- 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-grc2:4.51.1-4.51.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The Rhodians successfully negotiate with Ptolemy for the release of Andromachus, Achaeus's father, thereby depriving the Byzantines of Achaeus's support. Consequently, and with the sudden death of their other ally Tiboites, the Byzantines find themselves hard pressed by Prusias and begin to seek a way out of the war.
σεως. ὁρῶντες γὰρ τὸ συνέχον τοῖς Βυζαντίοις τῆς ὑπομονῆς τοῦ πολέμου1 κείμενον ἐν ταῖς κατὰ τὸν Ἀχαιὸν ἐλπίσι, θεωροῦντες δὲ τὸν πατέρα τὸν Ἀχαιοῦ κατεχόμενον ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ, τὸν δʼ Ἀχαιὸν περὶ πλείστου ποιούμενον τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς σωτηρίαν, ἐπεβάλοντο πρεσβεύειν πρὸς τὸν Πτολεμαῖον καὶ παραιτεῖσθαι τὸν Ἀνδρόμαχον, καὶ πρότερον μὲν ἐκ παρέργου τοῦτο πεποιηκότες, τότε δʼ ἀληθινῶς σπεύδοντες ὑπὲρ τοῦ πράγματος, ἵνα προσενεγκάμενοι πρὸς τὸν Ἀχαιὸν τὴν χάριν ταύτην ὑπόχρεων αὐτὸν ποιήσωνται πρὸς πᾶν τὸ παρακαλούμενον.
ose. For seeing that the mainstay of the Byzantines’ persistence in the war lay in their hopes in Achaeus, and observing that the father of Achaeus was detained in Alexandria, and that Achaeus set the highest value on the safety of his father, they undertook to send an embassy to Ptolemy and beg for the release of Andromachus, and though they had done this before only as a secondary matter, they were then striving in earnest for the business, in order that by conferring this favor upon Achaeus they might make him indebted to them for whatever they might request.
ὁ δὲ Πτολεμαῖος, παραγενομένων τῶν πρέσβεων, ἐβουλεύετο μὲν παρακατέχειν τὸν Ἀνδρόμαχον, ἐλπίζων αὐτῷ χρήσεσθαι πρὸς καιρόν, διὰ τὸ τά τε πρὸς τὸν Ἀντίοχον ἄκριτα μένειν αὐτῷ,2 καὶ τὸ τὸν Ἀχαιὸν ἀναδεδειχότα προσφάτως αὑτὸν βασιλέα πραγμάτων εἶναι κύριον ἱκανῶν τινων·
Ptolemy, upon the arrival of the ambassadors, deliberated indeed to continue holding Andromachus, hoping to make use of him at an opportune moment, because his relations with Antiochus remained undecided, and because Achaeus, having recently declared himself king, was master of considerable affairs.
ἦν γὰρ Ἀνδρόμαχος Ἀχαιοῦ μὲν πατήρ, ἀδελφὸς δὲ Λαοδίκης τῆς Σελεύκου γυναικός.
For Andromachus was the father of Achaeus, and the brother of Laodice, the wife of Seleucus.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ προσκλίνων τοῖς Ῥοδίοις ὁ Πτολεμαῖος κατὰ τὴν ὅλην αἵρεσιν, καὶ πάντα σπεύδων χαρίζεσθαι, συνεχώρησε καὶ παρέδωκε τὸν Ἀνδρόμαχον αὐτοῖς ἀποκομίζειν3 ὡς τὸν υἱόν.
Nevertheless, Ptolemy, leaning towards the Rhodians in his general policy, and eager to gratify them in everything, yielded and delivered Andromachus to them to carry back to his son.
οἱ δʼ ἐπιτελεσάμενοι τοῦτο, καὶ προσεπιμετρήσαντες τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἀχαιὸν τιμάς τινας, παρείλαντο τὴν ὁλοσχερεστάτην ἐλπίδα τῶν Βυζαντίων.
They, having accomplished this, and having bestowed besides certain honors upon Achaeus and his circle, deprived the Byzantines of their most complete hope.
συνεκύρησε δέ τι καὶ ἕτερον τοῖς Βυζαντίοις ἄτοπον· ὁ γὰρ Τιβοίτης, καταγόμενος ἐκ τῆς Μακεδονίας, ἔσφηλε τὰς ἐπιβολὰς αὐτῶν, μεταλλάξας τὸν βίον.
And another adverse event also befell the Byzantines; for Tiboites, while being brought from Macedonia, frustrated their designs by departing this life.
οὗ συμβάντος οἱ μὲν Βυζάντιοι ταῖς ὁρμαῖς ἀνέπεσον, ὁ δὲ Προυσίας ἐπιρρωσθεὶς ταῖς πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἐλπίσιν, ἅμα μὲν αὐτὸς ἀπὸ τῶν κατʼ Ἀσίαν μερῶν ἐπολέμει καὶ προσέκειτο τοῖς πράγμασιν ἐνεργῶς, ἅμα δὲ τοὺς Θρᾷκας μισθωσάμενος οὐκ εἴα τὰς πύλας ἐξιέναι τοὺς Βυζαντίους ἀπὸ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Εὐρώπην μερῶν.
Upon this happening, the Byzantines lost heart in their undertakings, while Prusias, strengthened in his hopes for the war, on the one hand personally waged war from the Asian side and pressed on operations actively, and on the other hand, having hired Thracians, did not allow the Byzantines to go out of their gates from the European side.
οἱ δὲ Βυζάντιοι τῶν σφετέρων ἐλπίδων ἐψευσμένοι, τῷ πολέμῳ πονοῦντες πανταχόθεν, ἐξαγωγὴν περιέβλεπον εὐ
The Byzantines, disappointed in their hopes, and hard pressed by the war on all sides, were looking around for a favorable way out...
- 4.51.1τὸ συνέχον τοῖς Βυζαντίοις τῆς ὑπομονῆς τοῦ πολέμου
The neuter present participle τὸ συνέχον is used substantively to mean "that which holds together, the mainstay". It is accompanied by the dative τοῖς Βυζαντίοις (dative of relation) and the genitive τῆς ὑπομονῆς (genitive of definition or partitive genitive), meaning "the mainstay of the Byzantines' persistence in the war."
- 4.51.3διὰ τὸ τά τε πρὸς τὸν Ἀντίοχον ἄκριτα μένειν αὐτῷ
This is a causal construction with the preposition διὰ governing the articular infinitive τὸ ... μένειν. The subject of the infinitive μένειν is the neuter plural article with prepositional phrase τά ... πρὸς τὸν Ἀντίοχον ("relations with Antiochus"), and ἄκριτα is the predicate adjective, while αὐτῷ is a dative of relation referring to Ptolemy.
- 4.51.5παρέδωκε τὸν Ἀνδρόμαχον αὐτοῖς ἀποκομίζειν
The active infinitive ἀποκομίζειν is used in an adverbial sense expressing purpose after the transitive verb παρέδωκε ("he delivered Andromachus to them to carry back").