§22.18.1ὅτι φησὶν ὁ Πολύβιος ἐν τῷ εἰκοστῷ δευτέρῳ· περὶ δὲ τὴν τῶν ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ βασιλέων οἰκίαν ἤδη τις ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν καιρῶν ἐφύετο κακῶν ἀνηκέστων ἀρχή. §22.18.2καίτοι γʼ οὐκ ἀγνοῶ διότι τινὲς τῶν συγγραφόντων περὶ τοῦ συστάντος Ῥωμαίοις πολέμου πρὸς Περσέα, βουλόμενοι τὰς αἰτίας ἡμῖν ἐπιδεικνύναι τῆς διαφορᾶς, πρῶτον μὲν ἀποφαίνουσι τὴν Ἀβρουπόλιος ἔκπτωσιν ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας δυναστείας, ὡς καταδραμόντος αὐτοῦ τὰ περὶ τὸ Πάγγαιον μέταλλα μετὰ τὸν τοῦ Φιλίππου θάνατον· §22.18.3Περσεὺς δὲ παραβοηθήσας καὶ τρεψάμενος ὁλοσχερῶς ἐξέβαλε τὸν προειρημένον ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας ἀρχῆς·
That Polybius says in the twenty-second book: "But about the royal house of Macedonia, already from these times, a certain beginning of incurable evils was growing." Although I am not ignorant that some of the historians who write about the war that arose between the Romans and Perseus, wishing to show us the causes of the disagreement, point out, first, the expulsion of Abrupolis from his own principality, on the ground that he overran the mines around Pangaeum after the death of Philip; and that Perseus, having come to the rescue and completely routed him, expelled the aforementioned from his own rule; and next to this, the invasion into Dolopia and the presence of Perseus at Delphi, and further, the plot against King Eumenes that took place in Delphi and the murder of the ambassadors from Boeotia, from which some say that the war against the Romans arose for Perseus.
§22.18.4ἑξῆς δὲ ταύτῃ τὴν εἰς Δολοπίαν εἰσβολὴν καὶ τὴν εἰς Δελφοὺς παρουσίαν Περσέως, §22.18.5ἔτι δὲ τὴν κατʼ Εὐμένους τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπιβουλὴν γενομένην ἐν Δελφοῖς καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐκ Βοιωτίας πρεσβευτῶν ἐπαναίρεσιν, ἐξ ὧν ἔνιοί φασι φῦναι Περσεῖ τὸν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους πόλεμον. §22.18.6ἐγὼ δέ φημι κυριώτατον μὲν εἶναι καὶ τοῖς συγγράφουσι καὶ τοῖς φιλομαθοῦσι τὸ γινώσκειν τὰς αἰτίας, ἐξ ὧν ἕκαστα γεννᾶται καὶ φύεται τῶν πραγμάτων· συγκέχυται δὲ ταῦτα παρὰ τοῖς πλείστοις τῶν συγγραφέων διὰ τὸ μὴ κρατεῖσθαι τίνι διαφέρει πρόφασις αἰτίας καὶ πάλιν προφάσεως ἀρχὴ πολέμου.
But I say that it is most important both for those who write history and for those who love learning to know the causes from which each of the events is born and grows; but these have been confused by most writers because they do not grasp how a pretext differs from a cause, and again how a pretext differs from a beginning of a war.
§22.18.7καὶ νῦν δὲ τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτῶν προσυπομιμνησκόντων ἠνάγκασμαι πάλιν ἀνανεώσασθαι τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον.
And now, as the events themselves remind us, I am forced to renew the same discourse again.
§22.18.8τῶν γὰρ ἄρτι ῥηθέντων πραγμάτων τὰ μὲν πρῶτα προφάσεις εἰσί, τὰ δὲ τελευταῖα τὰ περὶ τὴν κατὰ τοῦ βασιλέως Εὐμένους ἐπιβουλὴν καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν τῶν πρεσβευτῶν ἀναίρεσιν καὶ τούτοις ἕτερα παραπλήσια τῶν κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς καιροὺς γεγονότων ἀρχαὶ πρόδηλοι τοῦ συστάντος Ῥωμαίοις καὶ Περσεῖ πολέμου καὶ τοῦ καταλυθῆναι τὴν Μακεδόνων ἀρχήν· §22.18.9αἰτία δὲ τούτων ἁπλῶς ἐστιν οὐδεμία.
For of the events just mentioned, the first are pretexts, while the last—the plot against King Eumenes, the murder of the ambassadors, and other things similar to these that occurred during the same times—are the manifest beginnings of the war that arose between the Romans and Perseus, and of the destruction of the Macedonian rule; but of these there is absolutely no cause.
δῆλον δὲ τοῦτʼ ἔσται διὰ τῶν ἑξῆς ῥηθησομένων.
This will be clear from what will be said next.
§22.18.10καθάπερ γὰρ εἴπομεν Φίλιππον τὸν Ἀμύντου διανοηθῆναι καὶ προθέσθαι συντελεῖν τὸν πρὸς τοὺς Πέρσας πόλεμον, Ἀλέξανδρον δὲ τοῖς ὑπʼ ἐκείνου κεκριμένοις ἐπιγενέσθαι χειριστὴν τῶν πράξεων, οὕτω καὶ νῦν Φίλιππον μὲν τὸν Δημητρίου φαμὲν διανοηθῆναι πρότερον πολεμεῖν Ῥωμαίοις τὸν τελευταῖον πόλεμον καὶ τὰς παρασκευὰς ἑτοίμας πάσας πρὸς ταύτην ἔχειν τὴν ἐπιβολήν, ἐκείνου δʼ ἐκχωρήσαντος Περσέα γενέσθαι χειριστὴν τῶν πράξεων· §22.18.11εἰ δὲ τοῦτʼ ἀληθές, κἀκεῖνο σαφές· οὐ γὰρ οἷόν τε τὰς αἰτίας ὕστερον γενέσθαι τῆς τελευτῆς τοῦ κρίναντος καὶ προθεμένου πολεμεῖν· ὃ συμβαίνει τοῖς ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων συγγραφέων εἰρημένοις· πάντα γάρ ἐστι τὰ λεγόμενα παρʼ αὐτοῖς ὕστερα τῆς Φιλίππου τελευτῆς. —
For just as we said that Philip, the son of Amyntas, conceived and proposed to carry out the war against the Persians, and Alexander became the executor of the deeds, succeeding to what had been decided by him, so also now we say that Philip, the son of Demetrius, first conceived of waging this last war against the Romans and had all preparations ready for this undertaking, and when he had departed, Perseus became the executor of the deeds; and if this is true, that other thing is also clear: for it is impossible for the causes to arise after the death of the one who decided and proposed to make war; which is what happens in the statements made by the other writers; for everything said by them is later than the death of Philip.