← Polybius

The Histories

§27.6.1-27.6.4

Expulsion of Perseus's Envoys and Preparations for War

After receiving reports from the Asian embassies, the Roman senate summoned Perseus's envoys, ordered all Macedonians to leave Italy immediately, and urged the consuls to act swiftly.

View ▾
View
Translation
Typeface
AI ↗
← PrevNext →
§27.6.1

ὅτι οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀσίας παραγεγονότων πρεσβευτῶν διακούσαντες1 τά τε κατὰ τὴν Ῥόδον καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὰς ἄλλας πόλεις προσεκαλέσαντο τοὺς παρὰ τοῦ Περσέως πρεσβευτάς. οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Σόλωνα2 καὶ τὸν Ἱππίαν ἐπειρῶντο μὲν καὶ περὶ τῶν ὅλων λέγειν τι καὶ παραιτεῖσθαι τὴν σύγκλητον· τὸ δὲ πλέον ἀπελογοῦντο περὶ τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς τῆς κατὰ τὸν Εὐμένη. ληξάντων δὲ τῆς δικαιολογίας αὐτῶν, πάλαι προδιειληφότες3 ὑπὲρ τοῦ πολεμεῖν προσέταξαν αὐτοῖς ἐκ μὲν τῆς Ῥώμης εὐθέως ἀπαλλάττεσθαι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν Μακεδόσιν, ὅσοι παρεπιδημοῦντες ἔτυχον, ἐκ δὲ τῆς Ἰταλίας ἐν τριάκονθʼ ἡμέραις ἐκχωρεῖν. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τοὺς ὑπάτους ἀνακαλεσάμενοι παρώρμων ἔχεσθαι τοῦ καιροῦ4 καὶ μὴ καθυστερεῖν. —

​That the Romans, after hearing from the ambassadors who had arrived from Asia about the affairs of Rhodes and the other cities, summoned the ambassadors from Perseus. Solon and Hippias and their colleagues tried indeed to say something about the general situation and to entreat the senate, but for the most part they defended themselves against the charge of the conspiracy against Eumenes. When they had finished their defense, the senators, having long before decided upon war, ordered them to depart from Rome immediately, along with all the other Macedonians who happened to be residing there, and to leave Italy within thirty days. After this, they summoned the consuls and urged them to seize the opportunity and not to lag behind.

Syntax notes4 items
  1. 27.6.1διακούσαντες

    The verb διακούω (to hear out) governs both the genitive τῶν... πρεσβευτῶν indicating the speakers, and the accusatives τά τε κατὰ τὴν Ῥόδον καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὰς ἄλλας πόλεις indicating the content of what was heard.

  2. 27.6.2οἱ περὶ τὸν Σόλωνα

    The idiomatic expression 'οἱ περί' followed by a proper name in the accusative denotes a leading figure and his associates (here, 'Solon and Hippias and their embassy').

  3. 27.6.3προδιειληφότες

    The perfect active participle προδιειληφότες (having decided beforehand) shares its subject with the main verb προσέταξαν (the senators), and functions adverbially to express cause.

  4. 27.6.4ἔχεσθαι τοῦ καιροῦ

    The middle voice ἔχομαι governs the genitive τοῦ καιροῦ and means 'to hold fast to' or 'to seize' the opportunity.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:27.6.1-27.6.4