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Polybius · The Histories §21.4.1-21.4.14

Siege of Amphissa and Scipio's Peace Terms

Passage 964 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

During the siege of Amphissa, peace negotiations between the Aetolians and the Romans begin through the mediation of Athenian envoys. Although expectations rise due to Publius Scipio's mild attitude, the Aetolians are distressed when Lucius Scipio demands a harsh choice of two conditions.

§21.4.1ὅτι πολιορκουμένων τῶν Ἀμφισσέων ὑπὸ Μανίου τοῦ Ῥωμαίων στρατηγοῦ, κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ὁ τῶν Ἀθηναίων δῆμος, πυνθανόμενος τήν τε τῶν Ἀμφισσέων ταλαιπωρίαν καὶ τὴν τοῦ Ποπλίου παρουσίαν, ἐξαπέστειλε πρεσβευτὰς τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἐχέδημον, §21.4.2ἐντειλάμενος ἅμα μὲν ἀσπάσασθαι τοὺς περὶ τὸν Λεύκιον καὶ Πόπλιον, ἅμα δὲ καταπειράζειν τῆς πρὸς Αἰτωλοὺς διαλύσεως.
ὅτι While the people of Amphissa were being besieged by the Roman general Manius, at this very time the Athenian people, having learned of the distress of the Amphissians and the arrival of Publius, dispatched envoys led by Echedemus, ἐντειλάμενος instructing them both to greet the entourage of Lucius and Publius, and at the same time to sound out the possibility of a reconciliation with the Aetolians.
§21.4.3ὧν παραγενομένων ἀσμένως ἀποδεξάμενος ὁ Πόπλιος ἐφιλανθρώπει τοὺς ἄνδρας, θεωρῶν ὅτι παρέξονται χρείαν αὐτῷ πρὸς τὰς προκειμένας ἐπιβολάς.
ὧν Upon their arrival, Publius welcomed them gladly and treated the men with kindness, seeing that they would be of service to him in his immediate undertakings.
§21.4.4ὁ γὰρ προειρημένος ἀνὴρ ἐβούλετο θέσθαι μὲν καλῶς τὰ κατὰ τοὺς Αἰτωλούς· εἰ δὲ μὴ συνυπακούοιεν, πάντως διειλήφει παραλιπὼν ταῦτα διαβαίνειν εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν, §21.4.5σαφῶς γινώσκων διότι τὸ τέλος ἐστὶ τοῦ πολέμου καὶ τῆς ὅλης ἐπιβολῆς οὐκ ἐν τῷ χειρώσασθαι τὸ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν ἔθνος, ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ νικήσαντας τὸν Ἀντίοχον κρατῆσαι τῆς Ἀσίας.
ὁ For the aforementioned man wished to settle the affairs of the Aetolians on favorable terms; but if they would not comply, he had resolved by all means to leave these matters aside and cross over to Asia, σαφῶς clearly knowing that the goal of the war and of the entire enterprise lay not in subduing the nation of the Aetolians, but in defeating Antiochus and gaining control of Asia.
§21.4.6διόπερ ἅμα τῷ μνησθῆναι τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ὑπὲρ τῆς διαλύσεως, ἑτοίμως προσδεξάμενος τοὺς λόγους ἐκέλευσε παραπλησίως πειράζειν αὐτοὺς καὶ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν.
διόπερ Therefore, as soon as the Athenians mentioned the reconciliation, he readily accepted their proposals and ordered them to make a similar attempt with the Aetolians as well.
§21.4.7οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἐχέδημον, προδιαπεμψάμενοι καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πορευθέντες εἰς τὴν Ὑπάταν αὐτοί, διελέγοντο περὶ τῆς διαλύσεως τοῖς ἄρχουσι τῶν Αἰτωλῶν.
οἱ And Echedemus and his colleagues, having sent messengers ahead and afterwards traveling to Hypata themselves, conversed about the reconciliation with the magistrates of the Aetolians.
§21.4.8ἑτοίμως δὲ κἀκείνων συνυπακουόντων κατεστάθησαν οἱ συμμίξοντες τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις· §21.4.9οἳ καὶ παραγενόμενοι πρὸς τοὺς περὶ τὸν Πόπλιον, καταλαβόντες αὐτοὺς στρατοπεδεύοντας ἐν ἑξήκοντα σταδίοις ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀμφίσσης, πολλοὺς διετίθεντο λόγους, ἀναμιμνήσκοντες τῶν γεγονότων σφίσι φιλανθρώπων πρὸς Ῥωμαίους.
ἑτοίμως Since the latter also readily complied, deputies were appointed to meet with the Romans; οἳ these, having come to Publius and his entourage and finding them encamped sixty stades away from Amphissa, made many arguments, reminding them of the friendly acts they had previously done for the Romans.
§21.4.10ἔτι δὲ πρᾳότερον καὶ φιλανθρωπότερον ὁμιλήσαντος τοῦ Ποπλίου καὶ προφερομένου τάς τε κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν καὶ τὴν Λιβύην πράξεις καὶ διασαφοῦντος τίνα τρόπον κέχρηται τοῖς κατʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς τόπους αὐτῷ πιστεύσασιν καὶ τέλος οἰομένου δεῖν ἐγχειρίζειν σφᾶς αὑτῷ καὶ πιστεύειν, §21.4.11τὰς μὲν ἀρχὰς ἅπαντες οἱ παρόντες εὐέλπιδες ἐγενήθησαν, ὡς αὐτίκα μάλα τελεσιουργηθησομένης τῆς διαλύσεως·
ἔτι When Publius spoke in an even gentler and more friendly manner, citing his deeds in Iberia and Libya, explaining how he had treated those in those parts who trusted him, and finally expressing his view that they ought to surrender and trust themselves to him, τὰς at first all those present became highly hopeful that the reconciliation would be completed very shortly.
§21.4.12ἐπεὶ δέ, πυθομένων τῶν Αἰτωλῶν ἐπὶ τίσι δεῖ ποιεῖσθαι τὴν εἰρήνην, ὁ Λεύκιος διεσάφησεν διότι δυεῖν προκειμένων αὐτοῖς αἵρεσις ὑπάρχει — §21.4.13δεῖν γὰρ ἢ τὴν ἐπιτροπὴν διδόναι περὶ πάντων τῶν καθʼ αὑτοὺς ἢ χίλια τάλαντα παραχρῆμα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἐχθρὸν αἱρεῖσθαι καὶ φίλον Ῥωμαίοις —
ἐπεὶ But when the Aetolians asked on what terms they should make peace, Lucius declared that they had a choice between two alternatives offered to them— δεῖν namely, that they must either surrender the decision over all their affairs entirely, or pay one thousand talents immediately and adopt the same enemies and friends as the Romans.
§21.4.14ἐδυσχρήστησαν μὲν οἱ παρόντες τῶν Αἰτωλῶν ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα διὰ τὸ μὴ γίνεσθαι τὴν ἀπόφασιν ἀκόλουθον τῇ προγενομένῃ λαλιᾷ, πλὴν ἐπανοίσειν ἔφασαν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπιταττομένων τοῖς Αἰτωλοῖς.
ἐδυσχρήστησαν The Aetolians present were extremely distressed because this declaration was not consistent with the previous conversation, but they said they would refer the demands to the Aetolian assembly.

