- 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-grc2:2.4.1-2.4.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
The Medionians inscribed their spoils by ironically adopting the Aetolian decree, while the defeated Aetolians served as a lesson to humanity regarding the unpredictability of fortune and war. In Illyria, King Agron died of illness following excessive celebrations, and his successor Queen Teuta authorized and supported private piracy and aggressive naval expeditions.
πλοῦν εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν. οἱ δὲ Μεδιώνιοι τετευχότες ἀνελπίστου σωτηρίας, ἁθροισθέντες εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐβουλεύοντο περί τε τῶν ἄλλων καὶ περὶ τῆς τῶν ὅπλων ἐπιγραφῆς.
voyage to their own country. But the Medionians, having obtained an unexpected salvation, assembling in the assembly, deliberated both on other matters and on the inscription of the arms.
ἔδοξεν οὖν αὐτοῖς κοινὴν ποιήσειν τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν ἀπό τε τοῦ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν ἔχοντος1 καὶ τῶν εἰς τὸ μέλλον προπορευομένων κατὰ τὸ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν δόγμα, τῆς τύχης ὥσπερ ἐπίτηδες καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις ἐπὶ τῶν ἐκείνοις συμβαινόντων ἐνδεικνυμένης τὴν αὑτῆς δύναμιν.
It seemed good to them, therefore, to make the inscription common, from both the one holding the office of the Aetolians at the time and those who would advance to it in the future, according to the decree of the Aetolians, Fortune, as if on purpose, demonstrating her own power also to the rest of mankind by means of what happened to them.
ἃ γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτοὶ προσεδόκων ὅσον ἤδη πείσεσθαι, ταῦτα πράττειν αὐτοῖς ἐκείνοις παρέδωκεν ἐν πάνυ βραχεῖ χρόνῳ κατὰ τῶν πολεμίων.
For what they themselves expected immediately to suffer at the hands of their enemies, these very things she granted them to inflict upon those enemies in a very short time.
Αἰτωλοὶ δὲ τῇ παραδόξῳ χρησάμενοι συμφορᾷ πάντας ἐδίδαξαν μηδέποτε βουλεύεσθαι περὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος2 ὡς ἤδη γεγονότος, μηδὲ προκατελπίζειν βεβαιουμένους ὑπὲρ ὧν ἀκμὴν ἐνδεχόμενόν ἐστιν ἄλλως γενέσθαι, νέμειν δὲ μερίδα τῷ παραδόξῳ πανταχῇ μὲν ἀνθρώπους ὄντας, μάλιστα δʼ ἐν τοῖς πολεμικοῖς. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς Ἄγρων, ἐπεὶ κατέπλευσαν οἱ λέμβοι, διακούσας τῶν ἡγεμόνων τὰ κατὰ τὸν κίνδυνον καὶ περιχαρὴς γενόμενος ἐπὶ τῷ δοκεῖν Αἰτωλοὺς τοὺς μέγιστον ἔχοντας τὸ φρόνημα νενικηκέναι, πρὸς μέθας καί τινας τοιαύτας ἄλλας εὐωχίας τραπεὶς ἐνέπεσεν εἰς πλευρῖτιν· ἐκ δὲ ταύτης ἐν ὀλίγαις ἡμέραις μετήλλαξε τὸν βίον.
And the Aetolians, having met with this unexpected calamity, taught all men never to deliberate about the future as if it had already happened, nor to anticipate with confidence matters which are still capable of turning out otherwise, but, being human, to leave a share for the unexpected in all things, and most of all in matters of war. But King Agron, when the lembi returned, having heard from the commanders the details of the battle, and being overjoyed because he seemed to have conquered the Aetolians, who had the greatest pride, turned to drinking bouts and other such revelries, and fell into a pleurisy; and from this, in a few days, he departed this life.
τὴν δὲ βασιλείαν ἡ γυνὴ Τεύτα διαδεξαμένη τὸν κατὰ μέρος χειρισμὸν τῶν πραγμάτων ἐποιεῖτο διὰ τῆς τῶν φίλων πίστεως.
But his wife Teuta, having succeeded to the kingdom, conducted the administration of affairs in detail through the loyalty of her friends.
χρωμένη δὲ λογισμοῖς γυναικείοις3 καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸ τὸ γεγονὸς εὐτύχημα μόνον ἀποβλέπουσα, τῶν δʼ ἐκτὸς οὐδὲν περισκεπτομένη πρῶτον μὲν συνεχώρησε τοῖς κατʼ ἰδίαν πλέουσι λῄζεσθαι τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας, δεύτερον δʼ ἁθροίσασα στόλον καὶ δύναμιν οὐκ ἐλάττω τῆς πρότερον ἐξέπεμψε, πᾶσαν παραλίαν ἀποδείξασα πολεμίαν τοῖς ἡγουμένοις.
But she, employing womanly reasonings, and looking only at the actual success that had occurred, and not considering any of the external consequences, first of all permitted those sailing on private accounts to plunder whomsoever they met, and secondly, having collected a fleet and a force not less than the former, sent them out, having declared the entire coast to be hostile to the commanders.
- 2.4.2κοινὴν ποιήσειν τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν ἀπό τε τοῦ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν ἔχοντος...
This describes a highly ironic situation in which the victorious Medionians applied the Aetolians' own premature decree to their spoils of war. The future infinitive ποιήσειν depends on the impersonal ἔδοξεν (it seemed good) to express their resolution. The preposition ἀπό denotes the source or authority, here meaning "in the name of" or "derived from."
- 2.4.5μηδέποτε βουλεύεσθαι περὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος...
Three infinitive phrases—μηδέποτε βουλεύεσθαι, μηδὲ προκατελπίζειν, and νέμειν δὲ—are coordinated as the direct objects of the verb ἐδίδαξαν (taught). The subject of the sentence is Αἰτωλοὶ, showing that through their misfortune (συμφορᾷ), they provided a universal lesson to all men (πάντας).
- 2.4.8χρωμένη δὲ λογισμοῖς γυναικείοις
The present participle in the feminine singular nominative χρωμένη, accompanied by the adversative particle δὲ, acts as an appositive modifier to the subject of the previous sentence, ἡ γυνὴ Τεύτα. It explains her motivation and flawed judgment, followed by the parallel participles ἀποβλέπουσα and περισκεπτομένη modifying the same subject.