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The Histories

§9.42.1-9.42.8

Surrender of Echinus and Ransom of Aegina's Citizens

With the repulse of the Roman and Aetolian relief forces, the city of Echinus surrendered to Philip, while the Roman commander Publius, after capturing Aegina, initially refused but eventually allowed the Aeginetans to send envoys for ransom in accordance with Greek custom.

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§9.42.1

Πόπλιος ὁ τῶν Ῥωμαίων στρατηγὸς καὶ Δωρίμαχος ὁ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν, τοῦ Φιλίππου πολιορκοῦντος1 τὴν Ἐχιναιῶν πόλιν, καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὸ τεῖχος καλῶς ἀσφαλισαμένου καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὴν ἐκτὸς ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ στρατοπέδου τάφρῳ καὶ τείχει ὀχυρωσαμένου, παραγενόμενοι αὐτοί, ὁ μὲν Πόπλιος στόλῳ, ὁ δὲ Δωρίμαχος πεζικῇ καὶ ἱππικῇ δυνάμει, καὶ προσβαλόντες τῷ χάρακι καὶ ἀποκρουσθέντες, τοῦ Φιλίππου μᾶλλον ἰσχυρῶς ἀγωνισαμένου, ἀπελπίσαντες οἱ Ἐχιναιεῖς παρέδοσαν ἑαυτοὺς τῷ Φιλίππῳ.

​Publius, the Roman commander, and Dorimachus, the Aetolian commander, when Philip was besieging the city of the Echinatians and had well secured the side facing the wall and fortified the side facing the outer front of the camp with a trench and wall, arrived there in person; ​Publius with a fleet and Dorimachus with an army of infantry and cavalry, and having attacked the rampart and been repulsed, since Philip fought more vigorously, ​the Echinatians, falling into despair, surrendered themselves to Philip.

§9.42.4

οὐ γὰρ οἷοί τε ἦσαν οἱ περὶ τὸν Δωρίμαχον τῇ τῶν δαπανημάτων ἐνδείᾳ ἀναγκάζειν τὸν Φίλιππον, ἐκ θαλάττης ταῦτα ποριζόμενον. ὅτι2 τῆς Αἰγίνης ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ἁλούσης, [οἱ] Αἰγινῆται συναθροισθέντες ἐπὶ τὰς ναῦς, ὅσοι μὴ διεκλάπησαν, ἐδέοντο τοῦ στρατηγοῦ συγχωρῆσαι σφίσι πρεσβευτὰς ἐκπέμψαι πρὸς τὰς συγγενεῖς πόλεις περὶ λύτρων·

​For Dorimachus and his men were unable to force Philip by a shortage of supplies, as he procured these from the sea. ὅτι When Aegina was captured by the Romans, ​the Aeginetans, having been gathered onto the ships—as many as had not slipped away—entreated the commander to allow them to send envoys to their kindred cities concerning a ransom.

§9.42.6

ὁ δὲ Πόπλιος τὸ μὲν πρῶτον πικρῶς ἀντέφη, φάσκων, ὅτʼ ἦσαν αὑτῶν κύριοι, τότε δεῖν διαπρεσβεύεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς κρείττους περὶ σωτηρίας, μὴ νῦν δούλους γεγονότας·

​But Publius at first refused harshly, saying that when they were masters of themselves, that was the time they ought to have negotiated for safety with their superiors, and not now when they had become slaves;

§9.42.7

τὸ δὲ μικρῷ πρότερον αὐτοὺς μηδὲ λόγου καταξιώσαντας τοὺς παρʼ αὐτοῦ πρεσβευτάς, νῦν ὑποχειρίους γεγονότας ἀξιοῦν πρεσβεύειν πρὸς τοὺς συγγενεῖς, πῶς οὐκ εὔηθες εἶναι;3

​and how could it not be foolish, when they themselves had a short time before deemed his envoys worthy of not even a word, now that they had fallen into his hands, to demand to send envoys to their kindred?

§9.42.8

καὶ τότε μὲν ἀπέπεμψε τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας ταῦτʼ εἰπών· τῇ δʼ ἐπαύριον συγκαλέσας ἅπαντας τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους, Αἰγινήταις μὲν οὐδὲν ὀφείλειν ἔφη ποιεῖν φιλάνθρωπον, τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν Ἑλλήνων ἕνεκα συγχωρεῖν ἔφη πρεσβεύειν περὶ τῶν λύτρων, ἐπεὶ τοῦτο παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἔθος ἐστίν.

​And for that time indeed he dismissed those who approached him with these words; but on the following day, having summoned all the prisoners together, he said that while he owed no humanity to the Aeginetans, yet for the sake of the other Greeks he allowed them to send envoys concerning the ransom, since this was the custom among them.

Syntax notes3 items
  1. 9.42.1τοῦ Φιλίππου πολιορκοῦντος

    This is a genitive absolute construction where the present participle πολιορκοῦντος (representing an ongoing action) is coordinated with the aorist middle participles ἀσφαλισαμένου and ὀχυρωσαμένου (representing completed states). It distinguishes the aspectual difference between the ongoing siege and the already established fortifications.

  2. 9.42.4ὅτι

    The ὅτι here is not a subordinating conjunction but a formulaic introductory marker used by the Byzantine compilers of historical excerpts (Excerpta Historica) to introduce a new anecdote or fragment. It has no syntactical dependence on the surrounding clauses and functions here as an indicator of a textual fragment's beginning.

  3. 9.42.7τὸ δὲ ... πῶς οὐκ εὔηθες εἶναι;

    This is a continuation of the indirect speech (accusative and infinitive construction) reporting Publius's speech. The article τὸ nominalizes the infinitive ἀξιοῦν as the subject, with αὐτοὺς ... γεγονότας acting as its subject accusative. The predicate is πῶς οὐκ εὔηθες εἶναι; (how could it not be foolish?), in which the infinitive εἶναι is used because it represents an indirect question.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
  • 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.42.1-9.42.8