take over the prizes of the war which the Romans had waged against Philip.

§18.50.7

παρῄνει δὲ καὶ τῶν αὐτονόμων ἀπέχεσθαι πόλεων.

He also advised him to keep his hands off the autonomous cities.

§18.50.8

καθόλου δʼ ἔφη θαυμάζειν τίνι λόγῳ τοσαύταις μὲν πεζικαῖς, τοσαύταις δὲ ναυτικαῖς δυνάμεσι πεποίηται τὴν εἰς τὴν Εὐρώπην διάβασιν·

In general, he said he wondered on what principle he had crossed over into Europe with such large forces both of land and sea;

§18.50.9

πλὴν γὰρ τοῦ προτίθεσθαι Ῥωμαίοις ἐγχειρεῖν αὐτόν,⁴ οὐδʼ ἔννοιαν ἑτέραν καταλείπεσθαι παρὰ τοῖς ὀρθῶς λογιζομένοις. οἱ μὲν οὖν Ῥωμαῖοι ταῦτʼ εἰπόντες ἀπε

for except that he proposed to attack the Romans, no other idea was left to those who reasoned correctly. The Romans, having said this, departed...

Syntax notes4 items

18.50.1Πτολεμαίου
This genitive refers to Ptolemy V Epiphanes and continues from the end of the previous section, τὰς Ἀντιόχου καὶ ('those of Antiochus and...'). Grammatically, it is coordinated with Ἀντιόχου as an attribute modifying τὰς διαλύσεις ('the settlements').
18.50.5παραχωρεῖν
The verb παραχωρέω ('to withdraw from, evacuate') takes the genitive τῶν ... πόλεων for the places evacuated, and forms an accusative with infinitive construction with τὸν Ἀντίοχον as its subject accusative.
18.50.6εἶναι
An infinitive in indirect speech (oratio obliqua) representing the statement of the Roman envoy Lucius Cornelius. The subject of εἶναι is the infinitive phrase τὰ Ῥωμαίων ἆθλα ... παραλαμβάνειν ('to take over the prizes of the Romans').
18.50.9πλὴν γὰρ τοῦ προτίθεσθαι Ῥωμαίοις ἐγχειρεῖν αὐτόν
The adverbial preposition πλὴν governs the genitive of the articular infinitive τοῦ προτίθεσθαι ('except intending'). Within this, αὐτόν is the subject accusative of the infinitive, which in turn governs another infinitive ἐγχειρεῖν ('to attack') taking the dative Ῥωμαίοις.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:18.50.1-18.50.9