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Polybius · The Histories §4.29.1-4.29.7

Alliance between Philip V and Scerdilaidas

Passage 306 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

King Philip V of Macedonia prepares his forces for the upcoming war and negotiates with the Illyrian leader Scerdilaidas. Scerdilaidas, resentful of the Aetolians for breaking their promise, agrees to join the common alliance with Philip.

§4.29.1Φίλιππος δὲ παραχειμάζων ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ κατέγραφε τὰς δυνάμεις πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν χρείαν ἐπιμελῶς, ἅμα δὲ τούτοις ἠσφαλίζετο τὰ πρὸς τοὺς ὑπερκειμένους τῆς Μακεδονίας βαρβάρους.
Philip, while wintering in Macedonia, diligently enlisted forces for future need, and at the same time secured his relations with the barbarians situated above Macedonia.
§4.29.2μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα συνελθὼν πρὸς Σκερδιλαΐδαν καὶ τολμηρῶς δοὺς αὑτὸν εἰς τὰς χεῖρας, διελέγετο περὶ φιλίας καὶ συμμαχίας,
After these things, having gone to meet Scerdilaidas and boldly placing himself in his hands, he conversed about friendship and alliance.
§4.29.3καὶ τὰ μὲν ὑπισχνούμενος αὐτῷ συγκατασκευάσειν τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἰλλυρίδα πραγμάτων, τὰ δὲ κατηγορῶν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν, ὄντων εὐκατηγορήτων, ῥᾳδίως ἔπεισε συγχωρεῖν τοῖς παρακαλουμένοις.
And by promising, on the one hand, to help him establish his affairs in Illyria, and on the other hand, by accusing the Aetolians, who were indeed easy to accuse, he easily persuaded him to agree to the proposals.
§4.29.4μήποτε γὰρ οὐδὲν διαφέρει τὰ κατʼ ἰδίαν ἀδικήματα τῶν κοινῶν, ἀλλὰ πλήθει μόνον καὶ μεγέθει τῶν συμβαινόντων.
For perhaps private wrongs differ in no way from public ones, except only in the multitude and magnitude of what happens.
καὶ γὰρ κατʼ ἰδίαν τὸ τῶν ῥᾳδιουργῶν καὶ κλεπτῶν φῦλον τούτῳ μάλιστα τῷ τρόπῳ σφάλλεται, τῷ μὴ ποιεῖν ἀλλήλοις τὰ δίκαια καὶ συλλήβδην διὰ τὰς εἰς αὑτοὺς ἀθεσίας.
Indeed, in private life also, the tribe of villains and thieves is ruined chiefly in this way: by not acting justly toward one another, and in short, through their mutual perfidies.
ὃ καὶ τότε συνέβη γενέσθαι περὶ τοὺς Αἰτωλούς.
This is precisely what then happened to the Aetolians.
§4.29.5συνθέμενοι γὰρ τῷ Σκερδιλαΐδᾳ δώσειν μέρος τι τῆς λείας, ἐὰν συνεισβάλῃ μετʼ αὐτῶν εἰς τὴν Ἀχαΐαν, πεισθέντος καὶ ποιήσαντος τοῦτο, §4.29.6διαρπάσαντες τὴν τῶν Κυναιθέων πόλιν, καὶ πολλὰ περιελασάμενοι σώματα καὶ θρέμματα, τὸν Σκερδιλαΐδαν οὐδενὸς μερίτην ἐποίησαν τῶν ἁλόντων.
For having agreed with Scerdilaidas to give him a certain share of the booty if he should join them in invading Achaea, when he was persuaded and did this, after plundering the city of the Cynaethans and driving away many captives and cattle, they made Scerdilaidas a sharer of nothing of what had been captured.
§4.29.7διόπερ ὑποκαθημένης ἐκ τούτων αὐτῷ τῆς ὀργῆς, βραχέα προσαναμνήσαντος τοῦ Φιλίππου, ταχέως ὑπήκουσε καὶ συνέθετο μεθέξειν τῆς κοινῆς συμμαχίας, ἐφʼ ᾧ λαμβάνειν μὲν εἴκοσι τάλαντα κατʼ ἐνιαυτόν, πλεῖν δὲ λέμβοις τριάκοντα καὶ πολεμεῖν τοῖς Αἰτωλοῖς κατὰ θάλατταν.
Therefore, as resentment was harboring in him from these events, when Philip reminded him of them briefly, he quickly complied and agreed to participate in the common alliance, on the condition that he should receive twenty talents annually, and sail with thirty light boats and make war upon the Aetolians by sea.

Notes

  1. §4.29.3τὰ μὲν... τὰ δὲ... — This is an adverbial use of the neuter plural accusative, contrasting Philip's two persuasive approaches: "on the one hand..., on the other hand...".
  2. §4.29.4μήποτε — In Hellenistic Greek, such as Polybius, μήποτε functions as an introductory particle indicating a tentative statement or mild assertion ("perhaps" or "it may well be that").
  3. §4.29.5πεισθέντος καὶ ποιήσαντος τοῦτο — A genitive absolute construction where the implied subject is Scerdilaidas, previously mentioned in the dative. It asserts that he acted as agreed, contrasting with the subsequent betrayal by the Aetolians.
  4. §4.29.7ἐφʼ ᾧ — The preposition ἐπί with the relative pronoun ᾧ, followed by infinitives (λαμβάνειν, πλεῖν, πολεμεῖν), introduces the specific terms of the agreement ("on condition that").

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §4.29.1-4.29.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.29.1-4.29.7

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