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Polybius · The Histories §18.16.1-18.16.4

Attalus's Benefactions to Sicyon and the Honors Bestowed

Passage 905 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

The great benefactions of King Attalus to the city of Sicyon, the supreme honors bestowed upon him by the Sicyonians in return, and his subsequent departure.

§18.16.1ὅτι ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἄτταλος ἐτιμᾶτο μὲν καὶ πρότερον ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν Σικυωνίων πόλεως διαφερόντως, ἐξ οὗ τὴν ἱερὰν χώραν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἐλυτρώσατο χρημάτων αὐτοῖς οὐκ ὀλίγων, §18.16.2ἀνθʼ ὧν καὶ τὸν κολοσσὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν δεκάπηχυν ἔστησαν παρὰ τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα τὸν κατὰ τὴν ἀγοράν.
King Attalus was exceptionally honored even before this by the city of the Sicyonians, from the time when he ransomed for them the sacred land of Apollo for no small sum of money, in return for which they had also set up a colossal statue of him, ten cubits high, beside the statue of Apollo in the agora.
§18.16.3τότε δὲ πάλιν αὐτοῦ δέκα τάλαντα δόντος καὶ μυρίους μεδίμνους πυρῶν, πολλαπλασίως ἐπιταθέντες ταῖς εὐνοίαις εἰκόνα τε χρυσῆν ἐψηφίσαντο καὶ θυσίαν αὐτῷ συντελεῖν κατʼ ἔτος ἐνομοθέτησαν.
But on this occasion, when he again gave them ten talents and ten thousand medimnoi of wheat, their goodwill was multiplied many times over, and they voted him a golden statue and passed a law to perform an annual sacrifice in his honor.
§18.16.4Ἄτταλος μὲν οὖν τυχὼν τῶν τιμῶν τούτων ἀπῆρεν εἰς Κεγχρεάς. —
Attalus, therefore, having received these honors, set sail for Cenchreae.

Notes

  1. 18.16.1ἐξ οὗ — A temporal idiomatic expression consisting of the preposition ἐκ and the genitive neuter singular of the relative pronoun ὅς, with the omission of the noun χρόνου, meaning 'since the time when'.
  2. 18.16.1χρημάτων... οὐκ ὀλίγων — The genitive of price depending on the verb ἐλυτρώσατο (ransomed, redeemed).
  3. 18.16.3αὐτοῦ δέκα τάλαντα δόντος — A genitive absolute construction with αὐτοῦ (referring to Attalus) as the logical subject, used because the subject of the main clause is the Sicyonians.
  4. 18.16.3ἐπιταθέντες — The aorist passive participle, nominative masculine plural, of ἐπιτείνω (to strain, intensify, increase), agreeing with the subject of the main clause (the Sicyonians). Combined with the dative ταῖς εὐνοίαις, it means 'being multiplied many times in their goodwill'.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §18.16.1-18.16.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:18.16.1-18.16.4

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