- 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-grc2:6.37.1-6.37.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The author details the procedure of the severe punishment of beating to death (fustuarium) in the Roman army, explaining how other breaches of discipline and acts of cowardice are rigorously punished and detested.
τοὔγκλημα.1 καθίσαντος δὲ παραχρῆμα συνεδρίου τῶν χιλιάρχων κρίνεται, κἂν καταδικασθῇ, ξυλοκοπεῖται.
The accusation [is handled as follows]. Immediately a council of tribunes is held and the case is tried; and if the man is condemned, he is beaten to death with clubs.
τὸ δὲ τῆς ξυλοκοπίας ἐστὶ τοιοῦτον. λαβὼν ξύλον ὁ χιλίαρχος τούτῳ τοῦ κατακριθέντος οἷον ἥψατο μόνον, οὗ γενομένου πάντες οἱ τοῦ στρατοπέδου τύπτοντες τοῖς ξύλοις καὶ τοῖς λίθοις τοὺς μὲν πλείστους ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ στρατοπεδείᾳ καταβάλλουσι, τοῖς δʼ ἐκπεσεῖν δυναμένοις οὐδʼ ὣς ὑπάρχει σωτηρία· πῶς γάρ; οἷς οὔτʼ εἰς τὴν πατρίδα τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἐπανελθεῖν ἔξεστιν οὔτε τῶν ἀναγκαίων2 οὐδεὶς ἂν οἰκίᾳ τολμήσειε δέξασθαι τὸν τοιοῦτον. διὸ τελείως οἱ περιπεσόντες ἅπαξ τοιαύτῃ συμφορᾷ καταφθείρονται.
The punishment of beating to death is of this nature. The tribune takes a club and merely touches the condemned man with it; when this is done, all the soldiers of the camp strike him with clubs and stones, and for the most part they dispatch them within the camp itself. But even for those who manage to escape, there is no hope of safety. For how could there be? Since it is not permitted for them to return to their own country, nor would any of their relatives dare to receive such a man into his house. Therefore, those who have once fallen into such a disaster are utterly ruined.
τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ πάσχειν ὀφείλει τοῖς προειρημένοις3 ὅ τʼ οὐραγὸς καὶ [ὁ] τῆς ἴλης ἡγεμών, ἐὰν μὴ παραγγείλωσιν, ὁ μὲν τοῖς ἐφόδοις, ὁ δὲ τῷ τῆς ἐχομένης ἴλης ἡγεμόνι, τὸ δέον ἐν τῷ καθήκοντι καιρῷ.
The same punishment is due to be suffered also by the rear-guard commander and the commander of the squadron, if they fail to give the necessary orders at the proper time—the former to the patrolmen, and the latter to the commander of the next squadron.
διόπερ οὕτως ἰσχυρᾶς οὔσης καὶ ἀπαραιτήτου τῆς τιμωρίας ἀδιάπτωτα γίνεται παρʼ αὐτοῖς τὰ κατὰ τὰς νυκτερινὰς φυλακάς.
Therefore, since the punishment is so severe and inexorable, the service of the night watches is carried out among them without fail.
δεῖ δὲ προσέχειν τοὺς μὲν στρατιώτας τοῖς χιλιάρχοις, τούτους δʼ ἔτι τοῖς ὑπάτοις.
And the soldiers must obey the tribunes, and the latter in turn the consuls.
κύριος δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ ζημιῶν ὁ χιλίαρχος καὶ ἐνεχυράζων καὶ μαστιγῶν, τοὺς δὲ συμμάχους οἱ πραίφεκτοι.
The tribune has authority both to impose fines, to demand security, and to scourge; and the prefects have the same authority over the allies.
ξυλοκοπεῖται δὲ καὶ πᾶς ὁ κλέψας τι τῶν ἐκ τοῦ στρατοπέδου, καὶ μὴν ὁ μαρτυρήσας ψευδῆ παραπλησίως, κἄν τις τῶν ἐν ἀκμῇ παραχρησάμενος4 εὑρεθῇ τῷ σώματι, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ὁ τρὶς περὶ τῆς αὐτῆς αἰτίας ζημιωθείς.
