- 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-grc2:7.4.1-7.4.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Hieronymus sends envoys to Carthage to conclude a treaty dividing Sicily, and later demands rule over the entire island. Though recognizing his instability, the Carthaginians agree to all his demands for their own benefit and prepare to transport their forces.
Ἱερώνυμος δὲ προχειρισάμενος Ἀγάθαρχον καὶ Ὀνησιγένη καὶ Ἱπποσθένη πέμπει μετʼ Ἀννίβου πρὸς Καρχηδονίους, δοὺς ἐντολὰς ἐπὶ τοῖσδε ποιεῖσθαι τὰς συνθήκας, ἐφʼ ᾧ1 Καρχηδονίους βοηθεῖν καὶ πεζικαῖς καὶ ναυτικαῖς δυνάμεσι, καὶ συνεκβαλόντας Ῥωμαίους ἐκ Σικελίας οὕτως διελέσθαι τὰ κατὰ τὴν νῆσον ὥστε τῆς ἑκατέρων ἐπαρχίας ὅρον εἶναι τὸν Ἱμέραν ποταμόν, ὃς μάλιστά πως δίχα διαιρεῖ τὴν ὅλην Σικελίαν.
And Hieronymus, having appointed Agatharchus, Onesigenes, and Hipposthenes, sent them with Hannibal to the Carthaginians, giving instructions to make the treaty on the following terms: on the condition that the Carthaginians should assist with both land and naval forces, and, after jointly expelling the Romans from Sicily, should divide the island in such a way that the river Himeras, which divides the whole of Sicily more or less in half, should be the boundary of their respective territories.
οὗτοι μὲν οὖν ἀφικόμενοι πρὸς Καρχηδονίους διελέγοντο περὶ τούτων καὶ ταῦτʼ ἔπραττον, εἰς πᾶν ἑτοίμως συγκαταβαινόντων τῶν Καρχηδονίων·
These men, then, having arrived among the Carthaginians, discussed these matters and carried this out, with the Carthaginians readily agreeing to everything;
οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἱπποκράτην, λαμβάνοντες εἰς τὰς χεῖρας τὸ μειράκιον τὰς μὲν ἀρχὰς ἐψυχαγώγουν, ἐξηγούμενοι τὰς ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ πορείας Ἀννίβου καὶ παρατάξεις καὶ μάχας, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα φάσκοντες μηδενὶ καθήκειν μᾶλλον τὴν ἁπάντων Σικελιωτῶν ἀρχὴν ὡς ἐκείνῳ, πρῶτον μὲν διὰ τὸ τῆς Πύρρου θυγατρὸς υἱὸν εἶναι Νηρηίδος, ὃν μόνον2 κατὰ προαίρεσιν καὶ κατʼ εὔνοιαν Σικελιῶται πάντες εὐδόκησαν σφῶν αὐτῶν ἡγεμόνʼ εἶναι καὶ βασιλέα, δεύτερον δὲ κατὰ τὴν Ἱέρωνος τοῦ πάππου δυναστείαν.
but Hippocrates and his companions, getting the youth into their hands, at first won his heart by recounting the marches, deployments, and battles of Hannibal in Italy, and after this, claiming that the rule over all the Siceliots belonged to no one more than to him, first because he was the son of Nereis, the daughter of Pyrrhus—whom alone of their own free will and goodwill all the Siceliots had consented to have as their leader and king—and secondly, by virtue of the power of his grandfather Hiero.
καὶ τέλος ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐξωμίλησαν τὸ μειράκιον ὥστε καθόλου μηδενὶ προσέχειν τῶν ἄλλων διὰ τὸ καὶ φύσει μὲν ἀκατάστατον ὑπάρχειν, ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον ὑπʼ ἐκείνων τότε μετεωρισθέν·
and finally they so completely won over the youth that he paid no attention to anyone else at all, both because he was naturally unstable, and still more because he had been puffed up by them at that time;
ἀκμὴν3 τῶν περὶ Ἀγάθαρχον ἐν τῇ Καρχηδόνι τὰ προειρημένα διαπραττομένων, ἐπιπέμπει πρεσβευτάς, τὴν μὲν τῆς Σικελίας ἀρχὴν φάσκων αὑτῷ καθήκειν ἅπασαν, ἀξιῶν δὲ Καρχηδονίους μὲν βοηθεῖν περὶ Σικελίας, αὐτὸς δὲ Καρχηδονίοις ὑπισχνούμενος ἐπαρκεῖν εἰς τὰς κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν πράξεις.
while Agatharchus and his companions were just in the middle of concluding the aforementioned terms in Carthage, he sent additional envoys, claiming that the sovereignty of all Sicily belonged to him, and demanding that the Carthaginians should assist him in Sicily, while he himself promised to help the Carthaginians in their operations in Italy.
τὴν μὲν οὖν ὅλην ἀκαταστασίαν καὶ μανίαν καλῶς συνθεώμενοι Καρχηδόνιοι τοῦ μειρακίου, νομίζοντες δὲ κατὰ πολλοὺς τρόπους συμφέρειν σφίσι τὸ μὴ προέσθαι τὰ κατὰ τὴν Σικελίαν, ἐκείνῳ μὲν ἅπαντα συγκατένευον, αὐτοὶ δὲ καὶ πρότερον ἤδη παρασκευασάμενοι ναῦς καὶ στρατιώτας, ἐγίνοντο πρὸς τὸ διαβιβάζειν τὰς
The Carthaginians, therefore, clearly perceiving the complete instability and madness of the youth, but thinking that in many ways it was to their advantage not to abandon the affairs of Sicily, agreed to all his demands, while they themselves, having already previously prepared ships and soldiers, set about transporting their forces.
- 7.4.2ἐφʼ ᾧ
The prepositional phrase ἐφʼ ᾧ with the infinitive (βοηθεῖν, διελέσθαι) introduces the condition under which the treaty is to be made ("on condition that...").
- 7.4.5ὃν μόνον
The relative pronoun ὃν refers back to the genitive proper noun Πύρρου (Pyrrhus, masculine), not to Nereis (feminine). It functions as the subject accusative of the infinitive εἶναι depending on the verb εὐδόκησαν.
- 7.4.7ἀκμὴν
The adverbial accusative ἀκμήν is used in its Hellenistic sense of "just at the moment when," preceding and emphasizing the temporal relation of the genitive absolute construction τῶν περὶ Ἀγάθαρχον ... διαπραττομένων.