Humanitext Reader

Polybius · The Histories §15.32.1-15.32.11

Surrender of the King and the Manhunt for Agathocles

Passage 843 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Having run out of options, Agathocles' party hands over the young king, who is taken to the stadium and welcomed by the crowd. The bodyguard Sosibius, with the king's nod, promises to surrender the culprits, prompting the soldiers to search for them.

§15.32.1πρὸς τὸ περιποιήσασθαι τὸ ζῆν αὐτὸ μόνον· ἐπεὶ δὲ πολλὰ κατολοφυρόμενοι τὴν αὑτῶν τύχην οὐδὲν ἤνυον, τέλος ἐξέπεμψαν τὸν παῖδα μετὰ τῶν σωματοφυλάκων.
...for the purpose of preserving their bare life; but when, after much lamentation over their fortune, they achieved nothing, they finally sent out the boy with the bodyguards.
§15.32.2οἱ δὲ Μακεδόνες, παραλαβόντες τὸν βασιλέα καὶ ταχέως ἐφʼ ἵππον ἀναβιβάσαντες, ἦγον εἰς τὸ στάδιον.
The Macedonians, having received the king and quickly mounted him on a horse, led him to the stadium.
§15.32.3ἅμα δὲ τῷ φανῆναι μεγάλης κραυγῆς καὶ κρότου γενηθέντος, ἐπιστήσαντες τὸν ἵππον καθεῖλον τὸν παῖδα, καὶ προαγαγόντες ἐκάθισαν εἰς τὴν βασιλικὴν θέαν.
As soon as he appeared, a great shout and applause arose; having stopped the horse, they took the boy down, and bringing him forward, seated him in the royal seat.
§15.32.4περὶ δὲ τοὺς ὄχλους ἐγένετό τις ἅμα χαρὰ καὶ λύπη· τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἦσαν περιχαρεῖς ἐπὶ τῷ κεκομίσθαι τὸν παῖδα, τὰ δὲ πάλιν δυσηρέστουν τῷ μὴ συνειλῆφθαι τοὺς αἰτίους μηδὲ τυγχάνειν τῆς ἁρμοζούσης τιμωρίας.
Among the crowds there arose a certain mixture of joy and grief; on the one hand they were overjoyed at having recovered the boy, but on the other hand they were displeased that the guilty parties had not been arrested and were not receiving fitting punishment.
§15.32.5διὸ καὶ συνεχῶς ἐβόων, ἄγειν κελεύοντες καὶ παραδειγματίζειν τοὺς πάντων τῶν κακῶν αἰτίους.
Therefore they also continuously shouted, ordering them to bring and make an example of those responsible for all the evils.
§15.32.6ἤδη δὲ τῆς ἡμέρας προβαινούσης, καὶ τοῦ πλήθους ἐπʼ οὐδένα δυναμένου πέρας ἀπερείσασθαι τὴν ὁρμήν, Σωσίβιος, ὃς ἦν μὲν υἱὸς Σωσιβίου, τότε δὲ σωματοφύλαξ ὑπάρχων μάλιστα τὸν νοῦν προσεῖχε τῷ τε βασιλεῖ καὶ τοῖς πράγμασι, §15.32.7θεωρῶν τήν τε τοῦ πλήθους ὁρμὴν ἀμετάθετον οὖσαν καὶ τὸ παιδίον δυσχρηστούμενον διά τε τὴν τῶν παρεστώτων ἀσυνήθειαν καὶ διὰ τὴν περὶ τὸν ὄχλον ταραχήν, ἐπύθετο τοῦ βασιλέως εἰ παραδώσει τοῖς πολλοῖς τοὺς εἰς αὐτὸν ἢ τὴν μητέρα τι πεπλημμεληκότας.
Now as the day was advancing and the crowd was unable to direct its impulse to any definite end, Sosibius—who was the son of Sosibius, and being at that time a bodyguard, paid the greatest attention both to the king and to state affairs— seeing that the impulse of the crowd was unalterable and that the child was distressed both by the unfamiliarity of those standing by and by the tumult around the crowd, asked the king if he would hand over to the multitude those who had committed any offense against him or his mother.
§15.32.8τοῦ δὲ κατανεύσαντος, τῶν μὲν σωματοφυλάκων τισὶν εἶπε δηλῶσαι τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως γνώμην, τὸ δὲ παιδίον ἀναστήσας ἀπῆγε πρὸς τὴν θεραπείαν εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν οἰκίαν, σύνεγγυς οὖσαν.
When he nodded, he told some of the bodyguards to declare the king's decision, and having raised up the child, he led him away for care to his own house, which was nearby.
§15.32.9τῶν δὲ διασαφούντων τὰ παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως, κατερρήγνυτο πᾶς ὁ τόπος ὑπὸ τοῦ κρότου καὶ τῆς κραυγῆς.
As they made clear the message from the king, the whole place was rent with applause and shouting.
§15.32.10οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἀγαθοκλέα καὶ τὴν Ἀγαθόκλειαν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ καιρῷ διεχωρίσθησαν ἀλλήλων εἰς τὰς ἰδίας καταλύσεις.
Meanwhile Agathocles and Agathoclea and their party dispersed from one another to their own lodgings.
ταχὺ δὲ τῶν στρατιωτῶν τινες, §15.32.11οἱ μὲν ἐθελοντήν, οἱ δʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους ἐξωθούμενοι, παρώρμησαν ἐπὶ τὸ ζητεῖν τοὺς προειρημένους.
But quickly some of the soldiers, some voluntarily, others pushed on by the crowd, hastened to search for the aforesaid persons.

Notes

  1. 15.32.1πρὸς τὸ περιποιήσασθαι τὸ ζῆν αὐτὸ μόνον — This phrase consists of `πρός` with the articular infinitive expressing purpose, continuing directly from `πᾶσαν προϊέμενοι φωνήν` (uttering every kind of cry) at the end of the previous chunk. Note the syntactic connection across the chunk boundary.
  2. 15.32.3ἅμα δὲ τῷ φανῆναι μεγάλης κραυγῆς καὶ κρότου γενηθέντος — The prepositional adverb `ἅμα` meaning 'at the same time as' is followed by the dative articular infinitive (`τῷ φανῆναι`), and is juxtaposed with the genitive absolute construction expressing time (`μεγάλης κραυγῆς... γενηθέντος`).
  3. 15.32.4τὰ μὲν ... τὰ δὲ — Adverbial accusative of the neuter plural pronoun, introducing the contrast 'on the one hand... on the other hand...'. The implied subject is the crowd (`τοὺς ὄχλους`), as indicated by the following verbs (`ἦσαν` and `δυσηρέστουν`).
  4. 15.32.6Σωσίβιος ... ἐπύθετο — Between the subject `Σωσίβιος` (32.6) and the main verb `ἐπύθετο` (32.7), a long insertion containing the relative clause `ὃς ἦν...` and the participle `θεωρῶν` (32.7) is interposed. The main grammatical structure of the sentence is 'Sosibius... asked the king'.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §15.32.1-15.32.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:15.32.1-15.32.11

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