- 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-grc2:8.8.1-8.8.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The author criticizes some historians who, out of favor or fear of monarchs, praise Philip's hostile ravaging of Messene instead of calling it a mistake. He asserts that historians should avoid both false blame and panegyric to write what is appropriate and consistent, though acknowledging that difficult life circumstances make this hard for some.
ὅτι Φίλιππος παραγενόμενος εἰς τὴν Μεσσήνην ἔφθειρε τὴν χώραν δυσμενικῶς, θυμῷ τὸ πλεῖον ἢ λογισμῷ χρώμενος·
That Philip, having arrived in Messene, hostilely ravaged the country, using passion more than reason.
ἤλπιζε γάρ, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, βλάπτων συνεχῶς οὐδέποτʼ ἀγανακτήσειν οὐδὲ μισήσειν αὐτὸν τοὺς κακῶς πάσχοντας.1
For he expected, as it seems to me, that those who suffered ill would never feel resentment nor hate him, even though he was continually harming them.
προήχθην δὲ καὶ νῦν καὶ διὰ τῆς προτέρας βύβλου σαφέστερον ἐξηγήσασθαι περὶ τούτων οὐ μόνον διὰ τὰς πρότερον ἡμῖν εἰρημένας αἰτίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὸ τῶν συγγραφέων τοὺς μὲν ὅλως παραλελοιπέναι τὰ κατὰ τοὺς Μεσσηνίους, τοὺς δὲ καθόλου διὰ τὴν πρὸς τοὺς μονάρχους εὔνοιαν ἢ τἀναντία φόβον οὐχ οἷον ἐν ἁμαρτίᾳ γεγονέναι τὴν εἰς τοὺς Μεσσηνίους ἀσέβειαν Φιλίππου καὶ παρανομίαν, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον ἐν ἐπαίνῳ καὶ κατορθώματι τὰ πεπραγμένα διασαφεῖν2 ἡμῖν.
I was led, both now and through the previous book, to give a clearer explanation of these matters, not only for the reasons previously mentioned by us, but also because some of the historians have entirely omitted the affairs of the Messenians, while others, altogether out of goodwill towards monarchs, or on the contrary, out of fear of them, far from representing Philip’s impiety and lawlessness towards the Messenians as a mistake, on the contrary explain his actions to us as matters of praise and success.
οὐ μόνον δὲ περὶ Μεσσηνίους τοῦτο πεποιηκότας ἰδεῖν ἔστι τοὺς γράφοντας τοῦ Φιλίππου τὰς πράξεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων παραπλησίως.
And it is possible to see that those who write the history of Philip’s deeds have done this not only regarding the Messenians, but also in a similar manner regarding others.
ἐξ ὧν ἱστορίας μὲν οὐδαμῶς ἔχειν αὐτοῖς συμβαίνει διάθεσιν τὰς συντάξεις, ἐγκωμίου δὲ μᾶλλον.
From which it happens that their treatises by no means have the character of history, but rather of panegyric.
ἐγὼ δʼ οὔτε λοιδορεῖν ψευδῶς φημι δεῖν τοὺς μονάρχους οὔτʼ ἐγκωμιάζειν, ὃ πολλοῖς ἤδη συμβέβηκε, τὸν ἀκόλουθον δὲ τοῖς προγεγραμμένοις ἀεὶ καὶ τὸν πρέποντα ταῖς ἑκάστων προαιρέσεσι λόγον ἐφαρμόζειν.
But I say that one must neither falsely abuse monarchs nor panegyrize them, which has already happened to many, but always apply an account that is consistent with what was previously written and appropriate to the choices of each.
ἀλλʼ ἴσως τοῦτʼ εἰπεῖν μὲν εὐμαρές, πρᾶξαι δὲ καὶ λίαν δυσχερὲς διὰ τὸ πολλὰς καὶ ποικίλας εἶναι διαθέσεις καὶ περιστάσεις, αἷς εἴκοντες ἄνθρωποι κατὰ τὸν βίον οὔτε λέγειν οὔτε γράφειν δύνανται τὸ φαινόμενον. ὧν χάριν τισὶ μὲν αὐτῶν συγγνώμην δοτέον, ἐνίοις γε μὴν οὐ δοτέον.
But perhaps this is easy to say, but extremely difficult to practice, because there are many and various dispositions and circumstances, yielding to which in their lives men can neither speak nor write what appears to be the case. For which reason pardon should be granted to some of them, and yet to others it should not be granted.
- 8.8.2οὐδέποτʼ ἀγανακτήσειν οὐδὲ μισήσειν αὐτὸν τοὺς κακῶς πάσχοντας
In this accusative and infinitive construction, the subject accusative of the infinitives ἀγανακτήσειν and μισήσειν is τοὺς κακῶς πάσχοντας ('those who suffer ill'), while the pronoun accusative αὐτόν ('him', referring to Philip) functions as the object of μισήσειν. Reversing this relation to mean 'that he (Philip) would never hate those who suffered ill' is inappropriate given the context of Philip being the one inflicting the harm.
- 8.8.4οὐχ οἷον ἐν ἁμαρτίᾳ γεγονέναι ... ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον ... διασαφεῖν
The phrase οὐχ οἷον is an idiomatic expression meaning 'far from doing' or 'not only not', taking an infinitive (here γεγονέναι, 'far from representing... as a mistake') and contrasting with ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον followed by another infinitive (διασαφεῖν, 'but on the contrary explaining...'). The entire construction is dependent on the prepositional phrase διὰ τὸ in the preceding section.