- 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-grc2:30.32.1-30.32.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
The Achaean ambassadors request the Roman Senate to either try the detained Achaeans or entrust their case to the Achaean League; the Senate issues a refusal, causing widespread despair in Greece while the pro-Roman factions regain their dominance.
ὅτι μετά τινα χρόνον εἰσῆλθον οἱ παρὰ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν πρέσβεις, ἔχοντες ἐντολὰς ἀκολούθως ταῖς ἀποκρίσεσιν, αἷς πρότερον ἔλαβον·
After some time, the ambassadors from the Achaeans entered, having instructions in accordance with the answers which they had previously received;
αὗται δʼ ἦσαν διότι θαυμάζουσιν πῶς, ὑπὲρ ὧν αὐτοὶ κεκρίκασι, περὶ τούτων αὐτοὺς παρακαλοῦσιν κρίνειν.1
and these answers were to the effect that they (the Romans) wondered how, concerning those things which they themselves had already decided, they (the Achaeans) should entreat them (the Romans) to judge.
διὸ τότε παρῆσαν οἱ περὶ τὸν Εὐρέαν, πάλιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐμφανίζοντες διότι τὸ μὲν ἔθνος οὔτε δικαιολογουμένων ἀκήκοε τῶν κατῃτιαμένων οὔτε κρίσιν οὐδεμίαν πεποίηται περὶ αὐτῶν, τὴν δὲ σύγκλητον ἀξιοῖ πρόνοιαν ποιήσασθαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἵνα κρίσεως τύχωσι καὶ μὴ καταφθαρῶσιν ἄκριτοι, καὶ μάλιστα μὲν αὐτὴν ἐξετάσασαν διασαφῆσαι τοὺς ἐνόχους ὄντας τοῖς ἐγκλήμασιν· εἰ δὲ διὰ τοὺς περισπασμοὺς αὐτὴ μὴ δύναται τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς ἐπιτρέψαι περὶ τοῦ πράγματος. οἳ πειράσονται μισοπονήρως χρήσασθαι τοῖς αἰτίοις.
Therefore at that time Eureas and his colleagues were present, showing again from the beginning that the nation had neither heard the defense of the accused nor made any judgment concerning them, and that it requested the Senate to take thought for the men, so that they might obtain a trial and not be destroyed without trial, and best of all, that the Senate itself, having investigated, should declare those who were guilty of the charges; but if because of other distractions it could not itself do this, to entrust the matter to the Achaeans, who would endeavor to deal with the guilty with a hatred of wickedness.
ἡ δὲ σύγκλητος διακούσασα τῶν πρεσβευτῶν, ἀκολούθως ταῖς ἐντολαῖς διαλεγομένων, καὶ δυσχρηστοῦσα διὰ τὸ πανταχόθεν ἐξελέγχεσθαι·
But the Senate, having heard the ambassadors, who spoke in accordance with their instructions, and being in difficulty because of being refuted on all sides;
τό τε γὰρ κρίνειν οὐκ ἐνόμιζεν αὑτῇ καθήκειν, τό τε χωρὶς κρίσεως ἀπολύειν τοὺς ἄνδρας πρόδηλον ἔχειν ἐδόκει τὸν ὄλεθρον τοῖς φίλοις αὐτῶν·
for on the one hand it did not think that judging belonged to itself, and on the other hand, to release the men without trial seemed to bring clear ruin to their own friends;
διόπερ ἀναγκαζομένη καὶ βουλομένη παρελέσθαι καθόλου τὴν ἐλπίδα τῶν πολλῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν κατεχομένων σωτηρίας, ἵνα συμμύσαντες2 πειθαρχῶσιν ἐν μὲν Ἀχαΐᾳ τοῖς περὶ τὸν Καλλικράτην, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις πολιτεύμασι τοῖς δοκοῦσιν εἶναι Ῥωμαίων, ἔγραψαν3 ἀπόκρισιν τοιαύτην, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οὐχ ὑπολαμβάνομεν συμφέρειν οὔτε τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις οὔτε τοῖς ὑμετέροις δήμοις τούτους τοὺς ἄνδρας ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς οἶκον.
therefore, being compelled and wishing to deprive the multitude entirely of their hope for the safety of those who were detained, so that, shutting their eyes [submissively], they might obey Callicrates and his party in Achaea, and in the other states those who seemed to belong to the Romans, they wrote such an answer: ”We do not suppose that it is advantageous either to the Romans or to your peoples for these men to return home.”
ταύτης δὲ τῆς ἀποκρίσεως ἐκπεσούσης, οὐ μόνον περὶ τοὺς ἀνακεκλημένους ἐγένετό τις ὁλοσχερὴς ἀθυμία καὶ παράλυσις τῆς ψυχῆς, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ὡσανεὶ κοινόν τι πένθος, ἅτε δοκούσης τῆς ἀποκρίσεως ὁλοσχερῶς ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς σωτηρίας τῶν ἀκληρούντων.
And when this answer was published, there arose not only among those who had been summoned a complete dejection and paralysis of the soul, but also among the Greeks as it were a kind of common mourning, since the answer seemed to take away entirely the hope of safety for the unfortunate ones.
κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἑλλάδα διαγγελθείσης τῆς ἀποκρίσεως τῆς τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς δεδομένης ὑπὲρ τῶν καταιτιαθέντων, τὰ μὲν πλήθη συνετρίβη ταῖς διανοίαις, καί τις οἷον ἀπελπισμὸς ὑπέδραμεν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Χάροπα καὶ Καλλικράτην καὶ πάντες οἱ τῆς αὐτῆς ὑποθέσεως προεστῶτες μετέωροι πάλιν ἐγενήθησαν.
And when the answer given to the Achaeans concerning the accused was announced throughout Greece, the multitudes were crushed in their minds, and a kind of despair crept over the people, but Charops and Callicrates and their parties, and all who headed the same cause, became elated again.
- 30.32.2αὗται δʼ ἦσαν διότι θαυμάζουσιν πῶς, ὑπὲρ ὧν αὐτοὶ κεκρίκασι, περὶ τούτων αὐτοὺς παρακαλοῦσιν κρίνειν.
Both pronouns αὐτοὶ (subject of κεκρίκασι) and αὐτοὺς (the subject accusative of the infinitive κρίνειν) refer to the Romans (the Senate). This reflects the sophistical logic of the Senate's reply: "why do they (the Achaeans) ask us (the Romans) to judge matters on which we ourselves have already (effectively, through their detention) decided?"
- 30.32.8συμμύσαντες
The aorist active participle of the intransitive verb συμμύω (to close the eyes), used here metaphorically to mean "shutting one's eyes," i.e., "submissively, without protest, or blindly."
- 30.32.8ἔγραψαν
While the grammatical subject is the singular noun ἡ δὲ σύγκλητος (§30.32.6), the verb is in the plural ἔγραψαν. This is an instance of constructio ad sensum (construction according to sense), where the collective noun "Senate" is treated as plural because it implies the individual senators.