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Polybius · The Histories §5.101.1-5.101.10

News of Roman Defeat and Advice of Demetrius

Passage 465 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

While sailing to address Illyrian piracy, Philip receives news of a major Roman defeat by Hannibal. Demetrius of Pharos, upon hearing this, urges the king to end the war with the Aetolians quickly and focus on crossing into Italy for universal dominion.

§5.101.1διόπερ ἀκούων τοὺς Σκερδιλαΐδου λέμβους περὶ Μαλέαν λῄζεσθαι καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ἐμπόροις ὡς πολεμίοις χρῆσθαι, παρεσπονδηκέναι δὲ καὶ τῶν ἰδίων τινὰ πλοίων ἐν Λευκάδι συνορμήσαντα, §5.101.2καταρτίσας δώδεκα μὲν καταφράκτους ναῦς, ὀκτὼ δʼ ἀφράκτους, τριάκοντα δʼ ἡμιολίους, ἔπλει διʼ Εὐρίπου, σπεύδων μὲν καταλαβεῖν καὶ τοὺς Ἰλλυριούς, καθόλου δὲ μετέωρος ὢν ταῖς ἐπιβολαῖς ἐπὶ τὸν κατὰ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν πόλεμον διὰ τὸ μηδέν πω συνεικέναι τῶν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ γεγονότων.
Therefore, hearing that the lemboi of Scerdilaidas were committing piracy around Malea and treating all merchants as enemies, and had also violated the treaty in respect to some of his own vessels which had anchored together with them at Leucas, having equipped twelve decked ships, eight undecked ones, and thirty hemioliai, he sailed through the Euripus, eager on the one hand to catch the Illyrians as well, and on the other hand being generally excited in his designs for the war against the Aetolians, because he had not yet understood anything of what had happened in Italy.
§5.101.3συνέβαινε δέ, καθʼ οὓς καιροὺς ἐπολιόρκει τὰς Θήβας Φίλιππος, ἡττῆσθαι Ῥωμαίους ὑπʼ Ἀννίβου τῇ περὶ Τυρρηνίαν μάχῃ, τὴν δὲ φήμην ὑπὲρ τῶν γεγονότων μηδέπω προσπεπτωκέναι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν.
It happened that, at the very time when Philip was besieging Thebes, the Romans had been defeated by Hannibal in the battle near Tyrrhenia, but the report concerning these events had not yet reached the Greeks.
§5.101.4ὁ δὲ Φίλιππος, τῶν λέμβων ὑστερήσας καὶ καθορμισθεὶς πρὸς Κεγχρεαῖς τὰς μὲν καταφράκτους ναῦς ἐξαπέστειλε, συντάξας περὶ Μαλέαν ποιεῖσθαι τὸν πλοῦν ὡς ἐπʼ Αἰγίου καὶ Πατρῶν, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ τῶν πλοίων ὑπερισθμίσας ἐν Λεχαίῳ παρήγγελλε πᾶσιν ὁρμεῖν.
Philip, having missed the lemboi and anchored at Cenchreae, sent off the decked ships, ordering them to make their voyage round Malea as if towards Aegium and Patrae; but having dragged the rest of the vessels over the Isthmus, he ordered them all to anchor at Lechaeum.
§5.101.5αὐτὸς δὲ κατὰ σπουδὴν ἧκε μετὰ φίλων ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν Νεμέων πανήγυριν εἰς Ἄργος.
He himself went in haste with his friends to Argos for the festival of the Nemean games.
§5.101.6ἄρτι δʼ αὐτοῦ θεωμένου τὸν ἀγῶνα τὸν γυμνικόν, παρῆν ἐκ Μακεδονίας γραμματοφόρος διασαφῶν ὅτι λείπονται Ῥωμαῖοι μάχῃ μεγάλῃ καὶ κρατεῖ τῶν ὑπαίθρων Ἀννίβας.
Just as he was watching the athletic contest, a letter-carrier arrived from Macedonia, making it clear that the Romans had been defeated in a great battle and Hannibal was master of the open country.
§5.101.7παραυτίκα μὲν οὖν Δημητρίῳ τῷ Φαρίῳ μόνῳ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἐπέδειξε, σιωπᾶν παρακελευσάμενος·
Immediately, therefore, he showed the letter to Demetrius of Pharos alone, bidding him to keep silent.
§5.101.8ὃς καὶ λαβόμενος τῆς ἀφορμῆς ταύτης τὸν μὲν πρὸς τοὺς Αἰτωλοὺς ᾤετο δεῖν τὴν ταχίστην ἀπορρῖψαι πόλεμον, ἀντέχεσθαι δὲ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἰλλυρίδα πραγμάτων ἠξίου καὶ τῆς εἰς Ἰταλίαν διαβάσεως.
Who, seizing upon this opportunity, thought that he ought to drop the war against the Aetolians as quickly as possible, and urged him to apply himself to the affairs of Illyria and to crossing over into Italy.
§5.101.9τὰ μὲν γὰρ κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα πάντα καὶ νῦν ἤδη ποιεῖν αὐτῷ τὸ προσταττόμενον ἔφη καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ποιήσειν, Ἀχαιῶν μὲν ἐθελοντὴν εὐνοούντων, Αἰτωλῶν δὲ καταπεπληγμένων ἐκ τῶν συμβεβηκότων αὐτοῖς κατὰ τὸν ἐνεστῶτα πόλεμον· §5.101.10τὴν δʼ Ἰταλίαν ἔφη καὶ τὴν ἐκεῖ διάβασιν ἀρχὴν εἶναι τῆς ὑπὲρ τῶν ὅλων ἐπιβολῆς, ἣν οὐδενὶ καθήκειν μᾶλλον ἢ ʼκείνῳ τὸν
For he said that all affairs in Greece already did what was commanded of them and would do so in the future, as the Achaeans were voluntarily well-disposed, and the Aetolians were utterly dismayed by what had happened to them in the present war; and Italy, he said, and the crossing thither was the beginning of the enterprise for universal dominion, which belonged to no one more than to him, and the

