- 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-grc2:4.15.1-4.15.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The Achaeans resolved to send embassies to their allies and admit the Messenians into their alliance, while the Aetolians adopted an absurd diplomatic policy aimed at disrupting the alliance between the Achaeans and the Messenians.
ἦν δὲ τὰ δόξαντα τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς ταῦτα· πρεσβεύειν1 πρὸς Ἠπειρώτας, Βοιωτούς, Φωκέας, Ἀκαρνᾶνας, Φίλιππον, καὶ διασαφεῖν τίνα τρόπον Αἰτωλοὶ παρὰ τὰς συνθήκας μεθʼ ὅπλων ἤδη δὶς εἰσβεβληκότες εἴησαν εἰς τὴν Ἀχαΐαν, καὶ παρακαλεῖν αὐτοὺς βοηθεῖν κατὰ τὰς ὁμολογίας, προσδέξασθαι δὲ καὶ τοὺς Μεσσηνίους εἰς τὴν συμμαχίαν, τὸν δὲ στρατηγὸν ἐπιλέξαι τῶν Ἀχαιῶν πεζοὺς μὲν πεντακισχιλίους, ἱππεῖς δὲ πεντακοσίους, καὶ βοηθεῖν τοῖς Μεσσηνίοις, ἐὰν ἐπιβαίνωσιν Αἰτωλοὶ τῆς χώρας αὐτῶν·
The resolutions of the Achaeans were as follows: to send embassies to the Epirotes, Boeotians, Phocians, Acarnanians, and Philip, and to make clear to them in what manner the Aetolians, in violation of the treaties, had already twice invaded Achaea with arms, and to call upon them to bring aid in accordance with their agreements, and to admit the Messenians also into the alliance; and that the general of the Achaeans should select five thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry from the Achaeans, and bring aid to the Messenians if the Aetolians should set foot on their territory;
συντάξασθαι δὲ καὶ πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ πρὸς Μεσσηνίους ὅσους δεήσοι παρʼ ἀμφοῖν ὑπάρχειν ἱππεῖς καὶ πεζοὺς πρὸς τὰς κοινὰς χρείας. δοξάντων δὲ τούτων, οἱ μὲν Ἀχαιοὶ φέροντες γενναίως τὸ γεγονὸς οὔτε τοὺς Μεσσηνίους ἐγκατέλιπον οὔτε τὴν αὑτῶν πρόθεσιν, οἱ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς συμμάχους καθεσταμένοι τὰς πρεσβείας ἐπετέλουν, ὁ δὲ στρατηγὸς τοὺς μὲν ἐκ τῆς Ἀχαΐας ἄνδρας ἐπέλεγε κατὰ τὸ δόγμα, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ Μεσσηνίους συνετάττετο πεζοὺς μὲν παρʼ ἑκατέρων ὑπάρχειν δισχιλίους καὶ πεντακοσίους, ἱππεῖς δὲ πεντήκοντα καὶ διακοσίους, ὥστʼ εἶναι τὸ πᾶν σύστημα πρὸς τὰς ἐπιγινομένας χρείας πεζοὺς μὲν μυρίους, ἱππεῖς δὲ χιλίους. οἱ δʼ Αἰτωλοί, παραγενομένης αὐτοῖς τῆς καθηκούσης ἐκκλησίας, συνελθόντες ἐβουλεύσαντο πρός τε Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ Μεσσηνίους καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους πάντας εἰρήνην ἄγειν, κακοπραγμονοῦντες καὶ βουλόμενοι φθείρειν καὶ λυμαίνεσθαι τοὺς τῶν Ἀχαιῶν συμμάχους·
and also to arrange with the Lacedaemonians and Messenians how many cavalry and infantry should be supplied by both for their common needs. These measures having been resolved, the Achaeans, bearing what had happened with noble spirit, abandoned neither the Messenians nor their own purpose; and those appointed to the allies carried out their embassies, while the general selected the men from Achaea in accordance with the decree, and arranged with the Lacedaemonians and Messenians that there should be supplied from each side two thousand five hundred infantry and two hundred and fifty cavalry, so that the entire force for the emerging needs should be ten thousand infantry and one thousand cavalry. The Aetolians, however, when their regular assembly met, came together and resolved to maintain peace with the Lacedaemonians, the Messenians, and all others, acting maliciously and wishing to corrupt and damage the allies of the Achaeans;
πρὸς αὐτοὺς δὲ τοὺς Ἀχαιούς, ἐὰν μὲν ἀφιστῶνται τῆς τῶν Μεσσηνίων συμμαχίας, ἄγειν ἐψηφίσαντο τὴν εἰρήνην, εἰ δὲ μή, πολεμεῖν, πρᾶγμα πάντων ἀλογώτατον.
but towards the Achaeans themselves, they voted to maintain peace if they should withdraw from the alliance with the Messenians, but if not, to go to war—a policy of all the most irrational.
ὄντες γὰρ αὐτοὶ σύμμαχοι καὶ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν καὶ τῶν Μεσσηνίων, εἰ μὲν οὗτοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους φιλίαν ἄγοιεν2 καὶ συμμαχίαν, τὸν πόλεμον τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς ἐπήγγελλον· εἰ δʼ ἔχθραν ἕλοιντο πρὸς τοὺς Μεσσηνίους, τὴν εἰρήνην αὐτοῖς ἐποίουν κατὰ μόνας, ὥστε μηδʼ ὑπὸ λόγον πίπτειν τὴν ἀδικίαν αὐτῶν διὰ τὸ παρηλλαγμένον αὐτῶν τῶν ἐγχειρημάτων.
For while being themselves allies of both the Achaeans and the Messenians, if these two should maintain friendship and alliance with each other, they declared war on the Achaeans; but if they should choose enmity towards the Messenians, they offered peace to them alone, so that their injustice did not even fall within the scope of reason, owing to the extraordinary nature of their undertakings.
- 4.15.1πρεσβεύειν
This infinitive and the subsequent ones (διασαφεῖν, παρακαλεῖν, προσδέξασθαι, ἐπιλέξαι, βοηθεῖν, συντάξασθαι) function substantively as subject complements, defining the concrete contents of the subject τὰ δόξαντα (the resolutions) with the imperfect copula ἦν.
- 4.15.10εἰ μὲν οὗτοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους φιλίαν ἄγοιεν
The combination of the optative in the protasis (εἰ ＋ optative) and the imperfect indicative in the apodosis (ἐπήγγελλον, ἐποίουν) represents either a past general condition (repetition in past time) or an oblique representation of the Aetolians' decision-making context (indirect discourse representing their thoughts: "if they should..., we would...").