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Polybius · The Histories §30.16.1-30.16.2

Egyptian Embassy of Thanks to Rome and the Release of Menalcidas

Passage 1158 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

This passage records that the kings of Egypt, after being freed from the war against Antiochus, sent Numenius as an ambassador of thanks to Rome, and released Menalcidas at the request of the Roman envoy Popillius.

§30.16.1ὅτι κατὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον οἱ βασιλεῖς ἀπολελυμένοι τοῦ πρὸς Ἀντίοχον πολέμου πρῶτον μὲν εἰς Ῥώμην πρεσβευτὴν ἐξέπεμψαν Νουμήνιον, ἕνα τῶν φίλων, εὐχαριστήσοντα περὶ τῶν εἰς αὐτοὺς γεγονότων εὐεργετημάτων·
ὅτι In Egypt, the kings, having been freed from the war against Antiochus, first of all sent Numenius, one of their Friends, as an ambassador to Rome, to express gratitude for the benefits bestowed upon them.
§30.16.2ἀπέλυσαν δὲ καὶ τὸν Λακεδαιμόνιον Μεναλκίδαν, ἐνεργῶς κεχρημένον τοῖς κατὰ τῆς βασιλείας καιροῖς πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν ἐπανόρθωσιν, Γαΐου Ποπιλίου τὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀπολύσεως χάριν αἰτησαμένου παρὰ τῶν βασιλέων.
And they also released the Lacedaemonian Menalcidas, who had actively used the crises facing the kingdom for his own rehabilitation, since Gaius Popillius had requested the favor of his release from the kings.

Notes

  1. §30.16.1ὅτι — The conjunction ὅτι at the beginning of the passage is characteristic of Byzantine epitomes, introducing a summary or indirect discourse. It governs the main verbs ἐξέπεμψαν and ἀπέλυσαν, framing the entire account as a reported event.
  2. §30.16.1εὐχαριστήσοντα — The future active participle in the accusative singular masculine, modifying the preceding noun (Numenius the ambassador), expresses purpose ('in order to express gratitude') in coordination with the verb of motion ἐξέπεμψαν.
  3. §30.16.2Γαΐου Ποπιλίου ... αἰτησαμένου — A genitive absolute construction where the participle αἰτησαμένου (aorist middle) agrees with the proper name Γαΐου Ποπιλίου. It expresses the cause or background (Popillius's request) for the main clause's action (the kings' release of Menalcidas).

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §30.16.1-30.16.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:30.16.1-30.16.2

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