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Polybius · The Histories §2.13.1-2.13.7

Hasdrubal's Rise in Iberia and the Roman Treaty

Passage 101 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

In response to Hasdrubal's expansion of power in Iberia, including the founding of New Carthage, the Romans, while wary of the Celtic threat, secure their rear by concluding a treaty with him and prepare for war against the Celts.

§2.13.1Ἀσδρούβας δὲ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους — ἐν γὰρ τούτοις ἀπελίπομεν τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν — νουνεχῶς καὶ πραγματικῶς χειρίζων τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔν τε τοῖς ὅλοις μεγάλην ἐποιεῖτο προκοπήν, τήν τε παρὰ μὲν τισὶ Καρχηδόνα, παρὰ δὲ τισὶ Καινὴν πόλιν προσαγορευομένην κατασκευάσας οὐ μικρά, μεγάλα δὲ συνεβάλλετο Καρχηδονίοις εἰς πραγμάτων λόγον, §2.13.2καὶ μάλιστα διὰ τὴν εὐκαιρίαν τοῦ τόπου πρός τε τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν πράγματα καὶ πρὸς τὰ κατὰ τὴν Λιβύην, περὶ ἧς ἡμεῖς εὐφυέστερον καιρὸν λαβόντες ὑποδείξομεν τὴν θέσιν αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν χρείαν, ἣν ἀμφοτέραις δύναται παρέχεσθαι ταῖς εἰρημέναις χώραις.
Hasdrubal, at this same period—for it was at this point that we left off our narrative of affairs in Iberia—by governing his dominions with prudence and practical wisdom made great progress in general, and by founding the city which is called by some Carthage and by others New Town, he contributed in no small degree, but rather to a great extent, to the resources of the Carthaginians, and especially owing to the advantageous position of the place for affairs both in Iberia and in Libya, concerning which latter we will point out, when we find a more suitable opportunity, its situation and the utility which it is capable of affording to both the aforementioned countries.
§2.13.3ὃν καὶ θεωροῦντες Ῥωμαῖοι μείζω καὶ φοβερωτέραν ἤδη συνιστάμενον δυναστείαν, ὥρμησαν ἐπὶ τὸ πολυπραγμονεῖν τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν.
And when the Romans saw him establishing a larger and more formidable power, they set themselves to intervene in the affairs of Iberia.
§2.13.4εὑρόντες δὲ σφᾶς ἐπικεκοιμημένους ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν χρόνοις καὶ προειμένους εἰς τὸ μεγάλην χεῖρα κατασκευάσασθαι Καρχηδονίους, ἀνατρέχειν ἐπειρῶντο κατὰ δύναμιν.
Finding that they had been asleep in previous times, and had allowed the Carthaginians to build up a great power, they tried to recover themselves as far as possible.
§2.13.5αὐτόθεν μὲν οὖν ἐπιτάττειν ἢ πολεμεῖν οὐ κατετόλμων τοῖς Καρχηδονίοις διὰ τὸ τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν Κελτῶν φόβον ἐπικρέμασθαι τοῖς σφετέροις πράγμασιν καὶ μόνον οὐ καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν προσδοκᾶν τὴν ἔφοδον αὐτῶν.
For the moment, indeed, they did not venture to give orders to the Carthaginians or to make war on them, because the fear of the Celts was hanging over their own state, and they expected their attack almost every day.
§2.13.6καταψήσαντες δὲ καὶ πραΰναντες τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν, οὕτως ἔκριναν ἐγχειρεῖν τοῖς Κελτοῖς καὶ διακινδυνεύειν πρὸς αὐτούς, οὐδέποτʼ ἂν ὑπολαμβάνοντες οὐχ οἷον δυναστεῦσαι τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἀσφαλῶς οἰκῆσαι τὴν ἑαυτῶν πατρίδα, τούτους ἔχοντες ἐφέδρους τοὺς ἄνδρας.
So, having pacified and conciliated Hasdrubal, they decided in this way to attack the Celts and try the fortune of war against them; for they believed that, with these men hanging over them as a threat, they could never not only obtain dominion over Italy, but not even dwell securely in their own country.
§2.13.7διόπερ ἅμα τῷ διαπρεσβευσάμενοι πρὸς τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν ποιήσασθαι συνθήκας, ἐν αἷς τὴν μὲν ἄλλην Ἰβηρίαν παρεσιώπων, τὸν δὲ καλούμενον Ἴβηρα ποταμὸν οὐκ ἔδει Καρχηδονίους ἐπὶ πολέμῳ διαβαίνειν, εὐθέως ἐξήνεγκαν τὸν πρὸς τοὺς κατὰ τὴν
Therefore, at the very time when they had sent an embassy to Hasdrubal and made a treaty—in which, while saying nothing about the rest of Iberia, it was stipulated that the Carthaginians must not cross the river called Iber for purposes of war—they immediately declared that against those in the...

Notes

  1. §2.13.1Ἀσδρούβας — The subject Ἀσδρούβας at the beginning of the sentence has its main verbs, ἐποιεῖτο and συνεβάλλετο, placed after a long parenthesis and several participial clauses, representing a significant hyperbaton.
  2. §2.13.4σφᾶς ἐπικεκοιμημένους — The accusative reflexive pronoun σφᾶς (themselves) serves as the subject of the perfect participle ἐπικεκοιμημένους (having been asleep/negligent), functioning as the object complement of εὑρόντες (having found).
  3. §2.13.5διὰ τὸ τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν Κελτῶν φόβον ἐπικρέμασθαι — A causal clause formed by the preposition διά with the articular infinitive τό + ἐπικρέμασθαι. The subject of the infinitive is the accusative phrase τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν Κελτῶν φόβον (the fear of the Celts).
  4. §2.13.6οὐδέποτʼ ἂν ὑπολαμβάνοντες — The participle ὑπολαμβάνοντες with the particle ἄν expresses a potential or hypothetical condition ("they would never have believed..."). The subsequent phrase οὐχ οἷον ... ἀλλ' οὐδέ ... is an idiomatic construction meaning "not to mention... but not even..."
  5. §2.13.7ἅμα τῷ ... ποιήσασθαι — The idiom ἅμα τῷ followed by the infinitive ποιήσασθαι means "at the same time as making..." The nominative participle διαπρεσβευσάμενοι indicates that the logical subject of the infinitive is identical to the subject of the main clause.
  6. §2.13.7εὐθέως ἐξήνεγκαν τὸν πρὸς τοὺς κατὰ τὴν — The text breaks off abruptly here (a lacuna); the article τὸν (accusative masculine singular, modifying an implied noun like πόλεμον "war") and the noun following the prepositional phrase κατὰ τὴν are missing.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §2.13.1-2.13.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.13.1-2.13.7

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