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Polybius · The Histories §24.14.1-24.14.11

Invasion by Pharnaces and Response of Eumenes

Passage 1063 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

As King Pharnaces breaks his pledges and begins invading Galatia and Cappadocia, King Eumenes of Pergamum mobilizes his forces and advances to resist him alongside his allies. While they are encamped, Roman ambassadors arrive to mediate a settlement.

§24.14.1ὅτι κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν Φαρνάκης ὁ βασιλεύς, πάλιν ὀλιγωρήσας τῆς γεγενημένης ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους ἀναφορᾶς, Λεώκριτον μὲν ἔτι κατὰ χειμῶνα μετὰ μυρίων στρατιωτῶν ἐξαπέστειλε πορθήσοντα τὴν Γαλατίαν,
In Asia, King Pharnaces, having again disregarded the appeal that had been made to the Romans, sent out Leocritus while it was still winter with ten thousand soldiers to plunder Galatia.
§24.14.2αὐτὸς δὲ τῆς ἐαρινῆς ὥρας ὑποφαινούσης ἥθροιζε τὰς δυνάμεις, ὡς ἐμβαλῶν εἰς τὴν Καππαδοκίαν.
He himself, as the spring season began to appear, was assembling his forces in order to invade Cappadocia.
§24.14.3ἃ πυνθανόμενος Εὐμένης δυσχερῶς μὲν ἔφερε τὸ συμβαῖνον διὰ τὸ πάντας τοὺς τῆς πίστεως ὅρους ὑπερβαίνειν τὸν Φαρνάκην, ἠναγκάζετο δὲ τὸ παραπλήσιον ποιεῖν.
Learning of these things, Eumenes was displeased at what was happening because Pharnaces was transgressing all the boundaries of good faith, but he was forced to do the same.
§24.14.4ἤδη δʼ αὐτοῦ συνηθροικότος τὰς δυνάμεις, κατέπλευσαν ἐκ τῆς Ῥώμης οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἄτταλον.
When he had already assembled his forces, Attalus and his men sailed in from Rome.
§24.14.5ὁμοῦ δὲ γενόμενοι καὶ κοινολογηθέντες ἀλλήλοις ἀνέζευξαν παραχρῆμα μετὰ τῆς στρατιᾶς.
Having come together and conferred with each other, they immediately decamped with the army.
§24.14.6ἀφικόμενοι δʼ εἰς τὴν Γαλατίαν τὸν μὲν Λεώκριτον οὐκέτι κατέλαβον· τοῦ δὲ Κασσιγνάτου καὶ τοῦ Γαιζατόριγος διαπεμπομένων πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὑπὲρ ἀσφαλείας, οἵτινες ἐτύγχανον ἔτει πρότερον ᾑρημένοι τὰ Φαρνάκου, καὶ πᾶν ὑπισχνουμένων ποιήσειν τὸ προσταττόμενον, §24.14.7ἀπειπάμενοι τούτους διὰ τὴν προγεγενημένην ἀθεσίαν, ἐξάραντες παντὶ τῷ στρατεύματι προῆγον ἐπὶ τὸν Φαρνάκην.
Arriving in Galatia, they no longer found Leocritus; but since Cassignatus and Gaizatorix, who happened to have chosen the side of Pharnaces the year before, sent messengers to them concerning their safety and promised to do everything commanded, refusing them because of their past faithlessness, they set out with the whole army and advanced against Pharnaces.
§24.14.8παραγενόμενοι δʼ ἐκ Καλπίτου πεμπταῖοι πρὸς τὸν Ἅλυν ποταμὸν ἑκταῖοι πάλιν ἀνέζευξαν εἰς Παρνασσόν.
Arriving on the fifth day from Calpitus at the river Halys, on the sixth day they decamped again to Parnassus.
§24.14.9ἔνθα καὶ Ἀριαράθης ὁ τῶν Καππαδοκῶν βασιλεὺς συνέμιξεν αὐτοῖς μετὰ τῆς οἰκείας δυνάμεως, καὶ παρεισῆλθον εἰς τὴν Μωκισσέων χώραν.
There Ariarathes, the king of the Cappadocians, also joined them with his own force, and they entered the territory of the Mocisseis.
§24.14.10ἄρτι δὲ κατεστρατοπεδευκότων αὐτῶν προσέπεσε παραγενέσθαι τοὺς ἐκ τῆς Ῥώμης πρεσβευτὰς ἐπὶ τὰς διαλύσεις.
Just as they had pitched camp, news arrived that the ambassadors from Rome had come to effect a settlement.
§24.14.11ὧν ἀκούσας ὁ βασιλεὺς Εὐμένης Ἄτταλον μὲν ἐξαπέστειλε τούτους ἐκδεξόμενον, αὐτὸς δὲ τὰς δυνάμεις ἐδιπλασίαζε καὶ διεκόσμει φιλοτίμως, ἅμα μὲν ἁρμοζόμενος πρὸς τὰς ἀληθινὰς χρείας, ἅμα δὲ βουλόμενος ἐνδείκνυσθαι τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ὅτι διʼ αὑτοῦ δυνατός ἐστι τὸν Φαρνάκην ἀμύνασθαι καὶ
Hearing this, King Eumenes sent out Attalus to receive them, while he himself doubled his forces and organized them eagerly, on the one hand adapting to actual needs, and on the other hand wishing to demonstrate to the Romans that he was capable of repelling Pharnaces by himself and...

Notes

  1. 24.14.1ὅτι — This ὅτι is due to the preservation of Polybius' text in later excerpts (Excerpta). While typically translated as a direct narrative sentence, it grammatically functions to introduce a statement ('that...').
  2. 24.14.6τοῦ δὲ Κασσιγνάτου καὶ τοῦ Γαιζατόριγος διαπεμπομένων — This is a genitive absolute construction consisting of nouns (Cassignatus and Gaizatorix) and participles (διαπεμπομένων... and ὑπισχνουμένων). It is used because the subject differs from that of the main clause, expressing a circumstantial or causal relation.
  3. 24.14.8πεμπταῖοι ... ἑκταῖοι — These are adjectives denoting days/time, used predicatively in agreement with the subject, a common Greek idiom. They are translated adverbially as 'on the fifth day' and 'on the sixth day'.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §24.14.1-24.14.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:24.14.1-24.14.11

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