- 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-grc2:21.34.1-21.34.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
When the Roman consul Gnaeus advanced on Cibyra, the tyrant Moagetes attempted to settle with a small sum by pretending to be helpless, but was threatened by Gnaeus into paying one hundred talents and a large quantity of wheat.
ὅτι1 Μοαγέτης ἦν τύραννος Κιβύρας, ὠμὸς γεγονὼς καὶ δόλιος, καὶ οὐκ ἄξιός ἐστιν ἐκ παραδρομῆς, ἀλλὰ μετʼ ἐπιστάσεως τυχεῖν τῆς ἁρμοζούσης μνήμης. —
That Moagetes was the tyrant of Cibyra, a cruel and treacherous man, and not worthy of a passing mention, but of obtaining fitting remembrance with proper attention. —
πλὴν συνεγγίζοντος Γναΐου ὑπάτου Ῥωμαίων τῇ Κιβύρᾳ, καὶ τοῦ Ἑλουίου πεμφθέντος εἰς ἀπόπειραν ἐπὶ τίνος ἐστὶ γνώμης, πρεσβευτὰς ἐξέπεμψε, παρακαλῶν μὴ φθεῖραι τὴν χώραν, ὅτι φίλος ὑπάρχει Ῥωμαίων καὶ πᾶν ποιήσει τὸ παραγγελλόμενον.
But when Gnaeus, the Roman consul, was drawing near to Cibyra, and Helvius was sent to make trial of what intention he had, Moagetes sent ambassadors, entreating him not to lay waste his territory, since he was a friend of the Romans and would do everything commanded.
καὶ ταῦτα λέγων ἅμα προύτεινε στέφανον ἀπὸ πεντεκαίδεκα ταλάντων.
And as he said this, he at the same time offered a crown of fifteen talents.
ὧν ἀκούσας αὐτὸς μὲν ἀφέξεσθαι2 τῆς χώρας ἔφη, πρὸς δὲ τὸν στρατηγὸν ἐκέλευσε πρεσβεύειν ὑπὲρ τῶν ὅλων· ἕπεσθαι γὰρ αὐτὸν μετὰ τῆς στρατείας κατὰ πόδας.
Having heard this, Helvius said that he himself would refrain from the territory, but ordered them to send an embassy to the general concerning the whole matter; for he was following close behind with his army.
γενομένου δὲ τούτου, καὶ πέμψαντος τοῦ Μοαγέτου μετὰ τῶν πρεσβευτῶν καὶ τὸν ἀδελφόν, ἀπαντήσας κατὰ πορείαν ὁ Γνάιος ἀνατατικῶς καὶ πικρῶς ὡμίλησε τοῖς πρεσβευταῖς, φάσκων οὐ μόνον ἀλλοτριώτατον γεγονέναι Ῥωμαίων τὸν Μοαγέτην πάντων τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν δυναστῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὴν ῥώμην ὅλην εἰς καθαίρεσιν τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐπιστροφῆς εἶναι καὶ κολάσεως.3
When this had taken place, and Moagetes had sent his brother along with the ambassadors, Gnaeus, meeting them on the march, spoke to the ambassadors in a threatening and bitter manner, asserting that Moagetes had been not only the most hostile of all the potentates in Asia towards the Romans, but also with all force was subject to the overthrow of his power, calling to account, and punishment.
οἱ δὲ πρεσβευταὶ καταπλαγέντες τὴν ἐπίφασιν τῆς ὀργῆς τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ἐντολῶν ἀπέστησαν, ἠξίουν δʼ αὐτὸν εἰς λόγους ἐλθεῖν.
The ambassadors, terrified by this display of anger, desisted from their other instructions and requested him to come to a conference.
