§3.2.1τινὰ ποιησόμεθα τὴν ἔφοδον τῆς ἐξηγήσεως.
shall make some such approach to our exposition.
ὑποδείξαντες γὰρ τὰς αἰτίας, διʼ ἃς ὁ προδεδηλωμένος συνέστη Καρχηδονίοις καὶ Ῥωμαίοις πόλεμος, ὁ προσαγορευθεὶς Ἀννιβιακός, §3.2.2ἐροῦμεν ὡς εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἐμβαλόντες Καρχηδόνιοι καὶ καταλύσαντες τὴν Ῥωμαίων δυναστείαν εἰς μέγαν μὲν φόβον ἐκείνους ἤγαγον περὶ σφῶν καὶ τοῦ τῆς πατρίδος ἐδάφους, μεγάλας δʼ ἔσχον αὐτοὶ καὶ παραδόξους ἐλπίδας, ὡς καὶ τῆς Ῥώμης αὐτῆς ἐξ ἐφόδου κρατήσοντες. §3.2.3ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις πειρασόμεθα διασαφεῖν ὡς κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς καιροὺς Φίλιππος μὲν ὁ Μακεδὼν διαπολεμήσας Αἰτωλοῖς καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα συστησάμενος τὰ κατὰ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐπεβάλετο κοινωνεῖν Καρχηδονίοις τῶν αὐτῶν ἐλπίδων, §3.2.4Ἀντίοχος δὲ καὶ Πτολεμαῖος ὁ Φιλοπάτωρ ἠμφισβήτουν, τέλος δʼ ἐπολέμησαν ὑπὲρ Κοίλης Συρίας πρὸς ἀλλήλους, §3.2.5Ῥόδιοι δὲ καὶ Προυσίας ἀναλαβόντες πρὸς Βυζαντίους πόλεμον ἠνάγκασαν αὐτοὺς ἀποστῆναι τοῦ παραγωγιάζειν τοὺς πλέοντας εἰς τὸν Πόντον. §3.2.6στήσαντες δʼ ἐπὶ τούτων τὴν διήγησιν τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς Ῥωμαίων πολιτείας συστησόμεθα λόγον, ᾧ κατὰ τὸ συνεχὲς ὑποδείξομεν ὅτι μέγιστα συνεβάλετʼ αὐτοῖς ἡ τοῦ πολιτεύματος ἰδιότης πρὸς τὸ μὴ μόνον ἀνακτήσασθαι τὴν Ἰταλιωτῶν καὶ Σικελιωτῶν δυναστείαν, ἔτι δὲ τὴν Ἰβήρων προσλαβεῖν καὶ Κελτῶν ἀρχήν, ἀλλὰ τὸ τελευταῖον καὶ πρὸς τὸ κρατήσαντας τῷ πολέμῳ Καρχηδονίων ἔννοιαν σχεῖν τῆς τῶν ὅλων ἐπιβολῆς. §3.2.7ἅμα δὲ τούτοις κατὰ παρέκβασιν δηλώσομεν τὴν κατάλυσιν τῆς Ἱέρωνος τοῦ Συρακοσίου δυναστείας. §3.2.8οἷς ἐπισυνάψομεν τὰς περὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον ταραχὰς καὶ τίνα τρόπον Πτολεμαίου τοῦ βασιλέως μεταλλάξαντος τὸν βίον συμφρονήσαντες Ἀντίοχος καὶ Φίλιππος ἐπὶ διαιρέσει τῆς τοῦ καταλελειμμένου παιδὸς ἀρχῆς ἤρξαντο κακοπραγμονεῖν καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἐπιβάλλειν Φίλιππος μὲν τοῖς κατʼ Αἴγαιον καὶ Καρίαν καὶ Σάμον, Ἀντίοχος δὲ τοῖς κατὰ Κοίλην Συρίαν καὶ Φοινίκην.
For after pointing out the causes from which arose the aforementioned war between the Carthaginians and the Romans, which was called the Hannibalic war, shall tell how the Carthaginians, having invaded Italy and broken the Roman dominion, brought upon them great fear for themselves and the soil of their fatherland, while they themselves conceived great and unexpected hopes, even of capturing Rome itself by assault. to this, we shall endeavor to clarify how, at the same periods, Philip of Macedon, having finished his war against the Aetolians and subsequently settled the affairs of the Greeks, undertook to share in the same hopes with the Carthaginians, how Antiochus and Ptolemy Philopator disputed, and finally went to war with each other, for Coele-Syria, how the Rhodians and Prusias, having undertaken a war against the Byzantines, compelled them to desist from levying dues on those sailing into the Pontus. having halted our narrative at these events, we shall compose the discourse concerning the Roman constitution, in which we shall demonstrate in continuous sequence that the peculiarity of their constitution contributed most to them, not only towards recovering the dominion over the Italians and Sicilians, and further acquiring the rule over the Iberians and Celts, but finally, after having conquered the Carthaginians in the war, also towards conceiving the plan of the whole. the same time, along with these, we shall declare by way of digression the downfall of the dominion of Hiero of Syracuse. these we shall subjoin the disturbances in Egypt, and in what manner, after King Ptolemy departed this life, Antiochus and Philip, having conspired for the partition of the dominion of the child who was left behind, began to behave mischievously and lay their hands—Philip upon the places in the Aegean, Caria, and Samos, and Antiochus upon those in Coele-Syria and Phoenicia.