§4.51.1σεως.
ose.
ὁρῶντες γὰρ τὸ συνέχον τοῖς Βυζαντίοις τῆς ὑπομονῆς τοῦ πολέμου κείμενον ἐν ταῖς κατὰ τὸν Ἀχαιὸν ἐλπίσι, θεωροῦντες δὲ τὸν πατέρα τὸν Ἀχαιοῦ κατεχόμενον ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ, τὸν δʼ Ἀχαιὸν περὶ πλείστου ποιούμενον τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς σωτηρίαν, ἐπεβάλοντο πρεσβεύειν πρὸς τὸν Πτολεμαῖον καὶ παραιτεῖσθαι τὸν Ἀνδρόμαχον, §4.51.2καὶ πρότερον μὲν ἐκ παρέργου τοῦτο πεποιηκότες, τότε δʼ ἀληθινῶς σπεύδοντες ὑπὲρ τοῦ πράγματος, ἵνα προσενεγκάμενοι πρὸς τὸν Ἀχαιὸν τὴν χάριν ταύτην ὑπόχρεων αὐτὸν ποιήσωνται πρὸς πᾶν τὸ παρακαλούμενον. §4.51.3ὁ δὲ Πτολεμαῖος, παραγενομένων τῶν πρέσβεων, ἐβουλεύετο μὲν παρακατέχειν τὸν Ἀνδρόμαχον, ἐλπίζων αὐτῷ χρήσεσθαι πρὸς καιρόν, διὰ τὸ τά τε πρὸς τὸν Ἀντίοχον ἄκριτα μένειν αὐτῷ, καὶ τὸ τὸν Ἀχαιὸν ἀναδεδειχότα προσφάτως αὑτὸν βασιλέα πραγμάτων εἶναι κύριον ἱκανῶν τινων· §4.51.4ἦν γὰρ Ἀνδρόμαχος Ἀχαιοῦ μὲν πατήρ, ἀδελφὸς δὲ Λαοδίκης τῆς Σελεύκου γυναικός. §4.51.5οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ προσκλίνων τοῖς Ῥοδίοις ὁ Πτολεμαῖος κατὰ τὴν ὅλην αἵρεσιν, καὶ πάντα σπεύδων χαρίζεσθαι, συνεχώρησε καὶ παρέδωκε τὸν Ἀνδρόμαχον αὐτοῖς ἀποκομίζειν ὡς τὸν υἱόν. §4.51.6οἱ δʼ ἐπιτελεσάμενοι τοῦτο, καὶ προσεπιμετρήσαντες τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἀχαιὸν τιμάς τινας, παρείλαντο τὴν ὁλοσχερεστάτην ἐλπίδα τῶν Βυζαντίων. §4.51.7συνεκύρησε δέ τι καὶ ἕτερον τοῖς Βυζαντίοις ἄτοπον· ὁ γὰρ Τιβοίτης, καταγόμενος ἐκ τῆς Μακεδονίας, ἔσφηλε τὰς ἐπιβολὰς αὐτῶν, μεταλλάξας τὸν βίον. §4.51.8οὗ συμβάντος οἱ μὲν Βυζάντιοι ταῖς ὁρμαῖς ἀνέπεσον, ὁ δὲ Προυσίας ἐπιρρωσθεὶς ταῖς πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἐλπίσιν, ἅμα μὲν αὐτὸς ἀπὸ τῶν κατʼ Ἀσίαν μερῶν ἐπολέμει καὶ προσέκειτο τοῖς πράγμασιν ἐνεργῶς, ἅμα δὲ τοὺς Θρᾷκας μισθωσάμενος οὐκ εἴα τὰς πύλας ἐξιέναι τοὺς Βυζαντίους ἀπὸ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Εὐρώπην μερῶν. §4.51.9οἱ δὲ Βυζάντιοι τῶν σφετέρων ἐλπίδων ἐψευσμένοι, τῷ πολέμῳ πονοῦντες πανταχόθεν, ἐξαγωγὴν περιέβλεπον εὐ
For seeing that the mainstay of the Byzantines' persistence in the war lay in their hopes in Achaeus, and observing that the father of Achaeus was detained in Alexandria, and that Achaeus set the highest value on the safety of his father, they undertook to send an embassy to Ptolemy and beg for the release of Andromachus,\n and though they had done this before only as a secondary matter, they were then striving in earnest for the business, in order that by conferring this favor upon Achaeus they might make him indebted to them for whatever they might request.\n Ptolemy, upon the arrival of the ambassadors, deliberated indeed to continue holding Andromachus, hoping to make use of him at an opportune moment, because his relations with Antiochus remained undecided, and because Achaeus, having recently declared himself king, was master of considerable affairs.\n For Andromachus was the father of Achaeus, and the brother of Laodice, the wife of Seleucus.\n Nevertheless, Ptolemy, leaning towards the Rhodians in his general policy, and eager to gratify them in everything, yielded and delivered Andromachus to them to carry back to his son.\n They, having accomplished this, and having bestowed besides certain honors upon Achaeus and his circle, deprived the Byzantines of their most complete hope.\n And another adverse event also befell the Byzantines; for Tiboites, while being brought from Macedonia, frustrated their designs by departing this life.\n Upon this happening, the Byzantines lost heart in their undertakings, while Prusias, strengthened in his hopes for the war, on the one hand personally waged war from the Asian side and pressed on operations actively, and on the other hand, having hired Thracians, did not allow the Byzantines to go out of their gates from the European side.\n The Byzantines, disappointed in their hopes, and hard pressed by the war on all sides, were looking around for a favorable way out...