- 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-grc2:2.51.1-2.51.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
The Achaeans attempt to carry on the war by themselves, but repeated defeats force them to ask Antigonus for assistance, which is hindered by the requirement to surrender the Acrocorinth.
καταφεύγειν1 ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν φίλων βοηθείας. ἐπισημηναμένου δὲ τοῦ πλήθους, ἔδοξε μένειν ἐπὶ τῶν ὑποκειμένων καὶ διʼ αὑτῶν ἐπιτελεῖν τὸν ἐνεστῶτα πόλεμον.
to resort to the assistance of their friends. When the multitude expressed their approval, it was resolved to remain on the existing basis and to carry through the present war by themselves.
ἐπεὶ δὲ Πτολεμαῖος ἀπογνοὺς μὲν τὸ ἔθνος Κλεομένει χορηγεῖν ἐπεβάλετο, βουλόμενος αὐτὸν ἐπαλείφειν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀντίγονον διὰ τὸ πλείους ἐλπίδας ἔχειν ἐν τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις ἤπερ ἐν τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς τοῦ δύνασθαι2 διακατέχειν τὰς τῶν ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ βασιλέων ἐπιβολάς, οἱ δʼ Ἀχαιοὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἠλαττώθησαν περὶ τὸ Λύκαιον, συμπλακέντες κατὰ πορείαν τῷ Κλεομένει, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον ἐκ παρατάξεως ἡττήθησαν ἐν τοῖς Λαδοκείοις καλουμένοις τῆς Μεγαλοπολίτιδος, ὅτε καὶ Λυδιάδας ἔπεσε, τὸ δὲ τρίτον ὁλοσχερῶς ἔπταισαν ἐν τῇ Δυμαίᾳ περὶ τὸ καλούμενον Ἑκατόμβαιον, πανδημεὶ διακινδυνεύοντες, τότʼ ἤδη τῶν πραγμάτων οὐκέτι διδόντων ἀναστροφὴν ἠνάγκαζε τὰ περιεστῶτα καταφεύγειν ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀντίγονον.
But when Ptolemy, having despaired of the nation, undertook to supply Cleomenes with funds, wishing to egg him on against Antigonus because he had greater hopes in the Lacedaemonians than in the Achaeans of being able to check the enterprises of the kings in Macedonia, and the Achaeans, first, were worsted near Mount Lycaeum, having clashed with Cleomenes on the march; secondly, were defeated in a pitched battle at the place called Ladoceia in the territory of Megalopolis, when Lydiadas also fell; and thirdly, suffered a total defeat in Dymaea near the so-called Hecatombaeum, risking a battle with their entire force; then at length, as the circumstances no longer allowed any alternative, the surrounding situation forced them to resort with one mind to Antigonus.
ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ πρεσβευτὴν τὸν υἱὸν ἐξαποστείλας Ἄρατος πρὸς Ἀντίγονον ἐβεβαιώσατο τὰ περὶ τῆς βοηθείας.
At this critical juncture, Aratus, having dispatched his son as an ambassador to Antigonus, confirmed the terms concerning the assistance.
παρεῖχε δʼ αὐτοῖς ἀπορίαν καὶ δυσχρηστίαν μεγίστην τὸ μήτε τὸν βασιλέα δοκεῖν ἂν βοηθῆσαι3 χωρὶς τοῦ κομίσασθαι τὸν Ἀκροκόρινθον καὶ λαβεῖν ὁρμητήριον πρὸς τὸν ἐνεστῶτα πόλεμον τὴν τῶν Κορινθίων πόλιν, μήτε τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς ἂν τολμῆσαι Κορινθίους ἄκοντας ἐγχειρίσαι Μακεδόσι.
But what caused them the greatest perplexity and difficulty was that neither did the king seem likely to bring help without recovering the Acrocorinth and receiving the city of the Corinthians as a base of operations for the present war, nor would the Achaeans venture to hand over the Corinthians against their will to the Macedonians.
διὸ καὶ τὸ πρῶτον ὑπέρθεσιν ἔσχε τὸ διαβούλιον
Therefore, at first, the deliberation was postponed.
- 2.51.1καταφεύγειν
This is an infinitive in indirect discourse dependent on ἔφη ("he said") in the preceding section (2.50.12), continuing Aratus' speech: "[only then] to resort to..."
- 2.51.2τοῦ δύνασθαι
The genitive of the articular infinitive, functioning as an appositional or defining genitive modifying the preceding noun ἐλπίδας ("hopes of being able to...").
- 2.51.6δοκεῖν ἂν βοηθῆσαι
The infinitive βοηθῆσαι depends on the infinitive δοκεῖν, with the particle ἄν modifying βοηθῆσαι. In direct speech, this would correspond to a potential/tentative optative expression: οὐκ ἂν βοηθήσειε ("he would not bring help [without...]").