- 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-grc2:36.16.1-36.16.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
This chunk praises Masanasses, the king of Numidia, for his excellent health, long life, numerous descendants, and his greatest achievement of cultivating the once barren Numidia into fertile land, ending with an anecdote of his final days.
ὅτι Μασανάσσης ὁ ἐν Λιβύῃ τῶν Νομάδων βασιλεὺς ἀνὴρ ἦν τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς βασιλέων ἄριστος καὶ μακαριώτατος, ὃς ἐβασίλευσεν ἔτη πλείω τῶν ἑξήκονθʼ, ὑγιεινότατος ὢν καὶ πολυχρονιώτατος· ἐνενήκοντα γὰρ ἐτῶν ἐγεγόνει.
That Masanasses, the king of the Nomads in Libya, was the best and most fortunate of the kings of our time, who reigned more than sixty years, being of excellent health and very long-lived; for he had reached ninety years of age.
ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ δυναμικώτατος τῶν καθʼ αὑτὸν κατὰ τὴν σωματικὴν ἕξιν, ὅς, ὅτε μὲν στῆναι δέοι,1 στὰς ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἴχνεσι διʼ ἡμέρας ἔμενε, καθεζόμενος δὲ πάλιν οὐκ ἠγείρετο.
And he was also the most robust of his contemporaries in his bodily constitution; who, whenever it was necessary to stand, remained standing in the very same tracks throughout the day, and again when seated, did not rise.
καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τῶν ἱππικῶν κακοπάθειαν ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα συνεχῶς διακαρτερῶν οὐδὲν ἔπασχεν. σημεῖον δὲ τῆς σωματικῆς αὐτοῦ δυνάμεως·
And constantly enduring hardship on horseback day and night, he suffered no ill effect. And a proof of his bodily strength:
ἔχων ἐνενήκοντʼ ἔτη, καθʼ ὃν καιρὸν μετήλλαξε τὸν βίον, υἱὸν ἀπέλειπε τεττάρων ἐτῶν, ὄνομα Σθέμβανον, ὃν μετὰ ταῦτα Μικίψης υἱοποιήσατο, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις υἱοὺς ἐννέα.
having ninety years at the time when he departed this life, he left a son of four years old, named Sthembanus, whom Micipsa afterwards adopted, and besides this, nine sons.
διὰ δὲ τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους τούτων εὔνοιαν διετήρησε τὸν ὅλον βίον πάσης ἐπιβουλῆς καὶ παντὸς οἰκείου μιάσματος ἄμοιρον αὑτοῦ γενέσθαι τὴν βασιλείαν.
And because of their mutual goodwill, he kept his kingdom throughout his whole life free from any conspiracy and from any domestic pollution.
τὸ δὲ μέγιστον καὶ θειότατον τούτου·2 τῆς γὰρ Νομαδίας ἁπάσης ἀχρήστου τὸν πρὸ τοῦ χρόνον ὑπαρχούσης3 καὶ νομιζομένης ἀδυνάτου τῇ φύσει πρὸς ἡμέρους καρποὺς ὑπάρχειν, πρῶτος καὶ μόνος ὑπέδειξε διότι δύναται πάντας ἐκφέρειν τοὺς ἡμέρους καρποὺς οὐδʼ ὁποίας ἧττον, ἑκάστῳ τῶν υἱῶν ἐν διαστάσει μυριοπλέθρους ἀγροὺς κατασκευάσας παμφόρους.
But the greatest and most divine thing about him was this: for whereas all Numidia had been useless in the preceding time, and was considered by its nature incapable of producing cultivated crops, he was the first and only one to show that it is able to bear all cultivated crops no less than any other country, by preparing for each of his sons, at intervals, estates of ten thousand plethra which produced all kinds of crops.
τῇ μὲν οὖν ἐκείνου μεταστάσει ταῦτʼ ἄν τις εὐλόγως ἐπιφθέγξαιτο καὶ δικαίως.
On his departure, then, one might reasonably and justly pronounce these words.
ὁ δὲ Σκιπίων παραγενόμενος εἰς τὴν Κίρταν ἡμέρᾳ τρίτῃ μετὰ τὸν τοῦ βασιλέως θάνατον διῴκησε καλῶς πάντα. —
And Scipio, arriving in Cirta on the third day after the king’s death, arranged everything well. —
Μασανάσσην δʼ ἱστορεῖ Πολύβιος ἐνενήκοντα μὲν ἐτῶν ἀποθανεῖν, τετράετες καταλιπόντα παιδάριον ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγενημένον·
Polybius records that Masanasses died at ninety years of age, leaving a four-year-old child begotten of him;
ὀλίγῳ δʼ ἔμπροσθεν τῆς τελευτῆς μάχῃ νικήσαντα μεγάλῃ Καρχηδονίους ὀφθῆναι τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ πρὸ τῆς σκηνῆς ῥυπαρὸν ἄρτον ἐσθίοντα καὶ πρὸς τοὺς θαυμάζοντας εἰπεῖν ὅτι τοῦτο ποιεῖ4
and that a little before his death, having defeated the Carthaginians in a great battle, he was seen the next day before his tent eating dirty bread, and said to those who were astonished that he did this...
- 36.16.3ὅς, ὅτε μὲν στῆναι δέοι
The relative pronoun ὅς refers to the subject of the main clause (Masanasses). Inside this relative clause, the nested temporal clause ὅτε ... δέοι employs the optative mood (δέοι) to express a general repetition in the past ('whenever it was necessary').
- 36.16.7τὸ δὲ μέγιστον καὶ θειότατον τούτου
An independent accusative or nominative phrase placed at the beginning of the sentence to draw attention to 'the greatest and most divine thing about him', which is then described in detail in the following clauses.
- 36.16.7τῆς γὰρ Νομαδίας ἁπάσης ἀχρήστου... ὑπαρχούσης
A genitive absolute construction where τῆς Νομαδίας ἁπάσης acts as the subject and ἀχρήστου... ὑπαρχούσης as the participle phrase, presenting a concessive background ('although all Numidia had been useless') to the main verb ὑπέδειξε.
- 36.16.12ὅτι τοῦτο ποιεῖ
The conjunction ὅτι introduces indirect speech. The sentence breaks off here, leaving the conclusion of Masanasses' actual statement ('that he does this because...') missing.
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