- 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-grc2:31.10.1-31.10.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
Ptolemy the younger requests the Senate to grant him Cyprus, and despite opposition from Roman envoys who remind him of previous agreements, the Senate, seeking to weaken Egypt for its own interests, grants his request and dispatches ambassadors.
ὅτι μετὰ τὸ μερίσαι τοὺς Πτολεμαίους τὴν βασιλείαν παρεγένετο Πτολεμαῖος ὁ νεώτερος εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην, ἀθετεῖν βουλόμενος τὸν γεγονότα μερισμὸν αὐτῷ πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφόν, φάσκων οὐχ ἑκών, ἀλλὰ κατʼ ἀνάγκην τῷ καιρῷ περιληφθεὶς πεποιηκέναι τὸ προσταττόμενον.
That after the Ptolemies had divided the kingdom, Ptolemy the younger arrived in Rome, wishing to annul the division that had been made between him and his brother, claiming that he had performed what was commanded not of his own free will, but constrained by the necessity of the crisis.
καὶ παρεκάλει τὴν σύγκλητον μερίσαι τὴν Κύπρον αὑτῷ· καὶ γὰρ τούτου γενομένου καταδεεστέραν ἕξειν1 μερίδα τἀδελφοῦ παρὰ πολύ.
And he entreated the Senate to allocate Cyprus to him; for even if this were done, his portion would still be far inferior to that of his brother.
τῶν δὲ περὶ τὸν Κανολήιον καὶ Κόιντον ἀπομαρτυρούντων τοῖς περὶ τὸν Μένυλλον, τοῖς παρὰ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου παραγεγονόσι πρεσβευταῖς, διότι2 καὶ τὴν Κυρήνην ὁ νεώτερος καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα διʼ αὐτοὺς ἔχοι· τοιαύτην γενέσθαι τὴν τῶν ὄχλων πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀλλοτριότητα καὶ προσκοπήν·
But Canuleius and Quintus testified against Menyllus and his fellow ambassadors who had come from the elder brother, asserting that the younger brother owed both Cyrene and his very breath of life to them, so great was the aversion and hostility of the multitudes towards him;
διὸ καὶ παρʼ ἐλπίδα καὶ παραδόξως δεδομένων αὐτῷ τῶν κατὰ Κυρήνην πραγμάτων ἀσμένως δέξαιτο,3 καὶ σφαγίων τμηθέντων καὶ λάβοι τοὺς ὅρκους παρὰ τἀδελφοῦ καὶ δοίη περὶ τούτου·
wherefore, when the affairs of Cyrene were given to him beyond hope and expectation, he had gladly accepted them, and after victims had been sacrificed, he had both received oaths from his brother and given them in return on this matter.
τοῦ δὲ Πτολεμαίου πᾶσι τούτοις ἀντιλέγοντος, ἡ σύγκλητος, ἅμα μὲν ὁρῶσα τὸν μερισμὸν γεγονότα τελέως,4 ἅμα δὲ βουλομένη διελεῖν τὴν βασιλείαν πραγματικῶς, αὐτῶν αἰτίων γενομένων τῆς διαιρέσεως, συγκατέθετο τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ νεωτέρου παρακαλουμένοις ἐπὶ τῷ σφετέρῳ συμφέροντι.
Though Ptolemy contradicted all these assertions, the Senate, seeing on the one hand that the division was fully completed, but on the other hand wishing to divide the kingdom on practical grounds—having themselves been the causes of the partition—complied with the requests of the younger brother for their own interest.
πολὺ γὰρ ἤδη τοῦτο τὸ γένος ἐστὶ τῶν διαβουλίων παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις, ἐν οἷς διὰ τῆς τῶν πέλας ἀγνοίας αὔξουσι καὶ κατασκευάζονται τὴν ἰδίαν ἀρχὴν πραγματικῶς, ἅμα χαριζόμενοι καὶ δοκοῦντες εὐεργετεῖν τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας.
For this class of policy is now very common among the Romans, whereby through the ignorance of their neighbors they practically increase and build up their own power, while at the same time showing favor and appearing to benefact those who commit errors.
διὸ καὶ καθορῶντες τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δυναστείας καὶ δεδιότες, ἄν ποτε τύχῃ προστάτου, μὴ μεῖζον φρονήσῃ5 τοῦ καθήκοντος, κατέστησαν πρεσβευτὰς Τίτον Τορκουᾶτον καὶ Γνάιον Μερόλαν τοὺς κατάξοντας ἐπὶ τὴν Κύπρον τὸν Πτολεμαῖον καὶ τελειώσοντας ἅμα τὴν ἐκείνων καὶ τὴν αὑτῶν πρόθεσιν.
Wherefore, also observing the greatness of the power in Egypt, and fearing lest, if it should ever find a leader, it might assume greater pride than was fitting, they appointed Titus Torquatus and Gnaeus Merula as ambassadors to conduct Ptolemy to Cyprus and at the same time to fulfill both his purpose and their own.
καὶ παραχρῆμα τούτους ἐξαπέστειλαν, δόντες ἐντολὰς διαλῦσαι τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ κατασκευάσαι τῷ νεωτέρῳ τὴν Κύπρον χωρὶς πολέμου. —
And they dispatched them immediately, giving instructions to reconcile the brothers and to secure Cyprus for the younger without war. —
- 31.10.3ἕξειν
Infinitive of indirect discourse. Following the concessive (or conditional) genitive absolute τούτου γενομένου ('even if this should happen'), it conveys the content of the younger brother's assertion implied by φάσκων or παρεκάλει ('that he would have a portion...').
- 31.10.4διότι
Usually introducing a cause ('because'), but here used in the sense of 'that' (ὅτι) in indirect discourse to introduce the content of the testimony after the verb ἀπομαρτυρούντων ('testified'). This is corroborated by the following optative of indirect discourse ἔχοι.
- 31.10.5δέξαιτο
Optative of indirect discourse (optativus obliquus). Since the governing verb (here the participle ἀπομαρτυρούντων) refers to the past (historical time), the original indicative past or perfect in the dependent clause is changed into the optative. The following verbs λάβοι and δοίη share the same construction.
- 31.10.6γεγονότα τελέως
Meaning 'seeing that the division had been fully/finally completed'. It creates a contrast: although the Senate recognized that the previous partition was an accomplished and finalized fact, they chose to support the younger brother's request for their own geopolitical interests (i.e., to keep the Egyptian kingdom divided).
- 31.10.8μὴ μεῖζον φρονήσῃ
A clause of fearing introduced by the participle δεδιότες ('fearing'). The aorist subjunctive φρονήσῃ is used to express the fear of what might happen ('lest it should assume...'). The conditional clause ἄν ποτε τύχῃ is nested within this fear clause.
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