- 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-grc2:30.11.1-30.11.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Describes how the Aetolians, prevented by Roman intervention from plundering externally, fell into internal strife and extreme lawlessness, completely losing all social order.
ὅτι1 Αἰτωλοὶ τὸν βίον ἀπὸ λῃστείας καὶ τῆς τοιαύτης παρανομίας εἰώθεισαν ἔχειν.
That the Aetolians were accustomed to keep their livelihood from plunder and such lawlessness.
καὶ ἕως μὲν ἐξῆν τοὺς Ἕλληνας φέρειν καὶ λεηλατεῖν, ἐκ τούτων ἐπορίζοντο τοὺς βίους, πᾶσαν γῆν ἡγούμενοι πολεμίαν·
And as long as it was permitted to plunder and despoil the Greeks, they procured their livelihood from these things, considering every land hostile.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Ῥωμαίων ἐπιστάντων τοῖς πράγμασι κωλυθέντες τῆς ἔξωθεν ἐπικουρίας εἰς ἑαυτοὺς κατήντησαν.
But after this, when the Romans took charge of affairs, being prevented from external resources, they turned upon themselves.
καὶ πρότερον μὲν κατὰ τὸν ἐμφύλιον πόλεμον οὐκ ἔστιν ὃ τῶν δεινῶν οὐκ ἔπραξαν·2
And earlier indeed, during the civil war, there was no horror that they did not commit.
βραχεῖ δʼ ἀνώτερον χρόνῳ γεγευμένοι τοῦ φόνου τοῦ κατʼ ἀλλήλων ἐν ταῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἀρσινοΐαν σφαγαῖς ἕτοιμοι πρὸς πᾶν ἦσαν, ἀποτεθηριωμένοι τὰς ψυχάς,3 ὥστε μηδὲ βουλὴν διδόναι τοῖς προεστῶσι.4
And having tasted mutual slaughter a short time before in the massacres at Arsinoia, they were ready for anything, their souls having been brutalized, so that they did not even give opportunity for deliberation to their leaders.
διόπερ ἦν ἀκρισίας καὶ παρανομίας καὶ φόνου πλήρη τὰ κατὰ τὴν Αἰτωλίαν, καὶ τῶν πραττομένων παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἐκ λογισμοῦ μὲν καὶ προθέσεως οὐδὲν ἐπετελεῖτο, πάντα δʼ εἰκῇ καὶ φύρδην ἐπράττετο, καθαπερεὶ λαίλαπός τινος ἐκπεπτωκυίας5 εἰς αὐτούς. —
Therefore the affairs of Aetolia were full of confusion, lawlessness, and slaughter, and of the things done among them nothing was accomplished through reason and purpose, but everything was done at random and in confusion, just as if some hurricane had fallen upon them.
- 30.11.1ὅτι
A characteristic introductory ὅτι found at the beginning of historical excerpts, functioning to introduce the content as "that...". In translation, it is typically rendered as an independent main clause.
- 30.11.4οὐκ ἔστιν ὃ τῶν δεινῶν οὐκ ἔπραξαν
The double negation schema οὐκ ἔστιν ὅς/ὅ... οὐκ... expresses a strong affirmation ("there is nothing that they did not..."). The partitive genitive τῶν δεινῶν depends on the relative pronoun ὃ, meaning "there was no horror that they did not commit."
- 30.11.5ἀποτεθηριωμένοι τὰς ψυχάς
The perfect passive participle ἀποτεθηριωμένοι (having been brutalized) is accompanied by the accusative of respect τὰς ψυχάς (with respect to their souls), describing a state of having become beast-like in mind.
- 30.11.5ὥστε μηδὲ βουλὴν διδόναι τοῖς προεστῶσι
A result clause introduced by ὥστε. The phrase βουλὴν διδόναι means "to give opportunity for deliberation," and when followed by the dative τοῖς προεστῶσι (to the leaders), it indicates that the mob left no room for their leaders to deliberate or plan.
- 30.11.6καθαπερεὶ λαίλαπός τινος ἐκπεπτωκυίας
The conjunction καθαπερεί (just as if) is joined directly with a genitive absolute construction (noun λαίλαπός τινος + participle ἐκπεπτωκυίας), compactly expressing a hypothetical comparison ("just as if some hurricane had fallen").