Notes

  1. §5.101.1παρεσπονδηκέναι — Part of the accusative and infinitive construction introduced by the participle `ἀκούων`. The implied subject of the infinitive is Scerdilaidas' men, while `τινὰ` (certain ships) is the direct object, with `τῶν ἰδίων πλοίων` acting as a partitive genitive. The participle `συνορμήσαντα` is neuter accusative plural, agreeing with `τινά`.
  2. §5.101.2μετέωρος ὢν ταῖς ἐπιβολαῖς — The adjective `μετέωρος` (in suspense, excited, eager) is combined with the dative of respect or cause `ταῖς ἐπιβολαῖς` (in his designs/plans). It describes Philip's state of mind—highly excited and eagerly focused on his plans for the Aetolian war, as he was still unaware of the critical events unfolding in Italy.
  3. §5.101.6λείπονται — Present passive (or middle) of `λείπω`. It is used as a historical present within the indirect speech `ὅτι` clause to vividly convey the completed event of the Roman defeat.
  4. §5.101.8ὃς — A relative pronoun placed at the beginning of a sentence, acting as a demonstrative pronoun ("And he...") referring back to the subject of the previous sentence (Demetrius). This usage, known as relative connection, is characteristic of Greek historical prose.
  5. §5.101.10ἣν οὐδενὶ καθήκειν μᾶλλον ἢ ʼκείνῳ — A relative clause attracted into indirect speech. The relative pronoun `ἣν` takes `ἐπιβολῆς` (enterprise) as its antecedent and functions as the subject accusative of the infinitive `καθήκειν` (from the impersonal verb `καθήκει`, meaning "it belongs to" or "it befits").

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §5.101.1-5.101.10. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.101.1-5.101.10

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