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Polybius · The Histories §20.7.1-20.7.5

Boeotian Reception of Antiochus III at Thebes

Passage 954 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

This passage describes how the Boeotians survived the eras of Philip and Antiochus despite their degraded constitution, their subsequent harsh fate, and their welcoming of Antiochus III to Thebes due to their underlying hostility toward Rome.

§20.7.1τοιαύτην δʼ ἔχοντες οἱ Βοιωτοὶ τὴν διάθεσιν τῆς πολιτείας, εὐτυχῶς πως διώλισθον καὶ τοὺς κατὰ Φίλιππον καὶ τοὺς κατʼ Ἀντίοχον καιρούς.
Although the Boeotians had their constitution in such a state, they somehow fortunately slipped through both the times of Philip and those of Antiochus.
§20.7.2ἔν γε μὴν τοῖς ἑξῆς οὐ διέφυγον, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἐπίτηδες ἀνταπόδοσιν ἡ τύχη ποιουμένη βαρέως ἔδοξεν αὐτοῖς ἐπεμβαίνειν· ὑπὲρ ὧν ἡμεῖς ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς ποιησόμεθα μνήμην. — §20.7.3ὅτι οἱ πολλοὶ πρόφασιν μὲν εἶχον τῆς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ἀλλοτριότητος τὴν ἐπαναίρεσιν τὴν Βραχύλλου καὶ τὴν στρατείαν, ἣν ἐποιήσατο Τίτος ἐπὶ Κορώνειαν διὰ τοὺς ἐπιγινομένους φόνους ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς τῶν Ῥωμαίων, §20.7.4τῇ δʼ ἀληθείᾳ καχεκτοῦντες ἦσαν ταῖς ψυχαῖς διὰ τὰς προειρημένας αἰτίας.
In the subsequent period, however, they did not escape, but Fortune, as if deliberately taking vengeance, seemed to trample heavily upon them; of which things we shall make mention in the following parts. — The multitude had as their pretext for their alienation from the Romans the murder of Brachylles and the expedition which Titus made against Coronea on account of the successive murders of Romans on the roads; but in reality they were in a morbid state of mind owing to the aforesaid causes.
§20.7.5καὶ γὰρ τοῦ βασιλέως συνεγγίζοντος ἐξῄεσαν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀπάντησιν οἱ τῶν Βοιωτῶν ἄρξαντες· συμμίξαντες δὲ καὶ φιλανθρώπως ὁμιλήσαντες ἦγον αὐτὸν εἰς τὰς Θήβας. —
For indeed, as the king drew near, the magistrates of the Boeotians went out to meet him, and having joined him and conversed in a friendly manner, they conducted him to Thebes. —

Notes

  1. 20.7.1τοὺς κατὰ Φίλιππον καὶ τοὺς κατʼ Ἀντίοχον καιρούς — An accusative serving as the direct object of the intransitive verb διώλισθον (aorist of διαλισθάνω, 'to slip through, escape') or as an accusative of duration/extent of time, carrying the transitive sense of 'successfully getting through the times of...'
  2. 20.7.3ὅτι — A conjunction frequently placed at the beginning of excerpts in the manuscript tradition (Excerpta) of Polybius, serving to introduce the summarized statement. It does not need to be strongly translated.
  3. 20.7.3πρόφασιν — A predicate accusative in apposition to the direct objects τὴν ἐπαναίρεσιν ... καὶ τὴν στρατείαν of the verb εἶχον (imperfect of ἔχω), meaning 'they had [the murder... and the expedition...] as their pretext'.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §20.7.1-20.7.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:20.7.1-20.7.5

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