- 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-grc2:5.23.1-5.23.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Philip defeats Lycurgus' forces on the hills and forces them to retreat into the city. He then covers Aratus' main body advancing from Amyclae, repels a Lacedaemonian attack, and safely crosses the Eurotas River.
τοὺς ἱππεῖς.1 ὁ δὲ Φίλιππος ἐγγίσας τοῖς περὶ τὸν Λυκοῦργον τὸ μὲν πρῶτον αὐτοὺς ἐφῆκε τοὺς μισθοφόρους, ἐξ οὗ καὶ συνέβη τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐπικυδεστέρως ἀγωνίζεσθαι τοὺς παρὰ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων, ἅτε καὶ τοῦ καθοπλισμοῦ καὶ τῶν τόπων αὐτοῖς οὐ μικρὰ συμβαλλομένων.2
...the cavalry. Philip, having approached Lycurgus and his men, at first sent against them only the mercenaries, from which it also happened that at the beginning those on the Lacedaemonian side fought with greater glory, inasmuch as both their equipment and the ground contributed not a little to their advantage.
ἐπεὶ δὲ τοὺς μὲν πελταστὰς ὁ Φίλιππος ὑπέβαλε τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις, ἐφεδρείας ἔχοντας τάξιν, τοῖς δʼ Ἰλλυριοῖς ὑπεράρας3 ἐκ πλαγίων ἐποιεῖτο τὴν ἔφοδον, τότε συνέβη τοὺς μὲν παρὰ τοῦ Φιλίππου μισθοφόρους ἐπαρθέντας τῇ τῶν Ἰλλυριῶν καὶ πελταστῶν ἐφεδρείᾳ πολλαπλασίως ἐπιρρωσθῆναι πρὸς τὸν κίνδυνον, τοὺς δὲ παρὰ τοῦ Λυκούργου, καταπλαγέντας τὴν τῶν βαρέων ὅπλων ἔφοδον,4 ἐγκλίναντας φυγεῖν.
But when Philip sent in the peltasts behind those who were fighting, holding the position of reserves, and with the Illyrians, having surmounted the heights, made an attack from the flank, then it happened that Philip’s mercenaries, encouraged by the reserve of Illyrians and peltasts, were many times more strengthened for the danger, while those under Lycurgus, terrified by the onset of the heavy-armed troops, gave way and fled.
ἔπεσον μὲν οὖν αὐτῶν εἰς ἑκατόν, ἑάλωσαν δὲ μικρῷ πλείους· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ διέφυγον εἰς τὴν πόλιν. ὁ δὲ Λυκοῦργος αὐτὸς ταῖς ἀνοδίαις ὁρμήσας νύκτωρ μετʼ ὀλίγων ἐποιήσατο τὴν εἰς πόλιν πάροδον.
Thus about a hundred of them fell, and a little more than that number were captured; while the rest escaped into the city. Lycurgus himself, setting out through trackless ways by night with a few men, made his entry into the city.
Φίλιππος δὲ τοὺς μὲν λόφους τοῖς Ἰλλυριοῖς κατελάβετο, τοὺς δʼ εὐζώνους ἔχων καὶ πελταστὰς ἐπανῄει πρὸς τὴν δύναμιν.
Philip occupied the hills with the Illyrians, and with the light-armed troops and peltasts returned to his main army.
Ἄρατος δὲ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον, ἄγων ἐκ τῶν Ἀμυκλῶν τὴν φάλαγγα, σύνεγγυς ἦν ἤδη τῆς πόλεως.
Aratus, at this same time, leading the phalanx from Amyclae, was already near the city.
ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεὺς διαβὰς τὸν ποταμὸν ἐφήδρευε τοῖς εὐζώνοις καὶ πελτασταῖς, ἔτι δὲ τοῖς ἱππεῦσιν, ἕως τὰ βαρέα τῶν ὅπλων ὑπʼ αὐτοὺς τοὺς βουνοὺς ἀσφαλῶς διῄει5 τὰς δυσχωρίας.
The king, therefore, having crossed the river, acted as a cover with his light-armed troops, peltasts, and also cavalry, until the heavy-armed troops had safely passed the difficult ground under the very hills.
τῶν δʼ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἐπιβαλομένων ἐγχειρεῖν τοῖς ἐφεδρεύουσι τῶν ἱππέων, καὶ γενομένης συμπλοκῆς ὁλοσχερεστέρας, καὶ τῶν πελταστῶν εὐψύχως ἀγωνισαμένων, καὶ περὶ τοῦτον τὸν καιρὸν ὁ Φίλιππος ὁμολογούμενον προτέρημα ποιήσας, καὶ συνδιώξας τοὺς τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἱππεῖς εἰς τὰς πύλας, μετὰ ταῦτα διαβὰς ἀσφαλῶς τὸν Εὐρώταν ἀπουράγει6 τοῖς αὑτοῦ φαλαγγίταις
When those from the city attempted to attack the cavalry who were acting as a cover, and a more general engagement took place, the peltasts fighting courageously, Philip, having on this occasion also gained an undisputed advantage and pursued the Lacedaemonian cavalry to the gates, afterwards crossed the Eurotas safely and brought up the rear of his phalangites.
- 5.23.1τοὺς ἱππεῖς
This accusative phrase is the object of the present participle ποιοῦντες at the end of the previous chapter (5.22.11), meaning 'placing the cavalry (on the right wing).'
- 5.23.2ἅτε ... συμβαλλομένων
A construction combining the causal particle ἅτε with a genitive absolute (τοῦ καθοπλισμοῦ καὶ τῶν τόπων ... συμβαλλομένων), presenting an objective reason ('inasmuch as...').
- 5.23.3ὑπεράρας
Active aorist participle of ὑπεραίρω, used here intransitively to mean 'having surmounted (the heights),' referring to the action of the main subject Philip.
- 5.23.4τὴν τῶν βαρέων ὅπλων ἔφοδον
The genitive phrase τῶν βαρέων ὅπλων ('heavy arms,' referring to heavy-armed troops) functions as a subject (subjective genitive) to the noun ἔφοδον ('onset' or 'attack'), meaning 'the onset of the heavy-armed troops.'
- 5.23.8ἕως τὰ βαρέα ... διῄει
The conjunction ἕως with the imperfect indicative (διῄει) indicates that the action of the main clause (ἐφήδρευε) continued in parallel with or up to the limit of the action in the temporal clause ('while...' or 'until...').
- 5.23.10ἀπουράγει
Present indicative (historic present) of the verb ἀπουραγέω ('to bring up the rear'), which governs the dative case (τοῖς αὑτοῦ φαλαγγίταις).