- 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-grc2:8.9.1-8.9.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Polybius points out the striking inconsistency of the historian Theopompus, who praised Philip II as a peerless figure in European history in his preface, but went on to depict him as highly incontinent and unjust, even quoting a passage where Theopompus viciously vilifies Philip's companions as degenerate and bestial.
μάλιστα δʼ ἄν τις ἐπιτιμήσειε περὶ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος Θεοπόμπῳ, ὅς γʼ ἐν ἀρχῇ1 τῆς Φιλίππου συντάξεως διʼ αὐτὸ μάλιστα παρορμηθῆναι φήσας πρὸς τὴν ἐπιβολὴν τῆς πραγματείας διὰ τὸ μηδέποτε τὴν Εὐρώπην ἐνηνοχέναι2 τοιοῦτον ἄνδρα παράπαν οἷον τὸν Ἀμύντου Φίλιππον, μετὰ ταῦτα παρὰ πόδας,3 ἔν τε τῷ προοιμίῳ καὶ παρʼ ὅλην δὲ τὴν ἱστορίαν, ἀκρατέστατον μὲν αὐτὸν ἀποδείκνυσι πρὸς γυναῖκας, ὥστε καὶ τὸν ἴδιον οἶκον ἐσφαλκέναι τὸ καθʼ αὑτὸν διὰ τὴν πρὸς τοῦτο τὸ μέρος ὁρμὴν καὶ προστασίαν, ἀδικώτατον δὲ καὶ κακοπραγμονέστατον περὶ τὰς τῶν φίλων καὶ συμμάχων κατασκευάς, πλείστας δὲ πόλεις ἐξηνδραποδισμένον καὶ πεπραξικοπηκότα μετὰ δόλου καὶ βίας, ἐκπαθῆ δὲ γεγονότα καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀκρατοποσίας, ὥστε καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέραν πλεονάκις μεθύοντα καταφανῆ γενέσθαι τοῖς φίλοις.
One might especially censure Theopompus in this respect; for at the beginning of his history of Philip, though he said that he was spurred to undertake the work especially for this very reason, because Europe had never at all produced such a man as Philip the son of Amyntas, immediately afterwards, both in his introduction and throughout the entire history, he shows him to be most incontinent towards women, so that as far as in him lay, he even ruined his own house because of his passion and conduct in this respect, and most unjust and mischievous regarding the affairs of his friends and allies, and to have enslaved very many cities and taken them by treachery with deceit and violence, and to have become excessively passionate also towards the drinking of unmixed wine, so that even by day he was frequently seen by his friends to be drunk.
εἰ δέ τις ἀναγνῶναι βουληθείη τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἐνάτης καὶ τετταρακοστῆς αὐτῷ βύβλου, παντάπασιν ἂν θαυμάσαι τὴν ἀτοπίαν τοῦ συγγραφέως, ὅς γε χωρὶς τῶν ἄλλων τετόλμηκε καὶ ταῦτα λέγειν· αὐταῖς γὰρ λέξεσιν, αἷς ἐκεῖνος κέχρηται, κατατετάχαμεν· "
And if anyone should wish to read the beginning of his forty-ninth book, he would altogether marvel at the inconsistency of the writer, who, apart from other things, has dared even to say the following; for we have set them down in the very words which he used:
εἰ γάρ τις ἦν ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἢ τοῖς βαρβάροισ" φησί "λάσταυρος ἢ θρασὺς τὸν τρόπον, οὗτοι πάντες εἰς Μακεδονίαν ἁθροιζόμενοι πρὸς Φίλιππον ἑταῖροι τοῦ βασιλέως προσηγορεύοντο.
”For if there was anyone among the Greeks or the barbarians,” he says, “lewd or bold in character, all these, gathering in Macedonia to Philip, were called ‘companions’ of the king.
καθόλου γὰρ ὁ Φίλιππος τοὺς μὲν κοσμίους τοῖς ἤθεσι καὶ τῶν ἰδίων βίων ἐπιμελουμένους ἀπεδοκίμαζε, τοὺς δὲ πολυτελεῖς καὶ ζῶντας ἐν μέθαις καὶ κύβοις ἐτίμα καὶ προῆγε.
