- 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-grc2:3.61.1-3.61.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Hannibal and Publius are both astonished by each other's unexpected speed and daring plans. Upon receiving news of Hannibal's invasion, Rome recalls Tiberius from his African expedition to organize a defense in northern Italy.
προθέμενος δὲ ταῦτα καὶ τὸν Πόπλιον ἀκούων ἤδη διαβεβηκέναι τὸν Πάδον μετὰ τῶν δυνάμεων καὶ σύνεγγυς εἶναι, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἠπίστει τοῖς προσαγγελλομένοις, ἐνθυμούμενος μὲν ὅτι πρότερον ἡμέραις ὀλίγαις αὐτὸν ἀπέλιπε περὶ τὴν τοῦ Ῥοδανοῦ διάβασιν, καὶ συλλογιζόμενος τόν τε πλοῦν τὸν ἀπὸ Μασσαλίας εἰς Τυρρηνίαν ὡς μακρὸς καὶ δυσπαρακόμιστος εἴη,1 πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τὴν πορείαν ἱστορῶν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ Τυρρηνικοῦ πελάγους διὰ τῆς Ἰταλίας μέχρι πρὸς τὰς Ἄλπεις ὡς πολλὴ καὶ δυσδίοδος ὑπάρχει στρατοπέδοις.
Having purposed these things, and hearing that Publius had already crossed the Padus with his forces and was near, Hannibal at first disbelieved the reports, reflecting that only a few days before he had left him at the crossing of the Rhone, and calculating that the voyage from Massalia to Tyrrhenia must be long and difficult to accomplish, and furthermore, knowing that the journey from the Tyrrhenian Sea through Italy as far as the Alps was very long and difficult of passage for armies.
πλειόνων δὲ καὶ σαφεστέρως ἀεὶ προσαγγελλόντων, ἐθαύμαζε καὶ κατεπέπληκτο τὴν ὅλην ἐπιβολὴν καὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν τοῦ στρατηγοῦ.
But as more numerous and clearer reports kept coming in, he was amazed and struck with astonishment at the whole plan and action of the general.
τὸ δὲ παραπλήσιον συνέβαινε πάσχειν καὶ τὸν Πόπλιον·2 τὰς μὲν γὰρ ἀρχὰς οὐδʼ ἐπιβάλλεσθαι τῇ διὰ τῶν Ἄλπεων ἤλπισε πορείᾳ τὸν Ἀννίβαν δυνάμεσιν ἀλλοφύλοις· εἰ δὲ καὶ τολμήσαι, καταφθαρήσεσθαι προδήλως αὐτὸν ὑπελάμβανεν. διόπερ ἐν τοιούτοις ὢν διαλογισμοῖς, ὡς ἐπυνθάνετο καὶ σεσῶσθαι καὶ πολιορκεῖν αὐτὸν ἤδη τινὰς πόλεις ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ, κατεπέπληκτο τὴν τόλμαν καὶ τὸ παράβολον τἀνδρός.
And a very similar experience befell Publius; for at first he had never expected that Hannibal would even attempt the march through the Alps with forces of foreign races; and if he should indeed dare it, he supposed that he would be utterly destroyed. Therefore, while he was in such calculations, when he learned that Hannibal had both come through safely and was already besieging some cities in Italy, he was struck with astonishment at the daring and venturesomeness of the man.
τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ συνέβαινεν καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ πεπονθέναι περὶ τῶν προσπιπτόντων.
The same thing happened to those in Rome also regarding the news that reached them.
ἄρτι γὰρ τῆς τελευταίας φήμης καταληγούσης3 ὑπὲρ τῶν Καρχηδονίων ὅτι Ζάκανθαν εἰλήφασιν, καὶ πρὸς ταύτην βεβουλευμένων τὴν ἔννοιαν, καὶ τὸν μὲν ἕνα τῶν στρατηγῶν ἐξαπεσταλκότων εἰς τὴν Λιβύην, ὡς αὐτὴν τὴν Καρχηδόνα πολιορκήσοντα, τὸν ἕτερον δʼ εἰς Ἰβηρίαν, ὡς πρὸς Ἀννίβαν ἐκεῖ διαπολεμήσοντα, παρῆν ἀγγελία διότι πάρεστιν Ἀννίβας μετὰ δυνάμεως καὶ πολιορκεῖ τινας ἤδη πόλεις ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ.
