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Polybius · The Histories §33.1.1-33.1.8

Embassy to Asia and the Rejection of Achaean Release

Passage 1224 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

The senate dispatches a commission to halt the conflict between Prusias and Attalus, and also debates the release of the detained Achaeans, which is ultimately defeated due to a procedural manipulation by the praetor Aulus Postumius.

§33.1.1ὅτι ἡ σύγκλητος ἔτι κατὰ χειμῶνα διακούσασα τῶν περὶ τὸν Πόπλιον Λέντλον ὑπὲρ τῶν κατὰ Προυσίαν διὰ τὸ νεωστὶ παραγεγονέναι τούτους ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίας, εἰσεκαλέσατο καὶ τὸν Ἀθήναιον τὸν Ἀττάλου τοῦ βασιλέως ἀδελφόν.
That the senate, having heard in detail still during the winter those around Publius Lentulus concerning the affairs of Prusias—as they had recently arrived from Asia—also summoned Athenaeus, the brother of king Attalus.
§33.1.2οὐ μέντοι πολλῶν προσεδεήθη λόγων, ἀλλʼ εὐθέως καταστήσασα πρεσβευτὰς συνεξαπέστελλε τῷ προειρημένῳ τοὺς περὶ Γάιον Κλαύδιον Κέντωνα καὶ Λεύκιον Ὁρτήσιον καὶ Γάιον Αὐρογκολήιον, ἐντολὰς δοῦσα κωλύειν τὸν Προυσίαν Ἀττάλῳ πολεμεῖν.
It did not, however, require many words, but immediately, after appointing ambassadors, dispatched those around Gaius Claudius Centho, Lucius Hortensius, and Gaius Aurunculeius together with the aforementioned, giving them instructions to prevent Prusias from making war on Attalus.
§33.1.3παρεγένοντο δὲ καὶ παρὰ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν πρέσβεις εἰς Ῥώμην ὑπὲρ τῶν κατεχομένων οἱ περὶ Ξένωνα τὸν Αἰγιέα καὶ Τηλεκλέα τὸν Αἰγειράτην.
There also arrived from the Achaeans ambassadors to Rome on behalf of those detained, those around Xenon of Aegium and Telecles of Aegeira.
§33.1.4ὧν ποιησαμένων λόγους ἐν τῇ συγκλήτῳ, καὶ τοῦ διαβουλίου προτεθέντος, παρʼ ὀλίγον ἦλθον ἀπολῦσαι τοὺς κατῃτιαμένους οἱ τοῦ συνεδρίου.
When these had made speeches in the senate and the debate had been proposed, the members of the assembly came within a little of releasing the accused.
§33.1.5τὴν δʼ αἰτίαν ἔσχε τοῦ μὴ συντελεσθῆναι τὴν ἀπόλυσιν Αὖλος Ποστόμιος, στρατηγὸς ὢν ἑξαπέλεκυς καὶ βραβεύων τὸ διαβούλιον.
But the blame for the release not being completed was laid upon Aulus Postumius, who was praetor and presiding over the debate.
§33.1.6τριῶν γὰρ οὐσῶν γνωμῶν, μιᾶς μὲν τῆς ἀφιέναι κελευούσης, ἑτέρας δὲ τῆς ἐναντίας ταύτης, τρίτης δὲ τῆς ἀπολύειν μέν, ἐπισχεῖν δὲ κατὰ τὸ παρόν, καὶ πλείστων δʼ ὄντων τῶν ἀφιέντων, §33.1.7παρελθὼν τὴν μίαν γνώμην διηρώτα τὰς δύο καθολικῶς, οἷς δοκεῖ τοὺς ἀνακεκλημένους ἀφιέναι καὶ τοὐναντίον.
For there being three opinions, one indeed ordering to release, another the opposite of this, and a third to release indeed but to delay for the present, and although those for releasing were the most numerous, he passed over the one opinion and put the question on the two in a general way: to those who favored releasing the summoned and the opposite.
§33.1.8λοιπὸν οἱ κατὰ τὸ παρὸν ἐπέχειν κελεύοντες προσέβησαν πρὸς τοὺς μὴ φάσκοντας δεῖν ἀπολύειν, καὶ πλείους ἐγενήθησαν τῶν ἀφιέντων.
Consequently, those who ordered to delay for the present joined those saying they should not release, and they became more numerous than those for releasing.
καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐπὶ τούτων ἦν. —
And such was the state of these matters. —

Notes

  1. 33.1.1ἔτι κατὰ χειμῶνα διακούσασα — The participle `διακούσασα` agrees with the subject `ἡ σύγκλητος` and has temporal force ("after hearing in detail"). The phrase `κατὰ χειμῶνα` indicates the urgency of the situation, as Roman diplomatic activities, which usually intensified after spring, were already being conducted during the winter.
  2. 33.1.4παρʼ ὀλίγον ἦλθον ἀπολῦσαι — The idiom `παρʼ ὀλίγον ἔρχομαι` followed by an infinitive means "to come within a little of doing" or "to almost do." The subject of this verb is `οἱ τοῦ συνεδρίου` (the members of the senate) located at the end of the sentence.
  3. 33.1.5στρατηγὸς ὢν ἑξαπέλεκυς — The expression "six-axed general (strategos)" is a literal Greek rendering of the Roman office "praetor." It derives from the praetor's right to be accompanied by six lictors carrying fasces with axes outside the pomerium or in the provinces.
  4. 33.1.7παρελθὼν τὴν μίαν γνώμην — The aorist participle `παρελθών` (from `παρέρχομαι`) here means "passing over" or "bypassing." It refers to Aulus Postumius' procedural maneuver of intentionally excluding the intermediate third option ("to release but delay for the present," designated as `μίαν` in the preceding sentence) and directing the vote toward a simple binary choice.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §33.1.1-33.1.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:33.1.1-33.1.8

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