Ariarathes Cooperates with Roman Embassies — Polybius, The Histories Book 31 (31.8.1–31.8.8), Greek & English

§31.8.1

ὅτι κατὰ τοὺς καιροὺς τούτους παρεγένοντο πρέσβεις ἐκ τῆς Ῥώμης πρῶτον μὲν οἱ περὶ τὸν Μάρκον Ἰούνιον, διευκρινήσοντες τὰ πρὸς τοὺς Γαλάτας διαφέροντα τῷ βασιλεῖ.

At this time, ambassadors arrived from Rome; first of all, Marcus Junius and his party, to settle the matters in dispute between the king and the Galatians.

§31.8.2

ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν οἱ Τρόκμοι διʼ αὑτῶν ἀποτεμέσθαι τῆς Καππαδοκίας¹ οὐδέν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ χειρὸς ᾠκοδομήσαντο τὴν δίκην ἐπιβαλόμενοι τόλμαν, καταφυγόντες ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους διαβάλλειν ἐπειρῶντο τὸν Ἀριαράθην.

For since the Trocmi had not been able by their own resources to lop off any part of Cappadocia, but on the contrary had reaped a self-inflicted punishment by force of arms in attempting a bold enterprise, they fled to the Romans and tried to slander Ariarathes.

§31.8.3

ὧν χάριν ἀπεστάλησαν οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἰούνιον. πρὸς οὓς ὁ βασιλεὺς ποιησάμενος τοὺς ἁρμόζοντας λόγους καὶ τἄλλα φιλανθρώπως ὁμιλήσας ἐκείνους μὲν εὐλογοῦντας ἀπέστειλε.

On this account Junius and his party were sent. The king, having addressed them with fitting words and conversed kindly in other respects, sent them away singing his praises.

§31.8.4

μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα, παραγενομένων πρεσβευτῶν τῶν περὶ Γνάιον Ὀκτάουιον καὶ Σπόριον Λοκρήτιον καὶ διαλεγομένων τῷ βασιλεῖ πάλιν περὶ τῶν πρὸς τοὺς Γαλάτας αὐτῷ διαφερόντων, βραχέα περὶ τούτων κοινολογησάμενος καὶ φήσας εὐεπάγωγος εἶναι² πρὸς τὸ κριθέν, λοιπὸν ἤδη τὸν πλείω λόγον ὑπὲρ τῶν κατὰ Συρίαν ἐποιεῖτο πραγμάτων, εἰδὼς ἐκεῖσε προάγοντας τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ὀκτάουιον, ὑποδεικνύων αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀκαταστασίαν τῆς βασιλείας καὶ τὴν εἰκαιότητα τῶν προεστώτων αὐτῆς καὶ προσεπαγγελλόμενος ἀκολουθήσειν μετὰ δυνάμεως καὶ συνεφεδρεύειν τοῖς καιροῖς, ἕως ἂν ἐπανέλθωσι πάλιν ἐκ τῆς Συρίας ἀσφαλῶς.

After this, when the ambassadors Gnaeus Octavius and Spurius Lucretius arrived and spoke again to the king about his disputes with the Galatians, having conversed briefly on these matters and said that he was easily led to submit to what had been decided, he thenceforth spent the greater part of his discourse on the affairs of Syria, knowing that Octavius and his party were proceeding thither. He pointed out to them the instability of that kingdom and the frivolity of its rulers, and further promised to follow them with an armed force and to watch the course of events to support them until they should return safely from Syria.

§31.8.7

οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Γνάιον ἐν πᾶσιν ἀποδεχόμενοι τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως εὔνοιαν καὶ προθυμίαν κατὰ μὲν τὸ παρὸν οὐκ ἔφασαν προσδεῖσθαι τῆς παραπομπῆς, εἰς δὲ τὸ μέλλον, ἐάν τις ὑποπίπτῃ χρεία, διασαφήσειν ἀόκνως· κρίνειν³ γὰρ αὐτὸν ἕνα τῶν ἀληθινῶν Ῥωμαίοις φίλων. —

Gnaeus and his party, while welcoming in every way the king’s goodwill and readiness, said that for the present they had no need of an escort, but for the future, if any need should arise, they would let him know without hesitation; for they judged him to be one of the true friends of the Romans. —

Syntax notes3 items

31.8.2ἀποτεμέσθαι τῆς Καππαδοκίας
Partitive genitive. The noun τῆς Καππαδοκίας is in the genitive case to indicate the whole of which the direct object οὐδέν (nothing) of the verb ἀποτεμέσθαι (to cut off) forms a part.
31.8.5εὐεπάγωγος εἶναι
Infinitive in indirect discourse under the participle φήσας. Since the subject of the infinitive εἶναι is identical to that of the leading word, the subject pronoun is omitted and the predicate adjective εὐεπάγωγος is attracted into the nominative case instead of the accusative.
31.8.8κρίνειν
Continuation of indirect discourse with the infinitive. The indirect speech under the verb οὐκ ἔφασαν in the preceding section (31.8.7) continues into the clause introduced by the causal conjunction γάρ (κρίνειν γὰρ αὐτὸν...), indicating that the statement is still part of what the ambassadors said.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:31.8.1-31.8.8