§34.14.1ὁ γοῦν Πολύβιος γεγονὼς ἐν τῇ πόλει βδελύττεται §34.14.2τὴν τότε κατάστασιν καί φησι τρία γένη τὴν πόλιν οἰκεῖν, τό τε Αἰγύπτιον καὶ ἐπιχώριον φῦλον, ὀξὺ καὶ πολιτικόν, §34.14.3καὶ τὸ μισθοφορικόν, βαρὺ καὶ πολὺ καὶ ἀνάγωγον· ἐξ ἔθους γὰρ παλαιοῦ ξένους ἔτρεφον τοὺς τὰ ὅπλα ἔχοντας, ἄρχειν μᾶλλον ἢ ἄρχεσθαι δεδιδαγμένους διὰ τὴν τῶν βασιλέων οὐδένειαν.
At all events, Polybius, who had been in the city, detests the situation at that time and says that three classes of people inhabit the city: first, the Egyptian and native race, quick-witted and civilised, and second, the mercenary class, headstrong and numerous and unruly; for from an ancient custom they maintained foreign armed men, who had been taught to rule rather than to be ruled because of the worthlessness of the kings.
§34.14.4τρίτον δʼ ἦν γένος τὸ τῶν Ἀλεξανδρέων, οὐδʼ αὐτὸ εὐκρινῶς πολιτικὸν διὰ τὰς αὐτὰς αἰτίας, κρεῖττον δʼ ἐκείνων ὅμως· §34.14.5καὶ γὰρ εἰ μιγάδες, Ἕλληνες ὅμως ἀνέκαθεν ἦσαν καὶ ἐμέμνηντο τοῦ κοινοῦ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἔθους.
The third class was that of the Alexandrians, which was not itself clearly civilised for the same reasons, but was nevertheless better than the former; for even if they were of mixed blood, they were nevertheless Greeks by origin and remembered the common customs of the Greeks.
ἠφανισμένου δὲ καὶ τούτου τοῦ πλήθους, §34.14.6μάλιστα ὑπὸ τοῦ Εὐεργέτου τοῦ Φύσκωνος, καθʼ ὃν ἧκεν εἰς τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ὁ Πολύβιος — §34.14.7καταστασιαζόμενος γὰρ ὁ Φύσκων πλεονάκις τοῖς στρατιώταις ἐφίει τὰ πλήθη καὶ διέφθειρε — §34.14.8, τοιούτων δή, φησίν, ὄντων τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει, λοιπὸν ἦν τῷ ὄντι τὸ τοῦ ποιητοῦ
Αἴγυπτόνδʼ ἰέναι δολιχὴν ὁδὸν ἀργαλέην τε.
But when this population also had been wiped out, especially by Euergetes Physcon, in whose time Polybius came to Alexandria— for Physcon, being frequently troubled by factions, let loose his soldiers upon the multitudes and destroyed them— since the inhabitants of the city were indeed of such a character, he says, there remained in truth that saying of the Poet: "To go to Egypt is a long and painful journey."