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Polybius · The Histories §22.1.1-22.1.9

Roman Embassies to King Philip and the Greek States

Passage 1010 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

A summary of Book 22 of Polybius detailing the Roman embassy led by Caecilius to arbitrate disputes involving King Philip, and the diplomatic missions to the Peloponnese regarding the Achaean League and Lacedaemon.

§22.1.1ὅτι κατὰ τὴν ὀγδόην καὶ μ# ὀλυμπιάδα πρὸς ταῖς ρ# πρεσβειῶν παρουσίαι ἐγένοντο πρὸς Ῥωμαίους παρὰ Φιλίππου καὶ παρὰ τῶν· προσορούντων τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ.
That during the 148th Olympiad embassies came to the Romans from Philip and from those bordering on Macedonia.
τὰ δόξαντα τῇ συγκλήτῳ περὶ τῶν πρέσβεων.
The decisions of the senate concerning the ambassadors.
§22.1.2ὅτι κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα Φιλίππου διαφορὰ πρὸς Θετταλοὺς καὶ Περραιβοὺς περὶ τῶν πόλεων ὧν κατεῖχε Φίλιππος ἐκ τῶν Ἀντιοχικῶν καιρῶν τῆς Θετταλίας καὶ Περραιβίας.
That in Greece there was a dispute of Philip with the Thessalians and Perrhaebians concerning the cities which Philip had held in Thessaly and Perrhaebia since the times of Antiochus.
§22.1.3ἡ γενομένη δικαιολογία περὶ τούτων ἐπὶ Κοΐντου Καικιλίου περὶ τὰ Τέμπη.
The arguments made concerning these matters before Quintus Caecilius at Tempe.
τὰ κριθέντα διὰ τῶν περὶ τὸν Καικίλιον.
The decisions rendered by Caecilius and his associates.
§22.1.4κρίσις ἄλλη περὶ τῶν ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης πόλεων Φιλίππῳ πρὸς τοὺς παρʼ Εὐμένους πρεσβευτὰς καὶ τοὺς ἐκ Μαρωνείας φυγάδας, καὶ τὰ ῥηθέντα περὶ τούτων ἐν Θετταλονίκῃ καὶ τὰ δόξαντα τοῖς περὶ τὸν Καικίλιον.
Another trial concerning the cities in Thrace between Philip on one side, and the ambassadors of Eumenes and the exiles from Maroneia on the other, and what was said about these matters in Thessalonica, and the decisions of Caecilius and his associates.
§22.1.5ἡ γενομένη σφαγὴ διὰ Φιλίππου τοῦ βασιλέως ἐν Μαρωνείᾳ.
The massacre that took place in Maroneia through King Philip.
παρουσία πρεσβευτῶν ἐκ Ῥώμης καὶ τὰ προσταχθέντα διὰ τούτων.
The arrival of the ambassadors from Rome and the orders given through them.
αἰτίαι διʼ ἃς ἐγένετο Ῥωμαίοις πρὸς Περσέα πόλεμος.
The causes for which the war between the Romans and Perseus arose.
§22.1.6κατὰ τὴν Πελοπόννησον πρεσβευτῶν παρουσία παρά τε Πτολεμαίου τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ παρὰ Εὐμένους καὶ παρὰ Σελεύκου.
In the Peloponnese, the arrival of embassies from King Ptolemy, from Eumenes, and from Seleucus.
§22.1.7καὶ τὰ δόξαντα τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς ὑπέρ τε τῆς πρὸς Πτολεμαῖον συμμαχίας καὶ τῶν δωρεῶν τῶν προτεινομένων αὐτοῖς ὑπὸ τῶν προειρημένων βασιλέων.
And the decisions made by the Achaeans concerning both the alliance with Ptolemy and the gifts offered to them by the aforementioned kings.
§22.1.8παρουσία Κοίντου Καικιλίου καὶ μέμψις ὑπὲρ τῶν κατὰ Λακεδαίμονα διῳκημένων.
The arrival of Quintus Caecilius and his complaint concerning the administrative arrangements made in Lacedaemon.
§22.1.9ὡς Ἀρεὺς καὶ Ἀλκιβιάδης ὄντες τῶν ἀρχαίων φυγάδων ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος ἐπρέσβευσαν εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην καὶ κατηγορίαν ἐποιήσαντο Φιλοποίμενος καὶ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν.
How Areus and Alcibiades, being among the old exiles from Lacedaemon, went on an embassy to Rome and made an accusation against Philopoemen and the Achaeans.
θυαε εχ πολψβιι λιβρο χχιι. εχξερπενδα ετ τιτυλο ξονσταντινιανο περὶ πρέσβεων Ῥωμαίων πρὸς ἐθνικούς σιντ ινσερενδα.
These are to be extracted from Polybius, book XXII, and inserted under the Constantinian title "On the embassies of the Romans to the Gentiles".

Notes

  1. §22.1.1ὀγδόην καὶ μ# ὀλυμπιάδα πρὸς ταῖς ρ# — A numerical expression for the "148th Olympiad" using Greek alphabetical numerals where ρ# represents 100 and μ# represents 40. The phrase literally means "the eighth and fortieth Olympiad in addition to one hundred."
  2. §22.1.2ὧν — The relative pronoun ὧν is attracted to the genitive case of its antecedent πόλεων. Syntactically, it functions as the direct object of the transitive verb κατεῖχε, where an accusative ἅς would normally be expected.
  3. §22.1.3τοῖς περὶ τὸν Καικίλιον — The idiomatic expression "οἱ περί + accusative" refers to a principal figure together with his associates or retinue, here meaning "Caecilius and his legation". It is in the dative case to indicate the agent after τὰ δόξαντα (decided by...).
  4. §22.1.9θυαε εχ πολψβιι λιβρο χχιι — A Latin instruction written in Greek characters. Transliterated back into the Latin alphabet, it reads: quae ex Polybii libro xxii. excerpenda et titulo Constantiniano περὶ πρέσβεων Ῥωμαίων πρὸς ἐθνικούς sint inserenda. Note that θ corresponds to q, υ to u, ψ to y, χ to c, and ξ to x.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §22.1.1-22.1.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:22.1.1-22.1.9

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