Notes

  1. 21.4.2ἐντειλάμενος — The nominative singular participle ἐντειλάμενος agrees grammatically with the collective noun ὁ τῶν Ἀθηναίων δῆμος in §21.4.1, introducing the instructions given by the Athenian people through the subsequent infinitives ἀσπάσασθαι and καταπειράζειν.
  2. 21.4.5νικήσαντας — The accusative participle νικήσαντας (having defeated) functions as the subject of the articular infinitive ἐν τῷ κρατῆσαι (in ruling). It is in the accusative plural because it implicitly refers to the Romans (including the Scipios) as the subjects of the infinitive.
  3. 21.4.10ὁμιλήσαντος τοῦ Ποπλίου — This section consists of a lengthy genitive absolute construction with τοῦ Ποπλίου as its subject, coordinating four participles (ὁμιλήσαντος, προφερομένου, διασαφοῦντος, and οἰομένου) with καί. It provides the background or reason for the main clause in §21.4.11.
  4. 21.4.13δεῖν — The impersonal verb δεῖ (it is necessary) is here put into the infinitive δεῖν due to indirect discourse reporting Lucius's speech. The specific conditions are presented as alternatives introduced by ἤ ... ἤ ... (either ... or ...).

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §21.4.1-21.4.14. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:21.4.1-21.4.14

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