- 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-grc2:6.11.1-6.11.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
After discussing the perfection of the Roman constitution during the Hannibalic War and the criteria for selecting details in his historical account, the author explains that the Roman state was a mixed constitution perfectly combining monarchical, aristocratic, and democratic elements.
v. de romanorum re publica florente ὅτι ἀπὸ τῆς Ξέρξου διαβάσεως εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τριάκοντα ἔτεσιν ὕστερον ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν καιρῶν ἀεὶ τῶν κατὰ μέρος προδιευκρινουμένων1 ἦν2 καὶ κάλλιστον καὶ τέλειον ἐν τοῖς Ἀννιβιακοῖς καιροῖς, ἀφʼ ὧν ἡμεῖς εἰς ταῦτα τὴν ἐκτροπὴν ἐποιησάμεθα.
v. de romanorum re publica florente That from the crossing of Xerxes into Greece, and thirty years after those times, with the particular points always being pre-adjusted, the constitution was at its best and most perfect state in the times of the Hannibalic War, from which we made our digression to these matters.
διὸ καὶ τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς συστάσεως αὐτοῦ λόγον ἀποδεδωκότες πειρασόμεθα νῦν ἤδη διασαφεῖν ὁποῖόν τι κατʼ ἐκείνους ὑπῆρχε τοὺς καιρούς, ἐν οἷς λειφθέντες τῇ περὶ Κάνναν μάχῃ τοῖς ὅλοις ἔπταισαν πράγμασιν.
Therefore, having already delivered our discourse on its establishment, we shall now endeavor to make clear what sort of state it was in during those times, when, having been defeated in the battle of Cannae, they stumbled in their entire fortunes.
οὐκ ἀγνοῶ δὲ διότι τοῖς ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς πολιτείας ὁρμωμένοις ἐλλιπεστέραν φανησόμεθα ποιεῖσθαι3 τὴν ἐξήγησιν, ἔνια παραλιπόντες τῶν κατὰ μέρος·
And I am not unaware that to those who spring from the constitution itself, we shall appear to make our explanation rather incomplete, by leaving out some of the particular details.
πᾶν γὰρ ἐπιγινώσκοντες καὶ παντὸς πεῖραν εἰληφότες διὰ τὴν ἐκ παίδων τοῖς ἔθεσι καὶ νομίμοις συντροφίαν οὐ τὸ λεγόμενον θαυμάσουσιν ἀλλὰ τὸ παραλειπόμενον ἐπιζητήσουσιν, οὐδὲ κατὰ πρόθεσιν ὑπολήψονται τὸν γράφοντα παραλιπεῖν τὰς μικρὰς διαφοράς, ἀλλὰ κατʼ ἄγνοιαν παρασιωπᾶν τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰ συνέχοντα τῶν πραγμάτων.
For knowing everything and having experience of everything because of their lifelong familiarity from childhood with the customs and institutions, they will not admire what is said, but will search for what is left out; nor will they suppose that the writer has left out the minor differences by intention, but that through ignorance he has passed over in silence the origins and the vital parts of the matters.
καὶ ῥηθέντα μὲν οὐκ ἂν ἐθαύμαζον4 ὡς ὄντα μικρὰ καὶ πάρεργα, παραλειπόμενα δʼ ἐπιζητοῦσιν ὡς ἀναγκαῖα, βουλόμενοι δοκεῖν αὐτοὶ πλέον εἰδέναι τῶν συγγραφέων.
And if these had been mentioned, they would not have admired them, regarding them as small and trivial, but when they are left out, they search for them as necessary, wishing to appear to know more than the writers themselves.
δεῖ δὲ τὸν ἀγαθὸν κριτὴν οὐκ ἐκ τῶν παραλειπομένων δοκιμάζειν τοὺς γράφοντας, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῶν λεγομένων, κἂν μὲν ἐν τούτοις τι λαμβάνῃ ψεῦδος, εἰδέναι διότι κἀκεῖνα παραλείπεται διʼ ἄγνοιαν, ἐὰν δὲ πᾶν τὸ λεγόμενον ἀληθὲς ᾖ, συγχωρεῖν διότι κἀκεῖνα παρασιωπᾶται κατὰ κρίσιν, οὐ κατʼ ἄγνοιαν.
But a good critic ought to judge writers not from what is left out, but from what is said; and if indeed in these latter he finds any falsehood, he should know that those former things also are left out through ignorance, but if everything said is true, he should admit that those things also are passed over in silence by judgment, and not through ignorance.