συγχωρήσαντος δὲ τότε μὲν ἐπανῆλθον εἰς τὴν Κιβύραν, εἰς δὲ τὴν ἐπαύριον ἐξῆλθεν μετὰ τῶν φίλων ὁ τύραννος κατά τε τὴν ἐσθῆτα καὶ τὴν ἄλλην προστασίαν λιτὸς καὶ ταπεινός, ἔν τε τοῖς ἀπολογισμοῖς κατολοφυρόμενος τὴν ἀδυναμίαν τὴν αὑτοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀσθένειαν ὧν ἐπῆρχε πόλεων, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ἠξίου προσδέξασθαι τὰ πεντεκαίδεκα τάλαντα τὸν Γνάιον·
When he consented, they returned for the time to Cibyra, and on the following day the tyrant came out with his friends, simple and humble in his clothing and general appearance, and in his defensive statements bitterly lamenting his own helplessness and the weakness of the cities he ruled over, and in addition to this, he requested Gnaeus to accept the fifteen talents;
ἐκράτει δὲ τῆς Κιβύρας καὶ Συλείου καὶ τῆς ἐν Λίμνῃ πόλεως.
for he ruled over Cibyra, Syleium, and the city in Limne.
ὁ δὲ Γνάιος καταπλαγεὶς τὴν ἀπόνοιαν4 ἄλλο μὲν οὐδὲν εἶπε πρὸς αὐτόν, ἐὰν δὲ μὴ διδῷ πεντακόσια τάλαντα μετὰ μεγάλης χάριτος, οὐ τὴν χώραν ἔφη φθερεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὴν πόλιν αὐτὴν πολιορκήσειν καὶ διαρπάσειν.
But Gnaeus, astonished at his shamelessness, said nothing else to him, but declared that unless he paid five hundred talents with great gratitude, he would not lay waste the territory, but would besiege and sack the city itself.
ὅθεν ὁ Μοαγέτης κατορρωδήσας τὸ μέλλον ἐδεῖτο μηδὲν ποιῆσαι τοιοῦτον, καὶ προσετίθει κατὰ βραχὺ τῶν χρημάτων, καὶ τέλος ἔπεισε τὸν Γνάιον ἑκατὸν τάλαντα καὶ μυρίους μεδίμνους λαβόντα πυρῶν προσδέξασθαι πρὸς τὴν φιλίαν αὐτόν. —
Therefore, Moagetes, terrified of what was to come, begged him to do no such thing, and gradually added to the sum of money, and finally persuaded Gnaeus to receive him into friendship upon receiving a hundred talents and ten thousand medimni of wheat. —
- 21.34.1ὅτι
As a characteristic of the excerpt collection (Excerpta), the introductory ὅτι is used without a main verb, functioning to introduce a statement meaning 'that...'.
- 21.34.5ὧν ἀκούσας αὐτὸς μὲν ἀφέξεσθαι
The relative pronoun ὧν is neuter plural, referring to the statements and the offer of the crown in the preceding sentence, and is the object of the participle ἀκούσας. The subject of the infinitive ἀφέξεσθαι is αὐτός (Helvius himself), which is in the nominative case because it is identical to the subject of the main verb ἔφη.
- 21.34.7εἰς καθαίρεσιν τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐπιστροφῆς εἶναι καὶ κολάσεως
The construction εἶναι εἰς ... means 'to be in a state of' or 'to be subject to'. The nouns ἐπιστροφῆς and κολάσεως, coordinated with the accusative καθάιρεσιν, are in the genitive case, which may represent either textual corruption (for accusatives ἐπιστροφὴν καὶ κόλασιν) or dependence on the verbal action, here interpreted as being directed towards the overthrow, inquiry, and punishment of his rule.
- 21.34.12καταπλαγεὶς τὴν ἀπόνοιαν
The passive participle καταπλαγείς (having been astonished) takes the accusative τὴν ἀπόνοιαν as its direct object (or accusative of respect). In this context, ἀπόνοια refers to the tyrant's 'shamelessness' or 'audacity' in pretending to be utterly helpless while offering a trifling sum.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1