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The Histories

§30.23.1-30.23.4

Crete's Internal War and the Rejection of Rhodes

Relates the joint declaration of war by Knossos and Gortyn against Raucus in Crete, and the embassy of Rhodes to Rome seeking an alliance, which was rejected by the Senate.

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§30.23.1

ὅτι1 ἐξεπολέμησαν κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον Κνώσιοι μετὰ Γορτυνίων πρὸς τοὺς Ῥαυκίους καὶ συνθήκας ἐποιήσαντο πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐνόρκους μὴ πρότερον λύσειν τὸν πόλεμον πρὶν ἢ κατὰ κράτος ἑλεῖν τὴν Ῥαῦκον.

​That, at this time, the Cnossians, along with the Gortynians, made war against the Raucians, and entered into an alliance with each other under oath not to end the war until they had taken Raucus by force.

§30.23.2

οἱ δὲ Ῥόδιοι κομισάμενοι τὰ περὶ τῶν Καυνίων καὶ θεωροῦντες οὐ καταλήγουσαν τὴν ὀργὴν τῶν Ῥωμαίων, ἐπειδὴ περὶ πάντων ἀκολούθως ταῖς ἀποκρίσεσιν ἐπειθάρχησαν, εὐθέως τοὺς περὶ Ἀριστοτέλην πρεσβευτὰς καταστήσαντες ἐξέπεμπον εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην, δόντες ἐντολὰς πειράζειν πάλιν περὶ τῆς συμμαχίας.

​But the Rhodians, having received the news concerning the Caunians, and seeing that the anger of the Romans did not subside, after they had obeyed in all matters in accordance with the replies, immediately appointed and sent the embassy under Aristoteles to Rome, giving them instructions to make another attempt regarding the alliance.

§30.23.3

οἳ καὶ2 παραγενηθέντες εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην θερείας ἀκμαζούσης εἰσῆλθον εἰς τὴν σύγκλητον καὶ παραυτίκα περὶ τοῦ πεπειθαρχηκέναι τὸν δῆμον τοῖς ἐπιταττομένοις διεσάφουν καὶ παρεκάλουν ὑπὲρ τῆς συμμαχίας, πολλοὺς καὶ ποικίλους διατιθέμενοι λόγους. ἡ δὲ σύγκλητος ἔδωκεν ἀπόκρισιν, ἐν ᾗ τὴν μὲν φιλίαν παρεσιώπησε, περὶ δὲ τῆς συμμαχίας οὐκ ἔφη καθήκειν αὑτῇ3 τοῦτο συγχωρεῖν Ῥοδίοις κατὰ τὸ παρόν. —

​And they, having arrived in Rome in the height of summer, entered the Senate, and immediately made clear concerning the people’s obedience to the orders and entreated for the alliance, delivering many and various arguments. But the Senate gave a reply, ​in which, while keeping silence on friendship, concerning the alliance it said that it was not fitting for itself to grant this to the Rhodians at present. —

Syntax notes3 items
  1. 30.23.1ὅτι

    A feature characteristic of historical excerpts (Excerpta), where the clause-initial ὅτι functions without a main clause to introduce the summary of an event ("That...").

  2. 30.23.3οἳ καὶ

    Relative connection (linking relative). Referring back to the antecedent τοὺς περὶ Ἀριστοτέλην πρεσβευτὰς in the preceding sentence, it functions like a demonstrative pronoun to connect the sentences smoothly.

  3. 30.23.4οὐκ ἔφη καθήκειν αὑτῇ

    The negative verb οὐκ ἔφη ("said that... not") is followed by an accusative and infinitive construction. The dative indirect reflexive pronoun αὑτῇ (equivalent to ἑαυτῇ, third-person feminine singular) refers to the main subject ἡ σύγκλητος (the Senate) and acts as the dative complement of the impersonal infinitive καθήκειν.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-10-09)
  • 2026-10-09 Collated with the printed edition — source 1
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:30.23.1-30.23.4