Humanitext Reader

Polybius · The Histories §10.11.1-10.11.8

Scipio's Encampment and Address to His Troops

Passage 657 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Scipio positions his camp using the local topography and prepares for the assault on Carthago Nova. He assembles and encourages his troops, greatly raising their morale by combining logical arguments and promises of rewards with the divine favor of Poseidon, who had appeared in his dream.

§10.11.1τοιαύτης δʼ ὑπαρχούσης τῆς διαθέσεως τῶν τόπων, ἀσφαλίζεσθαι συνέβαινε τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις τὴν στρατοπεδείαν κατὰ τὴν ἐντὸς ἐπιφάνειαν ἀκατασκεύως ὑπό τε τῆς λίμνης καὶ τῆς ἐπὶ θάτερα θαλάττης.
Since the character of the terrain was such, it happened that for the Romans their camp was secured on the inner side, without any defensive works, by both the lagoon and the sea on the other side.
§10.11.2τὸ δὲ μεταξὺ τούτων διάστημα τὸ συνάπτον τὴν πόλιν πρὸς τὴν ἤπειρον ἀχαράκωτον εἴασε, κατὰ μέσην ὑπάρχον τὴν αὑτοῦ στρατοπεδείαν, §10.11.3εἴτε καὶ καταπλήξεως χάριν εἴτε καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐπιβολὴν ἁρμοζόμενος, ὅπως ἀνεμποδίστους ἔχῃ καὶ τὰς ἐξαγωγὰς καὶ τὰς ἀναχωρήσεις εἰς τὴν παρεμβολήν.
But the intervening space between these, which connected the city with the mainland, he left unfortified with palisades, as it lay in the very middle of his camp, either to strike terror into the enemy or to adapt it to his enterprise, so that he might have both the sallies and the retreats into the camp unobstructed.
§10.11.4ὁ δὲ περίβολος τῆς πόλεως οὐ πλεῖον εἴκοσι σταδίων ὑπῆρχε τὸ πρότερον — καίτοι γʼ οὐκ ἀγνοῶ διότι πολλοῖς εἴρηται τετταράκοντα· τὸ δʼ ἐστὶ ψεῦδος. οὐ γὰρ ἐξ ἀκοῆς ἡμεῖς, ἀλλʼ αὐτόπται γεγονότες μετʼ ἐπιστάσεως ἀποφαινόμεθα — νῦν δὲ καὶ μᾶλλον ἔτι συνῄρηται. πλὴν ὅ γε Πόπλιος,
The circumference of the city did not formerly exceed twenty stades—although I am not unaware that it has been stated by many to be forty, which is false; for I make my statement not from hearsay but as an eyewitness who has examined it with attention—and now it has been contracted even more.
§10.11.5συνάψαντος καὶ τοῦ στόλου πρὸς τὸν δέοντα καιρόν, ἐπεβάλετο συναθροίσας τὰ πλήθη παρακαλεῖν, οὐχ ἑτέροις τισὶ χρώμενος ἀπολογισμοῖς, ἀλλʼ οἷς ἐτύγχανε πεπεικὼς αὑτόν, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἡμεῖς τὸν κατὰ μέρος ἄρτι πεποιήμεθα λόγον.
However, Publius, when the fleet also joined him at the proper time, undertook to assemble the masses and encourage them, using no other arguments than those by which he had succeeded in convincing himself, which we have just detailed.
ἀποδείξας δὲ δυνατὴν οὖσαν τὴν ἐπιβολήν, §10.11.6καὶ συγκεφαλαιωσάμενος τὴν ἐκ τοῦ κατορθώματος ἐλάττωσιν τῶν ὑπεναντίων, αὔξησιν δὲ τῶν σφετέρων πραγμάτων, λοιπὸν χρυσοῦς στεφάνους ἐπηγγείλατο τοῖς πρώτοις ἐπὶ τὸ τεῖχος ἀναβᾶσι καὶ τὰς εἰθισμένας δωρεὰς τοῖς ἐπιφανῶς ἀνδραγαθήσασι·
Having demonstrated that the attempt was possible, and having summarized how their success would result in the diminution of the enemy's power and the advancement of their own affairs, he finally promised golden crowns to those who should first mount the wall, and the customary gifts to those who should display distinguished bravery.
§10.11.7τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔφη τὴν ἐπιβολὴν αὐτῷ ταύτην ὑποδεδειχέναι τὸν Ποσειδῶνα παραστάντα κατὰ τὸν ὕπνον, καὶ φάναι συνεργήσειν ἐπιφανῶς κατʼ αὐτὸν τὸν τῆς πράξεως καιρὸν οὕτως ὥστε παντὶ τῷ στρατοπέδῳ τὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ χρείαν ἐναργῆ γενέσθαι.
And last of all, he declared that Poseidon had from the very beginning suggested this plan to him, appearing to him in his sleep, and had promised to give visible assistance at the very moment of action, so that his help would be manifest to the whole army.
§10.11.8τῶν δὲ κατὰ τὴν παράκλησιν λόγων ἅμα μὲν ἀπολογισμοῖς ἀκριβέσι μεμιγμένων, ἅμα δʼ ἐπαγγελίαις χρυσῶν στεφάνων, ἐπὶ δὲ πᾶσι τούτοις θεοῦ προνοίᾳ, τελέως μεγάλην ὁρμὴν καὶ προθυμίαν παρίστασθαι συνέβαινε τοῖς νεανίσκοις.
As the words of encouragement were mixed on the one hand with precise reasoning, and on the other with promises of golden crowns, and above all with divine providence, a completely great impulse and eagerness came over the young men.

Notes

  1. 10.11.2ἀχαράκωτον εἴασε — The subject of the verb εἴασε (3rd person singular aorist of ἐάω) is, from the context, the Roman commander Publius Cornelius Scipio, though it is not explicitly stated in this sentence. The subject introduced at the end of 11.4 as πλὴν ὅ γε Πόπλιος connects, after a long parenthetical insertion about the circumference of the city, to the verb ἐπεβάλετο in 11.5.
  2. 10.11.4διότι — While in classical Attic prose διότι is primarily used as a causal conjunction meaning 'because', in Hellenistic Greek (Koine) of authors like Polybius, it is frequently used synonymously with ὅτι to introduce object clauses ('that') after verbs of knowing or perceiving (here ἀγνοῶ).
  3. 10.11.7καὶ φάναι — This infinitive φάναι (present infinitive of φημί) is part of the indirect discourse dependent on the main verb ἔφη, forming an accusative and infinitive (AcI) construction with Poseidon as the subject. Since φάναι itself means 'to say', it creates a double nesting of reported speech: '[Scipio] said that [Poseidon] said (promised) that...'

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §10.11.1-10.11.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:10.11.1-10.11.8

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.