- 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-grc2:21.4.1-21.4.14
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
During the siege of Amphissa, peace negotiations between the Aetolians and the Romans begin through the mediation of Athenian envoys. Although expectations rise due to Publius Scipio's mild attitude, the Aetolians are distressed when Lucius Scipio demands a harsh choice of two conditions.
ὅτι πολιορκουμένων τῶν Ἀμφισσέων ὑπὸ Μανίου τοῦ Ῥωμαίων στρατηγοῦ, κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ὁ τῶν Ἀθηναίων δῆμος, πυνθανόμενος τήν τε τῶν Ἀμφισσέων ταλαιπωρίαν καὶ τὴν τοῦ Ποπλίου παρουσίαν, ἐξαπέστειλε πρεσβευτὰς τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἐχέδημον, ἐντειλάμενος1 ἅμα μὲν ἀσπάσασθαι τοὺς περὶ τὸν Λεύκιον καὶ Πόπλιον, ἅμα δὲ καταπειράζειν τῆς πρὸς Αἰτωλοὺς διαλύσεως.
ὅτι While the people of Amphissa were being besieged by the Roman general Manius, at this very time the Athenian people, having learned of the distress of the Amphissians and the arrival of Publius, dispatched envoys led by Echedemus, ἐντειλάμενος instructing them both to greet the entourage of Lucius and Publius, and at the same time to sound out the possibility of a reconciliation with the Aetolians.
ὧν παραγενομένων ἀσμένως ἀποδεξάμενος ὁ Πόπλιος ἐφιλανθρώπει τοὺς ἄνδρας, θεωρῶν ὅτι παρέξονται χρείαν αὐτῷ πρὸς τὰς προκειμένας ἐπιβολάς.
ὧν Upon their arrival, Publius welcomed them gladly and treated the men with kindness, seeing that they would be of service to him in his immediate undertakings.
ὁ γὰρ προειρημένος ἀνὴρ ἐβούλετο θέσθαι μὲν καλῶς τὰ κατὰ τοὺς Αἰτωλούς· εἰ δὲ μὴ συνυπακούοιεν, πάντως διειλήφει παραλιπὼν ταῦτα διαβαίνειν εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν, σαφῶς γινώσκων διότι τὸ τέλος ἐστὶ τοῦ πολέμου καὶ τῆς ὅλης ἐπιβολῆς οὐκ ἐν τῷ χειρώσασθαι τὸ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν ἔθνος, ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ νικήσαντας2 τὸν Ἀντίοχον κρατῆσαι τῆς Ἀσίας.
ὁ For the aforementioned man wished to settle the affairs of the Aetolians on favorable terms; but if they would not comply, he had resolved by all means to leave these matters aside and cross over to Asia, σαφῶς clearly knowing that the goal of the war and of the entire enterprise lay not in subduing the nation of the Aetolians, but in defeating Antiochus and gaining control of Asia.
διόπερ ἅμα τῷ μνησθῆναι τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ὑπὲρ τῆς διαλύσεως, ἑτοίμως προσδεξάμενος τοὺς λόγους ἐκέλευσε παραπλησίως πειράζειν αὐτοὺς καὶ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν.
διόπερ Therefore, as soon as the Athenians mentioned the reconciliation, he readily accepted their proposals and ordered them to make a similar attempt with the Aetolians as well.
οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἐχέδημον, προδιαπεμψάμενοι καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πορευθέντες εἰς τὴν Ὑπάταν αὐτοί, διελέγοντο περὶ τῆς διαλύσεως τοῖς ἄρχουσι τῶν Αἰτωλῶν.
οἱ And Echedemus and his colleagues, having sent messengers ahead and afterwards traveling to Hypata themselves, conversed about the reconciliation with the magistrates of the Aetolians.
ἑτοίμως δὲ κἀκείνων συνυπακουόντων κατεστάθησαν οἱ συμμίξοντες τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις·
ἑτοίμως Since the latter also readily complied, deputies were appointed to meet with the Romans;
οἳ καὶ παραγενόμενοι πρὸς τοὺς περὶ τὸν Πόπλιον, καταλαβόντες αὐτοὺς στρατοπεδεύοντας ἐν ἑξήκοντα σταδίοις ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀμφίσσης, πολλοὺς διετίθεντο λόγους, ἀναμιμνήσκοντες τῶν γεγονότων σφίσι φιλανθρώπων πρὸς Ῥωμαίους.
