- 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-grc2:4.17.1-4.17.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
While the Aetolian general Ariston pretends to be uninvolved, Dorimachus and his force arrive at Cynaetha, where the exiles are restored after a long-standing factional conflict with the consent of the Achaeans, only for the returning exiles to immediately plot the betrayal of their city to the Aetolians.
τὴν Ἀχαΐαν μετὰ τῶν Ἰλλυριῶν. ἀρίστων δʼ ὁ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν στρατηγός, οὐ προσποιούμενος οὐδὲν τῶν γινομένων,1 ἦγε τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκείας, φάσκων οὐ πολεμεῖν τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς, ἀλλὰ διατηρεῖν τὴν εἰρήνην, εὔηθες καὶ παιδικὸν πρᾶγμα ποιῶν·
into Achaea with the Illyrians. Ariston, the general of the Aetolians, pretending to have no part in what was happening, remained quiet at home, claiming that he was not at war with the Achaeans, but was maintaining peace—acting in a foolish and childish manner.
δῆλον γὰρ ὡς εὐήθη καὶ μάταιον εἰκὸς φαίνεσθαι τὸν τοιοῦτον, ὅταν ὑπολαμβάνῃ τοῖς λόγοις ἐπικρύψασθαι τὰς τῶν πραγμάτων ἐναργείας.
For it is natural that such a man should appear foolish and futile when he supposes that he can conceal the clear reality of facts by words.
οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Δωρίμαχον διὰ τῆς Ἀχαιάτιδος ποιησάμενοι τὴν πορείαν, ἧκον ἄφνω πρὸς τὴν Κύναιθαν.
Dorimachus and his associates, having made their march through Achaea, arrived suddenly at Cynaetha.
συνέβαινε δὲ τοὺς Κυναιθεῖς, ὄντας Ἀρκάδας, ἐκ πολλῶν χρόνων ἐν ἀκαταπαύστοις καὶ μεγάλαις συνεσχῆσθαι στάσεσι,2 καὶ πολλὰς μὲν κατʼ ἀλλήλων πεποιῆσθαι σφαγὰς καὶ φυγάς, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἁρπαγὰς ὑπαρχόντων, ἔτι δὲ γῆς ἀναδασμούς, τέλος δʼ ἐπικρατῆσαι τοὺς τὰ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν αἱρουμένους καὶ κατασχεῖν τὴν πόλιν, φυλακὴν ἔχοντας τῶν τειχῶν καὶ στρατηγὸν τῆς πόλεως ἐξ Ἀχαΐας.
It happened that the Cynaethians, who were Arcadians, had for a long time been involved in incessant and violent factions, and had committed many massacres and banishments against one another, and in addition to these, plundering of property, and furthermore, redistributions of land; and finally, those who favored the cause of the Achaeans prevailed and held the city, keeping a guard on the walls and a general of the city from Achaea.
τούτων δʼ οὕτως ἐχόντων, ὀλίγοις ἔμπροσθεν χρόνοις τῆς τῶν Αἰτωλῶν παρουσίας διαπεμπομένων τῶν φυγάδων πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει, καὶ δεομένων διαλυθῆναι πρὸς αὑτοὺς καὶ κατάγειν σφᾶς εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν, πεισθέντες οἱ κατέχοντες τὴν πόλιν ἐπρέσβευον πρὸς τὸ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἔθνος, βουλόμενοι μετὰ τῆς ἐκείνων γνώμης ποιεῖσθαι τὰς διαλύσεις.
While matters stood thus, a short time before the arrival of the Aetolians, the exiles sent messages to those in the city, begging to be reconciled with them and to be restored to their homes. The party in possession of the city, being persuaded, sent envoys to the Achaean League, wishing to make the reconciliation with their consent.
