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Polybius · The Histories §24.1.1-24.1.7

The Senate Receives Envoys from Greece and Asia

Passage 1050 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

The Roman Senate gives audience to various envoys from Asia Minor and Greece, deciding to send new investigators regarding the war of Pharnaces, and expressing its stance on the restoration of Lacedaemonian exiles and the Messenian settlement.

§24.1.1εἰς δὲ τὴν Ῥώμην παραγεγονότων τῶν πρεσβευτῶν παρά τε τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ τῶν ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος φυγάδων, ἔτι δὲ παρὰ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν, ἅμα δὲ καὶ τῶν παρʼ Εὐμένους καὶ παρʼ Ἀριαράθου τοῦ βασιλέως ἡκόντων καὶ τῶν παρὰ Φαρνάκου, τούτοις πρῶτον ἐχρημάτισεν ἡ σύγκλητος.
When the envoys from Lacedaemon and the exiles from Lacedaemon arrived in Rome, and moreover those from the Achaeans, and at the same time those who came from Eumenes and King Ariarathes, and those from Pharnaces, the Senate gave them audience first.
§24.1.2βραχεῖ δὲ χρόνῳ πρότερον ἀνηγγελκότων τῶν περὶ τὸν Μάρκον πρεσβευτῶν, οὓς ἀπεστάλκεισαν ἐπὶ τὸν Εὐμένει καὶ Φαρνάκῃ συνεστηκότα πόλεμον, καὶ διασεσαφηκότων περί τε τῆς Εὐμένους μετριότητος ἐν πᾶσιν καὶ περὶ τῆς Φαρνάκου πλεονεξίας καὶ καθόλου τῆς ὑπερηφανίας,
A short time previously, Marcus and his fellow envoys, whom the Senate had dispatched because of the war that had broken out between Eumenes and Pharnaces, had returned and reported, making clear Eumenes' moderation in all things and Pharnaces' greed and general arrogance.
§24.1.3οὐκέτι πολλῶν προσεδεήθη λόγων ἡ σύγκλητος διακούσασα τῶν παραγεγονότων, ἀπεκρίθη δὲ διότι πάλιν πέμψει πρεσβευτὰς τοὺς φιλοτιμότερον ἐπισκεψομένους ὑπὲρ τῶν διαφερόντων τοῖς προειρημένοις.
Therefore, the Senate, after hearing those who had arrived, did not require any more words, but replied that it would send envoys again to investigate more thoroughly the matters in dispute between the aforementioned.
§24.1.4μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῶν ἐκ τῆς Λακεδαίμονος φυγάδων εἰσπορευθέντων καὶ τῶν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἅμα τούτοις, ἐπὶ πολὺ διακούσασα τοῖς μὲν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως οὐδὲν ἐπετίμησε περὶ τῶν γεγονότων,
After this, when the exiles from Lacedaemon and with them the envoys from the city entered, the Senate, having heard them at great length, did not blame the envoys from the city at all for what had occurred.
§24.1.5τοῖς δὲ φυγάσιν ἐπηγγείλατο γράψειν πρὸς τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς περὶ τοῦ κατελθεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν.
But to the exiles, it promised to write to the Achaeans regarding their return to their own country.
§24.1.6μετὰ δέ τινας ἡμέρας εἰσπορευθέντων τῶν περὶ Βίππον τὸν Ἀργεῖον, οὓς ἀπεστάλκει τὸ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἔθνος, καὶ διασαφούντων περὶ τῆς Μεσσηνίων ἀποκαταστάσεως, §24.1.7οὐθενὶ δυσαρεστήσασα περὶ τῶν οἰκονουμένων ἡ σύγκλητος ἀπεδέξατο φιλανθρώπως τοὺς πρεσβευτάς.
After a few days, when Bippus of Argos and his colleagues, whom the Achaean nation had sent, entered and explained the restoration of the Messenians, the Senate, finding no fault with any of the arrangements made, received the envoys cordially.

Notes

  1. 24.1.1εἰς δὲ τὴν Ῥώμην παραγεγονότων τῶν πρεσβευτῶν παρά τε τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων... — The segment from 'εἰς δὲ τὴν Ῥώμην παραγεγονότων τῶν πρεσβευτῶν...' to '...καὶ τῶν παρὰ Φαρνάκου' forms a large genitive absolute construction, explaining the simultaneous arrival of envoys from various regions to the main subject (ἡ σύγκλητος) and verb (ἐχρημάτισεν).
  2. 24.1.2τῶν περὶ τὸν Μάρκον πρεσβευτῶν — An idiomatic expression of 'οἱ περί + accusative', referring to the delegation headed by Marcus.
  3. 24.1.3τοῖς προειρημένοις — Dative plural, functioning in association with 'διαφερόντων' (differing/disputing with). It is interpreted here as 'matters in dispute among/between the aforementioned (Eumenes, Ariarathes, Pharnaces, etc.)'.
  4. 24.1.5περὶ τοῦ κατελθεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν — Articular infinitive in the genitive (τοῦ κατελθεῖν) governed by the preposition 'περί'. 'αὐτούς' is the subject accusative of the infinitive, referring back to 'τοῖς φυγάσιν' (the exiles).

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §24.1.1-24.1.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:24.1.1-24.1.7

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