οἳ these, having come to Publius and his entourage and finding them encamped sixty stades away from Amphissa, made many arguments, reminding them of the friendly acts they had previously done for the Romans.
ἔτι δὲ πρᾳότερον καὶ φιλανθρωπότερον ὁμιλήσαντος τοῦ Ποπλίου3 καὶ προφερομένου τάς τε κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν καὶ τὴν Λιβύην πράξεις καὶ διασαφοῦντος τίνα τρόπον κέχρηται τοῖς κατʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς τόπους αὐτῷ πιστεύσασιν καὶ τέλος οἰομένου δεῖν ἐγχειρίζειν σφᾶς αὑτῷ καὶ πιστεύειν, τὰς μὲν ἀρχὰς ἅπαντες οἱ παρόντες εὐέλπιδες ἐγενήθησαν, ὡς αὐτίκα μάλα τελεσιουργηθησομένης τῆς διαλύσεως·
ἔτι When Publius spoke in an even gentler and more friendly manner, citing his deeds in Iberia and Libya, explaining how he had treated those in those parts who trusted him, and finally expressing his view that they ought to surrender and trust themselves to him, τὰς at first all those present became highly hopeful that the reconciliation would be completed very shortly.
ἐπεὶ δέ, πυθομένων τῶν Αἰτωλῶν ἐπὶ τίσι δεῖ ποιεῖσθαι τὴν εἰρήνην, ὁ Λεύκιος διεσάφησεν διότι δυεῖν προκειμένων αὐτοῖς αἵρεσις ὑπάρχει —
ἐπεὶ But when the Aetolians asked on what terms they should make peace, Lucius declared that they had a choice between two alternatives offered to them—
δεῖν4 γὰρ ἢ τὴν ἐπιτροπὴν διδόναι περὶ πάντων τῶν καθʼ αὑτοὺς ἢ χίλια τάλαντα παραχρῆμα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἐχθρὸν αἱρεῖσθαι καὶ φίλον Ῥωμαίοις —
δεῖν namely, that they must either surrender the decision over all their affairs entirely, or pay one thousand talents immediately and adopt the same enemies and friends as the Romans.
ἐδυσχρήστησαν μὲν οἱ παρόντες τῶν Αἰτωλῶν ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα διὰ τὸ μὴ γίνεσθαι τὴν ἀπόφασιν ἀκόλουθον τῇ προγενομένῃ λαλιᾷ, πλὴν ἐπανοίσειν ἔφασαν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπιταττομένων τοῖς Αἰτωλοῖς.
ἐδυσχρήστησαν The Aetolians present were extremely distressed because this declaration was not consistent with the previous conversation, but they said they would refer the demands to the Aetolian assembly.
- 21.4.2ἐντειλάμενος
The nominative singular participle ἐντειλάμενος agrees grammatically with the collective noun ὁ τῶν Ἀθηναίων δῆμος in §21.4.1, introducing the instructions given by the Athenian people through the subsequent infinitives ἀσπάσασθαι and καταπειράζειν.
- 21.4.5νικήσαντας
The accusative participle νικήσαντας (having defeated) functions as the subject of the articular infinitive ἐν τῷ κρατῆσαι (in ruling). It is in the accusative plural because it implicitly refers to the Romans (including the Scipios) as the subjects of the infinitive.
- 21.4.10ὁμιλήσαντος τοῦ Ποπλίου
This section consists of a lengthy genitive absolute construction with τοῦ Ποπλίου as its subject, coordinating four participles (ὁμιλήσαντος, προφερομένου, διασαφοῦντος, and οἰομένου) with καί. It provides the background or reason for the main clause in §21.4.11.
- 21.4.13δεῖν
The impersonal verb δεῖ (it is necessary) is here put into the infinitive δεῖν due to indirect discourse reporting Lucius's speech. The specific conditions are presented as alternatives introduced by ἤ ... ἤ ... (either ... or ...).