- 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
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- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.62.1-2.62.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Polybius criticizes Phylarchus's estimation of the spoils from Megalopolis (6,000 talents) as completely unrealistic. He adduces the historical valuation of all Attic property and the actual spoils from Mantinea to demonstrate the absurdity of Phylarchus's figure.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ τούτοις ἑξῆς φησιν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐκ τῆς Μεγάλης πόλεως λαφύρων ἑξακισχίλια τάλαντα τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις πεσεῖν, ὧν τὰ δισχίλια1 Κλεομένει δοθῆναι κατὰ τοὺς ἐθισμούς.
Nay, furthermore, he says in what follows these things that six thousand talents from the spoils of Megalopolis fell to the Lacedaemonians, of which two thousand were given to Cleomenes according to custom.
ἐν δὲ τούτοις πρῶτον μὲν τίς οὐκ ἂν θαυμάσειεν τὴν ἀπειρίαν καὶ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τῆς κοινῆς ἐννοίας ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν πραγμάτων χορηγίας καὶ δυνάμεως; ἣν μάλιστα δεῖ παρὰ τοῖς ἱστοριογράφοις ὑπάρχειν.
But in these matters, first of all, who would not marvel at his lack of experience and ignorance of the common concept regarding the resources and power of Greek affairs? Which knowledge ought most of all to belong to historians.
ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐ λέγω κατʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς χρόνους, ἐν οἷς ὑπό τε τῶν ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ βασιλέων, ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον ὑπὸ τῆς συνεχείας τῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους πολέμων ἄρδην κατέφθαρτο τὰ Πελοποννησίων, ἀλλʼ ἐν τοῖς καθʼ ἡμᾶς καιροῖς, ἐν οἷς πάντες ἓν καὶ ταὐτὸ λέγοντες μεγίστην καρποῦσθαι δοκοῦσιν εὐδαιμονίαν, ὅμως ἐκ Πελοποννήσου πάσης ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν ἐπίπλων χωρὶς σωμάτων οὐχ οἷόν τε συναχθῆναι τοσοῦτο πλῆθος χρημάτων.
For I am not speaking of those times when, both by the kings in Macedonia and even more by the continuity of their wars against one another, the affairs of the Peloponnesians had been utterly ruined, but of our own times, in which, though all are in agreement and seem to enjoy the greatest prosperity, nevertheless it is impossible to collect so great a sum of money from the whole of the Peloponnese, from the movable property itself apart from persons.
καὶ διότι τοῦτο νῦν οὐκ εἰκῇ, λόγῳ δέ τινι μᾶλλον ἀποφαινόμεθα, δῆλον ἐκ τούτων.
And that we are not declaring this now at random, but rather with some rational argument, is clear from the following.
τίς γὰρ ὑπὲρ Ἀθηναίων οὐχ ἱστόρηκε διότι καθʼ οὓς καιροὺς μετὰ Θηβαίων εἰς τὸν πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους ἐνέβαινον πόλεμον καὶ μυρίους μὲν ἐξέπεμπον στρατιώτας, ἑκατὸν δʼ ἐπλήρουν τριήρεις, ὅτι2 τότε κρίναντες ἀπὸ τῆς ἀξίας ποιεῖσθαι τὰς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον εἰσφορὰς ἐτιμήσαντο τήν τε χώραν τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἅπασαν καὶ τὰς οἰκίας, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν οὐσίαν· ἀλλʼ ὅμως τὸ σύμπαν τίμημα τῆς ἀξίας ἐνέλιπε τῶν ἑξακισχιλίων διακοσίοις καὶ πεντήκοντα ταλάντοις.3
For who has not recorded concerning the Athenians that, at the times when they entered into the war against the Lacedaemonians together with the Thebans, and were sending out ten thousand soldiers and manning a hundred triremes, they then decided to make the war contributions based on property value, and assessed the whole Attic territory and the houses, and likewise the rest of their property; but nevertheless the total assessment of value fell short of six thousand talents by two hundred and fifty talents.
ἐξ ὧν οὐκ ἀπεοικὸς ἂν φανείη τὸ περὶ Πελοποννησίων ἄρτι ῥηθὲν ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ.
From which things what has just been said by me about the Peloponnesians would appear not unreasonable.
κατὰ δʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς καιροὺς ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς Μεγάλης πόλεως ὑπερβολικῶς ἀποφαινόμενος οὐκ ἄν τις εἰπεῖν τολμήσειεν πλείω γενέσθαι τριακοσίων, ἐπειδήπερ ὁμολογούμενόν ἐστι διότι καὶ τῶν ἐλευθέρων καὶ τῶν δουλικῶν σωμάτων τὰ πλεῖστα συνέβη διαφυγεῖν εἰς τὴν Μεσσήνην. μέγιστον δὲ τῶν προειρημένων τεκμήριον·
And during those times, even one who declared most extravagantly would not dare to say that more than three hundred talents came from Megalopolis itself, since it is agreed that the majority of the persons, both free and slave, happened to escape to Messene. And the greatest proof of the things aforesaid is this:
οὐδενὸς γὰρ ὄντες δεύτεροι τῶν Ἀρκάδων Μαντινεῖς οὔτε κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν οὔτε κατὰ τὴν περιουσίαν, ὡς αὐτὸς οὗτός φησιν, ἐκ πολιορκίας δὲ καὶ παραδόσεως ἁλόντες, ὥστε μήτε διαφυγεῖν μηδένα μήτε διακλαπῆναι ῥᾳδίως μηδέν, ὅμως τὸ πᾶν λάφυρον ἐποίησαν4 μετὰ τῶν σωμάτων κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς καιροὺς τάλαντα τριακόσια.
for the Mantineans, who were second to none of the Arcadians either in power or in wealth, as this very man says, having been captured by siege and surrender, so that no one escaped and nothing was easily stolen away, nevertheless made the entire spoil, including persons, at the same times, only three hundred talents.
- 2.62.1ὧν τὰ δισχίλια
ὧν is the genitive neuter plural of the relative pronoun ὅς, functioning as a partitive genitive referring back to the antecedent ἑξακισχίλια τάλαντα. The article τὰ in τὰ δισχίλια specifies "the particular two thousand" out of that total.
- 2.62.6τίς γὰρ ὑπὲρ Ἀθηναίων οὐχ ἱστόρηκε διότι... ὅτι...
This sentence is a long rhetorical question. The main verb ἱστόρηκε governs two clauses introduced by διότι and ὅτι. Although both can introduce object clauses, διότι here serves to set the historical context of the period, while ὅτι in §2.62.7 introduces the core substance of the historical fact (that the total valuation fell short of 6,000 talents).
- 2.62.7ἐνέλιπε τῶν ἑξακισχιλίων διακοσίοις καὶ πεντήκοντα ταλάντοις
The verb ἐλλείπω (to fall short of) takes the standard of comparison or targeted amount in the genitive (τῶν ἑξακισχιλίων) and the amount of deficiency in the dative of degree of difference (διακοσίοις καὶ πεντήκοντα ταλάντοις). Thus, the assessment fell short of 6,000 talents by 250 talents (amounting to 5,750 talents).
- 2.62.12ἐποίησαν
The verb ποιέω is used here in a specialized accounting or financial sense meaning "to amount to" or "make up" (often with an implied reflexive). The subject is the Mantineans, meaning they realized or made the total spoil amount to only three hundred talents.