Attalus' Defense and the Senate's Mission to the East — Polybius, The Histories Book 31 (31.1.1–31.1.8), Greek & English

§31.1.1

ὅτι¹ Τεβέριος τοὺς Καμμανοὺς τὰ μὲν βιασάμενος, τὰ δὲ² παραλογισάμενος ὑπηκόους ἐποίησε Ῥωμαίοις. —

That Tiberius made the Cammani subjects to the Romans, partly by using force, and partly by deceiving them. —

§31.1.2

εἰς δὲ τὴν Ῥώμην καὶ πλειόνων παραγεγονότων πρεσβευτῶν ἐχρημάτισεν ἡ σύγκλητος τοῖς περὶ Ἄτταλον καὶ τὸν Ἀθήναιον.

When more ambassadors had also arrived in Rome, the Senate gave audience to Attalus and Athenaeus and their party.

§31.1.3

συνέβαινε³ γὰρ τὸν Προυσίαν οὐ μόνον αὐτὸν ἐνεργῶς κεχρῆσθαι ταῖς διαβολαῖς ταῖς κατὰ τὸν Εὐμένη καὶ τὸν Ἀντίοχον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς Γαλάτας παρωξυκέναι καὶ τοὺς Σελγεῖς καὶ πλείους ἑτέρους κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν πρὸς τὴν αὐτὴν ὑπόθεσιν.

For it happened that Prusias was not only himself actively employing the slanders against Eumenes and Antiochus, but had also incited the Galatians, the Selgians, and many others in Asia towards the same purpose.

§31.1.4

ὧν χάριν ὁ βασιλεὺς Εὐμένης ἐξαπεστάλκει τοὺς ἀδελφούς, ἀπολογησομένους πρὸς τὰς ἐπιφερομένας διαβολάς.

For which reason King Eumenes had dispatched his brothers to make a defense against the slanders brought against them.

§31.1.5

οἳ καὶ παρελθόντες εἰς τὴν σύγκλητον ἐνδεχομένως ἔδοξαν πρὸς ἅπαντας τοὺς κατηγοροῦντας ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἀπολογίαν, καὶ τέλος οὐ μόνον ἀποτριψάμενοι τὰς ἐπιφερομένας αἰτίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τιμηθέντες ἐπανῆλθον εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν.

And they, having entered the Senate, seemed to have made their defense appropriately against all the accusers, and finally returned to Asia, not only having cleared themselves of the charges brought against them, but also having been honored.

§31.1.6

οὐ μὴν τῆς γε κατὰ τὸν Εὐμένη καὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἀντίοχον ὑποψίας⁴ ἔληγεν ἡ σύγκλητος, ἀλλὰ Γάιον Σολπίκιον καὶ Μάνιον Σέργιον καταστήσασα πρεσβευτὰς ἐξαπέστελλεν, ἅμα μὲν ἐποπτεύσοντας τὰ κατὰ τοὺς Ἕλληνας, ἅμα δὲ τοῖς Μεγαλοπολίταις καὶ τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις διευκρινήσοντας περὶ τῆς ἀντιλεγομένης χώρας, μάλιστα δὲ πολυπραγμονήσοντας τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἀντίοχον καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὸν Εὐμένη, μή τις ἐξ αὐτῶν παρασκευὴ γίνεται⁵ καὶ κοινοπραγία κατὰ Ῥωμαίων. —

Nevertheless, the Senate did not cease from its suspicion concerning Eumenes and Antiochus, but, having appointed Gaius Sulpicius and Manius Sergius as ambassadors, dispatched them, both to inspect the affairs of the Greeks, and to settle for the Megalopolitans and Lacedaemonians their dispute about the contested territory, and especially to investigate thoroughly the affairs of Antiochus and Eumenes, lest any military preparation or joint action against the Romans was being made by them. —

Syntax notes5 items

31.1.1ὅτι
A conjunction frequently occurring at the beginning of chapters derived from Byzantine excerpts, serving to introduce a summary. It is often translated as "That..." or left untranslated as a marker of an excerpt.
31.1.1τὰ μὲν ... τὰ δὲ
Adverbial accusatives (accusatives of respect) used contrastively to mean "partly... partly..." or "on the one hand... on the other hand..."
31.1.3συνέβαινε
An impersonal verb taking an accusative and infinitive construction (tòn Proussían... kechrêsthai... parōxykénai) as its subject, meaning "it happened that..."
31.1.6τῆς ... ὑποψίας
Genitive of separation acting as the complement of the verb ἔληγεν (from λήγω, "to cease, desist").
31.1.8μή τις ... γίνεται
The conjunction μή (expressing fear or precaution) is followed by a present indicative (γίνεται) rather than a subjunctive, indicating an apprehension of an already existing or currently ongoing reality.

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-grc2:31.1.1-31.1.8