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Polybius · The Histories §1.72.1-1.72.7

Carthage's Harsh Rule and Libyan Support for Rebellion

Passage 72 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

The passage explains that Carthage's harsh rule and heavy taxation on Libya was the cause of the rebellion. The Libyan women voluntarily contributed their jewelry to provide abundant funds for Mathos and Spendius to pay the mercenaries.

§1.72.1κούτων κακῶν ἐγεγόνεισαν αἴτιοι.
they themselves had become the causes of these evils.
κατὰ γὰρ τὸν προγεγονότα πόλεμον εὐλόγους ἀφορμὰς ἔχειν ὑπολαμβάνοντες πικρῶς ἐπεστάτησαν τῶν κατὰ τὴν Λιβύην ἀνθρώπων, §1.72.2παραιρούμενοι μὲν τῶν ἄλλων πάντων τῶν καρπῶν τοὺς ἡμίσεις, διπλασίους δὲ ταῖς πόλεσι τοὺς φόρους ἢ πρὶν ἐπιτάττοντες, συγγνώμην δὲ τοῖς ἀπόροις ἢ συμπεριφορὰν οὐδʼ ἡντινοῦν ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ τῶν πραττομένων διδόντες, §1.72.3θαυμάζοντες δὲ καὶ τιμῶντες τῶν ἀεὶ στρατηγῶν οὐ τοὺς πρᾴως καὶ φιλανθρώπως τῷ πλήθει χρωμένους, ἀλλὰ τοὺς αὐτοῖς μὲν ἑτοιμάζοντας πλείστας χορηγίας καὶ ἐπισκευάς, τοῖς δὲ κατὰ τὴν χώραν πικρότατα χρωμένους, ὧν εἷς ἦν Ἄννων.
For during the past war, supposing that they had reasonable pretexts, they had ruled harshly over the people of Libya, depriving them of half of all their other crops, and imposing on the cities double the taxes that they had paid before, and granting to the needy no pardon or indulgence whatsoever in any of their actions, and admiring and honoring among the successive generals not those who treated the multitude with mildness and humanity, but those who prepared for themselves the greatest amount of supplies and provisions, while treating the people of the country most harshly, of whom Hanno was one.
§1.72.4τοιγαροῦν οἱ μὲν ἄνδρες οὐχ οἷον παρακλήσεως πρὸς τὴν ἀπόστασιν, ἀλλʼ ἀγγέλου μόνον ἐδεήθησαν· §1.72.5αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες αἱ τὸν πρὸ τοῦ χρόνον ἀπαγομένους περιορῶσαι τοὺς σφετέρους ἄνδρας καὶ γονεῖς πρὸς τὰς εἰσφοράς, τότε συνομνύουσαι κατὰ πόλεις ἐφʼ ᾧ μηδὲν κρύψειν τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐταῖς, ἀφαιρούμεναι τὸν κόσμον εἰσέφερον ἀπροφασίστως εἰς τοὺς ὀψωνιασμούς.
Therefore, the men required not so much an exhortation to revolt, but merely a messenger; while the women, who in the preceding period had looked on while their husbands and parents were being led away for the taxes, now took an oath together city by city that they would hide none of their possessions, and stripping off their ornaments, contributed them without hesitation for the payment of the troops.
§1.72.6καὶ τοιαύτην παρεσκεύασαν εὐπορίαν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Μάθω καὶ Σπένδιον ὥστε μὴ μόνον διαλῦσαι τὰ προσοφειλόμενα τῶν ὀψωνίων τοῖς μισθοφόροις κατὰ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας, ἃς ἐποιήσαντο πρὸς τὴν ἀπόστασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸ συνεχὲς εὐπορῆσαι χορηγίας.
And they provided such an abundance of resources for Mathos and Spendius and their followers, that they were not only able to discharge the arrears of pay to the mercenaries according to the promises they had made at the beginning of the revolt, but had also an abundant supply of funds for the continuous carrying on of the war.
§1.72.7οὕτως οὐδέποτε δεῖ πρὸς τὸ παρὸν μόνον, ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον πρὸς τὸ μέλλον ἀποβλέπειν ἀεὶ τοὺς ὀρθῶς βουλευομένους.
Thus those who consult wisely ought never to look to the present moment only, but still more always to look forward to the future.

Notes

  1. §1.72.1κούτων κακῶν — Together with τηλι at the end of the previous chunk, it forms τηλικούτων κακῶν ('of such great evils'), a genitive phrase modifying αἴτιοι ('authors/causes').
  2. §1.72.4οὐχ οἷον — The idiom οὐχ οἷον ... ἀλλὰ ... means 'far from... but rather...' or 'not only not... but...'. Here it indicates that they needed far from an exhortation, but merely a messenger. The verb δεῖσθαι (ἐδεήθησαν) governs the genitive cases παρακλήσεως and ἀγγέλου.
  3. §1.72.5περιορῶσαι ... ἀπαγομένους — The verb περιοράω ('to overlook, suffer, allow') takes an accusative object (τοὺς σφετέρους ἄνδρας καὶ γονεῖς) and a present passive participle (ἀπαγομένους), meaning 'to see their own husbands and parents being led away without interfering.'
  4. §1.72.5ἐφʼ ᾧ μηδὲν κρύψειν — The prepositional phrase ἐφʼ ᾧ (the preposition ἐπί with the dative relative pronoun) followed by the infinitive (the future infinitive κρύψειν) introduces a condition, meaning 'on condition that they would hide nothing.'

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §1.72.1-1.72.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.72.1-1.72.7

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