- 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-grc2:38.6.1-38.6.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
The author justifies his method of narrative digression by comparing it to the practice of famous ancient historians, emphasizing that while they made such transitions in a disorderly manner, his own chronological and geographical arrangement remains orderly and clear for the readers.
ἀνδρῶν.1 διὸ καὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων συγγραφέων οἱ λογιώτατοι δοκοῦσί μοι προσαναπεπαῦσθαι τῷ τρόπῳ τούτῳ, τινὲς μὲν μυθικαῖς καὶ διηγηματικαῖς κεχρημένοι παρεκβάσεσι, τινὲς δὲ καὶ πραγματικαῖς, ὥστε μὴ μόνον ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα τόποις ποιεῖσθαι τὰς μεταβάσεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐκτὸς περιλαμβάνειν.
men. Therefore, even the most famous of the ancient historians seem to me to have taken additional rest in this manner, some employing mythical and narrative digressions, and others even practical ones, so that they made their transitions not only within the regions of Greece itself, but also embraced those outside.
λέγω δʼ οἷον ἐπειδὰν2 τὰ κατὰ τὴν Θετταλίαν ἐξηγούμενοι καὶ τὰς Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Φεραίου πράξεις μεταξὺ τὰς κατὰ Πελοπόννησον Λακεδαιμονίων ἐπιβολὰς διηγῶνται, καὶ πάλιν τὰς παρὰ Θηβαίων, ἔτι δὲ τὰς κατὰ Μακεδονίαν ἢ τὴν Ἰλλυρίδα, κἄπειτα διατρίψαντες λέγωσι τὴν Ἰφικράτους εἰς Αἴγυπτον στρατείαν καὶ τὰ Κλεάρχῳ πραχθέντα παρανομήματα κατὰ τὸν Πόντον.
I mean, for instance, when, explaining affairs in Thessaly and the actions of Alexander of Pherae, they describe in the middle the attempts of the Lacedaemonians in the Peloponnese, and again those of the Thebans, and further those in Macedonia or Illyria, and then, after lingering, speak of the expedition of Iphicrates to Egypt and the lawless deeds committed by Clearchus in Pontus.
ἐξ ὧν κεχρημένους3 μὲν ἅπαντας εὕροι τις ἂν τῷ τοιούτῳ χειρισμῷ, κεχρημένους γε μὴν ἀτάκτως, ἡμᾶς δὲ τεταγμένως.
From which, one would find that all of them have employed such a treatment, yet indeed they have done so without order, whereas we have done so in an orderly manner.
ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ μνησθέντες πῶς Βάρδυλλις ὁ τῶν Ἰλλυριῶν βασιλεὺς καὶ Κερσοβλέπτης ὁ τῶν Θρᾳκῶν κατεκτήσαντο τὰς δυναστείας, οὐκέτι προστιθέασι τὸ συνεχές, οὐδʼ ἀνατρέχουσιν ἐπὶ τἀκόλουθον ἐκ διαστήματος, ἀλλὰ καθάπερ ἐν ποιήματι χρησάμενοι πάλιν ἐπανάγουσιν ἐπὶ τὰς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑποθέσεις.
For they, having mentioned how Bardyllis, the king of the Illyrians, and Cersobleptes, the king of the Thracians, acquired their principalities, no longer add the sequel, nor do they return after an interval to what followed, but, having used it as if in a poem, they lead back again to their original subjects.
ἡμεῖς δὲ4 πάντας διῃρημένοι τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους τόπους τῆς οἰκουμένης καὶ τὰς ἐν τούτοις πράξεις καὶ μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔφοδον ἀεὶ ποιούμενοι κατὰ τὴν τάξιν τῆς διαλήψεως, ἔτι δὲ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἔτος ὡρισμένως ἐξηγούμενοι τὰς καταλλήλους πράξεις ἐνεστηκυίας, ἀπολείπομεν πρόδηλον τοῖς φιλομαθοῦσι τὴν ἐπαναγωγὴν5 ἐπὶ τὸν συνεχῆ λόγον καὶ τὰς μεσολαβηθείσας ἀεὶ τῶν πράξεων, ὥστε μηδὲν ἀτελὲς μηδʼ ἐλλιπὲς γίνεσθαι τοῖς φιληκόοις τῶν προειρημένων.
But we, having divided all the most famous regions of the inhabited world and the actions in them, and always making one and the same approach according to the order of our division, and further explaining definitely each year the corresponding actions that occurred, leave clear to those who are eager to learn the return to the continuous narrative and to the actions that were at each time interrupted, so that nothing of what has been said before becomes incomplete or deficient for those who love to hear.
καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον.
And regarding these matters, let this suffice.
- 38.6.1ἀνδρῶν
This word is the noun genitive plural depending on the article τῶν at the end of the previous chapter (§38.5.9), completing the phrase τῶν φιλοπόνοις τῶν ἀνδρῶν ('the industrious of men'), illustrating grammatical continuity across chapter divisions.
- 38.6.2λέγω δʼ οἷον ἐπειδὰν
The verb λέγω ('I mean') takes οἷον as an object, followed by a temporal-conditional clause introduced by ἐπειδάν. Within this clause, the participle ἐξηγούμενοι modifies the subject (the ancient historians), and the subjunctive verbs διηγῶνται and λέγωσι are coordinated by κἄπειτα.
- 38.6.3κεχρημένους
An accusative participle acting as a predicative participle for the object ἅπαντας of the verb εὕροι τις ἄν ('one would find'). It establishes the contrast between the first clause and the subsequent clause: ἡμᾶς δὲ τεταγμένως ('but us in an orderly manner [employing it]').
- 38.6.5ἡμεῖς δὲ
This section begins with the grammatical subject ἡμεῖς ('we'), which is modified by several nominative participles (διῃρημένοι, ποιούμενοι, ἐξηγούμενοι). The main verb of this long period is ἀπολείπομεν in the next section (§38.6.6), forming a single large sentence structure.
- 38.6.6τὴν ἐπαναγωγὴν
The direct object of ἀπολείπομεν. The noun ἐπαναγωγή ('return') is modified by two prepositional phrases introduced by ἐπί: ἐπὶ τὸν συνεχῆ λόγον ('to the continuous narrative') and καὶ τὰς μεσολαβηθείσας ἀεὶ τῶν πράξεων ('and to the actions that were at each time interrupted').