- 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-grc2:2.22.1-2.22.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
The Insubres and Boii secure the alliance of the Gaesatae, a mercenary tribe from the Alps, by promising gold and invoking the glorious memories of their ancestors who once captured Rome. Terrified by this mobilization, the Romans secure a treaty with Hasdrubal in Spain in order to concentrate all their military efforts on the Celtic threat in Italy.
διόπερ εὐθέως τὰ μέγιστα τῶν ἐθνῶν, τό τε τῶν Ἰνσόμβρων καὶ Βοίων, συμφρονήσαντα διεπέμποντο πρὸς τοὺς κατὰ τὰς Ἄλπεις καὶ περὶ τὸν Ῥοδανὸν ποταμὸν κατοικοῦντας Γαλάτας, προσαγορευομένους δὲ διὰ τὸ μισθοῦ στρατεύειν1 Γαισάτους· ἡ γὰρ λέξις αὕτη τοῦτο σημαίνει κυρίως.
Therefore immediately the greatest of the tribes, namely the Insubres and Boii, acting in concert, sent messengers to the Galatians who dwelt near the Alps and around the river Rhone, who were called Gaesatae because they served for hire; for this word indeed properly means this.
ὧν τοῖς βασιλεῦσι Κογκολιτάνῳ καὶ Ἀνηροέστῳ παραυτίκα μὲν χρυσίου προτείναντες πλῆθος, εἰς τὸ μέλλον δʼ ὑποδεικνύντες τὸ μέγεθος τῆς Ῥωμαίων εὐδαιμονίας καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ὑπαρξόντων αὐτοῖς ἀγαθῶν, ἐὰν κρατήσωσι, προετρέποντο καὶ παρώξυνον πρὸς τὴν ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους στρατείαν.
To their kings, Concolitanus and Aneroëstus, they offered a large sum of gold at once, and for the future, by pointing out the magnitude of the prosperity of the Romans and the abundance of the goods that would be theirs if they conquered, they urged and incited them to the expedition against the Romans.
ῥᾳδίως δʼ ἔπεισαν, ἅμα τοῖς προειρημένοις διδόντες μὲν τὰ πιστὰ περὶ τῆς αὑτῶν συμμαχίας, ἀναμιμνήσκοντες δὲ τῆς τῶν ἰδίων προγόνων πράξεως αὐτούς·2
And they easily persuaded them, giving them at the same time as the aforementioned offers pledges of their own alliance, and reminding them of the achievements of their own ancestors;
ἐν ᾗ ʼκεῖνοι στρατεύσαντες οὐ μόνον ἐνίκησαν μαχόμενοι Ῥωμαίους, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ τὴν μάχην ἐξ ἐφόδου κατέσχον αὐτὴν τὴν Ῥώμην·
in which those ancestors, having made an expedition, not only defeated the Romans in battle, but also, after the fight, captured Rome itself by assault;
γενόμενοι δὲ καὶ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἁπάντων ἐγκρατεῖς καὶ τῆς πόλεως αὐτῆς ἑπτὰ μῆνας κυριεύσαντες, τέλος ἐθελοντὶ καὶ μετὰ χάριτος παραδόντες τὴν πόλιν, ἄθραυστοι καὶ ἀσινεῖς ἔχοντες τὴν ὠφέλειαν εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπανῆλθον.
and having become masters of all that was in it, and having ruled the city itself for seven months, they finally gave back the city voluntarily and as a favor, and returned to their own country safe and unharmed, keeping their booty.
ὧν ἀκούοντες οἱ περὶ αὐτοὺς ἡγεμόνες οὕτω παρωρμήθησαν ἐπὶ τὴν στρατείαν ὥστε μηδέποτε μήτε πλείους μήτʼ ἐνδοξοτέρους μήτε μαχιμωτέρους ἄνδρας ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ τούτων τῶν τόπων τῆς Γαλατίας.
On hearing this, the leaders of the Gaesatae were so excited for the expedition that never had a larger, more illustrious, or more warlike body of men set out from these parts of Gallia.