For just as the last rumor about the Carthaginians, that they had taken Saguntum, was dying down, and they had deliberated with this idea in mind, and had dispatched one of the consuls to Libya to besiege Carthage itself, and the other to Iberia to carry on the war there against Hannibal, an announcement arrived that Hannibal was present with his army and was already besieging some cities in Italy.
διότι παραδόξου φανέντος αὐτοῖς τοῦ γινομένου, διαταραχθέντες παραχρῆμα πρὸς τὸν Τεβέριον εἰς τὸ Λιλύβαιον ἐξαπέστελλον, δηλοῦντες μὲν τὴν παρουσίαν τῶν πολεμίων, οἰόμενοι δὲ δεῖν ἀφέμενον τῶν προκειμένων κατὰ σπουδὴν βοηθεῖν τοῖς ἰδίοις πράγμασιν.
Therefore, since what was happening appeared to them unexpected, being thrown into great confusion, they immediately sent to Tiberius at Lilybaeum, informing him of the presence of the enemy, and thinking that he ought to abandon his present undertakings and hasten to the assistance of his own country.
ὁ δὲ Τεβέριος τοὺς μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ στόλου παραυτίκα συναθροίσας ἐξέπεμψε, παραγγείλας ποιεῖσθαι τὸν πλοῦν ὡς ἐπʼ οἴκου· τὰς δὲ πεζικὰς δυνάμεις ἐξώρκισε διὰ τῶν χιλιάρχων, τάξας ἡμέραν ἐν ᾗ δεήσει πάντας ἐν Ἀριμίνῳ γενέσθαι κοιταίους.4
Tiberius immediately assembled those of the fleet and sent them off, ordering them to make their voyage homeward; and he bound the infantry forces by oath through the tribunes, fixing a day on which it would be necessary for all to be in quarters at Ariminum.
αὕτη δʼ ἔστι πόλις παρὰ τὸν Ἀδρίαν ἐπὶ τῷ πέρατι κειμένη τῶν περὶ τὸν Πάδον πεδίων ὡς ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας.
This is a city on the Adriatic, situated at the edge of the plains around the Padus, towards the south.
πανταχόθεν δὲ τοῦ κινήματος ἅμα γινομένου, καὶ τῶν συμβαινόντων πᾶσι παρὰ δόξαν προσπιπτόντων, ἦν παρʼ ἑκάστοις ἐπίστασις ὑπὲρ τοῦ μέλλοντος οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητος.
As this movement was taking place from all sides at once, and the events were falling upon everyone contrary to expectation, there arose in each mind no small anxiety concerning the future.
- 3.61.2ὡς μακρὸς καὶ δυσπαρακόμιστος εἴη
In the indirect question clause introduced by ὡς ('how'), the optative εἴη is used instead of the indicative ἐστί (optative of oblique clause) due to the secondary tense of the governing verb (ἠπίστει, upon which the participle συλλογιζόμενος depends). This contrasts with the indicative ὑπάρχει in the next section (§3.61.3).
- 3.61.5τὸ δὲ παραπλήσιον συνέβαινε πάσχειν καὶ τὸν Πόπλιον
The impersonal verb συνέβαινε ('it happened') takes the accusative and infinitive construction πάσχειν ... τὸν Πόπλιον ('that Publius experienced') as its subject. The conjunction καὶ here functions adverbially to mean 'also' or 'even'.
- 3.61.8ἄρτι γὰρ τῆς τελευταίας φήμης καταληγούσης
From this phrase down to διαπολεμήσοντα, a series of genitive absolute constructions (τῆς... φήμης καταληγούσης, βεβουλευμένων, ἐξαπεσταλκότων) are chained together to set the temporal background for the main verb παρῆν. The subject of the latter two participles (the Romans) is omitted but understood from the context.
- 3.61.10γενέσθαι κοιταίους
The combination of the adjective κοιταῖος ('at bedtime', 'in quarters') and the infinitive γενέσθαι is a military idiom meaning 'to take up quarters' or 'to assemble for encampment' by a specified day, dependent on the impersonal δεήσει ('it will be necessary').