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Polybius · The Histories §15.22.1-15.22.5

Philip's Capture of Kios and His Blunders

Passage 830 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Philip rejoices over his capture of Kios, failing to recognize the negative consequences of his actions: aiding a treacherous kinsman, damaging his reputation among Greeks, insulting foreign ambassadors, and alienating the Rhodians.

§15.22.1ὁ δὲ Φίλιππος κύριος γενόμενος τῆς πόλεως περιχαρὴς ἦν, ὡς καλήν τινα καὶ σεμνὴν πρᾶξιν ἐπιτετελεσμένος καὶ βεβοηθηκὼς μὲν προθύμως τῷ κηδεστῇ, καταπεπληγμένος δὲ πάντας τοὺς ἀλλοτριάζοντας, σωμάτων δὲ καὶ χρημάτων εὐπορίαν ἐκ τοῦ δικαίου περιπεποιημένος.
Philip, having become master of the city, was overjoyed, thinking that he had accomplished a fine and noble deed, and had zealously aided his kinsman, terrified all his opponents, and acquired an abundance of captives and wealth by just means.
§15.22.2τὰ δʼ ἐναντία τούτοις οὐ καθεώρα, καίπερ ὄντα προφανῆ, πρῶτον μὲν ὡς οὐκ ἀδικουμένῳ, παρασπονδοῦντι δὲ τῷ κηδεστῇ τοὺς πέλας ἐβοήθει, §15.22.3δεύτερον ὅτι πόλιν Ἑλληνίδα περιβαλὼν τοῖς μεγίστοις ἀτυχήμασιν ἀδίκως ἔμελλε κυρώσειν τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ διαδεδομένην φήμην ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰς τοὺς φίλους ὠμότητος, ἐξ ἀμφοῖν δὲ δικαίως καὶ κληρονομήσειν παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς Ἕλλησι τὴν ἐπʼ ἀσεβείᾳ δόξαν, §15.22.4τρίτον ὡς ἐνυβρίκει τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν προειρημένων πόλεων πρεσβευταῖς, οἳ παρῆσαν ἐξελούμενοι τοὺς Κιανοὺς ἐκ τῶν περιεστώτων κακῶν, ὑπὸ δʼ ἐκείνου παρακαλούμενοι καὶ διαγελώμενοι καθʼ ἡμέραν ἠναγκάσθησαν αὐτόπται γενέσθαι τούτων, §15.22.5ὧν ἥκιστʼ ἂν ἐβουλήθησαν, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ὅτι τοὺς Ῥοδίους οὕτως ἀπετεθηριώκει τότε πρὸς αὑτὸν ὥστε μηδένα λόγον ἔτι προσίεσθαι
But he did not see the opposite facts, although they were obvious: first, that he was aiding a kinsman who was not being wronged, but was rather violating treaties with his neighbors; second, that by unjustly bringing the greatest misfortunes upon a Greek city, he was bound to confirm the rumor spread about him regarding his cruelty toward his friends, and from both of these acts, to justly inherit among all the Greeks a reputation for impiety; third, how he had insulted the ambassadors from the aforementioned cities, who were present to rescue the people of Kios from their surrounding evils, but being daily invited and mocked by him, they were forced to become eyewitnesses of these things, which they would least of all have wished to see; and in addition to these, that he had then so thoroughly brutalized the Rhodians against him that they would no longer accept any argument from him.

Notes

  1. 15.22.1ὡς ... ἐπιτετελεσμένος — The conjunction ὡς combined with the perfect participles expresses Philip's subjective belief or self-evaluation ('thinking that he had...'). This implies that the speaker considers his self-congratulatory perception to be detached from objective reality.
  2. 15.22.2τὰ δʼ ἐναντία τούτοις οὐ καθεώρα — Serving as the objects of the main verb οὐ καθεώρα ('he did not see'), four subordinate noun clauses are arranged in a long parallel structure across the sections: first, πρῶτον μὲν ὡς... (15.22.2); second, δεύτερον ὅτι... (15.22.3); third, τρίτον ὡς... (15.22.4); and fourth, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ὅτι... (15.22.5), listing the objective facts Philip overlooked.
  3. 15.22.5ὧν ἥκιστʼ ἂν ἐβουλήθησαν — The relative pronoun ὧν refers back to the antecedent τούτων (neuter plural) at the end of the previous section, attracted into the genitive case. The particle ἄν with the indicative aorist (ἐβουλήθησαν) expresses a past potentiality or a counterfactual wish ('which they would have least of all wished to see').

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §15.22.1-15.22.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:15.22.1-15.22.5

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