Humanitext Reader

Polybius · The Histories §18.52.1-18.52.5

Envoys of the Greek Cities and the Breakdown of the Talks

Passage 942 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

At the suggestion of the Romans, envoys from Lampsacus and Smyrna are summoned, but King Antiochus III, unwilling to appear to state his case before the Romans, cuts them short and breaks up the conference, proposing arbitration by the Rhodians.

§18.52.1τῶν δὲ περὶ τὸν Λεύκιον οἰομένων δεῖν καλεῖσθαι τοὺς Λαμψακηνοὺς καὶ τοὺς Σμυρναίους καὶ δοῦναι λόγον αὐτοῖς, ἐγένετο τοῦτο.
When Lucius and his associates thought that they ought to summon the people of Lampsacus and Smyrna and let them state their case to them, this was done.
§18.52.2παρῆσαν δὲ παρὰ μὲν Λαμψακηνῶν οἱ περὶ Παρμενίωνα καὶ Πυθόδωρον, παρὰ δὲ Σμυρναίων οἱ περὶ Κοίρανον.
There appeared on behalf of the Lampsacenes Parmenion and Pythodorus with their associates, and on behalf of the Smyrnaeans Coiranus and his associates.
ὧν μετὰ παρρησίας διαλεγομένων, §18.52.3δυσχεράνας ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ τῷ δοκεῖν λόγον ὑπέχειν ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίων τοῖς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀμφισβητοῦσι, μεσολαβήσας τὸν Παρμενίωνα" §18.52.4παῦσαι" φησὶ "τῶν πολλῶν· οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίων, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ Ῥοδίων ὑμῖν εὐδοκῶ διακριθῆναι περὶ τῶν ἀντιλεγομένων. §18.52.5"καὶ τότε μὲν ἐπὶ τούτοις διέλυσαν τὸν σύλλογον, οὐδαμῶς εὐδοκήσαντες ἀλλήλοις.
While they were speaking with freedom of speech, the king, feeling annoyed at the appearance of submitting to a trial before the Romans against those who disputed with him, interrupted Parmenion and said, "Cease your long speech," he said, "for I do not agree that the matters in dispute should be decided before the Romans, but before the Rhodians." And so for the time being, upon these terms, they broke up the conference, having in no way come to an agreement with each other.

Notes

  1. 18.52.1τῶν δὲ περὶ τὸν Λεύκιον οἰομένων — Genitive absolute construction. Since the subject of the clause differs from the main clause's subject (τοῦτο), the genitive participle οἰομένων with its subject clause forms an adverbial clause of cause, 'when Lucius and his associates thought...'.
  2. 18.52.3ἐπὶ τῷ δοκεῖν λόγον ὑπέχειν — The preposition ἐπί with the dative articular infinitive (τῷ δοκεῖν) expresses the cause of the king's annoyance ('feeling annoyed at the appearance of...'). The infinitive δοκεῖν takes the complement infinitive phrase λόγον ὑπέχειν ('submitting to a trial/stating one's case'), which in turn takes τοῖς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀμφισβητοῦσι as its dative object.
  3. 18.52.4παῦσαι τῶν πολλῶν — παῦσαι is the second-person singular aorist middle imperative of παύω, meaning intransitively 'cease' or 'stop'. It governs the genitive of separation (or ablatival genitive) τῶν πολλῶν, literally 'from many words' (i.e., 'your long speech').

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §18.52.1-18.52.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:18.52.1-18.52.5

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.