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Polybius · The Histories §10.20.1-10.20.8

Military Training and Weapon Production at Carthago

Passage 666 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Publius imposed rigorous training on his land and sea forces in Carthago, actively supervised the artisans to manufacture weapons, and, after placing the city in a state of prepared defense, marched towards Tarraco.

§10.20.1αὐτὸς δὲ χρόνον μέν τινʼ ἐν τῇ Καρχηδόνι τάς τε ναυτικὰς δυνάμεις ἐγύμναζε συνεχῶς καὶ τοῖς χιλιάρχοις ὑπέδειξε τοιοῦτόν τινα τρόπον τῆς τῶν πεζικῶν στρατοπέδων γυμνασίας.
For some time he remained in Carthago, training the naval forces continuously and prescribing to the military tribunes the following method for the exercise of the land forces.
§10.20.2τὴν μὲν πρώτην ἡμέραν ἐκέλευσε τροχάζειν ἐπὶ τριάκοντα σταδίους ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις, τὴν δὲ δευτέραν πάντας ἐκτρίβειν καὶ θεραπεύειν καὶ κατασκοπεῖν ἐν τῷ φανερῷ τὰς πανοπλίας, τῇ δʼ ἑξῆς ἀναπαύεσθαι καὶ ῥᾳθυμεῖν, §10.20.3τῇ δὲ μετὰ ταύτην τοὺς μὲν μαχαιρομαχεῖν ξυλίναις ἐσκυτωμέναις μετʼ ἐπισφαιρῶν μαχαίραις, τοὺς δὲ τοῖς ἐσφαιρωμένοις γρόσφοις ἀκοντίζειν, τῇ δὲ πέμπτῃ πάλιν ἐπὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς δρόμους καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐπανάγειν.
On the first day, he ordered them to run thirty stades in full armour; on the second, all of them to rub down, clean, and publicly inspect their panoplies; on the next day, to rest and take leisure; on the day after that, some to practice sword-fighting with wooden, leather-covered swords with buttons on the points, and others to throw javelins fitted with buttons; and on the fifth day, to return again to the same running exercises and repeat the routine from the beginning.
§10.20.4ἵνα δὲ μήτε τῶν πρὸς τὰς μελέτας ὅπλων μήτε τῶν πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν μηδὲν ἐλλείπῃ, τὴν πλείστην ἐποιεῖτο σπουδὴν πρὸς τοὺς χειροτέχνας.
In order that there should be no lack of arms either for practice or for real service, he directed his utmost attention towards the artisans.
§10.20.5κατὰ μέρος μὲν οὖν ἄνδρας ἐπιμελεῖς ἐφεστάκει πρὸς ταύτην τὴν χρείαν, καθάπερ ἐπάνω προεῖπον· αὐτὸς δὲ καθʼ ἡμέραν ἐπεπορεύετο, καὶ διʼ αὑτοῦ τὰς χορηγίας ἑκάστοις παρεσκεύαζε.
He had, indeed, appointed diligent men to oversee this work in each department, as I said before; but he himself went round every day, and personally provided the supplies for each of them.
§10.20.6λοιπὸν τῶν μὲν πεζικῶν στρατοπέδων κατὰ τοὺς πρὸ τῆς πόλεως τόπους χρωμένων ταῖς μελέταις καὶ ταῖς γυμνασίαις, τῶν δὲ ναυτικῶν δυνάμεων κατὰ θάλατταν ταῖς ἀναπείραις καὶ ταῖς εἰρεσίαις, τῶν δὲ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ἀκονώντων τε καὶ χαλκευόντων καὶ τεκταινομένων, καὶ συλλήβδην ἁπάντων σπουδαζόντων περὶ τὰς τῶν ὅπλων κατασκευάς, §10.20.7οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὃς οὐκ ἂν εἶπε κατὰ τὸν Ξενοφῶντα τότε θεασάμενος ἐκείνην τὴν πόλιν ἐργαστήριον εἶναι πολέμου.
Consequently, while the land forces were performing their exercises and training in the spaces outside the city, the naval forces were carrying out maneuvers and rowing practices at sea, and those in the city were sharpening, forging, and carpeting, and everyone in general was busily occupied with the manufacture of arms, no one who beheld that city at the time could have failed to say, in the words of Xenophon, that it was a workshop of war.
§10.20.8ἐπεὶ δʼ αὐτῷ πάντα καλῶς ἐδόκει καὶ δεόντως ἐξησκῆσθαι τὰ πρὸς τὰς χρείας, μετὰ ταῦτα ταῖς τε φυλακαῖς καὶ ταῖς τῶν τειχῶν κατασκευαῖς ἀσφαλισάμενος τὰ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν, ἀνέζευξε καὶ τῇ πεζικῇ καὶ ναυτικῇ δυνάμει, καὶ προῆγε ποιούμενος τὴν πορείαν ὡς ἐπὶ Ταρράκωνος, ἔχων μεθʼ αὑτοῦ καὶ τοὺς ὁμήρους.
And when it seemed to him that everything necessary for their service had been thoroughly and properly prepared, he secured the safety of the city with guards and by repairing the walls, and then set out with both his land and sea forces, directing his march towards Tarraco, keeping the hostages also with him.

Notes

  1. 10.20.3τοὺς μὲν μαχαιρομαχεῖν... τοὺς δὲ... ἀκοντίζειν — Accusative with infinitive construction governed by ἐκέλευσε (from 10.20.2). τοὺς μὲν and τοὺς δὲ function as the subject accusatives of their respective infinitives.
  2. 10.20.7οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὃς οὐκ ἂν εἶπε — Double negation ("there is no one who would not have said" = "everyone would have said"). The combination of ἂν with the aorist indicative εἶπε expresses a past potential or counterfactual result.
  3. 10.20.8ἐπεὶ δʼ αὐτῷ πάντα καλῶς ἐδόκει... ἐξησκῆσθαι — The verb ἐδόκει is used here with the perfect infinitive ἐξησκῆσθαι, which has πάντα... τὰ πρὸς τὰς χρείας as its subject accusative. αὐτῷ is the dative of agent/judgement ("it seemed to him that...").

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §10.20.1-10.20.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:10.20.1-10.20.8

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