[τῶν Ἀχαιῶν] ἐπιχωρησάντων3 δʼ ἑτοίμως διὰ τὸ πεπεῖσθαι σφίσιν ἀμφοτέρους εὐνοήσειν, ἅτε τῶν μὲν κατεχόντων τὴν πόλιν ἐν τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς ἐχόντων πάσας τὰς ἐλπίδας, τῶν δὲ καταπορευομένων μελλόντων τυγχάνειν τῆς σωτηρίας διὰ τὴν τῶν Ἀχαιῶν συγκατάθεσιν, οὕτως ἀποστείλαντες τὴν παραφυλακὴν καὶ τὸν στρατηγὸν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως οἱ Κυναιθεῖς διελύσαντο καὶ κατήγαγον τοὺς φυγάδας, ὄντας σχεδὸν εἰς τριακοσίους, λαβόντες πίστεις τῶν παρʼ ἀνθρώποις νομιζομένων τὰς ἰσχυροτάτας.
And [the Achaeans] readily consented, because they were convinced that both parties would be well-disposed toward them, since those in possession of the city placed all their hopes in the Achaeans, while those who were returning were about to obtain their safety through the consent of the Achaeans. Thus, having dismissed the guard and the general from the city, the Cynaethians reconciled and restored the exiles, who numbered nearly three hundred, after taking the strongest pledges recognized among men.
οἱ δὲ κατανοστήσαντες οὐχ ὡς αἰτίας ἢ προφάσεως ἐπιγενομένης τοῦ δοκεῖν ἄλλης διαφορᾶς ἀρχὴν αὐτοῖς τινα γεγενῆσθαι, τὸ δʼ ἐναντίον παραχρῆμα κατελθόντες εὐθέως ἐπεβούλευον τῇ πατρίδι καὶ τοῖς σώσασι.
But those who returned, not waiting for any subsequent cause or pretext to arise that might seem to have given them some new ground for dispute, but on the contrary, immediately upon their return, at once began plotting against their country and those who had saved them.
καί μοι δοκοῦσι, καθʼ ὃν καιρὸν ἐπὶ τῶν σφαγίων τοὺς ὅρκους καὶ τὰς πίστεις ἐδίδοσαν ἀλλήλοις, τότε μάλιστα διανοεῖσθαι περί τε τῆς εἰς τὸ θεῖον καὶ τοὺς πιστεύσαντας ἀσεβείας.
And it seems to me that at the very time when they were giving oaths and pledges to one another over the victims, they were then most of all plotting their impiety against both the divine and those who trusted them.
ἅμα γὰρ τῷ μετασχεῖν τῆς πολιτείας εὐθέως ἐπεσπῶντο τοὺς Αἰτωλοὺς καὶ τούτοις ἔπραττον τὴν πόλιν, σπεύδοντες τοὺς σώσαντας ἅμα καὶ τὴν θρέ4
For as soon as they shared in the citizenship, they immediately began inviting the Aetolians and negotiating to betray the city to them, hastening to destroy both their saviors and the [country] that nurtured them—
- 4.17.1οὐ προσποιούμενος οὐδὲν τῶν γινομένων
Meaning "pretending to have no part in (or knowledge of) what was happening." The participle προσποιούμενος with οὐδέν expresses Ariston's hypocritical attitude of pretending that nothing was happening or that he had no share in the events.
- 4.17.4συνεσχῆσθαι στάσεσι
The perfect passive infinitive συνεσχῆσθαι (from συνέχω, "to hold together, involve") serves as the predicate of the accusative-with-infinitive clause subject to the impersonal verb συνέβαινε ("it happened that..."). It indicates the long-standing, persistent state of the Cynaethians being tightly bound up in factions (στάσεσι).
- 4.17.8[τῶν Ἀχαιῶν] ἐπιχωρησάντων
The bracketed [τῶν Ἀχαιῶν] is a modern editorial emendation inserted to supply the missing subject of the genitive absolute construction, which is followed by the causal clause (διὰ τὸ πεπεῖσθαι...).
- 4.17.12τὴν θρέ-
The text breaks off here in the original Greek (due to a lacuna in the manuscript tradition). It is conjectured that a word like τὴν θρέψασαν πατρίδα ("the country that nurtured them") originally followed.