For in general Philip rejected those who were decent in their morals and careful of their own lives, but those who were extravagant and lived in drunkenness and dicing he honored and promoted.
τοιγαροῦν οὐ μόνον ταῦτʼ ἔχειν αὐτοὺς παρεσκεύαζεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀδικίας καὶ βδελυρίας ἀθλητὰς ἐποίησε. τί γὰρ τῶν αἰσχρῶν ἢ δεινῶν αὐτοῖς οὐ προσῆν;
Therefore, he not only made them have these vices, but also made them champions of every other injustice and loathsomeness. For what of things shameful or terrible was not present in them?
ἢ τί τῶν καλῶν καὶ σπουδαίων οὐκ ἀπῆν; ὧν οἱ μὲν ξυρόμενοι καὶ λεαινόμενοι διετέλουν ἄνδρες ὄντες, οἱ δʼ ἀλλήλοις ἐτόλμων ἐπανίστασθαι4 πώγωνας ἔχουσι.
Or what of things noble and serious was not absent? Of whom some, being men, continued to shave themselves and make themselves smooth, while others, having beards, dared to submit to one another.
καὶ περιήγοντο μὲν δύο καὶ τρεῖς τοὺς ἑταιρευομένους, αὐτοὶ δὲ τὰς αὐτὰς ἐκείνοις χρήσεις ἑτέροις παρείχοντο.
And they went around with two or three male prostitutes, while they themselves provided the same services as those prostitutes to others.
ὅθεν καὶ δικαίως ἄν τις αὐτοὺς οὐχ ἑταίρους, ἀλλʼ ἑταίρας ὑπελάμβανεν [εἶναι] οὐδὲ στρατιώτας, ἀλλὰ χαμαιτύπους προσηγόρευσεν·
Whence one might also justly have supposed them to be not ‘companions’ but ‘courtesans’, and called them not soldiers, but prostitutes;
ἀνδροφόνοι γὰρ τὴν φύσιν ὄντες ἀνδρόπορνοι τὸν τρόπον ἦσαν.
for being murderers by nature, they were male-prostitutes in character.
ἁπλῶς δʼ εἰπεῖν, ἵνα παύσωμαι" φησί "μακρολογῶν, ἄλλως τε καὶ τοσούτων μοι πραγμάτων ἐπικεχυμένων, ἡγοῦμαι τοιαῦτα θηρία γεγονέναι καὶ τοιούτους τὸν τρόπον τοὺς φίλους καὶ τοὺς ἑταίρους Φιλίππου προσαγορευθέντας οἵους οὔτε τοὺς Κενταύρους τοὺς τὸ Πήλιον κατασχόντας οὔτε τοὺς Λαιστρυγόνας τοὺς τὸ Λεοντίνων πεδίον οἰκήσαντας οὔτʼ ἄλλους οὐδʼ ὁποίους."
To speak plainly, that I may cease,” he says, “speaking at length, especially since so many matters are pressing upon me, I believe that those called the friends and companions of Philip became such beasts and of such character as neither the Centaurs who occupied Pelion, nor the Laestrygonians who inhabited the Leontine plain, nor any others whatsoever.”
- 8.9.1ὅς γʼ ἐν ἀρχῇ...
The relative pronoun ὅς γε refers to the antecedent Θεοπόμπῳ. Passing through the participle φήσας, it connects to the verb ἀποδείκνυσι in the next section (§8.9.2), forming an anacoluthon where the relative pronoun functions virtually as the subject of the main assertion.
- 8.9.1διὰ τὸ μηδέποτε τὴν Εὐρώπην ἐνηνοχέναι
A causal phrase consisting of the preposition διά with the articular infinitive. τὴν Εὐρώπην is the subject accusative of the perfect active infinitive ἐνηνοχέναι (from φέρω), meaning 'by reason of Europe having never produced'.
- 8.9.2παρὰ πόδας
Literally 'at the feet', this idiom expresses temporal proximity, meaning 'immediately after' or 'in the next breath'. Here it refers to the fact that Theopompus develops his criticism immediately after his initial praise.
- 8.9.9ἐπανίστασθαι
Although the verb normally means 'to rise up against' or 'rebel', here in a sexual and physical context it refers to the act of adult bearded men daring to 'submit to' or 'engage in intercourse with' one another.