Polybius · The Histories §14.1a.1-14.1a.5

Scope of the Olympiad and the Plan of Book Fourteen

Passage 796 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Polybius explains the supreme importance of the history of this Olympiad, during which the wars in Italy and Libya ended, and justifies his departure from his usual programmatic practice of covering two years per book to preserve the dignity of the narrative.

§14.1a.1ὅτι φησὶν ὁ Πολύβιος περὶ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ περὶ τῆς τῶν βίβλων ὑποθετικῆς ἐξηγήσεως· ἴσως μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ πάσαις ταῖς ὀλυμπιάσιν αἱ προεκθέσεις τῶν πράξεων εἰς ἐπίστασιν ἄγουσι τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας καὶ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος καὶ διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν γεγονότων, ὡς ἂν ὑπὸ μίαν σύνοψιν ἀγομένων τῶν ἐξ ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἔργων·

That Polybius says about himself and about the programmatic exposition of his books: "Perhaps, indeed, in the case of all the Olympiads, the preliminary expositions of the events direct the attention of the readers, both because of the number and because of the magnitude of the occurrences, as if the deeds from the whole inhabited world were being brought under a single overview.

§14.1a.2οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ τὰ κατὰ ταύτην τὴν ὀλυμπιάδα μάλιστα νομίζω συνεπιστήσειν τοὺς ἀναγινώσκοντας διὰ τὸ πρῶτον μὲν τοὺς κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν καὶ Λιβύην πολέμους ἐν τούτοις τοῖς χρόνοις εἰληφέναι τὴν συντέλειαν· ὑπὲρ ὧν τίς οὐκ ἂν ἱστορῆσαι βουληθείη ποία τις ἡ καταστροφὴ καὶ τί τὸ τέλος αὐτῶν ἐγένετο;

Nevertheless, I think that the events of this Olympiad in particular will capture the attention of readers, first because the wars in Italy and Libya reached their completion in these times; concerning which, who would not wish to inquire what sort of conclusion and what end they had?

§14.1a.3φύσει γὰρ πάντες ἄνθρωποι, κἂν ὁλοσχερῶς παραδέχωνται τὰ κατὰ μέρος ἔργα καὶ λόγους, ὅμως ἑκάστων τὸ τέλος ἱμείρουσι μαθεῖν·

For by nature all men, even if they accept individual deeds and speeches in a general way, nevertheless desire to learn the end of each.

§14.1a.4πρὸς δὲ τούτοις συμβαίνει καὶ τὰς προαιρέσεις τῶν βασιλέων ἐκφανεστάτας γεγονέναι κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους· ἃ γὰρ πρότερον ἐλέγετο περὶ αὐτῶν, τότε σαφῶς ἐπεγνώσθη πάντα παρὰ πᾶσι καὶ τοῖς μηδʼ ὅλως ἐθέλουσι πολυπραγμονεῖν.

And in addition to these things, it also happens that the purposes of the kings became most manifest during these same times; for what was previously said about them was then clearly recognized in all aspects by everyone, even by those who do not wish to be inquisitive at all.

§14.1a.5διὸ καὶ βουλόμενοι κατʼ ἀξίαν τῶν ἔργων ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἐξήγησιν, οὐ τὰς ἐκ τῶν δυεῖν ἐτῶν πράξεις κατατετάχαμεν εἰς μίαν βύβλον, καθάπερ ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων ἀποδεδώκαμεν.

Therefore, wishing to make the exposition worthy of the deeds, we have not arranged the events of two years into a single book, as we have done in the preceding books."

Notes

14.1a.1ὡς ἂν ... ἀγομένων — The conjunction ὡς ἄν combined with the genitive absolute ἀγομένων (present passive participle of ἄγω) expresses a hypothetical comparison ("as if") or a subjective reasoning of the situation.
14.1a.2συνεπιστήσειν — The future active infinitive of the verb συνεπιστάνω ("to direct attention further/together with"). It forms an accusative-and-infinitive construction with the main verb νομίζω, where the subject of the infinitive is the preceding neuter plural accusative τὰ κατὰ ταύτην τὴν ὀλυμπιάδα and the object is τοὺς ἀναγινώσκοντας.
14.1a.5δυεῖν ἐτῶν — The genitive of the numeral and noun dependent on the preposition ἐκ. Meaning "two years," it refers to Polybius's standard programmatic method of dedicating one book to the events of two years (half an Olympiad), from which he declares an exception here.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §14.1a.1-14.1a.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:14.1a.1-14.1a.5

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.