- 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-grc2:5.31.1-5.31.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
The author transitions from the narrative of Greek affairs to the war between Antiochus and Ptolemy over Coele-Syria. He explains his method of narrative arrangement, emphasizing the separation of events and chronological clarity for the reader.
μεθα τὴν ἐξήγησιν,1 καὶ πρῶτον ἐπιχειρήσομεν δηλοῦν κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς πρόθεσιν τὸν ὑπὲρ Κοίλης Συρίας Ἀντιόχῳ καὶ Πτολεμαίῳ συστάντα πόλεμον, σαφῶς μὲν γινώσκοντες ὅτι κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον, εἰς ὃν ἐλήξαμεν τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν, ὅσον οὔπω κρίνεσθαι συνέβαινε καὶ πέρας λαμβάνειν αὐτόν, αἱρούμενοι δὲ τὴν τοιαύτην ἐπίστασιν καὶ διαίρεσιν τῆς ἐνεστώσης διηγήσεως.
...[we shall make] our account, and we shall first endeavor to make clear, in accordance with our original plan, the war that arose between Antiochus and Ptolemy for the possession of Coele-Syria, fully aware that at this very period, where we left off our Greek history, this war was on the point of being decided and brought to a conclusion, yet preferring such a pause and division in our present narrative.
τοῦ μὲν γὰρ μὴ τῆς τῶν κατὰ μέρος καιρῶν ἀκριβείας διαμαρτάνειν τοὺς ἀκούοντας2 ἱκανὴν τοῖς φιλομαθοῦσι πεπείσμεθα παρασκευάζειν ἐμπειρίαν ἐκ τοῦ τὰς ἑκάστων ἀρχὰς καὶ συντελείας παρυπομιμνήσκειν, καθʼ ὁποίους ἐγίνοντο καιροὺς τῆς ὑποκειμένης ὀλυμπιάδος καὶ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν πράξεων·
For we are convinced that, to prevent our readers from losing the accuracy of the dates of particular events, we shall provide a sufficient understanding for those who are eager to learn by reminding them of the beginning and end of each transaction, and at what particular dates in the Olympiad under discussion and in the course of Greek affairs they occurred.
τὸ δʼ εὐπαρακολούθητον καὶ σαφῆ γίνεσθαι τὴν διήγησιν οὐδὲν ἀναγκαιότερον ἐπὶ ταύτης τῆς ὀλυμπιάδος ἡγούμεθʼ εἶναι τοῦ μὴ συμπλέκειν ἀλλήλαις τὰς πράξεις, ἀλλὰ χωρίζειν καὶ διαιρεῖν αὐτὰς καθʼ ὅσον ἐστὶ δυνατόν, μέχρις ἂν ἐπὶ τὰς ἑξῆς ὀλυμπιάδας ἐλθόντες κατʼ ἔτος ἀρξώμεθα γράφειν τὰς κατάλληλα γενομένας πράξεις. ἐπεὶ γὰρ οὐ τινά,3 τὰ δὲ παρὰ πᾶσι γεγονότα γράφειν προῃρήμεθα, καὶ σχεδὸν ὡς εἰπεῖν μεγίστῃ τῶν προγεγονότων ἐπιβολῇ κεχρήμεθα τῆς ἱστορίας, καθάπερ καὶ πρότερόν που δεδηλώκαμεν, δέον ἂν εἴη4 μεγίστην ἡμᾶς ποιεῖσθαι πρόνοιαν καὶ τοῦ χειρισμοῦ καὶ τῆς οἰκονομίας, ἵνα καὶ κατὰ μέρος καὶ καθόλου σαφὲς τὸ σύνταγμα γίνηται τῆς πραγματείας.
But for this Olympiad, to make the narrative easy to follow and clear, we think nothing is more necessary than not to interlace the events with one another, but to separate and divide them as far as possible, until we reach the succeeding Olympiads and begin to write year by year the events that happened contemporaneously. For since we have chosen to write not about some, but about the events that have occurred among all nations, and have embarked on what is, so to speak, almost the grandest undertaking in historical writing, as we have already declared elsewhere, it would be our duty to take the greatest care of both the treatment and the arrangement, so that the structure of the work may be clear both in detail and as a whole.
διὸ καὶ νῦν βραχὺ προσαναδραμόντες περὶ τῆς Ἀντιόχου καὶ Πτολεμαίου βασιλείας πειρασόμεθα λαμβάνειν ἀρχὰς ὁμολογουμένας καὶ γνωριζομένας περὶ τῶν λέγεσθαι μελλόντων, ὅπερ ἐστὶ πάντων ἀναγκαιό
Therefore, now also, retracing our steps a little into the reigns of Antiochus and Ptolemy, we shall endeavor to find an agreed and well-known starting point for what we are about to relate, which is the most necessary of all...
- 5.31.1μεθα τὴν ἐξήγησιν
The ending ποιησό of the previous chunk and the beginning μεθα of the present chunk form the first-person plural future middle indicative ποιησόμεθα (from ποιέω), which is part of the periphrastic expression ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἐξήγησιν (to make the narrative).
- 5.31.3τοῦ μὲν γὰρ μὴ ... διαμαρτάνειν τοὺς ἀκούοντας
The genitive articular infinitive τοῦ + negative μή + infinitive διαμαρτάνειν expresses purpose ('in order that... not'), with the accusative τοὺς ἀκούοντας acting as its subject. The verb διαμαρτάνειν governs the genitive object τῆς ... ἀκριβείας.
- 5.31.5ἐπεὶ γὰρ οὐ τινά
The words οὐ τινά ('not some [sc. events]') imply a contrast with the subsequent clause τὰ δὲ παρὰ πᾶσι γεγονότα ('but those that occurred among all nations'). Here Polybius reiterates his historiographical design of writing universal rather than monographic history.
- 5.31.7δέον ἂν εἴη
The impersonal participle δέον combined with the potential optative ἂν εἴη forms a mild potential expression, indicating a proper obligation or recommendation ('it would be necessary/proper to...').