Humanitext Reader

Polybius · The Histories §11.5.1-11.5.9

Denunciation of the Aetolian Treaty with Rome

Passage 701 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

The speaker exposes the hypocrisy of the Etolians, who claim to fight for Greek freedom but have actually concluded a shameful treaty with the Romans, delivering their fellow Greeks to barbarian outrage and enslavement as shown by the fates of Oreus and Aegina.

§11.5.1λάβετε τοίνυν πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν τὴν αὑτῶν ἄγνοιαν.
Therefore, place your own ignorance before your eyes.
φατὲ μὲν γὰρ πολεμεῖν ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἑλλήνων πρὸς Φίλιππον, ἵνα σῳζόμενοι μὴ ποιῶσι τούτῳ τὸ προσταττόμενον, πολεμεῖτε δʼ ἐπʼ ἐξανδραποδισμῷ καὶ καταφθορᾷ τῆς Ἑλλάδος. §11.5.2ταῦτα γὰρ αἱ συνθῆκαι λέγουσιν ὑμῶν αἱ πρὸς Ῥωμαίους, αἳ πρότερον μὲν ἐν τοῖς γράμμασιν ὑπῆρχον, νῦν δʼ ἐν τοῖς πράγμασι θεωροῦνται γινόμεναι. §11.5.3καὶ τότε μὲν αὐτὰ τὰ γράμματα τὴν αἰσχύνην ὑμῖν ἐπέφερε, νῦν δὲ διὰ τῶν ἔργων ὑπὸ τὴν ὄψιν τοῦτο γίνεται πᾶσι καταφανές. §11.5.4λοιπὸν ὁ μὲν Φίλιππος ὄνομα γίνεται καὶ πρόσχημα τοῦ πολέμου· πάσχει γὰρ οὐδὲν δεινόν· τούτῳ δὲ συμμάχων ὑπαρχόντων Πελοποννησίων τῶν πλείστων, Βοιωτῶν, Εὐβοέων, Φωκέων, Λοκρῶν, Θετταλῶν, Ἠπειρωτῶν, κατὰ τούτων πεποίησθε §11.5.5τὰς συνθήκας ἐφʼ ᾧ τὰ μὲν σώματα καὶ τἄπιπλα Ῥωμαίων ὑπάρχειν, τὰς δὲ πόλεις καὶ τὴν χώραν Αἰτωλῶν. §11.5.6καὶ κυριεύσαντες μὲν αὐτοὶ πόλεως οὔτʼ ἂν ὑβρίζειν ὑπομείναιτε τοὺς ἐλευθέρους οὔτʼ ἐμπιπράναι τὰς πόλεις, νομίζοντες ὠμὸν εἶναι τὸ τοιοῦτο καὶ βαρβαρικόν· §11.5.7συνθήκας δὲ πεποίησθε τοιαύτας, διʼ ὧν ἅπαντας τοὺς ἄλλους Ἕλληνας ἐκδότους δεδώκατε τοῖς βαρβάροις εἰς τὰς αἰσχίστας ὕβρεις καὶ παρανομίας. §11.5.8καὶ ταῦτα πρότερον μὲν ἠγνοεῖτο· νυνὶ δὲ διὰ τῆς Ὠρειτῶν καὶ τῶν ταλαιπώρων Αἰγινητῶν ἅπασι γεγόνατε καταφανεῖς, τῆς τύχης ὥσπερ ἐπίτηδες ἐπὶ τὴν ἐξώστραν ἀναβιβαζούσης τὴν ὑμετέραν ἄγνοιαν. §11.5.9ἡ μὲν οὖν ἀρχὴ τοῦ πολέμου καὶ τὰ νῦν ἤδη συμβαίνοντα τοιαῦτʼ ἐστί·
For you say indeed that you wage war against Philip on behalf of the Greeks, in order that they, being saved, may not do what is commanded by him; but you wage war for the enslavement and destruction of Greece. For this is what your treaty with the Romans says, which formerly existed in writing, but is now seen to be realized in actual deeds. And then indeed the writing itself brought shame upon you, but now through deeds this is made manifest before the eyes of all. Consequently, Philip becomes a mere name and pretext of the war; for he suffers nothing terrible; and although most of the Peloponnesians, the Boeotians, Euboeans, Phocians, Locrians, Thessalians, and Epirotes are his allies, you have made against these the treaty on the condition that the persons and movable property should belong to the Romans, but the cities and the territory to the Etolians. And if you yourselves had become masters of a city, you would neither bring yourselves to outrage free men, nor to burn the cities, deeming such a thing to be cruel and barbarian; but you have made such a treaty, through which you have delivered up all the other Greeks to the barbarians for the most shameful outrages and lawless treatments. And these things were formerly unknown; but now, through the fate of the people of Oreus and of the wretched Aeginetans, you have become manifest to all, fortune, as if on purpose, bringing your ignorance up onto the stage. Such then is the beginning of the war, and what is already now happening; but what kind of end must you expect, if indeed everything should go completely according to your mind?
τὸ δὲ τέλος, ἂν ὅλως πάντα κατὰ νοῦν ὑμῖν χωρήσῃ, ποῖόν τι δεῖ προσδοκᾶν; ἆρʼ οὐ κακῶν ἀρχὴν μεγά
Is it not a great beginning of evils

Notes

  1. §11.5.1ἵνα σῳζόμενοι μὴ ποιῶσι τούτῳ τὸ προσταττόμενον — The participle σῳζόμενοι within the purpose clause introduced by ἵνα agrees with the subject of the clause (the Greeks). τούτῳ is the dative of the demonstrative pronoun οὗτος, referring here to Philip, and functions as either the agent of the middle-passive participle τὸ προσταττόμενον ('what is commanded') or the indirect object ('do what is commanded to him').
  2. §11.5.4κατὰ τούτων πεποίησθε — The object of the verb πεποίησθε (second-person plural perfect middle of ποιέω), which is τὰς συνθήκας, is placed at the beginning of the next section (§11.5.5), creating a hyperbaton. The prepositional phrase κατὰ τούτων ('against these') refers back to the entire list of allied states mentioned previously.
  3. §11.5.5ἐφʼ ᾧ τὰ μὲν σώματα καὶ τἄπιπλα Ῥωμαίων ὑπάρχειν — The idiom ἐφʼ ᾧ (or ἐφʼ ᾧτε) introduces a condition or agreement meaning 'on condition that,' and is followed by the infinitive (here, ὑπάρχειν). The accusative subjects (τὰ μὲν σώματα καὶ τἄπιπλα and τὰς δὲ πόλεις καὶ τὴν χώραν) serve as the subject of the infinitive.
  4. §11.5.6κυριεύσαντες μὲν αὐτοὶ πόλεως οὔτʼ ἂν ὑβρίζειν ὑπομείναιτε — The aorist participle κυριεύσαντες functions conditionally, equivalent to a condition (εἰ κυριεύσαιτε), and corresponds with ἄν and the optative (ὑπομείναιτε) in the apodosis to form a potential condition ('if you yourselves were to become masters, you would not endure...').
  5. §11.5.8τῆς τύχης ὥσπερ ἐπίτηδες ἐπὶ τὴν ἐξώστραν ἀναβιβαζούσης τὴν ὑμετέραν ἄγνοιαν — This is a genitive absolute construction explaining the cause or circumstances of the main action. The noun ἐξώστρα refers to a theatrical machine (a roll-out platform) used in ancient Greek drama to bring interior scenes, especially the aftermath of violence, into the view of the audience, used here metaphorically to mean 'exposing to public view.'

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §11.5.1-11.5.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:11.5.1-11.5.9

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