- 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-grc2:2.60.1-2.60.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Polybius defends the treatment of Aristomachus by the Achaean League and Antigonus, strongly condemning Aristomachus for his treachery in betraying the League and joining the enemy.
τῶν προγόνων ἀσεβήματα·1 μακρὸν γάρ. διόπερ οὐκ εἴ τινι τῶν ὁμοίων περιέπεσε δεινὸν ἡγητέον,2 πολὺ δὲ δεινότερον, εἰ μηδενὸς τούτων πεῖραν λαβὼν ἀθῷος ἀπέθανεν.
...and the impieties of his ancestors; for it would be a long story. Therefore, we must not consider it terrible if he fell into any similar fate, but much more terrible if he had died unpunished without having experienced any of these things.
οὐδʼ Ἀντιγόνῳ προσαπτέον οὐδʼ Ἀράτῳ παρανομίαν, ὅτι λαβόντες κατὰ πόλεμον ὑποχείριον τύραννον στρεβλώσαντες ἀπέκτειναν, ὅν γε καὶ κατʼ αὐτὴν τὴν εἰρήνην τοῖς ἀνελοῦσι καὶ τιμωρησαμένοις ἔπαινος καὶ τιμὴ συνεξηκολούθει παρὰ τοῖς ὀρθῶς λογιζομένοις.
Nor must we impute lawlessness to Antigonus or to Aratus, because having captured a tyrant in war they put him to death under torture, since even in peace itself, praise and honor would follow those who removed and punished such a person, in the eyes of right-thinking men.
ὅτε δὲ χωρὶς τῶν προειρημένων καὶ τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς παρεσπόνδησεν, τί παθεῖν ἦν ἄξιος;
But when, besides what has been said, he also broke faith with the Achaeans, what did he deserve to suffer?
ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ἀπέθετο μὲν τὴν τυραννίδα χρόνοις οὐ πολλοῖς πρότερον, ὑπὸ τῶν καιρῶν συγκλειόμενος διὰ τὸν Δημητρίου θάνατον, ἀνελπίστως δὲ τῆς ἀσφαλείας ἔτυχε περισταλεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν Ἀχαιῶν πρᾳότητος καὶ καλοκἀγαθίας·
For he had laid down his tyranny not long before, being hemmed in by the circumstances because of the death of Demetrius, and unexpectedly obtained safety, being protected by the gentleness and goodness of the Achaeans;
οἵτινες οὐ μόνον αὐτὸν τῶν ἐκ τῆς τυραννίδος ἀσεβημάτων ἀζήμιον ἐποίησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ προσλαβόντες εἰς τὴν πολιτείαν τὴν μεγίστην τιμὴν περιέθεσαν, ἡγεμόνα καὶ στρατηγὸν καταστήσαντες σφῶν αὐτῶν.
who not only made him exempt from punishment for his impieties during his tyranny, but also, admitting him into their commonwealth, bestowed upon him the greatest honor, appointing him leader and general of themselves.
ὁ δʼ ἐπιλαθόμενος τῶν προειρημένων φιλανθρώπων παρὰ πόδας,3 ἐπεὶ μικρὸν ἐπικυδεστέρας ἔσχε τὰς ἐλπίδας ὑπὲρ τοῦ μέλλοντος ἐν Κλεομένει, τήν τε πατρίδα καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ προαίρεσιν ἀποσπάσας ἀπὸ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἐν τοῖς ἀναγκαιοτάτοις καιροῖς προσένειμε τοῖς ἐχθροῖς.
But he, forgetting the aforementioned acts of kindness immediately, when he had slightly more glorious hopes for the future in Cleomenes, tore away his homeland and his own allegiance from the Achaeans and attached them to the enemies at the most critical moment.
ὃν ὑποχείριον γενόμενον οὐκ ἐν Κεγχρεαῖς ἔδει τὴν νύκτα στρεβλούμενον ἀποθανεῖν, ὡς Φύλαρχός φησιν, περιαγόμενον δʼ εἰς τὴν Πελοπόννησον καὶ μετὰ τιμωρίας παραδειγματιζόμενον οὕτως ἐκλιπεῖν τὸ ζῆν.
When he fell into their hands, he ought not to have died under torture at Cenchreae in the night, as Phylarchus says, but to have been led around the Peloponnese and made an example of with punishment, and so to have departed this life.
ἀλλʼ ὅμως τοιοῦτος ὢν οὐδενὸς ἔτυχε δεινοῦ πλὴν τοῦ καταποντισθῆναι4 διὰ τῶν ἐπὶ ταῖς Κεγχρεαῖς τεταγμένων.
But nevertheless, being such a man, he met with no terrible fate except for being drowned by those stationed at Cenchreae.
- 2.60.1τῶν προγόνων ἀσεβήματα
Grammatical object of the transitive verb παρίημι ("I pass over") from the end of the previous chapter (§2.59.10). The syntax continues across the chapter division.
- 2.60.1δεινὸν ἡγητέον
A verbal adjective indicating necessity, implying an indefinite agent as subject ("we must consider"). The conditional clause εἴ τινι τῶν ὁμοίων περιέπεσε acts as the subject/object clause governed by this adjective.
- 2.60.6παρὰ πόδας
Literally "at the feet," used here metaphorically as an idiomatic adverbial phrase meaning "immediately" or "promptly."
- 2.60.8πλὴν τοῦ καταποντισθῆναι
The preposition πλήν ("except") governing the genitive of the articular infinitive (τοῦ καταποντισθῆναι, aorist passive), meaning "except being drowned."