- 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-grc2:9.38.1-9.38.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
Lyciscus appeals to the Lacedaemonians by recalling their ancestors' heroic resistance against Xerxes for Greek liberty, highlighting the absurdity of their current alliance with the Aetolians and Roman barbarians against their fellow Greeks.
ἅπαντας μὲν οὖν δεῖ τοὺς Ἕλληνας προϊδέσθαι τὸν ἐπιφερόμενον καιρόν, μάλιστα δὲ Λακεδαιμονίους.
Therefore all the Greeks ought to foresee the approaching danger, and most of all the Lacedaemonians.
ἐπεὶ τίνος χάριν ὑπολαμβάνετε1 τοὺς ὑμετέρους προγόνους, ἄνδρες Λακεδαιμόνιοι, καθʼ οὓς καιροὺς ὁ Ξέρξης ἀπέστειλε πρεσβευτὴν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ὕδωρ καὶ γῆν αἰτούμενος, ἀπώσαντας εἰς τὸ φρέαρ τὸν παραγεγονότα καὶ προσεπιβαλόντας τῆς γῆς κελεύειν ἀπαγγεῖλαι τῷ Ξέρξῃ διότι παρὰ Λακεδαιμονίων ἔχει τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν, ὕδωρ καὶ γῆν;
For what reason do you suppose, men of Lacedaemon, that your ancestors—at the time when Xerxes sent an envoy to you demanding earth and water—pushed the newcomer into the well, and threw earth upon him, ordering him to report to Xerxes that he had what was demanded from the Lacedaemonians, namely water and earth?
τίνος πάλιν ἐθελοντὴν καὶ προδήλως ἐξορμᾶν ἀποθανουμένους τοὺς περὶ Λεωνίδην;
And again, for what reason (do you suppose) that Leonidas and his men set out voluntarily and obviously to die?
ἆρʼ οὐχ ἵνα δόξωσι μὴ μόνον ὑπὲρ τῆς αὑτῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῆς τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων ἐλευθερίας προκινδυνεύειν;
Was it not so that they might be seen to face danger first, not only for their own liberty, but also for that of the other Greeks?
ἄξιόν γε τοιούτων ἀνδρῶν ἀπογόνους ὑπάρχοντας,2 κἄπειτα νῦν συμμαχίαν ποιησαμένους τοῖς βαρβάροις, στρατεύειν μετʼ ἐκείνων καὶ πολεμεῖν Ἠπειρώταις, Ἀχαιοῖς, Ἀκαρνᾶσι, Βοιωτοῖς, Θετταλοῖς σχεδὸν πᾶσι τοῖς Ἕλλησι πλὴν Αἰτωλῶν.
It is indeed worthy of those who are the descendants of such men, and who have now made an alliance with barbarians, to march with them and to make war against the Epirotes, Achaeans, Acarnanians, Boeotians, Thessalians, and indeed almost all the Greeks except the Aetolians!
τούτοις μὲν οὖν ἔθος ἐστὶ ταῦτα πράττειν καὶ μηδὲν αἰσχρὸν νομίζειν, εἰ μόνον πρόσεστι τὸ πλεονεκτεῖν, οὐ μὴν ὑμῖν.
For these people, indeed, it is customary to do such things and to consider nothing shameful, if only some advantage is present; but certainly not for you.
καὶ τί δήποτε προσδοκᾶν δεῖ τούτους ἀπεργασομένους,3 ἐπεὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων προσειλήφασι συμμαχίαν;
And indeed, what must we expect them to do, now that they have additionally secured the alliance of the Romans?
οἵ γε τῆς Ἰλλυριῶν ἐπιλαβόμενοι ῥοπῆς καὶ βοηθείας κατὰ μὲν θάλατταν βιάζεσθαι καὶ παρασπονδεῖν ἐπεβάλοντο Πύλον, κατὰ δὲ γῆν ἐπολιόρκησαν μὲν τὴν Κλειτορίων πόλιν, ἐξηνδραποδίσαντο δὲ τὴν Κυναιθέων.
They who, merely grabbing hold of the influence and help of the Illyrians, attempted by sea to take Pylos by force and in violation of treaties, and by land besieged the city of the Cleitorians, and enslaved that of the Cynaethians.
καὶ πρότερον μὲν Ἀντιγόνῳ, καθάπερ ἐπάνω προεῖπον, ἐποιήσαντο συνθήκας οὗτοι περί τε τοῦ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν καὶ τοῦ τῶν Ἀκαρνάνων ἔθνους, νῦν δὲ πεποίηνται πρὸς Ῥωμαίους κατὰ πάσης τῆς Ἑλλάδος.4
And whereas formerly, as I said above, they made a treaty with Antigonus concerning the partition of the territory of the Achaean and Acarnanian nations, they have now made one with the Romans against the whole of Greece.
- 9.38.2ἐπεὶ τίνος χάριν ὑπολαμβάνετε...
The conjunction ἐπεί supports the preceding statement (that all Greeks, especially Spartans, must foresee the danger) by introducing a rhetorical question, meaning 'for otherwise...'. The verb ὑπολαμβάνετε ('do you suppose') governs an accusative and infinitive construction, with τοὺς ὑμετέρους προγόνους as the subject accusative and κελεύειν as the infinitive.
- 9.38.5ἄξιόν γε τοιούτων ἀνδρῶν ἀπογόνους ὑπάρχοντας...
The expression ἄξιόν [ἐστι] ('it is worthy') is used with heavy irony. It is accompanied by accusative participles representing the logical subjects (ἀπογόνους ὑπάρχοντας and συμμαχίαν ποιησαμένους), while the following infinitives (στρατεύειν... καὶ πολεμεῖν) explain what is supposedly 'worthy'.
- 9.38.7τούτους ἀπεργασομένους
The future participle ἀπεργασομένους is used with the accusative pronoun τούτους as a complement to the verb προσδοκᾶν ('to expect'). The future participle represents a future action ('what they are going to effect').
- 9.38.9κατὰ πάσης τῆς Ἑλλάδος
The preposition κατά followed by the genitive here expresses hostility or detriment, meaning 'against' or 'to the ruin of' all Greece.