κατὰ δὲ τοὺς καιροὺς τούτους Ῥωμαῖοι τὰ μὲν ἀκούοντες τὰ δὲ καταμαντευόμενοι τὸ μέλλον εἰς φόβους ἐνέπιπτον συνεχεῖς καὶ ταραχὰς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὥστε ποτὲ μὲν στρατόπεδα καταγράφειν καὶ σίτου καὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ποιεῖσθαι παρασκευάς, ποτὲ δὲ καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις ἐξάγειν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρους, ὡς ἤδη παρόντων εἰς τὴν χώραν τῶν πολεμίων, οὐδέπω κεκινηκότων ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας τῶν Κελτῶν.3
During this time, the Romans, partly hearing these things and partly anticipating the future, fell into such continuous fears and panics, that at one time they enrolled legions and made preparations of corn and other provisions, and at another time even marched their forces to the frontier, as if the enemy were already present in their country, while the Celts had not yet even moved from their own land.
οὐκ ἐλάχιστα δὲ συνήργησεν καὶ Καρχηδονίοις τοῦτο τὸ κίνημα πρὸς τὸ κατασκευάσασθαι τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν ἀσφαλῶς.
This movement also contributed not a little to the Carthaginians for securing their affairs in Iberia.
Ῥωμαῖοι γάρ, ὡς καὶ πρόσθεν ἡμῖν εἴρηται, κρίνοντες ἀναγκαιότερα ταῦτα διὰ τὸ πρὸς ταῖς πλευραῖς αὐτῶν ὑπάρχειν παρορᾶν ἠναγκάζοντο τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν, σπουδάζοντες πρότερον ἐν καλῷ θέσθαι τὰ κατὰ τοὺς Κελτούς.
For the Romans, as we have said before, deciding that this danger was more pressing because it was on their very flanks, were forced to overlook the affairs in Iberia, being anxious first to settle the Celtic business on favorable terms.
διόπερ ἀσφαλισάμενοι τὰ πρὸς τοὺς Καρχηδονίους διὰ τῶν πρὸς τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν ὁμολογιῶν, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἄρτι δεδηλώκαμεν, ἐνεχείρησαν ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐν τούτοις τοῖς καιροῖς πρὸς τοὺς κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν πολεμίους, νομίζοντες συμφέρειν σφίσι τὸ διακριθῆναι4 πρὸς τούτους.
Therefore, having secured their relations with the Carthaginians by the treaty with Hasdrubal, of which we have just spoken, they applied themselves wholeheartedly at this crisis to the enemies in Italy, thinking it to their advantage to bring matters to a decision with them.
- 2.22.1διὰ τὸ μισθοῦ στρατεύειν
A gerundial construction (articular infinitive in the accusative) with the preposition διά to express cause, containing the genitive of price μισθοῦ. It literally means 'on account of serving for pay/hire,' which serves as the etymological explanation for the name 'Gaesatae.'
- 2.22.3ἀναμιμνήσκοντες δὲ τῆς τῶν ἰδίων προγόνων πράξεως αὐτούς
The verb ἀναμιμνήσκω governs a double construction: the accusative of the person reminded (αὐτούς) and the genitive of the thing they are reminded of (πράξεως). Here ἰδίων (their own) refers broadly to the shared Gallic ancestors of both the persuaders (Insubres and Boii) and the persuaded (Gaesatae).
- 2.22.8ὡς ἤδη παρόντων εἰς τὴν χώραν τῶν πολεμίων, οὐδέπω κεκινηκότων ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας τῶν Κελτῶν
Two genitive absolute constructions introduced by the conjunction ὡς. The first, παρόντων... τῶν πολεμίων, expresses the subjective belief of the Romans ('as if the enemy were already present'), while the second, οὐδέπω κεκινηκότων [τῶν Κελτῶν] (with its subject τῶν Κελτῶν), has a concessive force expressing the objective reality ('although the Celts had not yet moved').
- 2.22.11τὸ διακριθῆναι
An articular infinitive functioning as the subject of the impersonal infinitive συμφέρειν ('to be of advantage'). The passive voice of διακρίνω is used here in a middle/reciprocal sense, meaning 'to bring matters to a decision' or 'to settle the issue.'
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1