- 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-grc2:21.3.1-21.3.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The Roman senate gave audience to the envoys of King Philip V of Macedon and, in recognition of his goodwill, released his son Demetrius from hostage-ship, while also releasing the Lacedaemonian hostages.
ὅτι κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς καιροὺς ἡ σύγκλητος ἐχρημάτισε τοῖς παρὰ Φιλίππου πρεσβευταῖς·
ὅτι That around the same time, the senate gave audience to the envoys from Philip;
ἧκον γὰρ παρʼ αὐτοῦ πρέσβεις ἀπολογιζόμενοι τὴν εὔνοιαν καὶ προθυμίαν, ἣν παρέσχηται Ῥωμαίοις ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐν τῷ πρὸς Ἀντίοχον πολέμῳ.
ἧκον for envoys had come from him to set forth the goodwill and zeal which the king had shown to the Romans in the war against Antiochus.
ὧν1 διακούσασα τὸν μὲν υἱὸν Δημήτριον ἀπέλυσε τῆς ὁμηρείας παραχρῆμα· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τῶν φόρων ἐπηγγείλατο παραλύσειν, διαφυλάξαντος αὐτοῦ τὴν πίστιν2 ἐν τοῖς ἐνεστῶσι καιροῖς.
ὧν Having heard them out, the senate immediately released his son Demetrius from being a hostage; and likewise promised to release him from his tribute, provided that he maintained his loyalty in the present circumstances.
παραπλησίως δὲ καὶ τοὺς τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ὁμήρους ἀφῆκε πλὴν Ἀρμένα τοῦ Νάβιδος υἱοῦ· τοῦτον δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα συνέβη νόσῳ μεταλλάξαι τὸν βίον.3
παραπλησίως In like manner, it also released the hostages of the Lacedaemonians, except Armenas the son of Nabis; and as for him, it happened after this that he departed this life through illness.
- 21.3.3ὧν
The relative pronoun is in the genitive case as the object of the verb of hearing, διακούω. The antecedent can be understood either as the masculine plural referring to the "envoys" (πρέσβεις) from the previous sentence, or as an implied neuter plural referring to their arguments; here it is taken as the former.
- 21.3.3διαφυλάξαντος αὐτοῦ τὴν πίστιν
A genitive absolute construction. It has a subject (αὐτοῦ, referring to King Philip) distinct from that of the main clause (the senate), and is best interpreted here as expressing a condition for the future (provided that he maintains his loyalty).
- 21.3.4συνέβη νόσῳ μεταλλάξαι τὸν βίον
The impersonal verb συνέβη (it happened) is followed by the subject accusative τοῦτον and the infinitive μεταλλάξαι (to change). The phrase μεταλλάξαι τὸν βίον (to change one's life) is a euphemism for "to die."