Polybius · The Histories §11.24a.1-11.24a.4

Publius's Foresight and His Meeting with Syphax

Passage 722 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

After driving the Carthaginians out of Iberia, Scipio was already looking ahead to the next war against Carthage despite others' congratulations. Furthermore, during his meeting with Syphax, his exceptional conversational skills deeply alarmed Hasdrubal.

§11.24a.1ὅτι πάντων εὐδαιμονιζόντων τὸν Πόπλιον μετὰ τὸ τοὺς Καρχηδονίους ἐξελάσαι τῆς Ἰβηρίας, καὶ παρακαλούντων ἀναπαύεσθαι καὶ ῥᾳθυμεῖν, ἐπεὶ πέρας ἐπιτέθεικε τῷ πολέμῳ, μακαρίζειν αὐτοὺς ἔφη διότι τοιαύτας ἔχουσι τὰς ἐλπίδας, §11.24a.2αὐτὸς δὲ νῦν καὶ μάλιστα βουλεύεσθαι τίνα τρόπον ἄρξηται τοῦ πρὸς Καρχηδονίους πολέμου·

That when all were congratulating Publius after he had driven the Carthaginians out of Iberia, and were urging him to rest and take it easy, since he had put an end to the war, he said that he congratulated them because they held such hopes, but that he himself was now most of all deliberating in what way he should begin the war against the Carthaginians.

§11.24a.3τὸν μὲν γὰρ πρὸ τούτου χρόνον Καρχηδονίους Ῥωμαίοις πεπολεμηκέναι, νυνὶ δὲ τὴν τύχην παραδεδωκέναι καιρὸν εἰς τὸ Ῥωμαίους Καρχηδονίοις ἐξενεγκεῖν πόλεμον. — ὅτι ὁ Πόπλιος διαλεχθεὶς τῷ Σόφακι, §11.24a.4ἅτε δὴ πρὸς τοῦτο τὸ μέρος εὐφυὴς ὑπάρχων, οὕτω φιλανθρώπως ὡμίλησε καὶ ἐπιδεξίως ὥστε τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν εἰπεῖν ταῖς ὕστερον ἡμέραις πρὸς τὸν Σόφακα διότι φοβερώτερος αὐτῷ Πόπλιος πέφηνε κατὰ τὴν ὁμιλίαν ἤπερ ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις. —

For in the time before this, the Carthaginians had made war on the Romans, but now Fortune had offered an opportunity for the Romans to carry the war against the Carthaginians. — That Publius, having conversed with Syphax, since he was naturally gifted in this respect, conversed so amiably and adroitly that Hasdrubal said to Syphax in the following days that Publius had appeared more formidable to him in conversation than in arms. —

Notes

11.24a.1μακαρίζειν — The verb μακαρίζω generally means "to deem happy" or "to congratulate," but here it is used with a touch of irony to mean "to envy" (i.e., that they are able to hold such carefree hopes while he still faces major tasks).
11.24a.2αὐτὸς — Subject of the infinitive βουλεύεσθαι in indirect discourse. While the subject of an infinitive is normally in the accusative, the nominative αὐτός is used here for emphasis because it is identical to the subject of the governing verb ἔφη (Publius).
11.24a.3εἰς τὸ Ῥωμαίους Καρχηδονίοις ἐξενεγκεῖν πόλεμον — A prepositional phrase showing purpose or result, consisting of εἰς and the articular infinitive (neuter singular accusative τὸ ἐξενεγκεῖν). The accusative Ῥωμαίους acts as the subject of the infinitive, πόλεμον as its object, and the dative Καρχηδονίοις indicates the target of the war.
11.24a.4ἤπερ ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις — This phrase introduces the standard of comparison for the comparative adjective φοβερώτερος. The conjunction ἤπερ ("than") introduces the prepositional phrase ἐν toῖς ὅπλοις ("in arms/in battle"), which is contrasted with κατὰ τὴν ὁμιλίαν ("in conversation") in the first part of the clause.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §11.24a.1-11.24a.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:11.24a.1-11.24a.4

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