- 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-grc2:5.84.1-5.84.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
The war elephants of Ptolemy and Antiochus clash, but Ptolemy's African elephants flee in terror from the Indian elephants, allowing Antiochus's cavalry and mercenaries to overwhelm Ptolemy's left wing.
ἐπεὶ δὲ παριὼν ἧκε μετὰ τῆς ἀδελφῆς Πτολεμαῖος μὲν ἐπὶ τὸ πάσης τῆς σφετέρας παρατάξεως εὐώνυμον, Ἀντίοχος δὲ μετὰ τῆς βασιλικῆς ἴλης ἐπὶ τὸ δεξιόν, σημήναντες τὸ πολεμικὸν συνέβαλον πρῶτον τοῖς θηρίοις.
When Ptolemy, riding along the ranks, arrived with his sister at the left wing of his entire array, and Antiochus with the royal squadron at his right, they gave the signal for battle and first engaged with their elephants.
ὀλίγα μὲν οὖν τινα τῶν παρὰ Πτολεμαίου συνήρεισε τοῖς ἐναντίοις· ἐφʼ ὧν ἐποίουν ἀγῶνα καλὸν οἱ πυργομαχοῦντες, ἐκ χειρὸς ταῖς σαρίσαις διαδορατιζόμενοι καὶ τύπτοντες ἀλλήλους, ἔτι δὲ καλλίω τὰ θηρία,1 βιαιομαχοῦντα καὶ συμπίπτοντα κατὰ πρόσωπον αὑτοῖς.
Only a few of Ptolemy’s elephants, then, closed with those of the enemy; on these, the men in the towers fought a gallant fight, lunging and striking at each other hand-to-hand with their sarisas, but the beasts themselves fought an even more splendid battle, fighting with fury and rushing against each other head-to-head.
ἔστι γὰρ ἡ τῶν ζῴων μάχη τοιαύτη τις. συμπλέξαντα καὶ παρεμβαλόντα τοὺς ὀδόντας εἰς ἀλλήλους ὠθεῖ τῇ βίᾳ, διερειδόμενα περὶ τῆς χώρας, ἕως ἂν κατακρατῆσαν τῇ δυνάμει θάτερον παρώσῃ τὴν θατέρου προνομήν·2
For the combat of these animals is of this fashion: they entangle and lock their tusks together, and push with all their might, standing firm for the position, until one, gaining the upper hand by its strength, pushes aside the other’s trunk;
ὅταν δʼ ἅπαξ ἐγκλῖναν πλάγιον λάβῃ,3 τιτρώσκει τοῖς ὀδοῦσι, καθάπερ οἱ ταῦροι τοῖς κέρασι.
and when once it has forced the other to turn and caught it flank-on, it wounds it with its tusks, just as bulls do with their horns.
τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα τῶν τοῦ Πτολεμαίου θηρίων ἀπεδειλία τὴν μάχην, ὅπερ ἔθος ἐστὶ ποιεῖν τοῖς Λιβυκοῖς ἐλέφασι·
But most of Ptolemy’s beasts shirked the fight, as is the custom with Libyan elephants;
τὴν γὰρ ὀσμὴν καὶ φωνὴν οὐ μένουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ καταπεπληγμένοι τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τὴν δύναμιν, ὥς γʼ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, φεύγουσιν εὐθέως ἐξ ἀποστήματος τοὺς Ἰνδικοὺς ἐλέφαντας· ὃ καὶ τότε συνέβη γενέσθαι.
for they cannot stand the smell and the trumpet-call, but also, as it seems to me, terrified by their size and strength, they immediately flee from a distance before the Indian elephants; which indeed happened on this occasion.
τούτων δὲ διαταραχθέντων καὶ πρὸς τὰς αὑτῶν τάξεις συνωθουμένων, τὸ μὲν ἄγημα τὸ τοῦ Πτολεμαίου πιεζόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν θηρίων ἐνέκλινε, τοῖς δὲ περὶ τὸν Πολυκράτην4 καὶ τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦτον ἱππεῦσι διατεταγμένοις οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἀντίοχον ὑπὲρ τὰ θηρία περικερῶντες καὶ προσπίπτοντες ἐνέβαλον. ἅμα δὲ τούτοις, τῶν ἐλεφάντων ἐντός, οἱ περὶ τὴν φάλαγγα τῶν Ἑλλήνων μισθοφόροι προσπεσόντες τοὺς τοῦ Πτολεμαίου πελταστὰς ἐξέωσαν, προσυγκεχυκότων ἤδη καὶ τὰς τούτων τάξεις τῶν θηρίων.
When these had been thrown into confusion and were driven back upon their own ranks, the guard of Ptolemy, being hard pressed by the beasts, gave way; and while this was going on, Antiochus and his men, riding round the elephants and falling upon Polycrates and the cavalry drawn up under him, made a charge. At the same time, inside the elephants, the Greek mercenaries serving in the phalanx fell upon Ptolemy’s peltasts and drove them back, the beasts having already thrown their ranks also into confusion.
τὸ μὲν οὖν εὐώνυμον τοῦ Πτολεμαίου τοῦτον τὸν
Thus the left wing of Ptolemy in this
- 5.84.2ἔτι δὲ καλλίω τὰ θηρία
An elliptical construction continuing from the preceding ἐποιουν ἀγῶνα καλόν ("fought a gallant fight"). καλλίω is the contracted form of καλλίονα (accusative), modifying the omitted noun ἀγῶνα (or ἀγῶνας), with τὰ θηρία as the subject: "and the beasts themselves (fought) an even more splendid (battle)."
- 5.84.3τὴν θατέρου προνομήν
The noun προνομή, which usually means "foraging" or "plundering," is used here in a highly specific sense to denote the elephant's "trunk" or "frontal part." It describes one elephant gaining the upper hand and pushing aside the trunk of the other (θατέρου).
- 5.84.4ὅταν δʼ ἅπαξ ἐγκλῖναν πλάγιον λάβῃ
ἐγκλῖναν is the neuter singular accusative of the aorist active participle of κλίνω, referring to the elephant that has turned away in retreat (θάτερον), functioning as the object of λάβῃ (whose subject is the winning elephant). πλάγιον is used adverbially ("flank-on" or "from the side") or as a substantival object ("its flank").
- 5.84.8τοῖς δὲ περὶ τὸν Πολυκράτην...
A hyperbaton where the dative phrase τοῖς δὲ περὶ τὸν Πολυκράτην καὶ τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦτον ἱππεῦσι διατεταγμένοις is placed at the beginning of the sentence as the indirect object of the subsequent verb ἐνέβαλον ("charged into"). The subject of the verb is οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἀντίοχον.