Three Types of Political Conduct in the Macedonian War — Polybius, The Histories Book 30 (30.6.1–30.6.8), Greek & English

§30.6.1

ὅτι φησὶ Πολύβιος· πρότερον ἐπιστήσαντες¹ τοὺς ἀναγινώσκοντας ἐπὶ τὴν περὶ Δείνωνος καὶ Πολυαράτου διάληψιν·

Polybius says, having previously directed the readers’ attention to the analysis concerning Deinon and Polyaratus:

§30.6.2

μεγάλης γὰρ οὔσης τῆς περιστάσεως καὶ τῆς μεταβολῆς οὐ μόνον παρὰ τοῖς Ῥοδίοις, ἀλλὰ σχεδὸν ἁπάσαις ταῖς πολιτείαις, χρήσιμον ἂν εἴη τὸ τὰς προαιρέσεις τῶν παρʼ ἑκάστοις πολιτευομένων ἐπισκέψασθαι καὶ γνῶναι τίνες φανήσονται τὸ κατὰ λόγον πεποιηκότες καὶ τίνες παραπεπαικότες τοῦ καθήκοντος, ἵνα οἱ ἐπιγινόμενοι, ὡσανεὶ τύπων ἐκτιθεμένων, δύνωνται κατὰ τὰς ὁμοίας περιστάσεις τὰ μὲν αἱρετὰ διώκειν, τὰ δὲ φευκτὰ φεύγειν ἀληθινῶς, καὶ μὴ περὶ τὸν ἔσχατον καιρὸν τῆς ζωῆς ἀβλεπτοῦντες² τὸ πρέπον καὶ τὰς ἐν τῷ προγεγονότι βίῳ πράξεις ταὐτὸν πάθωσιν.

For, the situation and the change being great not only among the Rhodians, but among almost all states, it would be useful to examine the political decisions of those who held power in each place, and to know who will appear to have acted reasonably and who to have deviated from duty, so that succeeding generations, as if models were set before them, may be able in similar circumstances to pursue what is desirable and truly flee what is to be avoided, and not, by being blind to what is proper and to the actions in their past life at the final moment of their existence, suffer the same fate.

§30.6.5

συνέβαινε τοιγαροῦν τρεῖς διαφορὰς γενέσθαι τῶν ἐμπεσόντων εἰς τὰς αἰτίας κατὰ τὸν πρὸς Περσέα πόλεμον.

Thus, it happened that there were three differences among those who fell under accusation during the war against Perseus.

§30.6.6

ὧν μία μὲν ἦν τῶν οὐχ ἡδέως μὲν ὁρώντων³ κρινόμενα τὰ ὅλα καὶ τὴν τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐξουσίαν ὑπὸ μίαν ἀρχὴν πίπτουσαν, οὔτε δὲ συνεργούντων οὔτʼ ἀντιπραττόντων ἁπλῶς Ῥωμαίοις οὐδέν, ἀλλʼ οἷον ἐπιτετραφότων τῇ τύχῃ περὶ τῶν ἀποβησομένων·

Of these, one was of those who did not gladly see the whole issue decided and the power over the inhabited world fall under a single rule, yet neither cooperated with nor actively opposed the Romans in any way, but as it were left the outcome to fortune;

§30.6.7

ἑτέρα δὲ τῶν ἡδέως ὁρώντων κρινόμενα τὰ πράγματα καὶ βουλομένων νικᾶν τὸν Περσέα, μὴ δυναμένων δὲ συνεπισπᾶσθαι τοὺς ἰδίους πολίτας καὶ τοὺς ὁμοεθνεῖς πρὸς τὴν αὑτῶν γνώμην·

another was of those who gladly saw the affairs decided and wished Perseus to win, but were unable to draw their own citizens and compatriots to their opinion;

§30.6.8

τρίτη δὲ καὶ τῶν συνεπισπασαμένων καὶ μεταρριψάντων τὰ πολιτεύματα πρὸς

and the third was of those who did draw them along and turned the governments toward...

Syntax notes3 items

30.6.1ἐπιστήσαντες
A nominative masculine plural aorist participle, which results in an anacoluthon because the main verb of the sentence is an impersonal expression in the third-person singular (χρήσιμον ἂν εἴη). The author uses the nominative plural referring to himself ("we").
30.6.4ἀβλεπτοῦντες
Present participle of the verb ἀβλεπτέω (to be blind, overlook). Here, departing from its usual intransitive usage, it takes the following accusatives τὸ πρέπον and τὰς ... πράξεις as direct objects, meaning "being blind to" or "failing to see."
30.6.6τῶν οὐχ ἡδέως μὲν ὁρώντων
Genitive plural participle. Following the phrase ὧν μία μὲν ἦν, it functions either as a partitive genitive dependent on ὧν or as a predicate genitive with ἦν. The particle μὲν corresponds to δὲ in the following clause, contrasting their displeasure (μὲν) with their lack of action (δὲ).

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-grc2:30.6.1-30.6.8