- 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-grc2:5.33.1-5.33.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
The author criticizes the pretentiousness of other historians who claim to write general history. Specifically, he rebukes those who claim to write general history while dedicating only a few pages to the Punic War, or who claim to cover the whole world while writing less than the public wall chronicles, before returning to his own subject.
καίτοι γʼ οὐκ ἀγνοῶ διότι καὶ πλείους ἕτεροι τῶν συγγραφέων τὴν αὐτὴν ἐμοὶ προεῖνται φωνήν, φάσκοντες τὰ καθόλου γράφειν καὶ μεγίστην τῶν προγεγονότων ἐπιβεβλῆσθαι πραγματείαν·
And yet, I am not ignorant that several other writers too have uttered the same boast as myself, claiming that they write general history and have undertaken the greatest task of past events.
περὶ ὧν ἐγώ, παραιτησάμενος Ἔφορον1 τὸν πρῶτον καὶ μόνον ἐπιβεβλημένον τὰ καθόλου γράφειν, τὸ μὲν πλείω λέγειν ἢ μνημονεύειν τινὸς τῶν ἄλλων ἐπʼ ὀνόματος παρήσω, μέχρι δὲ τούτου μνησθήσομαι, διότι τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς τινες γραφόντων ἱστορίαν ἐν τρισὶν ἢ τέτταρσιν ἐξηγησάμενοι σελίσιν ἡμῖν τὸν Ῥωμαίων καὶ Καρχηδονίων πόλεμον φασὶ τὰ καθόλου γράφειν.
Concerning whom, having made an exception of Ephorus, who was the first and only one to have undertaken to write general history, I shall refrain from speaking at greater length or mentioning any of the others by name, but I will mention this much, that some of those who write history in our time, having narrated the war between the Romans and the Carthaginians in three or four pages, claim that they are writing general history.
καίτοι διότι2 πλεῖσται μὲν καὶ μέγισται τότε περί τε τὴν Ἰβηρίαν καὶ Λιβύην, ἔτι δὲ τὴν Σικελίαν καὶ Ἰταλίαν ἐπετελέσθησαν πράξεις, ἐπιφανέστατος δὲ καὶ πολυχρονιώτατος ὁ κατʼ Ἀννίβαν πόλεμος γέγονε πλὴν τοῦ περὶ Σικελίαν, πάντες δʼ ἠναγκάσθημεν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀποβλέπειν διὰ τὸ μέγεθος, δεδιότες τὴν συντέλειαν τῶν ἀποβησομένων, τίς οὕτως ἐστὶν ἀδαὴς ὃς οὐκ οἶδεν;
And yet, who is so ignorant as not to know that on the one hand most numerous and greatest deeds were then performed in Iberia and Libya, and also in Sicily and Italy, and on the other hand the Hannibalic War was the most famous and longest-lasting except for the one concerning Sicily, and we were all compelled to keep our eyes upon it because of its magnitude, fearing the outcome of what would happen?
ἀλλʼ ἔνιοι τῶν πραγματευομένων οὐδʼ ἐφʼ ὅσον οἱ τὰ κατὰ καιροὺς ἐν ταῖς χρονογραφίαις ὑπομνηματιζόμενοι πολιτικῶς εἰς τοὺς τοίχους,3 οὐδʼ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτο μνησθέντες, πάσας φασὶ τὰς κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ βάρβαρον περιειληφέναι πράξεις.
But some of these writers, not even mentioning so much as those who register the events of the times in the public chronicles on the walls, and having made not even that much of a mention, claim to have embraced all events in both Greece and the barbarian world.
τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶν αἴτιον, ὅτι τὸ μὲν τῷ λόγῳ τῶν μεγίστων ἔργων ἀντιποιήσασθαι τελείως ἐστὶ ῥᾴδιον, τὸ δὲ τοῖς πράγμασιν ἐφικέσθαι τινὸς τῶν καλῶν οὐκ εὐμαρές.
And the reason for this is that while it is completely easy to lay claim in words to the greatest works, it is not easy to achieve in actual fact any noble thing.
διὸ καὶ τὸ μὲν ἐν μέσῳ κεῖται καὶ πᾶσι κοινὸν ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν τοῖς μόνον τολμᾶν δυναμένοις ὑπάρχει, τὸ δὲ καὶ λίαν ἐστὶ σπάνιον καὶ σπανίοις συνεξέδραμε4 κατὰ τὸν βίον.
Therefore, the former lies in the open and is, so to speak, common to all who merely have the audacity, whereas the latter is exceedingly rare and has accompanied few in their lives.
ταῦτα μὲν οὖν προήχθην εἰπεῖν χάριν τῆς ἀλαζονείας τῶν ὑπερηφανούντων ἑαυτοὺς καὶ τὰς ἰδίας πραγματείας· ἐπὶ δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐπάνειμι τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ προθέσεως.
I have been led to say these things, then, on account of the boastfulness of those who pride themselves and their own undertakings; but I will now return to the beginning of my own design.
- 5.33.2παραιτησάμενος Ἔφορον
The participle παραιτησάμενος (middle aorist) generally means "to beg off" or "decline," but here it is used in the sense of "making an exception of" or "excluding" Ephorus, acknowledging him as the first true writer of general history.
- 5.33.4καίτοι διότι
The conjunction διότι ("that") is placed far in advance of the main clause that logically governs it, namely τίς οὕτως ἐστὶν ἀδαὴς ὃς οὐκ οἶδεν; ("who is so ignorant as not to know?"), appearing right after καίτοι at the beginning of the sentence. This grand hyperbaton suspends the syntax of the lengthy clauses introduced by διότι until the main question is finally posed.
- 5.33.5πολιτικῶς εἰς τοὺς τοίχους
The adverb πολιτικῶς ("publicly" or "by the state") and the phrase εἰς τοὺς τοίχους ("on the walls") refer to the brief public chronicles or official records inscribed on the walls of public buildings, such as the Athenian archon lists or Roman fasti.
- 5.33.7σπανίοις συνεξέδραμε
The indicative aorist of συνεκτρέχω ("to run along with"), governing the dative σπανίοις, is used here metaphorically to mean "to fall to the lot of" or "to accompany" only a few people in their lives.