Eumenes Emphasizes Attalid Loyalty and Services to Rome — Polybius, The Histories Book 21 (21.20.1–21.20.10), Greek & English

§21.20.1

κατολιγωροῦντες¹ τούτων. ἐγὼ δὲ περὶ μὲν τῶν ἄλλων, ὅτου δέοι,² παντὸς ἂν παραχωρήσαιμι τοῖς πέλας ἀφιλονίκως, περὶ δὲ τῆς ὑμετέρας φιλίας καὶ τῆς εἰς ὑμᾶς εὐνοίας ἁπλῶς οὐδέποτʼ ἂν οὐδενὶ τῶν ὄντων ἐκχωρήσαιμι κατὰ δύναμιν.

neglecting them. As for me, in other matters, whatever might be necessary, I would yield everything to my neighbors without rivalry; but as for your friendship and my goodwill toward you, I would absolutely never yield to any living being as far as lies in my power.

§21.20.2

δοκῶ δὲ καὶ τὸν πατέρα τὸν ἡμέτερον, εἴπερ ἔζη, τὴν αὐτὴν ἂν προέσθαι³ φωνὴν ἐμοί.

And I believe that my father too, if he were alive, would have uttered the same words as I.

§21.20.3

καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος, πρῶτος μετασχὼν τῆς ὑμετέρας φιλίας καὶ συμμαχίας, σχεδὸν πάντων τῶν [κατὰ] τὴν Ἀσίαν καὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα νεμομένων, εὐγενέστατα διεφύλαξε ταύτην ἕως τῆς τελευταίας ἡμέρας, οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὴν προαίρεσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὰς πράξεις.

For he too, having been the first of almost all those inhabiting Asia and Greece to share in your friendship and alliance, preserved this most nobly until his last day, not only in his purpose but also in his actions.

§21.20.4

πάντων γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐκοινώνησε τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα πολέμων καὶ πλείστας μὲν εἰς τούτους καὶ πεζικὰς καὶ ναυτικὰς δυνάμεις παρέσχετο τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων, πλείστην δὲ συνεβάλετο χορηγίαν καὶ μεγίστους ὑπέμεινε κινδύνους·

For he shared with you in all the wars in Greece, and provided for them the greatest land and naval forces of all the other allies, and contributed the greatest amount of supplies, and endured the greatest dangers;

§21.20.5

τέλος δʼ εἰπεῖν, κατέστρεψε τὸν βίον ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἔργοις κατὰ τὸν Φιλιππικὸν πόλεμον, παρακαλῶν Βοιωτοὺς εἰς τὴν ὑμετέραν φιλίαν καὶ συμμαχίαν.

and to sum up, he ended his life in those very activities during the war with Philip, while urging the Boeotians into friendship and alliance with you.

§21.20.6

ἐγὼ δὲ διαδεξάμενος τὴν ἀρχὴν τὴν μὲν προαίρεσιν τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς διεφύλαξα — ταύτην γὰρ οὐχ οἷόν τʼ ἦν ὑπερθέσθαι — τοῖς δὲ πράγμασιν ὑπερεθέμην.

And I, having succeeded to the rule, preserved my father’s purpose—for it was not possible to surpass this—but in actual deeds I surpassed him.

§21.20.7

οἱ γὰρ καιροὶ τὴν ἐκ πυρὸς βάσανον ἐμοὶ μᾶλλον ἢ ʼκείνῳ προσῆγον.

For circumstances brought the test of fire to me more than to him.

§21.20.8

Ἀντιόχου γὰρ σπουδάζοντος⁴ ἡμῖν θυγατέρα δοῦναι καὶ συνοικειωθῆναι τοῖς ὅλοις, διδόντος δὲ παραχρῆμα μὲν τὰς πρότερον ἀπηλλοτριωμένας ἀφʼ ἡμῶν πόλεις, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πᾶν ὑπισχνουμένου ποιήσειν, εἰ μετάσχοιμεν τοῦ πρὸς ὑμᾶς πολέμου, τοσοῦτον ἀπέσχομεν τοῦ προσδέξασθαί τι τούτων, ὡς πλείσταις μὲν καὶ πεζικαῖς καὶ ναυτικαῖς δυνάμεσιν τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων ἠγωνίσμεθα μεθʼ ὑμῶν πρὸς Ἀντίοχον, πλείστας δὲ χορηγίας συμβεβλήμεθα πρὸς τὰς ὑμετέρας χρείας ἐν τοῖς ἀναγκαιοτάτοις καιροῖς, εἰς πάντας δὲ τοὺς κινδύνους δεδώκαμεν αὑτοὺς ἀπροφασίστως μετά γε τῶν ὑμετέρων ἡγεμόνων.

For when Antiochus was eager to give us his daughter and establish a complete alliance with us, offering immediately the cities previously alienated from us, and promising hereafter to do everything if we would take part in the war against you, we were so far from accepting any of these things, that we fought with you against Antiochus with the largest land and naval forces of all the other allies, and contributed the greatest amount of supplies for your needs in the most critical times, and exposed ourselves to all dangers without excuse, along with your generals.

§21.20.10

τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον ὑπεμείναμεν συγκλεισθέντες εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν Πέργαμον πολιορκεῖσθαι καὶ κινδυνεύειν ἅμα περὶ τοῦ βίου καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν ὑμέτερον δῆμον εὔνοιαν.

And finally, we endured being shut up in Pergamum itself to be besieged, risking both our lives and our rule at the same time, because of our goodwill toward your people.

Syntax notes4 items

21.20.1κατολιγωροῦντες
A present participle directly connected by the coordinating conjunction καὶ at the end of the previous section (§21.19.12). Its subject is the second person plural implied in "μὴ λάθητε".
21.20.1ὅτου δέοι
Present optative. It represents either an assimilation to the optative of the main clause "παραχωρήσαιμι ἂν" (potential optative), or a general condition ("whenever there might be need").
21.20.2ἂν προέσθαι
The infinitive with the particle ἂν depending on the verb "δοκῶ". This represents a past indicative with ἄν in an unreal apodosis ("ἂν προήκατο", "would have uttered") converted into an infinitive in indirect speech.
21.20.8Ἀντιόχου γὰρ σπουδάζοντος
A complex hyperbaton and suspended structure where multiple genitive absolute participles ("σπουδάζοντος", "διδόντος", "ὑπισχνουμένου") accumulate from the beginning of the sentence down to the main clause "τοσοῦτον ἀπέσχομεν" in §21.20.9, with a conditional clause ("εἰ μετάσχοιμεν") embedded within.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:21.20.1-21.20.10