- 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-grc2:29.19.1-29.19.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
The Rhodian ambassadors, who had arrived to mediate the war, are summoned before the Roman Senate as Perseus flees after his defeat. The Senate denounces their mediation as an unjustified attempt not to help the Greeks but to rescue Perseus, and flatly refuses to grant them any favor.
ὅτι κατὰ τὸν καιρόν, ἐν ᾧ Περσεὺς ἡττηθεὶς ἀνεδίδρασκεν, ἔδοξε τῇ συγκλήτῳ τοὺς παρὰ τῶν Ῥοδίων πρεσβευτὰς παραγεγονότας ὑπὲρ τοῦ διαλύειν τὸν πρὸς Περσέα πόλεμον προσκαλέσασθαι, τῆς τύχης ὥσπερ ἐπίτηδες ἀναβιβαζούσης ἐπὶ σκηνὴν τὴν τῶν Ῥοδίων ἄγνοιαν, εἰ χρὴ Ῥοδίων λέγειν,1 ἀλλὰ μὴ τῶν ἐπιπολασάντων ἀνθρώπων τότε κατὰ τὴν Ῥόδον.
That at the very time when Perseus, having been defeated, was fleeing, the senate decided to summon the ambassadors from the Rhodians who had arrived for the purpose of mediating the war against Perseus, Fortune as if on purpose bringing onto the stage the ignorance of the Rhodians—if indeed one should say “of the Rhodians,” and not rather “of the men who were dominant at that time in Rhodes.”
οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἁγέπολιν εἰσπορευθέντες ἐλθεῖν2 μὲν ἔφασαν διαλύσοντες τὸν πόλεμον· τὸν γὰρ δῆμον τῶν Ῥοδίων, ἑλκομένου τοῦ πολέμου καὶ πλείω χρόνον, θεωροῦντα διότι πᾶσιν μὲν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἀλυσιτελὴς καὶ αὐτοῖς δὲ Ῥωμαίοις διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν δαπανημάτων, ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ ταύτην τὴν γνώμην·
Hagepolis and his associates, having entered, said that they had come to mediate the war; for the people of the Rhodians, as the war dragged on for a longer time, seeing that it was unprofitable for all the Greeks, and also for the Romans themselves because of the greatness of the expenses, had come to this decision;
νῦν δὲ λελυμένου τοῦ πολέμου κατὰ τὴν τῶν Ῥοδίων βούλησιν συγχαίρειν αὐτοῖς. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἁγέπολιν εἰπόντες βραχέως ἐπανῆλθον.
but now, since the war had been resolved in accordance with the wish of the Rhodians, they congratulated them. Having said these things, Hagepolis and his associates briefly departed.
ἡ δὲ σύγκλητος χρωμένη τῷ καιρῷ καὶ βουλομένη παραδειγματίσαι τοὺς Ῥοδίους ἀπόκρισιν ἐξέβαλεν, ἧς ἦν τὰ συνέχοντα ταῦτα, διότι τὴν πρεσβείαν ταύτην οὔτε τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἕνεκεν ὑπολαμβάνουσιν ἐσταλκέναι τοὺς Ῥοδίους οὔθʼ ἑαυτῶν, ἀλλὰ Περσέως.
The senate, taking advantage of the opportunity and wishing to make an example of the Rhodians, issued a reply, the substance of which was as follows: that they did not believe the Rhodians had sent this embassy for the sake of the Greeks, nor of themselves, but for the sake of Perseus.
εἰ μὲν γὰρ τῶν Ἑλλήνων χάριν ἐπρέσβευον, ἐκεῖνον οἰκειότερον εἶναι τὸν καιρόν, ὅτε Περσεὺς τὴν τῶν Ἑλλήνων χώραν ἐπόρθει καὶ τὰς πόλεις, στρατοπεδεύων μὲν ἐν Θετταλίᾳ σχεδὸν ἐπὶ δύʼ ἐνιαυτοὺς τὸ δὲ παρέντας ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν νῦν παρεῖναι3 σπουδάζοντας διαλύειν τὸν πόλεμον, ὅτε παρεμβεβληκότων τῶν ἡμετέρων στρατοπέδων εἰς Μακεδονίαν συγκεκλεισμένος ὁ Περσεὺς ὀλίγας παντάπασιν ἐλπίδας εἶχε τῆς σωτηρίας, προφανὲς εἶναι τοῖς ὀρθῶς σκοπουμένοις διότι τὰς πρεσβείας ἐξέπεμψαν οὐ διαλύειν ἐθέλοντες τὸν πόλεμον, ἀλλʼ ἐξελέσθαι τὸν Περσέα καὶ σῶσαι, καθʼ ὅσον εἰσὶν δυνατοί.
For if they had been sending embassies for the sake of the Greeks, that would have been a more suitable time, when Perseus was ravaging the land and cities of the Greeks, while encamped in Thessaly for nearly two years; but to have let that opportunity pass, and now to be present, eager to mediate the war, when our armies had invaded Macedonia and Perseus, shut in, had very little hope of safety indeed, made it obvious to those who considered the matter rightly that they had sent the embassies not wishing to end the war, but to rescue and save Perseus as far as they were able.
διʼ ἃς αἰτίας οὔτʼ εὐεργετεῖν οὔτε φιλανθρώπως αὐτοῖς ἀποκρίνεσθαι κατὰ τὸ παρὸν ὀφείλειν ἔφασαν.
For these reasons they said that they were under no obligation at present to do them any favor or give them a friendly reply.
ταῦτα μὲν ἡ σύγκλητος ἐχρημάτισε τοῖς παρὰ τῶν Ῥοδίων πρεσβευταῖς. —
This was the answer the senate gave to the ambassadors from the Rhodians. —
- 29.19.2εἰ χρὴ Ῥοδίων λέγειν
The genitive Ῥοδίων depends on the preceding noun τὴν ἄγνοιαν ("the ignorance/folly"). It means "if one ought to say (the ignorance) of the Rhodians," and the contrasted phrase τῶν ἐπιπολασάντων ἀνθρώπων... ("of the men who were dominant...") likewise modifies ἄγνοιαν.
- 29.19.3τὸν γὰρ δῆμον τῶν Ῥοδίων... ἐλθεῖν
A continuation of the indirect discourse (accusative and infinitive construction) introduced by the main verb ἔφασαν in the preceding clause. τὸν δῆμον is the subject accusative of the infinitive ἐλθεῖν, and the construction is prolonged by the insertion of the present participle θεωροῦντα and the διότι clause.
- 29.19.8τὸ δὲ παρέντας ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν νῦν παρεῖναι
The articular infinitive phrase (τὸ δὲ ... παρεῖναι) is used substantively and functions as the subject of the accusative and infinitive construction προφανὲς εἶναι ("that it is obvious") in §29.19.9. The participles παρέντας ("having let pass") and σπουδάζοντας ("striving") agree with the omitted subject accusative of the infinitive (the Rhodians).