- 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-grc2:28.4.1-28.4.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
The Roman ambassadors attend the assembly at Thermus in Aetolia to demand hostages, where intense mutual accusations erupt among the Aetolians, culminating in the crowd throwing missiles at Thoas, which prompts the ambassadors to depart for Acarnania while leaving the hostage issue unresolved.
καὶ πάλιν ἐκεῖ συναχθείσης αὐτοῖς τῆς ἐκκλησίας εἰς Θέρμον, παρελθόντες εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς παρακλητικοὺς καὶ φιλανθρώπους διετίθεντο λόγους.
And when the assembly was again convened for them there at Thermus, they came forward before the multitude and delivered encouraging and friendly speeches.
τὸ δὲ συνέχον αὐτοῖς1 τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ὁμήρους ἔφασαν δεῖν δοθῆναι σφίσι παρὰ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν.
But the main point of the assembly for them was that they said hostages must be given to them by the Aetolians.
τούτων δὲ καταβάντων, Πρόανδρος ἐπαναστὰς ἐβούλετό τινας εὐχρηστίας πρὸς αὐτοῦ γεγενημένας εἰς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους προφέρεσθαι καὶ κατηγορεῖν τῶν διαβαλλόντων αὐτόν· ἐφʼ ὃν2 Γάιος πάλιν ἐπαναστάς, καὶ καλῶς εἰδὼς ἀλλότριον αὐτὸν ὄντα Ῥωμαίων, ὅμως ἐπῄνεσε καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἀνθωμολογήσατο.
When they had stepped down, Proandros rose up and wished to bring forward certain services rendered by him to the Romans, and to accuse those who were slandering him; against whom Gaius rose up in turn, and although he knew well that Proandros was estranged from the Romans, he nevertheless praised him and agreed with all that had been said.
μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον προελθὼν Λυκίσκος ἐπʼ ὀνόματος μὲν οὐδενὸς ἐποιήσατο κατηγορίαν, καθʼ ὑπόνοιαν δὲ πολλῶν.
After him, Lyciscus came forward and made an accusation, not against anyone by name, but by insinuation against many.
ἔφη γὰρ περὶ μὲν τῶν κορυφαίων καλῶς βεβουλεῦσθαι Ῥωμαίους, ἀπαγαγόντας αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην, λέγων τοὺς περὶ τὸν Εὐπόλεμον καὶ Νίκανδρον, τοὺς δὲ συναγωνιστὰς καὶ τοὺς παραστάτας τοὺς ἐκείνων ἔτι μένειν κατὰ τὴν Αἰτωλίαν, οὓς δεῖν ἅπαντας τῆς αὐτῆς τυχεῖν ἐκείνοις ἐπιστροφῆς, ἂν μὴ προῶνται τὰ τέκνα Ῥωμαίοις εἰς ὁμηρείαν.
For he said that regarding the leaders—meaning Eupolemus and Nicander and their party—the Romans had resolved well in carrying them off to Rome, but that their fellow-combatants and supporters still remained in Aetolia, all of whom ought to meet with the same treatment as those others, unless they surrendered their children to the Romans as hostages.
μάλιστα δὲ κατʼ Ἀρχεδάμου καὶ Πανταλέοντος ἐποίει τὰς ἐμφάσεις.
He made these insinuations especially against Archedamus and Pantaleon.
τούτου δὲ παραχωρήσαντος, Πανταλέων ἀναστὰς τὸν μὲν Λυκίσκον διὰ βραχέων ἐλοιδόρησε, φήσας αὐτὸν ἀναισχύντως καὶ ἀνελευθέρως κολακεύειν τοὺς ὑπερέχοντας, ἐπὶ δὲ τὸν Θόαντα μετέβη, τοῦτον ὑπολαμβάνων εἶναι τὸν ἀξιοπίστως ἐνιέντα τὰς κατʼ αὐτῶν διαβολὰς τῷ δοκεῖν3 μηδεμίαν ὑπάρχειν αὐτοῖς πρὸς τοῦτον διαφοράν.
When he had withdrawn, Pantaleon rose up and abused Lyciscus briefly, saying that he flattered those in power shamelessly and servilely, and then turned upon Thoas, whom he suspected of being the one who was credibly instigating the slanders against them, because there appeared to be no dispute between them and him.
καὶ τὰ μὲν ὑπομνήσας τῶν κατʼ Ἀντίοχον καιρῶν, τὰ δʼ ὀνειδίσας εἰς ἀχαριστίαν αὐτῷ, διότι δοθεὶς ἔκδοτος Ῥωμαίοις, πρεσβεύσαντος αὐτοῦ καὶ Νικάνδρου, τύχοι τῆς σωτηρίας ἀνελπίστως, ταχέως ἐξεκαλέσατο τοὺς ὄχλους εἰς τὸ μὴ μόνον θορυβεῖν τὸν Θόανθʼ, ὅτε βουληθείη τι λέγειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ βάλλειν ὁμοθυμαδόν.
And reminding him partly of the times of Antiochus, and partly reproaching him for his ingratitude, because when he had been given up to the Romans, through the embassy of himself and Nicander, he had unexpectedly obtained safety, he quickly incited the crowds not only to clamor against Thoas whenever he wished to say anything, but also to throw missiles at him with one accord.
γενομένων δὲ τούτων βραχέα καταμεμψάμενος ὁ Γάιος τοὺς Αἰτωλοὺς ἐπὶ τῷ βάλλειν τὸν Θόανθʼ, οὗτος μὲν εὐθέως μετὰ τοῦ συμπρεσβευτοῦ συναπῆρεν εἰς Ἀκαρνανίαν, ἐκσιωπηθεὶς4 περὶ τῶν ὁμήρων· τὰ δὲ κατὰ τὴν Αἰτωλίαν ἐν ὑποψίαις ἦν πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ ταραχαῖς ὁλοσχερέσιν.
When these things happened, Gaius, having slightly censured the Aetolians for throwing missiles at Thoas, immediately departed with his fellow-ambassador to Acarnania, the matter of the hostages having been passed over in silence; and the affairs of Aetolia were in a state of mutual suspicion and complete confusion.
- 28.4.2τὸ δὲ συνέχον αὐτοῖς
τὸ συνέχον is a neuter present participle used substantively to mean 'the main point' or 'the chief part.' The dative αὐτοῖς functions as a dative of relation (or reference), indicating the persons concerned (here, the Roman ambassadors), meaning 'what was of chief importance to them.'
- 28.4.3ἐφʼ ὃν
The preposition ἐπί combined with the accusative relative pronoun ὅν refers back to the antecedent Πρόανδρος. This relative clause has no finite verb, containing only the participle ἐπαναστάς, which links to the main verb ἐπῄνεσε in the subsequent section (§28.4.4).
- 28.4.10τῷ δοκεῖν
This is a dative articular infinitive expressing cause ('because of' or 'by'). The subject of the infinitive δοκεῖν is the situation described by the following accusative with infinitive clause μηδεμίαν ὑπάρχειν αὐτοῖς πρὸς τοῦτον διαφοράν ('that there was no dispute between them and him'), which serves as the complement of δοκεῖν (meaning 'because of the appearance that there was no dispute...').
- 28.4.13ἐκσιωπηθεὶς
A nominative masculine singular passive participle of ἐκσιωπάω. While passive in form, it is used here with an active or intransitive nuance, describing the subject Gaius as 'having remained silent' or 'having let the matter be passed over in silence' regarding the hostages.