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Polybius · The Histories §33.12.1-33.12.9

Rome Breaks with Prusias and Supports Attalus

Passage 1234 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

While Attalus was preparing his forces in Asia, the ten Roman commissioners arrived and, upon Prusias's rejection of the senate's demands, renounced their alliance with him. The commissioners then instructed Attalus to defend his territory and initiated diplomatic efforts to isolate Prusias and rally support for Attalus.

§33.12.1ὅτι κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν Ἄτταλος ἔτι κατὰ χειμῶνα συνήθροιζε μεγάλας δυνάμεις, ἅτε καὶ τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἀριαράθην καὶ τὸν Μιθριδάτην ἐξαπεσταλκότων αὐτῷ στρατιὰν ἱππέων καὶ πεζῶν κατὰ τὴν συμμαχίαν, ὧν ἡγεῖτο Δημήτριος Ἀριαράθου.
In Asia, Attalus was already collecting large forces during the winter, since the circles of Ariarathes and Mithridates had also dispatched to him an army of cavalry and infantry in accordance with their alliance, of which Demetrius, the son of Ariarathes, was in command.
ὄντος δὲ περὶ ταύτας αὐτοῦ τὰς κατασκευάς, §33.12.2ἧκον ἐκ τῆς Ῥώμης οἱ δέκα πρέσβεις, οἳ καὶ συμμίξαντες αὐτῷ περὶ Κάδους καὶ κοινολογηθέντες περὶ τῶν πραγμάτων ὥρμησαν πρὸς τὸν Προυσίαν. §33.12.3ἐπειδὴ δὲ συνέμιξαν, διεσάφουν αὐτῷ τὰ παρὰ τῆς συγκλήτου μετὰ πολλῆς ἀνατάσεως. §33.12.4ὁ δὲ Προυσίας ἔνια μὲν τῶν προσταττομένων προσεδέχετο, τοῖς δὲ πλείστοις ἀντέλεγε. §33.12.5διόπερ οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι προσκόψαντες αὐτῷ τήν τε φιλίαν ἀπείπαντο καὶ τὴν συμμαχίαν, καὶ πάντες ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀπηλλάττοντο πάλιν ὡς τὸν Ἄτταλον. §33.12.6ὁ δὲ Προυσίας μετανοήσας μέχρι μέν τινος ἐπηκολούθει λιπαρῶν, ἐπεὶ δʼ οὐδὲν ἤνυεν, ἀπαλλαγεὶς ἐν ἀμηχανίαις ἦν. §33.12.7οἱ δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι τὸν μὲν Ἄτταλον ἐκέλευον προκαθίσαντα τῆς αὑτοῦ χώρας μετὰ δυνάμεως αὐτὸν μὲν μὴ κατάρχειν τοῦ πολέμου, ταῖς δὲ πόλεσι ταῖς αὑτοῦ καὶ ταῖς κώμαις τὴν ἀσφάλειαν παρασκευάζειν· §33.12.8αὐτοὶ δὲ μερίσαντες σφᾶς αὐτούς, οἱ μὲν ἔπλεον κατὰ σπουδὴν ἀπαγγελοῦντες τῇ συγκλήτῳ τὴν ἀπείθειαν τοῦ Προυσίου, τινὲς δʼ ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰωνίας ἐχωρίσθησαν, ἕτεροι δʼ ἐφʼ Ἑλλησπόντου καὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸ Βυζάντιον τόπων, μίαν ἔχοντες καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν πρόθεσιν ἅπαντες, §33.12.9ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς Προυσίου φιλίας καὶ συμμαχίας ἀποκαλεῖν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, Ἀττάλῳ δὲ προσνέμειν τὴν εὔνοιαν καὶ συμμαχεῖν κατὰ δύναμιν. —
While he was occupied with these preparations, the ten commissioners arrived from Rome, who, having met him near Cadi and conferred with him on the situation, hastened to Prusias. When they met him, they made clear to him the demands of the senate with great severity. Prusias accepted some of the demands, but objected to most of them. Therefore, the Romans, offended by him, renounced both their friendship and alliance, and all immediately departed from there to return to Attalus. Prusias, regretting his decision, followed them for some distance with entreaties, but when he achieved nothing, he desisted and was in great perplexity. The Romans ordered Attalus to guard his own country with his army and not to begin the war himself, but to secure the safety of his own cities and villages. They themselves divided their forces; some sailed in haste to report the disobedience of Prusias to the senate, others departed for Ionia, and still others for the Hellespont and the region around Byzantium, all having one and the same purpose: to recall the people from their friendship and alliance with Prusias, and to win their goodwill for Attalus and assist him to the best of their power.

Notes

  1. 33.12.1ἅτε καὶ τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἀριαράθην ... ἐξαπεσταλκότων — The conjunction ἅτε is combined with the genitive absolute (τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἀριαράθην ... ἐξαπεσταλκότων) to express an objective or factual reason ('since...', 'inasmuch as...'). This absolute construction has a different subject from the main clause's subject, Attalus.
  2. 33.12.7προκαθίσαντα ... μὴ κατάρχειν — The aorist participle προκαθίσαντα ('having stationed / stationed') is in the accusative case to agree with Ἄτταλον, which serves as the object of the verb ἐκέλευον ('were ordering'). It forms an accusative with infinitive construction together with the following infinitives μὴ κατάρχειν ('not to begin') and παρασκευάζειν ('to secure').
  3. 33.12.9ἀποκαλεῖν ... προσνέμειν τὴν εὔνοιαν καὶ συμμαχεῖν — These infinitives (ἀποκαλεῖν, προσνέμειν, συμμαχεῖν) function as appositional (or explanatory) infinitives that define the content of the noun πρόθεσιν ('purpose, intention') in the preceding section (§33.12.8).

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §33.12.1-33.12.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:33.12.1-33.12.9

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