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Polybius · The Histories §21.1.1-21.1.4

Return of the Spartan Embassy and Senate's Reply

Passage 960 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Describes the return of the Spartan embassy from Rome with their expectations unfulfilled, along with the Roman Senate's response regarding the hostages, the villages, and the ancient exiles.

§21.1.1ὅτι κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον συνέβη καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς Ῥώμης πρεσβείαν, ἣν ἀπέστειλαν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, παραγενέσθαι διεψευσμένην τῶν ἐλπίδων.
That about this time it happened that the embassy from Rome, which the Lacedaemonians had sent, returned disappointed in their hopes.
§21.1.2ἐπρέσβευον μὲν γὰρ περὶ τῶν ὁμήρων καὶ τῶν κωμῶν· §21.1.3ἡ δὲ σύγκλητος περὶ μὲν τῶν κωμῶν ἔφησεν ἐντολὰς δώσειν τοῖς παρʼ αὐτῶν ἀποστελλομένοις πρέσβεσιν, περὶ δὲ τῶν ὁμήρων ἔτι βουλεύσασθαι θέλειν.
For they had sent the embassy concerning the hostages and the villages; but the senate said that, concerning the villages, it would give instructions to the envoys sent by themselves, and concerning the hostages, it wished to deliberate further.
§21.1.4περὶ δὲ τῶν φυγάδων τῶν ἀρχαίων θαυμάζειν ἔφησαν, πῶς οὐ κατάγουσιν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν, ἠλευθερωμένης τῆς Σπάρτης. —
And concerning the ancient exiles, they said they wondered how they did not restore them to their home, now that Sparta was liberated. —

Notes

  1. §21.1.1συνέβη — The impersonal verb συνέβη (it happened) takes an accusative and infinitive construction, with τὴν ... πρεσβείαν as the subject and παραγενέσθαι as the infinitive.
  2. §21.1.1διεψευσμένην τῶν ἐλπίδων — The perfect passive participle διεψευσμένην agrees with the subject πρεσβείαν, and the genitive τῶν ἐλπίδων is a genitive of separation. It literally means 'deceived or disappointed of their hopes,' indicating that their expectations were frustrated.
  3. §21.1.3τοῖς παρʼ αὐτῶν ἀποστελλομένοις — The pronoun αὐτῶν refers back to the senate (ἡ σύγκλητος), meaning 'the envoys dispatched by themselves (the Romans)'.
  4. §21.1.4ἔφησαν — The verb is plural ἔφησαν (they said), although its grammatical subject is the singular collective noun ἡ σύγκλητος (the senate) from the previous sentence. This is a constructio ad sensum, referring to the individual senators.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §21.1.1-21.1.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:21.1.1-21.1.4

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