- 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-grc2:29.24.1-29.24.16
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
The debate over sending aid to the Ptolemies is resumed in the Achaean assembly, where Lycortas and Polybius advocate for the military aid by refuting Roman excuses, while Callicrates' faction opposes them, leading to a sharp political contrast of the benefits from both kingdoms.
Μακεδονίᾳ ποιουμένου.1 τῶν δὲ πολλῶν εἰς ἀπορίαν ἐμπιπτόντων, μὴ δόξωσι Ῥωμαίων ἀστοχεῖν, μεταλαβόντες τοὺς λόγους οἱ περὶ τὸν Λυκόρταν καὶ Πολύβιον ἐδίδασκον, ἄλλα τε καὶ πλείω προφερόμενοι καὶ διότι, τῷ πρότερον ἔτει ψηφισαμένων τῶν Ἀχαιῶν πανδημεὶ συστρατεύειν τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις καὶ πεμψάντων πρεσβευτὴν τὸν Πολύβιον, ὁ Κόιντος ἀποδεξάμενος τὴν προθυμίαν ἀπείπατο μὴ χρείαν ἔχειν2 τῆς βοηθείας, ἐπεὶ κεκράτηκε τῆς εἰς Μακεδονίαν εἰσβολῆς.
in Macedonia. When the majority fell into embarrassment, lest they should seem to miss the mark with the Romans, Lycortas and Polybius and their party took up the discourse and instructed them, bringing forward other arguments and especially that, in the preceding year, when the Achaians had voted to join the campaign with the Romans with all their forces and had sent Polybius as ambassador, Quintus, while accepting their zeal, had declined, saying he had no need of assistance since he had succeeded in his invasion of Macedonia.
ἐξ ὧν ἀπεδείκνυσαν σκῆψιν οὖσαν τὴν Ῥωμαίων χρείαν πρὸς τὸ διακωλῦσαι βοηθεῖν. διὸ παρεκάλουν τοὺς Ἀχαιούς, ὑποδεικνύοντες τὸ μέγεθος τῆς περιστάσεως, ἐν ᾗ συνέβαινε τότε τὴν βασιλείαν ὑπάρχειν, μὴ παριδεῖν τὸν καιρόν, ἀλλὰ μνημονεύοντας τῶν ὁμολογιῶν καὶ τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν, μάλιστα δὲ τῶν ὅρκων, ἐμπεδοῦν τὰς συνθήκας.
From which they demonstrated that the Roman need was a mere pretext to prevent them from helping. Therefore they exhorted the Achaians, pointing out the magnitude of the critical situation in which the kingdom then happened to be, not to overlook the opportunity, but, remembering their agreements and benefactions, and especially their oaths, to maintain the treaties.
τῶν δὲ πολλῶν ἐπιφερομένων πάλιν βοηθεῖν, τότε μὲν οἱ περὶ τὸν Καλλικράτην ἐξέβαλον τὸ διαβούλιον, διασείσαντες τοὺς ἄρχοντας, ὡς οὐκ οὔσης ἐξουσίας κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ἐν ἀγορᾷ βουλεύεσθαι περὶ βοηθείας.
And when the majority were again inclined to send help, Callicrates and his party on that occasion threw out the consultation, by shaking the magistrates with the threat that there was no authority according to the laws to deliberate about aid in a regular assembly.
μετὰ δέ τινα χρόνον συγκλήτου συναχθείσης εἰς τὴν τῶν Σικυωνίων πόλιν, ἐν ᾗ συνέβαινε μὴ μόνον συμπορεύεσθαι τὴν βουλὴν ἀλλὰ πάντας τοὺς ἀπὸ τριάκοντʼ ἐτῶν, καὶ λόγων γινομένων πλειόνων, καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ Πολυβίου διοριζομένου πρῶτον μὲν περὶ τοῦ μὴ χρείαν ἔχειν τοὺς Ῥωμαίους τῆς βοηθείας καὶ δοκοῦντος οὐκ εἰκῇ ταῦτα λέγειν διὰ τὸ γεγονέναι τὴν παρελθοῦσαν θερείαν ἐν τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ παρὰ τῷ Φιλίππῳ,3 δεύτερον δὲ φάσκοντος, ἐὰν καὶ δέωνται Ῥωμαῖοι τῆς συμμαχίας, οὐ διὰ τοὺς διακοσίους ἱππεῖς καὶ χιλίους πεζοὺς τοὺς ἀποσταλησομένους εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἀδυνατήσειν τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς βοηθεῖν Ῥωμαίοις· καλῶς γὰρ ποιοῦντας4 αὐτοὺς καὶ τρεῖς ἄγειν καὶ τέτταρας μυριάδας ἀνδρῶν μαχίμων·
But after some time, an extraordinary assembly having been convened in the city of Sicyon, in which it happened that not only the council met but all those who were over thirty years of age, and many speeches having been made, and especially Polybius defining, first, that the Romans had no need of assistance—and he was thought to speak this not at random because of having spent the past summer in Macedonia with Philippus— secondly, asserting that, even if the Romans should need the alliance, the Achaians would not be unable to help the Romans on account of the two hundred cavalry and a thousand infantry to be dispatched to Alexandria; for, fortunately, they could bring into the field even thirty or forty thousand fighting men;
εὐδοκοῦντες τοῖς λεγομένοις ἔρρεπον οἱ πολλοὶ πρὸς τὸ πέμπειν τὴν συμμαχίαν.
approving of these statements, the majority inclined towards sending the allied force.
