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Polybius · The Histories §28.20.1-28.20.13

Greek Envoys' Mediation and Antiochus's Claim to Coele-Syria

Passage 1112 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Antiochus IV welcomed the diplomatic envoys from Greece and, after listening to their representations, made a lengthy assertion of his own historical and legal rights to Coele-Syria before marching toward Alexandria via Naucratis.

§28.20.1ὅτι κατὰ τὸν καιρόν, ὅτε Ἀντίοχος τὴν Αἴγυπτον παρέλαβε, συνῆψαν τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἑλλάδος πρεσβευτῶν οἱ πεμφθέντες ἐπὶ τὰς διαλύσεις.
At the very time when Antiochus took control of Egypt, those of the envoys from Greece who had been sent to negotiate the reconciliation arrived.
ἀποδεξάμενος δὲ τοὺς ἄνδρας φιλανθρώπως τὴν μὲν πρώτην ὑποδοχὴν αὐτῶν ἐποιήσατο μεγαλομερῆ, §28.20.2κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἑξῆς ἔδωκεν ἔντευξιν καὶ λέγειν ἐκέλευσεν περὶ ὧν ἔχουσι τὰς ἐντολάς.
Having received the men kindly, he made his first reception of them very magnificent, and on the following day, he granted them an audience and ordered them to speak about the instructions they held.
§28.20.3πρῶτοι μὲν οὖν οἱ παρὰ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἐποιήσαντο λόγους, τούτοις δʼ ἑξῆς Δημάρατος ὁ παρὰ τῶν Ἀθηναίων, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον Εὔδημος ὁ Μιλήσιος.
First, then, the envoys from the Achaeans made their speeches, and next to them Demaratus, the envoy from the Athenians, and after him Eudemus of Miletus.
§28.20.4πάντων δὲ πρὸς τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ὑπόθεσιν διαλεγομένων, παραπλησίους εἶναι συνέβαινε καὶ τοὺς κατὰ μέρος αὐτῶν λόγους.
Since all of them spoke at the same time and on the same subject, it happened that their individual speeches were also very similar.
§28.20.5τὴν μὲν γὰρ αἰτίαν τῶν συμβεβηκότων πάντες ἀνέφερον ἐπὶ τοὺς περὶ τὸν Εὐλαῖον, τὴν δὲ συγγένειαν καὶ τὴν ἡλικίαν τὴν τοῦ Πτολεμαίου προφερόμενοι παρῃτοῦντο τὴν ὀργὴν τοῦ βασιλέως.
For they all referred the blame for what had happened to those around Eulaeus, and, bringing forward the kinship and the youth of Ptolemy, they begged for the mitigation of the king's anger.
§28.20.6Ἀντίοχος δὲ πᾶσι τούτοις ἀνθομολογησάμενος καὶ προσαυξήσας τὴν ἐκείνων ὑπόθεσιν ἤρξατο λέγειν [τὴν] ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς δικαίων, διʼ ὧν ἐπειρᾶτο συνιστάνειν τῶν ἐν Συρίᾳ βασιλέων ὑπάρχουσαν τὴν κτῆσιν τῶν κατὰ Κοίλην Συρίαν τόπων, §28.20.7ἰσχυροποιῶν μὲν τὰς ἐπικρατείας τὰς Ἀντιγόνου τοῦ πρώτου κατασχόντος τὴν ἐν Συρίᾳ βασιλείαν, προφερόμενος δὲ τὰ συγχωρήματα τὰ γενόμενα Σελεύκῳ διὰ τῶν ἀπὸ Μακεδονίας βασιλέων μετὰ τὸν Ἀντιγόνου θάνατον· §28.20.8ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις ἀπερειδόμενος ἐπὶ τὴν τελευταίαν κατὰ πόλεμον Ἀντιόχου τοῦ πατρὸς ἔγκτησιν, §28.20.9ἐπὶ δὲ πᾶσιν ἐξαρνούμενος τὴν ὁμολογίαν, ἣν ἔφασαν οἱ κατὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν γενέσθαι Πτολεμαίῳ τῷ νεωστὶ μετηλλαχότι πρὸς Ἀντίοχον τὸν ἐκείνου πατέρα, διότι δεῖ λαβεῖν αὐτὸν ἐν φερνῇ Κοίλην Συρίαν, ὅτʼ ἐλάμβανε Κλεοπάτραν τὴν τοῦ νῦν βασιλεύοντος μητέρα.
Antiochus, having agreed with all these points and even amplified their argument, began to speak on the original rights, through which he tried to establish that the possession of the districts in Coele-Syria belonged to the kings in Syria, strengthening on the one hand the sovereignty of Antigonus, who was the first to hold the kingdom in Syria, and on the other hand bringing forward the concessions made to Seleucus by the kings from Macedonia after the death of Antigonus; next to these, relying on the latest acquisition made by his father Antiochus in war; and above all, denying the agreement which those in Alexandria said had been made between the recently deceased Ptolemy and his father Antiochus, namely that he was to receive Coele-Syria as a dowry when he took Cleopatra, the mother of the present reigning king.
§28.20.10πρὸς ταύτην τὴν ὑπόθεσιν διαλεχθεὶς καὶ πείσας οὐ μόνον αὑτόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἀπηντηκότας ὡς δίκαια λέγει, τότε μὲν διέπλευσεν εἰς τὴν Ναύκρατιν.
Having spoken on this subject and having convinced not only himself but also those who had met him that he was speaking justly, at that time he sailed across to Naucratis.
§28.20.11χρησάμενος δὲ καὶ τούτοις φιλανθρώπως καὶ δοὺς ἑκάστῳ τῶν Ἑλλήνων τῶν κατοικούντων χρυσοῦν προῆγεν ἐπὶ τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας.
Having treated those there also kindly and having given a gold coin to each of the Greeks residing there, he advanced toward Alexandria.
§28.20.12τοῖς δὲ πρεσβευταῖς τὴν ἀπόκρισιν ὑπέσχετο δώσειν, ὅταν οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἀριστείδην καὶ Θῆριν ἀνακάμψωσιν ὡς αὐτόν.
He promised to give his answer to the envoys when Aristides and Theris returned to him.
§28.20.13ἐξαπεσταλκέναι γὰρ ἐκείνους ἔφη πρὸς τὸν Πτολεμαῖον, βούλεσθαι δὲ πάντων συνίστορας εἶναι καὶ μάρτυρας τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς Ἑλλάδος πρεσβευτάς. —
For he said he had dispatched them to Ptolemy, and he wished the envoys from Greece to be confidants and witnesses of everything.

