- 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-grc2:21.27.1-21.27.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The Roman consul Marcus launches a grand siege against Ambracia, and the Aetolians resist with various defensive tactics, successfully admitting a cavalry reinforcement sent by Nicander. However, due to Nicander's failure to arrive for the coordinated sally, the Aetolians' daring attack ends in failure.
Αἰτωλοὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὑπάτου Μάρκου πολιορκούμενοι τῇ προσβολῇ τῶν μηχανημάτων καὶ τῶν κριῶν γενναίως ἀντιπαρετάξαντο.
The Aetolians, besieged by the Roman consul Marcus, bravely arrayed themselves in opposition to the assault of the engines and battering-rams.
οὗτος γὰρ ἀσφαλισάμενος τὰ κατὰ τὰς στρατοπεδείας συνίστατο μεγαλομερῶς τὴν πολιορκίαν καὶ τρία μὲν ἔργα κατὰ τὸ Πύρρειον προσῆγεν διὰ τῶν ἐπιπέδων [τόπων], διεστῶτα μὲν ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων, παράλληλα δέ, τέταρτον δὲ κατὰ τὸ Ἀσκληπιεῖον, πέμπτον δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν.
For he, having secured the surroundings of his camps, set about the siege on a grand scale, and pushed forward three siege-works against the Pyrrheum through the level ground, separated from one another but parallel, a fourth against the Asclepieum, and a fifth against the citadel.
γινομένης δὲ τῆς προσαγωγῆς ἐνεργοῦ κατὰ πάντας ἅμα τοὺς τόπους, ἐκπληκτικὴν συνέβαινε γίνεσθαι τοῖς ἔνδον τὴν τοῦ μέλλοντος προσδοκίαν.
As the advance was actively made at all these places at the same time, the expectation of what was to come happened to be terrifying to those inside the city.
τῶν δὲ κριῶν τυπτόντων ἐνεργῶς τὰ τείχη, καὶ τῶν δορυδρεπάνων ἀποσυρόντων τὰς ἐπάλξεις, ἐπειρῶντο μὲν οἱ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ἀντιμηχανᾶσθαι πρὸς ταῦτα, τοῖς μὲν κριοῖς διὰ κεραιῶν ἐνιέντες σηκώματα μολιβδᾶ καὶ λίθους καὶ στύπη δρύινα·
While the battering-rams were actively striking the walls and the mural scythes were tearing down the battlements, those in the city tried to devise counter-measures against these; against the rams they dropped leaden weights, stones, and oak logs by means of cranes;
τοῖς δὲ δρεπάνοις σιδηρᾶς περιτιθέντες ἀγκύρας καὶ κατασπῶντες ταῦτʼ ἔσω τοῦ τείχους, ὥστʼ ἐπὶ τὴν ἔπαλξιν συντριβέντος τοῦ δόρατος1 ἐγκρατεῖς γίνεσθαι τῶν δρεπάνων.
and against the scythes they threw iron anchors, and dragging them inside the wall, so that when the shaft was broken against the battlement they got possession of the scythes.
τὸ δὲ πλεῖον ἐπεξιόντες ἐμάχοντο γενναίως, ποτὲ μὲν ἐπιτιθέμενοι νύκτωρ τοῖς ἐπικοιτοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῶν ἔργων, ποτὲ δὲ τοῖς ἐφημερεύουσι μεθʼ ἡμέραν προφανῶς ἐγχειροῦντες, καὶ τριβὴν ἐνεποίουν τῇ πολιορκίᾳ. —
But for the most part they made sallies and fought bravely, sometimes attacking by night those who slept on the siege-works, and sometimes openly assailing by day those on duty during the daytime, thus causing delay to the siege.
τοῦ γὰρ Νικάνδρου ἐκτὸς ἀναστρεφομένου καὶ πέμψαντος πεντακοσίους ἱππεῖς εἰς τὴν πόλιν, οἳ καὶ παραβιασάμενοι τὸν μεταξὺ χάρακα τῶν πολεμίων εἰσέφρησαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν, παραγγείλας, καθʼ ἣν ἐτάξαντο ἡμέραν, αὐτοὺς μὲν ἐξελθόντας ποιήσασθαι,2 συνεπιλαβέσθαι δὲ αὐτὸν τούτοις τοῦ κινδύνου.
For when Nicander, who was operating outside, sent five hundred horsemen into the city, who forced their way through the enemy’s palisade and entered the city, he sent orders that, on the day they had agreed upon, they should make a sally, and that he himself would join them in the danger.
αὐτῶν μὲν εὐψύχως τῆς πόλεως ἐξορμησάντων καὶ γενναίως ἀγωνισαμένων, τοῦ δὲ Νικάνδρου καθυστερήσαντος, εἴτε καταπλαγέντος τὸν κίνδυνον εἴτε καὶ ἀναγκαῖα νομίσαντος τὰ ἐν οἷς διέτριβε πράγμασιν, ἡττήθησαν τῆς ἐπιβολῆς.3 —
Although they themselves sallied out of the city with high spirit and fought bravely, yet since Nicander delayed—whether because he was terrified of the danger or because he considered the business in which he was engaged to be unavoidable—they failed in their enterprise.
- 21.27.5συντριβέντος τοῦ δόρατος
A genitive absolute construction placed immediately after the conjunction of result ὥστε ('so that'). It presents the breaking of the shaft of the scythe as a subordinate circumstance distinct from the subject of the main result clause (the defenders, the subject of ἐγκρατεῖς γίνεσθαι).
- 21.27.8ποιήσασθαι
An infinitive of indirect command introduced by the preceding participle παραγγείλας ('having ordered'), with αὐτοὺς μὲν ἐξελθόντας ('they themselves having sallied out') as its subject accusative. The verb ποιήσασθαι is understood here as performing an action (implied 'sally' / ἔξοδον) or functions with a causative nuance to make them sally out.
- 21.27.9ἡττήθησαν τῆς ἐπιβολῆς
The verb ἡττάομαι ('to be defeated by, fail in') takes a genitive of separation or deprivation. Here, τῆς ἐπιβολῆς ('the enterprise') functions as the genitive complement, meaning 'they failed in their enterprise.'