- 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-grc2:9.35.1-9.35.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
Lyciscus downplays the Aetolians' claim of defending Delphi, emphasizing that the Macedonians have long served as a vital shield for Greece, and condemns the Aetolians' own past sacrileges against Greek temples.
καὶ πρὸς οὐδὲν τούτων ἀπολογηθῆναι δυνάμενοι σεμνύνεσθε, διότι τὴν ἐπὶ Δελφοὺς ἔφοδον τῶν βαρβάρων ὑπέστητε, καὶ φατὲ δεῖν διὰ ταῦτα χάριν ἔχειν ὑμῖν τοὺς Ἕλληνας.
And though you are unable to defend yourselves against any of these charges, you pride yourselves because you withstood the invasion of the barbarians against Delphi, and you say that for this the Greeks ought to feel gratitude to you.
ἀλλʼ εἰ διὰ μίαν ταύτην χρείαν Αἰτωλοῖς χάρις ὀφείλεται, τίνος καὶ πηλίκης δεῖ τιμῆς ἀξιοῦσθαι Μακεδόνας, οἳ τὸν πλείω τοῦ βίου χρόνον οὐ παύονται διαγωνιζόμενοι πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀσφαλείας;
But if gratitude is owed to the Aetolians for this single service, what kind and how great an honor should the Macedonians be deemed worthy of, who for the greater part of their existence never cease fighting against the barbarians for the safety of the Greeks?
ὅτι γὰρ αἰεί ποτʼ ἂν ἐν μεγάλοις ἦν κινδύνοις τὰ κατὰ τοὺς Ἕλληνας, εἰ μὴ Μακεδόνας εἴχομεν1 πρόφραγμα καὶ τὰς τῶν παρὰ τούτοις βασιλέων φιλοτιμίας, τίς οὐ γινώσκει;
For who does not know that the affairs of the Greeks would always have been in great danger, had we not had the Macedonians and the ambition of their kings as a barrier?
μέγιστον δὲ τούτου σημεῖον· ἅμα γὰρ τῷ Γαλάτας καταφρονῆσαι Μακεδόνων νικήσαντας2 Πτολεμαῖον τὸν Κεραυνὸν ἐπικαλούμενον, εὐθέως καταγνόντες τῶν ἄλλων ἧκον οἱ περὶ Βρέννον εἰς μέσην τὴν Ἑλλάδα μετὰ δυνάμεως. ὃ πολλάκις ἂν συνέβαινε γίνεσθαι μὴ προκαθημένων Μακεδόνων.
And the greatest proof of this is that: as soon as the Galatians, having defeated Ptolemy surnamed Ceraunus, came to despise the Macedonians, they immediately looked down upon the rest and came with an army into the very heart of Greece under Brennus. This is what would have happened many times if the Macedonians had not been stationed in front of us.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τῶν γεγονότων ἔχων πολλὰ λέγειν ἀρκεῖν ἡγοῦμαι·
Nevertheless, though I have much to say about what has happened, I think this is sufficient.
τῶν δὲ Φιλίππῳ πεπραγμένων3 εἰς ἀσέβειαν ὠνείδισαν τὴν τοῦ ναοῦ καταφθοράν, οὐ προσθέντες τὴν αὑτῶν ὕβριν καὶ παρανομίαν, ἣν ἐπετελέσαντο περὶ τοὺς ἐν Δίῳ καὶ Δωδώνῃ ναοὺς καὶ τὰ τεμένη τῶν θεῶν.
But of the deeds done by Philip, they reproached him with the destruction of the temple as an impiety, not adding their own outrage and lawlessness, which they committed against the temples in Dium and Dodona and the sacred precincts of the gods.
ἐχρῆν δὲ λέγειν τοῦτο πρῶτον. ὑμεῖς δʼ ἃ μὲν ἐπάθετε, τούτοις ἐξηγήσασθε, μείζω ποιοῦντες τῶν γεγονότων, ἃ δʼ ἐποιήσατε πρότεροι, πολλαπλάσια γεγονότα παρεσιωπήσατε, σαφῶς εἰδότες ὅτι τὰς ἀδικίας καὶ ζημίας ἅπαντες ἀεὶ τοῖς ἄρχουσι χειρῶν ἀδίκων4 ἐπιφέρουσι.
But it was necessary to say this first. Yet you, while you detailed what you suffered, making them greater than what actually happened, passed over in silence your own prior deeds, which were many times greater, knowing clearly that everyone always attributes injustices and losses to those who initiated unjust hands.
- 9.35.3ἂν ἐν μεγάλοις ἦν κινδύνοις ... εἰ μὴ ... εἴχομεν
A conditional sentence contrary to fact using the imperfect indicative. Since the existence of the Macedonians is conceived as a continuous "barrier," it expresses a continuous state rather than a single past event (if we did not have them as a barrier, affairs would always be in danger).
- 9.35.4ἅμα γὰρ τῷ Γαλάτας καταφρονῆσαι... νικήσαντας
The preposition ἅμα combined with the articular infinitive τῷ καταφρονῆσαι expresses temporal simultaneity ("as soon as"). The accusative Γαλάτας is the subject of the infinitive, and the participle νικήσαντας (accusative plural) agrees with it, expressing the cause ("having defeated").
- 9.35.6τῶν δὲ Φιλίππῳ πεπραγμένων
The genitive τῶν πεπραγμένων is a partitive genitive, depending on the object of the main clause, τὴν καταφθοράν. The dative Φιλίππῳ is a dative of agent accompanying the perfect passive participle, meaning "deeds done by Philip."
- 9.35.8τοῖς ἄρχουσι χειρῶν ἀδίκων
A construction where the participle of ἄρχω (to begin, initiate) governs the genitive χειρῶν ἀδίκων. It refers to "those who initiate unjust hands (violence)," derived from the classical Greek legal idiom ἄρχειν χειρῶν ἀδίκων, meaning "to be the first to commit an assault or initiate unlawful violence."