- 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-grc2:28.6.1-28.6.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
The leaders of the Achaean League debate from their respective positions on what foreign policy to adopt regarding the war between King Perseus of Macedon and the Romans.
ὅτι ἔδοξε τοῖς Ἕλλησι περὶ τῆς πρεσβείας ἐπιστάσεως1 χρείαν ἔχειν τὸ γινόμενον.
It seemed to the Greeks that the current situation required careful consideration regarding the sending of the embassy.
παραλαβόντες οὖν τοὺς κατὰ τὴν ἄλλην πολιτείαν ὁμογνωμονοῦντας· οὗτοι δʼ ἦσαν Ἀρκεσίλαος, Ἀρίστων Μεγαλοπολῖται, Στρατίος Τριταιεύς, Ξένων Πατρεύς, Ἀπολλωνίδας Σικυώνιος· ἐβουλεύοντο περὶ τῶν ἐνεστώτων.
Therefore, having associated with them those of the same mind from the other states—who were Arcesilaus and Ariston of Megalopolis, Stratius of Tritaea, Xenon of Patrae, and Apollonidas of Sicyon—they consulted about the present affairs.
ὁ μὲν οὖν Λυκόρτας ἔμεινεν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐξ ἀρχῆς προθέσεως, κρίνων μήτε Περσεῖ μήτε Ῥωμαίοις συνεργεῖν μηδέν, ὁμοίως μηδʼ ἀντιπράττειν μηδετέροις.
Lycortas, for his part, remained firm in his original policy, deciding neither to cooperate in any way with Perseus nor with the Romans, and likewise not to oppose either of them.
τὸ μὲν γὰρ συνεργεῖν ἀλυσιτελὲς ἐνόμιζε πᾶσιν εἶναι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, προορώμενος τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ἐσομένης ἐξουσίας περὶ τοὺς κρατήσαντας, τὸ δʼ ἀντιπράττειν Ῥωμαίοις ἐπισφαλὲς διὰ τὸ πολλοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἐπιφανεστάτοις Ῥωμαίων ἀντωφθαλμηκέναι2 περὶ τῶν κοινῶν πραγμάτων κατὰ τοὺς ἀνώτερον καιρούς.
For he thought that cooperation would be disadvantageous to all the Greeks, foreseeing the immense power that the victors would possess, while to oppose the Romans was dangerous, because in former times he had opposed many of the most illustrious Romans face to face concerning their common affairs.
ὁ δʼ Ἀπολλωνίδας καὶ Στρατίος ἀντιπράττειν μὲν ἐπίτηδες Ῥωμαίοις οὐκ ᾤοντο δεῖν· τοὺς δʼ ὑπερκυβιστῶντας3 καὶ διὰ τῶν κοινῶν πραγμάτων ἰδίαν χάριν ἀποτιθεμένους παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις καὶ τοῦτο πράττοντας παρὰ τοὺς νόμους καὶ παρὰ τὸ κοινῇ συμφέρον, τούτους ἔφασαν δεῖν κωλύειν καὶ πρὸς τούτους ἀντοφθαλμεῖν εὐγενῶς.
Apollonidas and Stratius, on the other hand, did not think they should deliberately oppose the Romans; but as for those who went to extremes in subservience and through public affairs secured private favor with the Romans, and did this contrary to the laws and the common interest, they said that these men must be stopped and that they must oppose them with dignity.
ὁ δʼ Ἄρχων ἀκολουθεῖν ἔφη δεῖν τοῖς καιροῖς καὶ μὴ διδόναι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἀφορμὴν εἰς διαβολὴν μηδὲ προέσθαι σφᾶς αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν ἐλθεῖν διάθεσιν τοῖς περὶ Νίκανδρον, οἵτινες, πρὶν ἢ λαβεῖν πεῖραν τῆς τούτων ἐξουσίας, ἐν ταῖς μεγίσταις εἰσὶ συνταλαιπωρίαις.
But Archon said that they must follow the times and not give their enemies an opportunity for slander, nor allow themselves to fall into the same condition as Nicander and his party, who, before having any experience of the Romans’ power, were already in the greatest distress.
ταύτης δὲ τῆς γνώμης μετέσχον Πολύβιος, Ἀρκεσίλαος, Ἀρίστων, Ξένων.
And in this opinion Polybius, Arcesilaus, Ariston, and Xenon shared.
διὸ καὶ τὸν μὲν Ἄρχωνα πρὸς τὴν στρατηγίαν ἔδοξεν αὐτοῖς εὐθέως προπορεύεσθαι, τὸν δὲ Πολύβιον πρὸς τὴν ἱππαρχίαν.
For which reason they decided that Archon should immediately stand for the office of strategus, and Polybius for that of hipparch.
- 28.6.1ἐπιστάσεως
Genitive governed by the phrase χρείαν ἔχειν (to have need of). The noun ἐπίστασις means 'stopping' or 'attention', referring here to either a suspension of the embassy or close attention to the situation.
- 28.6.5διὰ τὸ πολλοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἐπιφανεστάτοις Ῥωμαίων ἀντωφθαλμηκέναι
An articular infinitive construction in the perfect tense (τὸ ἀντωφθαλμηκέναι) introduced by the preposition διὰ. The implied subject is Lycortas (from the preceding clause), and the verb ἀντοφθαλμέω (to face, oppose) governs the dative case (πολλοῖς...).
- 28.6.6τοὺς δʼ ὑπερκυβιστῶντας
Present participle accusative plural of ὑπερκυβιστάω (literally 'to turn somersaults over'), used here metaphorically to mean 'to be excessively subservient'. This long accusative phrase is resumed by the pronoun τούτους as the direct object of κωλύειν.