- 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-grc2:3.78.1-3.78.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
To protect himself from the untruthfulness of the Celts, Hannibal uses wigs and disguises, and with the coming of spring, he decides to march into Tyrrhenia via a difficult shortcut through the marshes to surprise Flaminius.
ἐχρήσατο δέ τινι καὶ Φοινικικῷ στρατηγήματι τοιούτῳ κατὰ τὴν παραχειμασίαν.
During his wintering, he also employed a certain Carthaginian stratagem of the following kind.
ἀγωνιῶν γὰρ τὴν ἀθεσίαν τῶν Κελτῶν καὶ τὰς ἐπιβουλὰς τὰς περὶ τὸ σῶμα διὰ τὸ πρόσφατον τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς συστάσεως κατεσκευάσατο περιθετὰς τρίχας, ἁρμοζούσας1 ταῖς κατὰ τὰς ὁλοσχερεῖς διαφορὰς τῶν ἡλικιῶν ἐπιπρεπείαις, καὶ ταύταις ἐχρῆτο συνεχῶς μετατιθέμενος· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰς ἐσθῆτας μετελάμβανε τὰς καθηκούσας ἀεὶ ταῖς περιθεταῖς.
For, fearing the untrustworthiness of the Celts and plots against his life because of the recentness of his association with them, he prepared sets of false hair, suited to the distinctive appearances of different ages of life, and he used these, constantly changing them; likewise, he also kept changing his clothes to those always appropriate to the false hair he wore.
διʼ ὧν οὐ μόνον τοῖς αἰφνιδίως ἰδοῦσι δύσγνωστος ἦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἐν συνηθείᾳ γεγονόσιν.
By these means, he was difficult to recognize not only for those who saw him suddenly, but even for those who were familiar with him.
θεωρῶν δὲ τοὺς Κελτοὺς δυσχεραίνοντας ἐπὶ τῷ τὸν πόλεμον ἐν τῇ παρʼ αὑτῶν χώρᾳ λαμβάνειν τὴν τριβήν,2 σπεύδοντας δὲ καὶ μετεώρους ὄντας εἰς τὴν πολεμίαν, προφάσει μὲν διὰ τὴν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ὀργήν, τὸ δὲ πλεῖον διὰ τὰς ὠφελείας, ἔκρινε τὴν ταχίστην ἀναζευγνύειν καὶ συνεκπληροῦν τὰς τῶν δυνάμεων ὁρμάς.
But seeing that the Celts were displeased at the war dragging on in their own territory, and were eager and excited to invade the enemy’s country—ostensibly through anger against the Romans, but mostly for the sake of plunder—he decided to break camp as quickly as possible and satisfy the impulses of his forces.
διόπερ ἅμα τῷ τὴν ὥραν μεταβάλλειν πυνθανόμενος τῶν μάλιστα τῆς χώρας δοκούντων ἐμπειρεῖν τὰς μὲν ἄλλας ἐμβολὰς τὰς εἰς τὴν πολεμίαν μακρὰς εὕρισκε καὶ προδήλους τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις, τὴν δὲ διὰ τῶν ἑλῶν εἰς Τυρρηνίαν φέρουσαν δυσχερῆ μὲν σύντομον δὲ καὶ παράδοξον φανησομένην3 τοῖς περὶ τὸν Φλαμίνιον.
Therefore, as soon as the season changed, on inquiring of those who seemed to know the country best, he found that the other passes into the enemy’s country were long and obvious to the enemy, but that the route leading through the marshes into Tyrrhenia, though difficult, was short and would appear unexpected to Flaminius and his men.
ἀεὶ δέ πως οἰκεῖος ὢν τῇ φύσει τούτου τοῦ μέρους4 ταύτῃ προέθετο ποιεῖσθαι τὴν πορείαν.
As he was always somehow naturally inclined to this kind of strategy, he proposed to make his march by this route.
διαδοθείσης δὲ τῆς φήμης ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ διότι μέλλει διά τινων ἑλῶν ἄγειν αὐτοὺς ὁ στρατηγός, πᾶς τις εὐλαβῶς εἶχε πρὸς τὴν πορείαν, ὑφορώμενος βάραθρα καὶ
When the rumor spread in the camp that the general was going to lead them through certain marshes, everyone felt cautious about the march, suspecting bogs and
- 3.78.2ἁρμοζούσας
The present participle ἁρμοζούσας (feminine plural accusative) is used attributively to modify the preceding noun περιθετὰς τρίχας (false hair). The dative ταῖς ... ἐπιπρεπείαις is governed by this participle, meaning 'suited to...'
- 3.78.5τῷ τὸν πόλεμον ... λαμβάνειν τὴν τριβήν
The construction consists of the preposition ἐπὶ and the articular infinitive τῷ ... λαμβάνειν, expressing the cause of displeasure ('at the fact that...'). The accusative τὸν πόλεμον is the subject of the infinitive, and λαμβάνειν τὴν τριβήν is an idiomatic expression meaning 'to drag on' or 'to suffer delay.'
- 3.78.6τὴν δὲ ... φανησομένην
A future participle (feminine singular accusative) functioning as another object complement to the verb εὕρισκε (found). The omitted noun modified is ἐμβολήν (pass/route) from the previous clause, and the future tense of the participle φανησομένην expresses the expectation that this route 'would appear unexpected' to Flaminius and his men.
- 3.78.7τούτου τοῦ μέρους
The genitive noun phrase modifying the adjective οἰκεῖος (suited, naturally inclined). It abstractly refers to the 'domain' or 'character' of the aforementioned stratagems and unexpected maneuvers.