King Prusias Visits Rome and His Extreme Servility — Polybius, The Histories Book 30 (30.18.1–30.18.7), Greek & English

§30.18.1

ὅτι κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν ἦλθε καὶ Προυσίας ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην, συγχαρησόμενος τῇ συγκλήτῳ καὶ τοῖς στρατηγοῖς ἐπὶ τοῖς γεγονόσιν.

ὅτι At the same time King Prusias also came to Rome to congratulate the senate and the generals on what had occurred.

§30.18.2

ὁ δὲ Προυσίας οὗτος οὐδαμῶς γέγονεν ἄξιος τοῦ τῆς βασιλείας προσχήματος. τεκμήραιτο δʼ ἄν τις ἐκ τούτων.

But this Prusias was by no means worthy of the dignity of the royal title. One might infer this from the following facts.

§30.18.3

ὅς γε¹ πρῶτον μέν, πρεσβευτῶν παραγεγονότων Ῥωμαϊκῶν πρὸς αὐτόν, ἐξυρημένος τὴν κεφαλὴν² καὶ πιλίον ἔχων λευκὸν καὶ τήβενναν καὶ καλικίους ἀπήντα τούτοις, καὶ καθόλου τοιαύτῃ διασκευῇ κεχρημένος οἵαν ἔχουσιν οἱ προσφάτως ἠλευθερωμένοι παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις, οὓς καλοῦσι λιβέρτους·

In the first place, when Roman ambassadors arrived to see him, he met them with his head shaved, wearing a white felt cap, a toga, and calige, and in general in the exact dress worn by those recently set free among the Romans, whom they call liberti;

§30.18.4

καὶ δεξιωσάμενος τοὺς πρεσβευτάς "ὁρᾶτʼ" ἔφη "τὸν ὑμέτερον λίβερτον ἐμέ, πάντα βουλόμενον χαρίζεσθαι καὶ μιμεῖσθαι τὰ παρʼ ὑμῖν." ἧς ἀγεννεστέραν³ φωνὴν οὐ ῥᾴδιον εὑρεῖν.

and welcoming the ambassadors, he said, “Behold in me your libertus, who wishes to please you in everything and to imitate your customs.” A more ignoble speech than this is not easy to find.

§30.18.5

τότε δὲ κατὰ τὴν εἴσοδον γενόμενος τὴν εἰς τὴν σύγκλητον, στὰς κατὰ τὸ θύρετρον ἀντίος τοῦ συνεδρίου καὶ καθεὶς τὰς χεῖρας ἀμφοτέρας προσεκύνησε τὸν οὐδὸν καὶ τοὺς καθημένους, ἐπιφθεγξάμενος "χαίρετε, θεοὶ σωτῆρες", ὑπερβολὴν οὐ καταλιπὼν ἀνανδρίας, ἅμα δὲ καὶ γυναικισμοῦ καὶ κολακείας οὐδενὶ τῶν ἐπιγινομένων.⁴

And then, when he came to the entrance of the senate house, standing at the doorway opposite the assembly and letting both his hands hang down, he prostrated himself before the threshold and those sitting there, crying out, “Hail, savior gods!” leaving no room for any of his successors to surpass him in cowardice, and at the same time in effeminacy and servility.

§30.18.6

ἀκόλουθα δὲ τούτοις καὶ κατὰ τὴν κοινολογίαν εἰσελθὼν ἐπετελέσατο, περὶ ὧν καὶ τὸ γράφειν ἀπρεπὲς ἦν.

And following these actions, having entered for the conference, he performed deeds of which even the writing would be unseemly.

§30.18.7

φανεὶς δὲ τελέως εὐκαταφρόνητος ἀπόκρισιν ἔλαβε διʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο⁵ φιλάνθρωπον.

But having appeared completely contemptible, for this very reason he received a favorable answer.

Syntax notes5 items

30.18.3ὅς γε
Causal relative pronoun, meaning 'since he indeed' or 'who, for his part,' introducing the concrete ground for the judgment in the preceding sentence that he was unworthy of royal dignity.
30.18.3ἐξυρημένος τὴν κεφαλὴν
The perfect passive participle ἐξυρημένος is accompanied by τὴν κεφαλὴν as an accusative of respect/specification, functioning with a middle force ('having shaved his head').
30.18.4ἧς ἀγεννεστέραν
Relative connection where the feminine relative pronoun ἧς refers back to the speech (φωνήν) of Prusias, serving as the genitive of comparison with ἀγεννεστέραν ('a speech more ignoble than which').
30.18.5ὑπερβολὴν οὐ καταλιπὼν ἀνανδρίας... οὐδενὶ τῶν ἐπιγινομένων
The dative οὐδενὶ τῶν ἐπιγινομένων ('to none of those who come after') depends on the participle καταλιπὼν ('leaving'). The overall structure expresses that he left no room for any future person to surpass him in cowardice, effeminacy, and servility.
30.18.7διʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο
Refers to the preceding phrase φανεὶς ... εὐκαταφρόνητος (having appeared completely contemptible), indicating the paradoxical reason why the Romans granted a favorable reply: precisely because he was too pitiful to be considered a threat.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:30.18.1-30.18.7