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Polybius · The Histories §31.4.1-31.4.4

Rhodian Embassy to Rome and the Colossal Statue

Passage 1178 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

The Rhodians, recovering from their difficulties, sent an embassy to Rome to request the cession of Calynda and the preservation of property rights, and voted to erect a colossal statue of the Roman people in the temple of Athena.

§31.4.1ὅτι Ῥόδιοι διαπεπνευκότες ἐκ τῆς περὶ αὐτοὺς γενομένης δυσχερείας ἔπεμπον εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην πρεσβευτὰς τοὺς περὶ Κλεαγόραν, §31.4.2Κάλυνδα μὲν ἀξιώσοντας σφίσι παραχωρηθῆναι, §31.4.3περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐχόντων ἐν τῇ Λυκίᾳ καὶ Καρίᾳ κτήσεις αἰτησομένους τὴν σύγκλητον, ἵνʼ αὐτοῖς ἔχειν ἐξῇ, καθὰ καὶ πρότερον.
That the Rhodians, having recovered from the difficulty that had befallen them, sent Cleagoras and his party as ambassadors to Rome, on the one hand, to demand that Calynda should be ceded to them, and on the other hand, to petition the Senate concerning those who held possessions in Lycia and Caria, so that they might be allowed to hold them, just as before.
§31.4.4ἐψηφίσαντο δὲ καὶ κολοσσὸν στῆσαι τοῦ δήμου τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐν τῷ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἱερῷ τριακοντάπηχυν. —
They also voted to set up a colossal statue of the Roman people, thirty cubits high, in the temple of Athena. —

Notes

  1. §31.4.2ἀξιώσοντας — Future active participle expressing purpose. Instead of agreeing with the logical subject Ῥόδιοι in the nominative, it grammatically agrees with the direct object πρεσβευτάς in the accusative.
  2. §31.4.3ἵνʼ αὐτοῖς ἔχειν ἐξῇ — A clause introduced by ἵνα containing the impersonal verb ἐξῇ (3rd person singular present subjunctive of ἔξεστι), which takes the dative αὐτοῖς (referring to the Rhodians) and the infinitive ἔχειν (to hold their possessions).
  3. §31.4.4τοῦ δήμου τῶν Ῥωμαίων — Objective genitive (genitive of representation) modifying κολοσσόν (colossal statue), indicating that the statue represented or personified the Roman people.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §31.4.1-31.4.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:31.4.1-31.4.4

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