τῇ δὲ δευτέρᾳ τῶν ἡμερῶν, ἐν ᾗ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ἔδει τὰ ψηφίσματα προσφέρειν τοὺς βουλομένους, οἱ μὲν περὶ τὸν Λυκόρταν προσήνεγκαν διότι δεῖ πέμπειν τὴν βοήθειαν, οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Καλλικράτην διότι δεῖ πρεσβευτὰς ἐξαποστέλλειν τοὺς διαλύσοντας τοὺς βασιλεῖς πρὸς τὸν Ἀντίοχον.
On the second of the days, on which according to the laws those who wished had to propose the decrees, Lycortas and his party proposed that they ought to send the aid, while Callicrates and his party proposed that they ought to dispatch ambassadors to reconcile the kings with Antiochus.
πάλιν δὲ τῶν διαβουλίων προτεθέντων ἀγὼν ἐγίνετο νεανικός· πολύ γε μὴν ὑπερεῖχον οἱ περὶ τὸν Λυκόρταν.
When the deliberations were again brought forward, a spirited contest arose; but Lycortas and his party were far superior.
αἵ τε γὰρ βασιλεῖαι συγκρινόμεναι μεγάλην εἶχον διαφοράν·
For the two kingdoms, when compared, presented a great difference.
ὑπὸ μὲν γὰρ τῆς Ἀντιόχου σπάνιον ἦν εὑρεῖν οἰκεῖόν τι γεγονὸς καθόλου πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἔν γε τοῖς ἀνώτερον χρόνοις· καὶ γὰρ ἡ τοῦ τότε βασιλεύοντος μεγαλοψυχία διάδηλος ἐγένετο τοῖς Ἕλλησιν·
For on the part of the kingdom of Antiochus, it was rare to find any friendly act at all towards the Greeks, at least in former times; indeed, the high-handedness of the then reigning king had become manifest to the Greeks.
ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς Πτολεμαίου τοσαῦτα καὶ τηλικαῦτα τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς ἐγεγόνει φιλάνθρωπα κατὰ τοὺς ἀνώτερον χρόνους ὥστʼ ἂν μηδένα πλεῖον ἀξιοῦν.
Whereas on the part of the kingdom of Ptolemy, so many and such great acts of benevolence had been rendered to the Achaians in former times that no one could demand more.
ἃ διατιθέμενος ὁ Λυκόρτας μεγάλην ἐποιεῖτο φαντασίαν, ἅτε τῆς παραθέσεως ὁλοσχερῆ τὴν διαφορὰν ἐχούσης·
Setting these forth, Lycortas made a great impression, inasmuch as the comparison presented a total difference.
καθʼ ὅσον γὰρ οὐκ ἐξαριθμήσασθαι ῥᾴδιον ἦν τὰς τῶν ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ βασιλέων εὐεργεσίας, κατὰ τοσοῦτον ἁπλῶς οὐδὲν ἦν εὑρεῖν φιλάνθρωπον ἐκ τῆς Ἀντιόχου βασιλείας ἀπηντημένον εἰς πραγμάτων λόγον τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς. —
For in proportion as it was not easy to enumerate the benefactions of the kings in Alexandria, so absolutely was it impossible to find any friendly act from the kingdom of Antiochus met by the Achaians in terms of actual deeds. —
- 29.24.1Μακεδονίᾳ ποιουμένου
Continuing from ἐν τῇ at the end of the previous chunk, Μακεδονίᾳ ποιουμένου forms part of a genitive absolute construction whose subject is ὁ Κόιντος ὁ Φίλιππος and object is τὴν παραχειμασίαν from the preceding sentence. The preposition ἐν τῇ and the noun Μακεδονίᾳ are split across the chunk boundary.
- 29.24.2ἀπείπατο μὴ χρείαν ἔχειν
The verb ἀπείπατο ('declined', 'refused') is followed by a redundant or pleonastic negative particle μή before the infinitive χρείαν ἔχειν to reinforce the negative sense of the main verb, meaning 'declined, saying that he had no need of assistance'.
- 29.24.7παρὰ τῷ Φιλίππῳ
The name Φίλιππος here refers not to the Macedonian king but to the Roman general (consul) Quintus Marcius Philippus. It indicates that Polybius had first-hand knowledge of the Roman military situation because he had spent the previous summer in the Roman consul's camp.
- 29.24.8καλῶς... ποιοῦντας
An idiomatic adverbial use of the participle meaning 'fortunately' or 'being in a favorable position'. The accusative αὐτοὺς refers to the Achaians and acts as the subject of the infinitive ἄγειν ('to bring into the field').