- 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-grc2:24.11.1-24.11.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
The contrast between the characters and political policies toward Rome of the two Achaean leaders, Philopoemen and Aristaenus, is presented.
ὅτι1 Φιλοποίμενα καὶ Ἀρίσταινον τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς συνέβη οὔτε τὴν φύσιν ὁμοίαν σχεῖν οὔτε τὴν αἵρεσιν τῆς πολιτείας.
That Philopoemen and Aristaenus, the Achaeans, happened to have neither a similar nature nor the same political policy.
ἦν γὰρ ὁ μὲν Φιλοποίμην εὖ πεφυκὼς2 πρὸς τὰς πολεμικὰς χρείας καὶ κατὰ τὸ σῶμα καὶ κατὰ τὴν ψυχήν, ὁ δʼ ἕτερος πρὸς τὰ πολιτικὰ τῶν διαβουλίων.
For Philopoemen was well fitted by nature for military services, both in body and in soul, while the other was suited for political deliberations.
τῇ δʼ αἱρέσει κατὰ τὴν πολιτείαν τοῦτο διέφερον ἀλλήλων. τῆς γὰρ Ῥωμαίων ὑπεροχῆς ἤδη τοῖς Ἑλληνικοῖς πράγμασιν ἐμπλεκομένης ὁλοσχερῶς κατά τε τοὺς Φιλιππικοὺς καὶ τοὺς Ἀντιοχικοὺς καιρούς, ὁ μὲν Ἀρίσταινος ἦγε τὴν ἀγωγὴν τῆς πολιτείας οὕτως ὥστε πᾶν τὸ πρόσφορον Ῥωμαίοις ἐξ ἑτοίμου ποιεῖν, ἔνια δὲ καὶ πρὶν ἢ προστάξαι ʼκείνους.
And they differed from one another in their political policy in this way. For when the supremacy of the Romans had already become completely entangled with Greek affairs during the times of Philip and Antiochus, Aristaenus, on the one hand, conducted the administration of the state in such a way as to do readily everything that was advantageous to the Romans, and some things even before they ordered them.
ἐπειρᾶτο μέντοι γε τῶν νόμων ἔχεσθαι δοκεῖν καὶ τὴν τοιαύτην ἐφείλκετο φαντασίαν, εἴκων, ὁπότε τούτων ἀντιπίπτοι τις3 προδήλως τοῖς ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων γραφομένοις.
Nevertheless, he endeavored to seem to hold to the laws and maintained such an appearance, yielding whenever any of these laws conflicted openly with the decrees written by the Romans.
ὁ δὲ Φιλοποίμην, ὅσα μὲν εἴη τῶν παρακαλουμένων ἀκόλουθα τοῖς νόμοις καὶ τῇ συμμαχίᾳ, πάντα συγκατῄνει καὶ συνέπραττεν ἀπροφασίστως, ὅσα δὲ τούτων ἐκτὸς ἐπιτάττοιεν, οὐχ οἷός τʼ ἦν ἐθελοντὴν συνυπακούειν, ἀλλὰ τὰς μὲν ἀρχὰς ἔφη δεῖν δικαιολογεῖσθαι,4 μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πάλιν ἀξιοῦν·
Philopoemen, on the other hand, consented to and co-operated without hesitation in everything requested that was in accordance with the laws and the alliance; but whatever they ordered outside of these, he was not able to obey voluntarily, but said that at first they ought to plead their rights, and after that to make a request again;
εἰ δὲ μηδʼ οὕτως πείθοιεν, τέλος οἷον ἐπιμαρτυρομένους εἴκειν καὶ τότε ποιεῖν τὸ παραγγελλόμενον. —
and if they could not persuade them even so, finally to yield as if calling witnesses to attest it, and then to do what was commanded. —
- 24.11.1ὅτι
A conjunction commonly placed at the beginning of chapters in excerpted texts to introduce a summary of the contents. It introduces the accusative and infinitive construction (συνέβη ... σχεῖν) without a main governing verb.
- 24.11.2ἦν ... εὖ πεφυκὼς
A periphrastic construction consisting of the imperfect ἦν and the perfect participle πεφυκώς, emphasizing Philopoemen's lasting natural disposition or state.
- 24.11.5ὁπότε τούτων ἀντιπίπτοι τις
The optative (ἀντιπίπτοι) introduced by the conjunction ὁπότε expresses past indefinite repetition ("whenever any of these..."). The pronoun τούτων refers to the preceding τῶν νόμων (the laws).
- 24.11.7ἔφη δεῖν δικαιολογεῖσθαι
The verb of speaking ἔφη is followed by the impersonal infinitive δεῖν, which in turn governs a series of coordinate present infinitives: δικαιολογεῖσθαι, ἀξιοῦν (in §24.11.7), and εἴκειν, ποιεῖν (in §24.11.8).