- 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-grc2:5.51.1-5.51.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
During King Antiochus' council, while Hermeias advocates marching along the Tigris, Zeuxis, despite fearing the fate of Epigenes, courageously advises crossing the river to secure provisions and isolate Molo.
Ἀντίοχος δὲ παραγενόμενος ἐπὶ τὸν Εὐφράτην καὶ προσαναλαβὼν τὴν δύναμιν αὖτις ἐξώρμα, καὶ διανύσας εἰς Ἀντιόχειαν τὴν ἐν Μυγδονίᾳ περὶ τροπὰς χειμερινὰς ἐπέμεινε, θέλων ἀποδέξασθαι τὴν ἐπιφορὰν καὶ τὴν ἀκμὴν τοῦ χειμῶνος.
Antiochus, having arrived at the Euphrates and reorganized his forces, set out again, and having reached Antioch in Mygdonia, he remained there about the winter solstice, wishing to wait out the onset and the height of the winter.
μείνας δὲ περὶ τετταράκονθʼ ἡμέρας προῆγεν εἰς Λίββαν.
After remaining about forty days, he advanced to Libba.
ἀποδοθέντος δʼ ἐκεῖσε διαβουλίου ποίᾳ δεῖ προάγειν ἐπὶ τὸν Μόλωνα καὶ πῶς πόθεν κεχρῆσθαι ταῖς εἰς τὰς πορείας χορηγίαις — ἐτύγχανε γὰρ ὁ Μόλων ἐν τοῖς περὶ Βαβυλῶνα τόποις ὑπάρχων —
When a council was held there as to how they should advance against Molo and in what manner and from where they should utilize the provisions for the march — for Molo happened to be in the districts around Babylon —
Ἑρμείᾳ μὲν ἐδόκει παρὰ τὸν Τίγριν ποιεῖσθαι τὴν πορείαν, προβαλλομένους1 τοῦτόν τε καὶ τὸν Λύκον ποταμὸν καὶ τὸν Κάπρον, Ζεῦξις δὲ λαμβάνων πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν τὴν ἀπώλειαν τὴν Ἐπιγένους τὰ μὲν ἠγωνία λέγειν τὸ φαινόμενον, τὰ δὲ2 προδήλου τῆς ἀγνοίας οὔσης τῆς κατὰ τὸν Ἑρμείαν μόλις ἐθάρρησε συμβουλεύειν ὅτι διαβατέον εἴη τὸν Τίγριν, ἀπολογιζόμενος τήν τε λοιπὴν δυσχέρειαν τῆς παρὰ τὸν ποταμὸν πορείας καὶ διότι δέοι3 διανύσαντας ἱκανοὺς τόπους, μετὰ ταῦτα διελθόντας ὁδὸν ἔρημον ἡμερῶν ἕξ, παραγενέσθαι πρὸς τὴν Βασιλικὴν διώρυχα καλουμένην·
to Hermeias indeed it seemed best to make the march along the Tigris, keeping this river, as well as the Lycus and the Caprus, as a barrier in front of them; but Zeuxis, keeping before his eyes the destruction of Epigenes, on the one hand was anxious to speak his mind, but on the other hand, since the ignorance of Hermeias was manifest, he scarcely found courage to advise that they ought to cross the Tigris, calculating both the remaining difficulty of the march along the river and that, after traversing considerable territory, they would then have to pass through a desert route of six days to arrive at the so-called Royal Canal;
ἧς προκαταληφθείσης ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ἀδύνατον μὲν γενέσθαι τὴν διάβασιν αὐτῆς, ἐπισφαλῆ δὲ προφανῶς τὴν διὰ τῆς ἐρήμου πάλιν ἀποχώρησιν, καὶ μάλιστα διὰ τὴν ἐσομένην ἔνδειαν τῶν ἐπιτηδείων.
if this were pre-occupied by the enemy, it would be impossible to cross it, and a retreat back through the desert would be manifestly perilous, especially because of the impending shortage of provisions.
ἐκ δὲ τοῦ διαβῆναι τὸν Τίγριν πρόδηλον μὲν ἀπεδείκνυε τὴν μετάνοιαν καὶ πρόσκλισιν τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀπολλωνιᾶτιν χώραν ὄχλων διὰ τὸ καὶ νῦν αὐτοὺς μὴ κατὰ προαίρεσιν, ἀνάγκῃ δὲ καὶ φόβῳ ποιεῖν Μόλωνι τὸ προσταττόμενον, πρόδηλον δὲ τὴν δαψίλειαν τῶν ἐπιτηδείων τοῖς στρατοπέδοις διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν τῆς χώρας.
On the other hand, by crossing the Tigris, he demonstrated that the repentance and adherence of the populations of the Apolloniatis region to the king would be manifest, because even now they obeyed Molo’s commands not by choice, but under compulsion and fear, and that the abundance of provisions for the armies would be manifest due to the fertility of the country.
τὸ δὲ μέγιστον, ἀπέφαινε διακλεισθησόμενον τὸν Μόλωνα τῆς εἰς τὴν Μηδίαν ἐπανόδου καὶ τῆς ἐξ ἐκείνων τῶν τόπων ἐπαρκείας, ἐξ ὧν ἀναγκασθήσεσθαι διακινδυνεύειν αὐτόν, ἢ μὴ θέλοντος τοῦτο ποιεῖν ἐκείνου μεταβαλέσθαι τὰς δυνάμεις ταχέως
But the greatest thing he pointed out was that Molo would be shut off from his return to Media and from the assistance from those places, from which circumstances he would be forced to risk a battle, or, if he were unwilling to do so, his forces would quickly change sides.
- 5.51.4προβαλλομένους
Present participle, accusative plural, modifying the implied subject of the infinitive ποιεῖσθαι (the king's army). It means "keeping [the rivers] as a barrier or shield in front (or to the side) of themselves."
- 5.51.5τὰ μὲν ... τὰ δὲ
Used adverbially to mean "on the one hand... on the other hand...". It contrasts Zeuxis's two conflicting motives: his anxiety to speak his mind (fearing to suffer the same fate as Epigenes) versus his urge to correct the manifest ignorance of Hermeias.
- 5.51.6διότι δέοι
The conjunction διότι (used here in the sense of ὅτι) introduces a noun clause containing δέοι, the optative of oblique discourse for the impersonal verb δεῖ. This optative is triggered because the main governing verb (ἐθάρρησε) is in a past tense.