- 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-grc2:8.33.1-8.33.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Hannibal constructs a secure defensive line consisting of a palisade, a trench, and a wall to shut off the Roman-held citadel, guaranteeing Tarentum's safety. He then encamps by a suburban river named after Spartan heritage and plans to capture the citadel.
τότε μὲν οὖν Ἀννίβας προβαλόμενος ἀσφαλῶς τὸν χάρακα τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἔσχε, τῆς ἐπιβολῆς αὐτῷ κατὰ νοῦν κεχωρηκυίας.
At that time, then, Hannibal, having safely thrown up the palisade in front, remained quiet, as his undertaking had turned out according to his mind.
τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ὑπεναντίους συγκλείσας ἠνάγκασε μένειν ἐντὸς τοῦ τείχους, δεδιότας οὐ μόνον περὶ σφῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῆς ἄκρας, τοῖς δὲ πολιτικοῖς τοιοῦτο παρέστησε θάρσος ὥστε καὶ χωρὶς τῶν Καρχηδονίων ἱκανοὺς αὑτοὺς ὑπολαμβάνειν ἔσεσθαι τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις.1
For on the one hand, by shutting in the enemy, he forced them to remain within the wall, fearing not only for themselves but also for the citadel; and on the other hand, he inspired such courage in the citizens that they believed themselves to be, even without the Carthaginians, a match for the Romans.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα μικρὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ χάρακος ἀποστήσας ὡς πρὸς τὴν πόλιν, τάφρον ἐποίει παράλληλον τῷ χάρακι καὶ τῷ τῆς ἄκρας τείχει·
After this, leaving a small distance from the palisade towards the city, he constructed a trench parallel to the palisade and to the wall of the citadel;
παρʼ ἣν ἐκ μεταβολῆς ἐπὶ τὸ πρὸς τῇ πόλει χεῖλος τοῦ χοὸς ἀνασωρευομένου,2 προσέτι δὲ καὶ χάρακος ἐπʼ αὐτῆς τεθέντος, οὐ πολὺ καταδεεστέραν τείχους συνέβαινε τὴν ἀσφάλειαν ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀποτελεῖσθαι.
alongside which, as the excavated earth was piled up on the edge facing the city and, in addition, a palisade was placed upon it, it resulted that the security derived from it was not much inferior to that of a wall.
παρὰ δὲ ταύτην ἐντὸς ἔτι πρὸς τὴν πόλιν ἀπολιπὼν σύμμετρον διάστημα τεῖχος ἐπεβάλετο κατασκευάζειν, ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ τῆς Σωτείρας ἕως εἰς τὴν Βαθεῖαν3 προσαγορευομένην, ὥστε καὶ χωρὶς ἀνδρῶν τὰς διʼ αὐτῶν τῶν κατασκευασμάτων ὀχυρότητας ἱκανὰς εἶναι τοῖς Ταραντίνοις τὴν ἀσφάλειαν παρασκευάζειν.
Beside this, leaving again a moderate space inwards towards the city, he undertook to build a wall, beginning from the street of Soteira as far as the one called Batheia, so that even without men, the strengths of these structures themselves were sufficient to afford security to the Tarentines.
ἀπολιπὼν δὲ τοὺς ἱκανοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἐπιτηδείους πρὸς τὴν τῆς πόλεως φυλακὴν καὶ τὴν τοῦ τείχους παρεφεδρεύοντας ἱππεῖς κατεστρατοπέδευσε, περὶ τετταράκοντα σταδίους ἀποσχὼν τῆς πόλεως, παρὰ τὸν ποταμὸν τὸν παρὰ μέν τισι Γαλαῖσον, παρὰ δὲ τοῖς πλείστοις προσαγορευόμενον Εὐρώταν, ὃς ἔχει τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν ταύτην ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ παρὰ Λακεδαίμονα ῥέοντος Εὐρώτα.
Having left sufficient and suitable men for the guard of the city and the wall, and the cavalry waiting as a support, he encamped at a distance of about forty stades from the city, by the river which is called by some Galaesus, but by most Eurotas, which has this name from the Eurotas flowing past Lacedaemon.
πολλὰ δὲ τοιαῦτα κατὰ τὴν χώραν καὶ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ὑπάρχει τοῖς Ταραντίνοις διὰ τὸ καὶ τὴν ἀποικίαν καὶ τὴν συγγένειαν ὁμολογουμένην αὐτοῖς εἶναι πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους.
For many such things exist for the Tarentines in their territory and in their city, because both their colonization and their kinship with the Lacedaemonians are acknowledged.
ταχὺ δὲ τοῦ τείχους λαμβάνοντας τὴν συντέλειαν4 διά τε τὴν τῶν Ταραντίνων σπουδὴν καὶ προθυμίαν καὶ τὴν τῶν Καρχηδονίων συνεργίαν, μετὰ ταῦτα διενοήθη καὶ τὴν ἄκραν ἐξελεῖν Ἀννίβας.
Since the wall was rapidly reaching completion, owing to the zeal and eagerness of the Tarentines and the cooperation of the Carthaginians, Hannibal next resolved to capture the citadel as well.
- 8.33.3τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις
This dative depends on the adjective ἱκανός (sufficient, equal to), which in turn modifies αὑτούς, the subject accusative of the infinitive ὑπολαμβάνειν and of the embedded infinitive ἔσεσθαι. It expresses the idea of 'themselves being a match for the Romans'.
- 8.33.5τοῦ χοὸς ἀνασωρευομένου
Both τοῦ χοὸς ἀνασωρευομένου and the following χάρακος ... τεθέντος are genitive absolute constructions, expressing the attendant circumstances or reasons for the main impersonal verb συνέβαινε. The phrase ἐκ μεταβολῆς is an adverbial idiom meaning 'as a result (of the digging), in turn'.
- 8.33.6τῆς Σωτείρας ἕως εἰς τὴν Βαθεῖαν
The feminine proper names Σωτείρα and Βαθεῖα are in the feminine gender because they refer either to 'streets' (ὁδός, feminine) or 'gates' (πύλη, feminine) of Tarentum, with the feminine noun being understood.
- 8.33.10τοῦ τείχους λαμβάνοντας τὴν συντέλειαν
The accusative plural participle λαμβάνοντας does not grammatically agree with the genitive τοῦ τείχους. While we would expect a genitive absolute participle λαμβάνοντος ('as the wall reached completion'), it may represent a corruption in the text or an accusative absolute implying 'as they rapidly brought the wall to completion'. In terms of sense, it indicates that the wall was rapidly being completed.