- 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-grc2:38.22.1-38.22.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
Scipio weeps at the sight of Carthage's destruction, quoting lines from the Iliad on the inevitable fall of great empires. Questioned by his teacher Polybius, he confesses that his anxiety is for the future of his own country, Rome.
ὁ δὲ Σκιπίων πόλιν ὁρῶν τότε ἄρδην τελευτῶσαν ἐς πανωλεθρίαν ἐσχάτην, λέγεται μὲν δακρῦσαι καὶ φανερὸς γενέσθαι κλαίων ὑπὲρ πολεμίων·
And Scipio, seeing the city then utterly perishing in extreme destruction, is said to have wept and to have openly shed tears for his enemies.
ἐπὶ πολὺ δʼ ἔννους ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ γενόμενός τε καὶ συνιδὼν ὅτι καὶ πόλεις καὶ ἔθνη καὶ ἀρχὰς ἁπάσας δεῖ μεταβαλεῖν ὥσπερ ἀνθρώπους δαίμονα,1 καὶ τοῦτʼ ἔπαθε μὲν Ἴλιον, εὐτυχής ποτε πόλις, ἔπαθε δὲ ἡ Ἀσσυρίων καὶ Μήδων καὶ Περσῶν ἐπʼ ἐκείνοις ἀρχὴ μεγίστη γενομένη καὶ ἡ μάλιστα ἔναγχος ἐκλάμψασα ἡ Μακεδόνων, εἴτε ἑκών, εἴτε προφυγόντος αὐτὸν τοῦδε τοῦ ἔπους2 εἰπεῖν, ἔσσεται ἦμαρ ὅταν ποτʼ ὀλώλῃ Ἴλιος ἱρὴ καὶ Πρίαμος καὶ λαὸς ἐυμμελίω Πριάμοιο. Πολυβίου δʼ αὐτὸν ἐρομένου σὺν παρρησίᾳ·
Remaining for a long time deep in thought by himself, and reflecting that both cities and nations and all empires must change, just as fortune changes human beings, and that Ilium, once a fortunate city, had suffered this, as had the empire of the Assyrians, Medes, and Persians, which after them became the greatest, and that of the Macedonians which had shone so brilliantly most recently, whether voluntarily or because this verse escaped him, he said: “The day shall come when sacred Ilium shall perish, and Priam, and the people of Priam of the good ashen spear.” And when Polybius asked him with freedom of speech—
καὶ γὰρ ἦν αὐτοῦ καὶ διδάσκαλος· ὅ τι βούλοιτο ὁ λόγος,3 φασὶν οὐ φυλαξάμενον ὀνομάσαι τὴν πατρίδα σαφῶς, ὑπὲρ ἧς ἄρα ἐς τἀνθρώπεια ἀφορῶν ἐδεδίει. καὶ τάδε μὲν Πολύβιος αὐτὸς ἀκούσας συγγράφει.
for he was indeed his teacher—what the words meant, they say that he did not guard his speech but clearly named his own country, for which indeed, looking at human affairs, he was afraid. And these things Polybius himself, having heard them, records.
- 38.22.2ὥσπερ ἀνθρώπους δαίμονα
Part of the accusative and infinitive construction. The noun δαίμονα (accusative acting as subject) governs ἀνθρώπους (accusative object) with the implied action of the infinitive μεταβαλεῖν, meaning "just as fortune changes human beings."
- 38.22.2προφυγόντος αὐτὸν τοῦδε τοῦ ἔπους
Genitive absolute construction. The phrase τοῦδε τοῦ ἔπους acts as the logical subject and προφυγόντος as the logical predicate, meaning "this verse having escaped him" (i.e. slipped from his lips involuntarily).
- 38.22.3ὅ τι βούλοιτο ὁ λόγος
Indirect question clause. Corresponding to the past narrative context of the main verb and the genitive absolute ἐρομένου, the verb βούλοιτο appears in the optative of oblique narration, representing an original present indicative βούλεται of direct speech.