- 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-grc2:5.7.1-5.7.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Leontius and his party attempt to delay the march to give the Aetolians time, but King Philip, urged by Aratus and his group, continues his rapid advance towards Thermum through the narrow passages along the lake.
οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Λεόντιον κατὰ δύο τρόπους1 ὁρῶντες τὸν μὲν Φίλιππον καθιξόμενον τῆς προθέσεως, τοὺς δʼ Αἰτωλοὺς ἀδυνατήσοντας τοῖς παροῦσι, καθʼ ἕνα μὲν ᾗ ταχεῖα καὶ παράδοξος ἡ τῶν Μακεδόνων ἐγεγόνει παρουσία, καθʼ ἕτερον δʼ ᾗ πρός γε τὸν ἐν τοῖς Θέρμοις τόπον οὐδέποτʼ ἂν ὑπολαβόντες2 Αἰτωλοὶ τολμῆσαι τὸν Φίλιππον οὕτω προχείρως αὑτὸν δοῦναι διὰ τὰς ὀχυρότητας τῶν τόπων ἔμελλον ἀπρονόητοι καὶ παντελῶς ἀπαράσκευοι ληφθήσεσθαι πρὸς τὸ συμβαῖνον·
Leontius and his party, seeing from two considerations that Philip would achieve his purpose and that the Aetolians would be unable to cope with the present situation—on the one hand, from the rapid and unexpected arrival of the Macedonians, and on the other hand, because, as the Aetolians would never have supposed that Philip would dare to expose himself so readily to the place in Thermum owing to the strength of the positions, they were bound to be caught off their guard and completely unprepared for the event—
εἰς ἃ βλέποντες,3 καὶ τηροῦντες τὴν ἑαυτῶν πρόθεσιν, ᾤοντο δεῖν τὸν Φίλιππον περὶ τὸν Ἀχελῷον στρατοπεδεύσαντα προσαναπαῦσαι τὴν δύναμιν ἐκ τῆς νυκτοπορίας, σπουδάζοντες βραχεῖάν γε τοῖς Αἰτωλοῖς ἀναστροφὴν δοῦναι πρὸς τὴν βοήθειαν.
Looking to these facts, and keeping to their own purpose, they thought that Philip ought to encamp near the Achelous and let his army rest after the night march, being anxious to give the Aetolians at least a short respite to bring help.
οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἄρατον, θεωροῦντες τὸν μὲν καιρὸν ὀξὺν ὄντα τῆς ἐπιβολῆς, τοὺς δὲ περὶ τὸν Λεόντιον προδήλως ἐμποδίζοντας, διεμαρτύροντο τὸν Φίλιππον μὴ παριέναι τὸν καιρὸν μηδὲ καταμέλλειν.
But Aratus and his party, seeing that the time for the enterprise was pressing, and that Leontius and his men were clearly obstructing, urged Philip not to let the opportunity slip nor to delay.
οἷς καὶ πεισθεὶς ὁ βασιλεύς, καὶ προσκόπτων ἤδη τοῖς περὶ τὸν Λεόντιον, ἐποιεῖτο τὴν πορείαν κατὰ τὸ συνεχές.
The king, persuaded by them and already taking offense at Leontius and his party, continued his march.
διαβὰς δὲ τὸν Ἀχελῷον ποταμὸν προῆγε συντόνως ὡς ἐπὶ τὸν Θέρμον· ἅμα δὲ προάγων ἐδῄου καὶ κατέφθειρε τὴν χώραν.
Having crossed the river Achelous, he advanced rapidly towards Thermum; and as he advanced, he plundered and destroyed the country.
παρῄει δʼ ἐκ μὲν εὐωνύμων ἀπολιπὼν Στράτον, Ἀγρίνιον, Θεστιεῖς, ἐκ δὲ δεξιῶν Κωνώπην, Λυσιμάχειαν, Τριχώνιον, Φύταιον.
He passed, leaving on his left Stratos, Agrinium, and Thestieis, and on his right Conope, Lysimacheia, Trichonium, and Phyteum.
ἀφικόμενος δὲ πρὸς πόλιν τὴν καλουμένην Μέταπαν, ἣ κεῖται μὲν ἐπʼ αὐτῆς τῆς Τριχωνίδος λίμνης καὶ τῶν παρὰ ταύτην στενῶν, ἀπέχει δὲ σχεδὸν ἑξήκοντα στάδια τοῦ προσαγορευομένου Θέρμου, ταύτην μὲν ἐκλιπόντων τῶν Αἰτωλῶν εἰσαγαγὼν πεντακοσίους στρατιώτας κατεῖχε, βουλόμενος ἐφεδρείᾳ χρήσασθαι πρός τε τὴν εἴσοδον καὶ τὴν ἔξοδον τὴν ἐκ τῶν στενῶν —
Having arrived at the city called Metapa, which lies on Lake Trichonis itself and the defiles beside it, and is distant about sixty stades from the place called Thermum, which had been abandoned by the Aetolians, he occupied it by introducing five hundred soldiers, wishing to use it as a reserve for both the entry and the exit from the defiles—
ἔστι γὰρ πᾶς ὁ παρὰ τὴν λίμνην τόπος ὀρεινὸς καὶ τραχύς, συνηγμένος ταῖς ὕλαις· διὸ καὶ παντελῶς στενὴν καὶ δυσδίοδον ἔχει τὴν πάροδον —
for the whole district along the lake is mountainous and rugged, thick with woods, so that the passage is extremely narrow and difficult to traverse—
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τοὺς μὲν μισθοφόρους προθέμενος πάσης τῆς πορείας, ἐπὶ δὲ τούτοις τοὺς Ἰλλυριούς, ἑξῆς δὲ τοὺς πελταστὰς καὶ φαλαγγίτας ἔχων προῆγε διὰ τῶν στενῶν, ἀπουραγούντων μὲν αὐτῷ τῶν Κρητῶν, δεξιῶν δὲ παρὰ πλάγια τῶν Θρᾳκῶν καὶ ψιλῶν ἀντιπαραπορευομένων ταῖς χώραις.
and after this, having placed the mercenaries in the van of the whole march, and after them the Illyrians, and next leading the peltasts and phalangites, he advanced through the defiles, with the Cretans bringing up his rear, while the Thracians and light-armed troops marched parallel to him on the right flank through the country.
τὴν μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τῶν εὐωνύμων ἐπιφάνειαν τῆς πορείας ἠσφάλισθʼ ἡ λίμνη σχεδὸν ἐπὶ τριάκοντα στάδια.
for the safety of the march from the left was secured by the lake for about thirty stades.
- 5.7.1κατὰ δύο τρόπους
This phrase introduces the reasons why Leontius and his party saw that Philip would achieve his goal and the Aetolians would fail to resist, and is specified by the subsequent clauses starting with καθʼ ἕνα μὲν ᾗ... and καθʼ ἕτερον δʼ ᾗ....
- 5.7.2οὐδέποτʼ ἂν ὑπολαβόντες
The particle ἄν imparts a potential or hypothetical force to the participle ὑπολαβόντες ("who would never have supposed"). It modifies the participle's meaning rather than the main verb ἔμελλον, emphasizing the utter impossibility of the Aetolians predicting such an event.
- 5.7.3εἰς ἃ βλέποντες
The relative pronoun ἃ refers back to the entire set of circumstances described in the preceding sections §5.7.1-2, namely the rapid arrival of the Macedonian army and the unprepared state of the Aetolians.