Notes

  1. 28.20.1συνῆψαν — Although συνάπτω primarily means transitive 'to join' or 'to connect', here it is used intransitively to mean 'to arrive' or 'to reach' (the destination or the army), with the goal of motion being implied.
  2. 28.20.6τῶν ἐν Συρίᾳ βασιλέων ὑπάρχουσαν τὴν κτῆσιν — A participle construction dependent on συνιστάνειν ('to prove' or 'to establish'), where the accusative noun τὴν κτῆσιν and the feminine participle ὑπάρχουσαν form a clause-like structure: 'that the possession existed as belonging to...' The genitive τῶν... βασιλέων serves as a possessive genitive with the participle.
  3. 28.20.9ἣν ἔφασαν οἱ κατὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν γενέσθαι — The relative pronoun ἣν (with ὁμολογίαν as its antecedent) functions as the subject accusative of the infinitive γενέσθαι within the indirect speech dependent on the parenthetical clause ἔφασαν οἱ κατὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ('which those in Alexandria said had been made').
  4. 28.20.9διότι δεῖ — Although διότι usually means 'because', here it is used in the sense of declarative ὅτι to introduce an appositional noun clause explaining the content of the agreement (ὁμολογίαν): 'namely, that he ought to receive...'
  5. 28.20.10πείσας οὐ μόνον αὑτόν... ὡς δίκαια λέγει — The expression 'having convinced not only himself...' suggests that Antiochus had fully persuaded himself (or self-deceivingly convinced himself) of the righteousness of his own cause. The ὡς clause serves as the object clause of πείσας, expressing what he convinced them of.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §28.20.1-28.20.13. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:28.20.1-28.20.13

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