The punishment of beating to death is inflicted also upon anyone who steals anything from the camp, and likewise upon one who gives false witness, and if any of those in the prime of youth is found to have abused his body, and moreover upon anyone who has been fined three times for the same offense.
ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὡς ἀδικήματα κολάζουσιν· εἰς δʼ ἀνανδρίαν τιθέασι καὶ στρατιωτικὴν αἰσχύνην τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν ἐγκλημάτων, ἐάν τινες ψευδῆ περὶ αὑτῶν ἀνδραγαθίαν ἀπαγγείλωσι τοῖς χιλιάρχοις ἕνεκεν τοῦ τιμὰς λαβεῖν, ὁμοίως ἄν τινες εἰς ἐφεδρείαν ταχθέντες φόβου χάριν λίπωσι τὸν δοθέντα τόπον, παραπλησίως ἐάν τις ἀπορρίψῃ τι τῶν ὅπλων κατʼ αὐτὸν τὸν κίνδυνον διὰ φόβον.
These things indeed they punish as crimes; but they class the following offenses as cowardice and military disgrace: if any make a false report to the tribunes of their own bravery in order to obtain honors, likewise if any who have been stationed in the reserve abandon their assigned post out of fear, and similarly if anyone throws away any of his weapons during the danger itself out of fear.
διὸ καί τινες μὲν ἐν ταῖς ἐφεδρείαις προδήλως ἀπόλλυνται, πολλαπλασίων αὐτοῖς ἐπιγινομένων οὐ θέλοντες λιπεῖν τὴν τάξιν, δεδιότες τὴν οἰκείαν τιμωρίαν·
Therefore, some in the reserve forces are openly killed, though the enemy attacking them is many times their number, because they refuse to leave their post, dreading the punishment at home;
ἔνιοι δὲ κατʼ αὐτὸν τὸν κίνδυνον ἐκβαλόντες θυρεὸν ἢ μάχαιραν ἤ τι τῶν ἄλλων ὅπλων παραλόγως ῥίπτουσιν ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τοὺς πολεμίους, ἢ κυριεύειν ἐλπίζοντες ὧν ἀπέβαλον ἢ παθόντες τι τὴν πρόδηλον αἰσχύνην διαφεύξεσθαι καὶ τὴν τῶν οἰκείων ὕβριν.
while others, having lost a shield or sword or some other weapon during the danger itself, throw themselves recklessly into the enemy, either hoping to recover what they lost, or, if they suffer some fate, to escape their obvious disgrace and the abuse of their relatives.
- 6.37.1τοὔγκλημα
Inheriting the context from the end of 6.36.9 ('the blame recoils upon the patrolman'), this word stands as a subject or an independent noun phrase. It refers to the course of the accusation itself and requires contextual supplementation such as 'the accusation [is handled as follows].'
- 6.37.4τῶν ἀναγκαίων
The genitive plural of the adjective ἀναγκαῖος ('necessary, inevitable') used substantively to mean 'relatives' or 'kinsmen.' In Classical Greek, this is an idiomatic expression referring to those bound by close blood or marital ties.
- 6.37.5τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ πάσχειν ὀφείλει τοῖς προειρημένοις
The verb ὀφείλει ('ought, is obliged') takes the infinitive πάσχειν ('to suffer'), followed by the dative of comparison (τοῖς προειρημένοις, 'with those aforementioned'). In the following conditional clause ἐὰν μὴ παραγγείλωσιν... ('if they do not report'), verbs are omitted, but the recipients of the orders are expressed in the dative (τοῖς ἐφόδοις, τῷ ... ἡγεμόνι) and the content of the orders in the accusative (τὸ δέον).
- 6.37.9παραχρησάμενος
A participle from the first aorist of the verb παραχράομαι ('to misuse, abuse'). Here it is a euphemistic expression referring to a young man (τῶν ἐν ἀκμῇ) abusing his own body or another's in a sexual manner (specifically, passive homosexuality).