- 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-grc2:5.97.1-5.97.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
King Philip secures Macedonia by occupying the strategic city of Bylazora in Paeonia, and subsequently attempts a night assault on Meliteia, which fails because the scaling-ladders are too short.
κατὰ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς καιροὺς Φίλιππος ὁ βασιλεὺς κατελάβετο Βυλάζωρα, μεγίστην οὖσαν πόλιν τῆς Παιονίας καὶ λίαν εὐκαίρως κειμένην πρὸς τὰς εἰσβολὰς τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς Δαρδανικῆς εἰς Μακεδονίαν, ὥστε διὰ τῆς πράξεως ταύτης σχεδὸν ἀπολελύσθαι1 τοῦ φόβου τοῦ κατὰ Δαρδανίους·
Around the same time, King Philip occupied Bylazora, which was the largest city of Paeonia and situated very advantageously with respect to the passes from the Dardanian territory into Macedonia, so that by this action he was almost entirely freed from the fear of the Dardanians.
οὐ γὰρ ἔτι ῥᾴδιον ἦν αὐτοῖς ἐμβαλεῖν εἰς Μακεδονίαν κρατοῦντος Φιλίππου τῶν εἰσόδων2 διὰ τῆς προειρημένης πόλεως.
For it was no longer easy for them to invade Macedonia, since Philip was in control of the entrances through the aforementioned city.
ἀσφαλισάμενος δὲ ταύτην Χρυσόγονον μὲν ἐξαπέστειλε κατὰ σπουδὴν ἐπισυνάξοντα3 τοὺς ἄνω Μακεδόνας, αὐτὸς δὲ παραλαβὼν τοὺς ἐκ τῆς Βοττίας καὶ τῆς Ἀμφαξίτιδος ἧκεν ἔχων εἰς Ἔδεσσαν. προσδεξάμενος δʼ ἐνταῦθα τοὺς μετὰ Χρυσογόνου Μακεδόνας ἐξώρμησε μετὰ πάσης τῆς δυνάμεως, καὶ παρῆν ἑκταῖος4 εἰς Λάρισαν.
Having secured this city, he sent off Chrysogonus in haste to collect the upper Macedonians, while he himself, taking with him those from Bottia and Amphaxitis, arrived in Edessa. Having awaited there the Macedonians with Chrysogonus, he set out with his entire force and arrived at Larissa on the sixth day.
κατὰ δὲ τὸ συνεχὲς ἐνεργῷ νυκτοπορίᾳ χρησάμενος ὑπὸ τὴν ἑωθινὴν ἧκε πρὸς Μελίτειαν, καὶ προσθεὶς τὰς κλιμακίδας τοῖς τείχεσι κατεπείραζε τῆς πόλεως.
Making a continuous and energetic night-march, he arrived before Meliteia towards dawn, and having placed his scaling-ladders against the walls, he attempted to take the city.
τῷ μὲν οὖν αἰφνιδίῳ καὶ παραδόξῳ κατεπλήξατο τοὺς Μελιταιεῖς, ὥστε ῥᾳδίως ἂν κρατῆσαι5 τῆς πόλεως· τῷ δὲ παρὰ πολὺ γενέσθαι τὰς κλίμακας ἐλάττους τῆς χρείας διεψεύσθη τῆς6
Now, by the sudden and unexpected nature of his attack, he so terrified the Meliteians that he would easily have captured the city; but because the ladders turned out to be far too short for their purpose, he was cheated of his...
- 5.97.1ὥστε ... ἀπολελύσθαι
Result clause with ὥστε and infinitive, representing the logical consequence of the main verb κατελάβετο or the overall situation. The implicit subject of the infinitive is King Philip or the Macedonians in general.
- 5.97.2κρατοῦντος Φιλίππου τῶν εἰσόδων
Genitive absolute construction. It functions circumstantially to express the reason (since Philip was in control of the entrances) for the situation described in the main clause.
- 5.97.3ἐπισυνάξοντα
Future participle expressing purpose (in order to collect), modifying the main verb ἐξαπέστειλε (sent off).
- 5.97.4ἑκταῖος
An adjective agreeing in gender, number, and case with the subject (Philip), functioning adverbially to indicate time ('on the sixth day'), a common idiom in Classical Greek.
- 5.97.6ὥστε ῥᾳδίως ἂν κρατῆσαι
Construction of ὥστε with ἄν and the infinitive, expressing a past unreal consequence ('that he would easily have captured'). It corresponds to a past indicative with ἄν transferred into the infinitive in a result clause.
- 5.97.6διεψεύσθη τῆς
The sentence breaks off abruptly after the article τῆς. It is generally understood that a feminine singular genitive noun such as ἐλπίδος (hope) or πράξεως (undertaking) has been omitted or lost in the manuscript transmission.