- 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-grc2:24.9.1-24.9.15
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Callicrates, having arrived as an envoy in Rome, points out to the Senate that those who obey Rome are discredited while those who oppose its letters win public honor, and he strongly urges Rome to intervene decisively to support its partisans.
νουθετεῖν.1 ἔφη γὰρ αὐτοὺς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους αἰτίους εἶναι τοῦ μὴ πειθαρχεῖν αὐτοῖς τοὺς Ἕλληνας, ἀλλὰ παρακούειν καὶ τῶν γραφομένων καὶ τῶν παραγγελλομένων.
[He attempted] to advise [the Senate]. For he said that the Romans themselves were the cause of the Greeks not obeying them, but disregarding both what was written and what was commanded.
δυεῖν γὰρ οὐσῶν αἱρέσεων2 κατὰ τὸ παρὸν ἐν πάσαις ταῖς δημοκρατικαῖς πολιτείαις, καὶ τῶν μὲν φασκόντων δεῖν ἀκολουθεῖν τοῖς γραφομένοις ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων καὶ μήτε νόμον μήτε στήλην μήτʼ ἄλλο μηθὲν προυργιαίτερον νομίζειν τῆς Ῥωμαίων προαιρέσεως, τῶν δὲ τοὺς νόμους προφερομένων καὶ τοὺς ὅρκους καὶ στήλας καὶ παρακαλούντων τὰ πλήθη μὴ ῥᾳδίως ταῦτα παραβαίνειν, ἀχαϊκωτέραν εἶναι παρὰ πολὺ ταύτην τὴν ὑπόθεσιν καὶ νικητικωτέραν ἐν τοῖς πολλοῖς.
For since there were at present two parties in all the democratic states, and one party asserted that they should follow what was written by the Romans and hold neither law nor tablet nor anything else to be more important than the purpose of the Romans, while the other party brought forward the laws, the oaths, and the tablets, and exhorted the multitudes not easily to violate these, this latter policy was far more Achaean and more winning among the many.
ἐξ οὗ τοῖς μὲν αἱρουμένοις τὰ Ῥωμαίων ἀδοξίαν συνεξακολουθεῖν παρὰ τοῖς ὄχλοις καὶ διαβολήν, τοῖς δʼ ἀντιπράττουσιν τἀναντία.
As a result, bad reputation and slander followed those who chose the side of the Romans among the crowds, but the opposite followed those who opposed them.
ἐὰν μὲν οὖν ὑπὸ τῆς συγκλήτου γίνηταί τις ἐπισημασία, ταχέως καὶ τοὺς πολιτευομένους μεταθέσθαι πρὸς τὴν Ῥωμαίων αἵρεσιν, καὶ τοὺς πολλοὺς τούτοις ἐπακολουθήσειν διὰ τὸν φόβον.
If, therefore, some sign of approval should be made by the Senate, the politicians also would quickly change over to the Roman party, and the multitude would follow them out of fear.
ἐὰν δὲ παρορᾶται τοῦτο τὸ μέρος, ἅπαντας ἀπονεύσειν ἐπʼ ἐκείνην τὴν ὑπόθεσιν· ἐνδοξοτέραν γὰρ εἶναι καὶ καλλίω παρὰ τοῖς ὄχλοις.
But if this matter should be overlooked, everyone would incline towards that other policy; for it was more honorable and more beautiful in the eyes of the crowds.
διὸ καὶ νῦν ἤδη τινὰς οὐθὲν ἕτερον προσφερομένους δίκαιον πρὸς φιλοδοξίαν, διʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο τῶν μεγίστων τυγχάνειν τιμῶν παρὰ τοῖς ἰδίοις πολιτεύμασιν διὰ τὸ δοκεῖν ἀντιλέγειν τοῖς ὑφʼ ὑμῶν3 γραφομένοις, χάριν τοῦ διαμένειν τοὺς νόμους ἰσχυροὺς καὶ τὰ δόγματα τὰ γινόμενα παρʼ αὐτοῖς.
Therefore even now, some who bring forward no other claim to distinction obtain the highest honors in their own states for this very reason, because they seem to oppose what is written by you, for the sake of keeping the laws and the decrees enacted among them in force.
εἰ μὲν οὖν ἀδιαφόρως ἔχουσιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ πειθαρχεῖν αὐτοῖς τοὺς Ἕλληνας καὶ συνυπακούειν τοῖς γραφομένοις, ἄγειν αὐτοὺς ἐκέλευε τὴν ἀγωγήν, ἣν καὶ νῦν ἄγουσιν·
If, then, the Romans were indifferent about the Greeks obeying them and complying with what was written, he told them to continue the course which they were now pursuing;
εἰ δὲ βούλονται γίνεσθαι σφίσι τὰ παραγγελλόμενα καὶ μηθένα καταφρονεῖν τῶν γραφομένων, ἐπιστροφὴν ποιήσασθαι παρεκάλει τοῦ μέρους τούτου τὴν ἐνδεχομένην.
but if they wished their commands to be carried out and no one to despise what was written, he exhorted them to show the necessary attention to this matter.
εἰ δὲ μή, σαφῶς εἰδέναι δεῖν ὅτι τἀναντία συμβήσεται ταῖς ἐπινοίαις αὐτῶν· ὃ καὶ νῦν ἤδη γεγονέναι.
Otherwise, they must know clearly that the opposite of their designs would happen, which indeed had already happened now.
πρῴην μὲν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς Μεσσηνιακοῖς πολλὰ ποιήσαντος Κοΐντου Μαρκίου4 πρὸς τὸ μηδὲν τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς βουλεύσασθαι περὶ Μεσσηνίων ἄνευ τῆς Ῥωμαίων προαιρέσεως, παρακούσαντας καὶ ψηφισαμένους αὐτοὺς τὸν πόλεμον οὐ μόνον τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν καταφθεῖραι πᾶσαν ἀδίκως, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους τῶν πολιτῶν οὓς μὲν φυγαδεῦσαι, τινὰς δʼ αὐτῶν ἐκδότους λαβόντας αἰκισαμένους πᾶσαν αἰκίαν ἀποκτεῖναι, διότι προεκαλοῦντο περὶ τῶν ἀμφισβητουμένων ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους.
For recently, in the Messenian affair, although Quintus Marcius did much to prevent the Achaeans from deciding anything about the Messenians without the consent of the Romans, they disregarded this and voted for war, and not only unjustly ravaged all their land, but also banished some of the most prominent citizens, and having demanded and received others, tortured them with every kind of abuse and put them to death, because they had appealed to the Romans concerning the matters in dispute.
νῦν δὲ πάλιν ἐκ πλείονος χρόνου γραφόντων αὐτῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς καθόδου τῶν ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος φυγάδων, τοσοῦτον ἀπέχειν τοῦ πειθαρχεῖν ὡς καὶ στήλην τεθεῖσθαι καὶ πεποιῆσθαι πρὸς τοὺς κατέχοντας τὴν πόλιν ὅρκους ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηδέποτε κατελεύσεσθαι τοὺς φυγάδας.
And now again, though the Romans had been writing for a long time concerning the return of the exiles from Lacedaemon, they were so far from obeying that they had even set up a tablet and made oaths with those who held the city that the exiles should never return.
εἰς ἃ βλέποντας αὐτοὺς ἠξίου πρόνοιαν ποιεῖσθαι τοῦ μέλλοντος.
Looking to these things, he urged them to take foresight for the future.
- 24.9.1νουθετεῖν
A complementary infinitive dependent on the verb ἐπεχείρησεν (he attempted) at the end of the preceding chunk. Although appearing isolated at the beginning of the sentence, it continues the description of Callicrates' actions in the previous context.
- 24.9.2δυεῖν γὰρ οὐσῶν αἱρέσεων
A genitive absolute construction. The following clauses τῶν μὲν φασκόντων... (§24.9.2) and τῶν δὲ ... προφερομένων... (§24.9.3) are appositional participle clauses (also in the genitive absolute) explaining 'δυεῖν αἱρέσεων', forming a long period leading to the main accusative and infinitive in indirect speech: ἀχαϊκωτέραν εἶναι... (§24.9.4).
- 24.9.8ὑφʼ ὑμῶν
In the midst of Callicrates' speech reported in indirect discourse (accusative and infinitive), the second person plural pronoun (ὑμῶν) referring to the audience, the Roman Senate, is retained. It should not be mistaken for the historian Polybius addressing his own readers.
- 24.9.12πολλὰ ποιήσαντος Κοΐντου Μαρκίου
A genitive absolute construction expressing concession (although Quintus Marcius had made great efforts), depicting background action by an agent different from the logical subject of the main clause, which is the Achaeans (implied by the participle παρακούσαντας and subsequent infinitives in §24.9.13).