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Polybius · The Histories §27.16.1-27.16.6

Plot to Capture Consul Hostilius and His Escape

Passage 1088 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Theodotus and his circle plot to hand over the Roman consul Aulus Hostilius to Perseus, but Nestor's premonition saves Aulus, forcing him to alter his route away from Epirus.

§27.16.1ὅτι οἱ περὶ Θεόδοτον καὶ Φιλόστρατον ἐποίησαν ἀσεβὲς πρᾶγμα καὶ παράσπονδον ὁμολογουμένως.
That Theodotus and Philostratus and their circle committed an act that was admittedly impious and contrary to their treaty.
§27.16.2πυθόμενοι γὰρ τὸν ὕπατον τῶν Ῥωμαίων Αὖλον Ὁστίλιον παραγίνεσθαι κομιζόμενον εἰς Θετταλίαν ἐπὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον καὶ νομίζοντες, εἰ παραδοῖεν τὸν Αὖλον τῷ Περσεῖ, μεγίστην μὲν ἂν πίστιν προσενέγκασθαι, μέγιστα δʼ ἂν βλάψαι κατὰ τὸ παρὸν Ῥωμαίους, ἔγραφον τῷ Περσεῖ συνεχῶς ἐπισπεύδειν.
For when they learned that the Roman consul Aulus Hostilius was arriving on his way to the camp in Thessaly, and thinking that, if they should deliver Aulus to Perseus, they would win his greatest confidence and at the same time inflict the greatest damage on the Romans for the present, they wrote continuously to Perseus urging him to hasten.
§27.16.3ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἐβούλετο μὲν ἐξ αὐτῆς προάγειν καὶ συνάπτειν, τῶν δὲ Μολοττῶν κατὰ τὸν Ἀῷον ποταμὸν τὴν γέφυραν κατειληφότων ἐκωλύετο τῆς ὁρμῆς καὶ πρῶτον ἠναγκάζετο διαμάχεσθαι πρὸς τούτους.
The king wished to advance and join them immediately, but being prevented from his march because the Molossians had occupied the bridge over the river Aous, he was forced to fight against them first.
§27.16.4συνέβη δὲ τὸν Αὖλον εἰς τοὺς Φανοτεῖς παραγενόμενον καταλῦσαι παρὰ Νέστορι τῷ Κρωπίῳ καὶ παραδοῦναι καθʼ αὑτοῦ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς καιρὸν ὁμολογούμενον· ὃν εἰ μὴ τύχη τις ἐβράβευσε πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον, οὐκ ἄν μοι δοκεῖ διαφυγεῖν.
It happened that Aulus, when he arrived among the Phanoteis, lodged at the house of Nestor of Cropia, and thereby presented to his enemies an admitted opportunity against himself; and if some fortune had not directed the matter for the better, it does not seem to me that he would have escaped.
§27.16.5νῦν δὲ δαιμονίως πως ὁ Νέστωρ τὸ μέλλον ὀττευσάμενος ἐξ αὐτῆς ἠνάγκασε μετελθεῖν εἰς Γίτανα τῆς νυκτός.
But as it was, in some divine manner, Nestor, having foreboded what was to come, immediately forced him to remove to Gitana during the night.
§27.16.6καὶ ἀπογνοὺς τὴν διὰ τῆς Ἠπείρου πορείαν ἀνήχθη καὶ πλεύσας εἰς Ἀντίκυραν ἐκεῖθεν ἐποιήσατο τὴν ὁρμὴν εἰς Θετταλίαν.
And having given up his journey through Epirus, he put to sea, and having sailed to Anticyra, he made from there his start for Thessaly.

Notes

  1. 27.16.2ἂν προσενέγκασθαι — This is an infinitive with ἄν acting as the object of νομίζοντες, representing a potential optative (ἂν προσενεγκαίμεθα) in indirect discourse. It expresses a future possibility.
  2. 27.16.4οὐκ ἄν μοι δοκεῖ διαφυγεῖν — The particle ἄν belongs to the infinitive διαφυγεῖν, representing a past unreal apodosis (οὐκ ἂν διέφυγεν, 'he would not have escaped'). With the insertion of the impersonal δοκεῖ ('it seems to me'), the meaning is 'it does not seem to me that he would have escaped.'

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §27.16.1-27.16.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:27.16.1-27.16.6

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