ταῦτα μὲν οὖν εἰρήσθω μοι πρὸς τοὺς φιλοτιμότερον ἢ δικαιότερον ἐπιτιμῶντας τοῖς συγγραφεῦσιν.
Let these things, then, be said by me to those who censure writers more from ambition than from justice.
ὅτι πᾶν πρᾶγμα σὺν καιρῷ θεωρούμενον ὑγιεῖς λαμβάνει καὶ τὰς συγκαταθέσεις καὶ τὰς ἐπιτιμήσεις· μεταπεσόντος δὲ τούτου καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἄλλας περιστάσεις συγκρινόμενον οὐχ οἷον αἱρετόν, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἀνεκτὸν ἂν φανείη τὸ κράτιστα καὶ ἀληθινώτατα πολλάκις ὑπὸ τῶν συγγραφέων εἰρημένον.
That every matter, when viewed in its proper season, receives both sound approvals and censures; but when this season changes and it is compared with other circumstances, what has often been said in the best and truest manner by writers would appear not only undesirable, but not even tolerable.
ἦν μὲν δὴ τρία μέρη τὰ κρατοῦντα τῆς πολιτείας, ἅπερ εἶπα πρότερον ἅπαντα· οὕτως δὲ πάντα κατὰ μέρος ἴσως καὶ πρεπόντως συνετέτακτο καὶ διῳκεῖτο διὰ τούτων ὥστε μηδένα ποτʼ ἂν εἰπεῖν δύνασθαι βεβαίως μηδὲ τῶν ἐγχωρίων πότερʼ ἀριστοκρατικὸν τὸ πολίτευμα σύμπαν ἢ δημοκρατικὸν ἢ μοναρχικόν.
Now there were three parts that controlled the state, all of which I mentioned before; and all things were so equally and properly ordered and administered in detail by these, that no one, not even of the native citizens, could ever have said for certain whether the constitution as a whole was aristocratic, democratic, or monarchical.
καὶ τοῦτʼ εἰκὸς ἦν πάσχειν.5 ὅτε μὲν γὰρ εἰς τὴν τῶν ὑπάτων ἀτενίσαιμεν ἐξουσίαν, τελείως μοναρχικὸν ἐφαίνετʼ εἶναι καὶ βασιλικόν, ὅτε δʼ εἰς τὴν τῆς συγκλήτου, πάλιν ἀριστοκρατικόν· καὶ μὴν εἰ τὴν τῶν πολλῶν ἐξουσίαν θεωροίη τις, ἐδόκει σαφῶς εἶναι δημοκρατικόν.
And it was natural to experience this. For whenever we should look at the power of the consuls, it appeared to be completely monarchical and kingly; but when at that of the senate, again aristocratic; and indeed, if one should contemplate the power of the multitude, it seemed clearly to be democratic.
ὧν δʼ ἕκαστον εἶδος μερῶν τῆς πολιτείας ἐπεκράτει, καὶ τότε καὶ νῦν ἔτι πλὴν ὀλίγων τινῶν ταῦτʼ ἐστίν.
And the matters which each form of the parts of the constitution controlled, both then and still now except for some few, are as follows.
- 6.11.1τῶν κατὰ μέρος προδιευκρινουμένων
A genitive absolute construction describing the circumstances accompanying the passage of time. The verb προδιευκρινέω means 'to pre-adjust' or 'determine beforehand gradually'.
- 6.11.1ἦν
The subject of the verb ἦν is supplied from the context as ἡ πολιτεία (the constitution), which is the main theme of Book 6.
- 6.11.3φανησόμεθα ποιεῖσθαι
The verb φαίνομαι constructed with an infinitive (ποιεῖσθαι) expressing 'we shall appear to make' (as opposed to its construction with a participle, which would mean 'we shall clearly make').
- 6.11.6οὐκ ἂν ἐθαύμαζον
An unreal condition in the past/present using the particle ἄν with the imperfect indicative (meaning 'they would not have admired them, if they had been mentioned'). The contrast with the following present indicative ἐπιζητοῦσιν ('they search for') emphasizes the difference between the hypothetical and the actual.
- 6.11.12εἰκὸς ἦν πάσχειν
An impersonal expression with the past tense of εἰκός ἐστι ('it was natural'). The infinitive πάσχειν (to suffer, experience) is used here in the sense of 'to experience this impression' or 'to feel this way' under the influence of the system's appearance.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (4, latest 2026-10-09)
- 2026-10-09 Collated with the printed edition — source 4