Humanitext Reader

Polybius · The Histories §3.59.1-3.59.9

Opportunities for Exploration and Return to the Narrative

Passage 218 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

While showing understanding for the limitations of past historians, the author explains his motivation for geographic exploration under the favorable conditions of his own era, and announces his return to the main narrative of the war in Italy.

§3.59.1ἀναγγεῖλαι.
to report.
διόπερ οὐ δυσχεροῦς ἀλλʼ ἀδυνάτου σχεδὸν ὑπαρχούσης κατά γε τοὺς προγεγονότας καιροὺς τῆς ἀληθοῦς ἱστορίας ὑπὲρ τῶν προειρημένων, οὐκ εἴ τι παρέλιπον οἱ συγγραφεῖς ἢ διήμαρτον, ἐπιτιμᾶν αὐτοῖς ἄξιον, §3.59.2ἀλλʼ ἐφʼ ὅσον ἔγνωσάν τι καὶ προεβίβασαν τὴν ἐμπειρίαν τὴν περὶ τούτων ἐν τοιούτοις καιροῖς, ἐπαινεῖν καὶ θαυμάζειν αὐτοὺς δίκαιον.
Therefore, since a true history concerning the aforementioned matters was in past times not merely difficult but almost impossible, if the writers omitted or erred in anything, it is not proper to censure them, but rather it is right to praise and admire them, in so far as they gained some knowledge and advanced our experience of these things in such times.
§3.59.3ἐν δὲ τοῖς καθʼ ἡμᾶς τῶν μὲν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν διὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου δυναστείαν τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν τόπων διὰ τὴν Ῥωμαίων ὑπεροχὴν σχεδὸν ἁπάντων πλωτῶν καὶ πορευτῶν γεγονότων, §3.59.4ἀπολελυμένων δὲ καὶ τῶν πρακτικῶν ἀνδρῶν τῆς περὶ τὰς πολεμικὰς καὶ πολιτικὰς πράξεις φιλοτιμίας, ἐκ δὲ τούτων πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας ἀφορμὰς εἰληφότων εἰς τὸ πολυπραγμονεῖν καὶ φιλομαθεῖν περὶ τῶν προειρημένων, §3.59.5δέον ἂν εἴη καὶ βέλτιον γινώσκειν καὶ ἀληθινώτερον ὑπὲρ τῶν πρότερον ἀγνοουμένων.
But in our own times, since all parts of Asia, owing to the empire of Alexander, and the rest of the world, owing to the supremacy of the Romans, have become almost entirely accessible by sea and land, and since men of action have also been released from ambition regarding military and political affairs, and have thereby obtained many great opportunities for investigating and seeking knowledge about the aforementioned matters, it would be necessary and better to gain a better and more truthful knowledge of what was previously unknown.
ὅπερ ἡμεῖς αὐτοί τε πειρασόμεθα ποιεῖν, §3.59.6λαβόντες ἁρμόζοντα τόπον ἐν τῇ πραγματείᾳ τῷ μέρει τούτῳ, τούς τε φιλοπευστοῦντας ὁλοσχερέστερον βουλησόμεθα συνεπιστῆσαι περὶ τῶν προειρημένων, §3.59.7ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὸ πλεῖον τούτου χάριν ὑπεδεξάμεθα τοὺς κινδύνους [καὶ τὰς κακοπαθείας] τοὺς συμβάντας ἡμῖν ἐν πλάνῃ τῇ κατὰ Λιβύην καὶ κατʼ Ἰβηρίαν, ἔτι δὲ Γαλατίαν καὶ τὴν ἔξωθεν ταύταις ταῖς χώραις συγκυροῦσαν θάλατταν, §3.59.8ἵνα διορθωσάμενοι τὴν τῶν προγεγονότων ἄγνοιαν ἐν τούτοις γνώριμα ποιήσωμεν τοῖς Ἕλλησι καὶ ταῦτα τὰ μέρη τῆς οἰκουμένης.
And this is what we ourselves shall attempt to do, having taken an appropriate place in our work for this part, and we shall wish to direct the attention of those who are eager for knowledge more completely to the aforementioned matters, especially since we undertook for this very reason the greater part of the dangers [and hardships] that befell us in our travels through Libya, Iberia, and also Gaul, and the sea that borders these countries on the outside, in order that, by correcting the ignorance of our predecessors, we might make these parts of the inhabited world also known to the Greeks.
§3.59.9νῦν δʼ ἀναδραμόντες ἐπὶ τὴν παρέκβασιν τῆς διηγήσεως πειρασόμεθα δηλοῦν τοὺς γενομένους ἐκ παρατάξεως ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ Ῥωμαίοις καὶ Καρχηδονίοις ἀγῶνας.
But now, returning from this digression in our narrative, we shall attempt to set forth the battles fought in Italy between the Romans and the Carthaginians in regular array.

Notes

  1. 3.59.1ἀναγγεῖλαι — An infinitive continuing from the previous chapter's end (§3.58.9), governed by the construction starting with χρῆσθαι and προτιμῆσαι after the negative μηδέν. It completes the sense 'to report nothing beyond what actually exists.'
  2. 3.59.5δέον ἂν εἴη — An impersonal construction combining the participle δέον with the potential optative εἴη ἄν, expressing a mild obligation or necessity. The following infinitives (γινώσκειν) serve as the subject of this expression.
  3. 3.59.6συνεπιστῆσαι — The aorist active infinitive of συνεφίστημι. It is used transitively here in the sense of 'to direct the attention of someone,' with the accusative τοὺς φιλοπευστοῦντας functioning as its direct object.
  4. 3.59.9παρέκβασιν — Meaning 'digression' or 'excursus,' referring here to the geographical discussion that has just concluded. It is a meta-narrative term marking the author's return to the main historical narrative (the Second Punic War).

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §3.59.1-3.59.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.59.1-3.59.9

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