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Polybius · The Histories §5.103.1-5.103.9

Opening of Peace Negotiations at Naupactus

Passage 467 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Philip and the allied delegates assemble, and peace negotiations with the Aetolians begin at Naupactus. Both sides agree on the basic condition of maintaining their current possessions, and details are discussed.

§5.103.1αὖθις ἀναπλέων.
sailing back again.
ἤδη δὲ καὶ τῶν συνέδρων ἡθροισμένων, ἐξέπεμψε πρὸς τοὺς Αἰτωλοὺς Ἄρατον καὶ Ταυρίωνα καί τινας τῶν ἡκόντων ἅμα τούτοις.
Since the delegates had also already assembled, he sent Aratus and Taurion, and with them some of those who had arrived, to the Aetolians.
§5.103.2οἳ καὶ συμμίξαντες τοῖς Αἰτωλοῖς πανδημεὶ συνηθροισμένοις ἐν Ναυπάκτῳ, βραχέα διαλεχθέντες καὶ θεωροῦντες αὐτῶν τὴν ὁρμὴν τὴν πρὸς τὰς διαλύσεις, ἔπλεον ἐξ ὑποστροφῆς πρὸς τὸν Φίλιππον χάριν τοῦ διασαφῆσαι περὶ τούτων.
They met the Aetolians assembled in full force at Naupactus, and after a brief conversation, seeing their eagerness for peace, they sailed back immediately to Philip to make these matters clear.
§5.103.3οἱ δʼ Αἰτωλοί, σπεύδοντες διαλύσασθαι τὸν πόλεμον, ἐξαπέστελλον ἅμα τούτοις πρέσβεις πρὸς τὸν Φίλιππον, ἀξιοῦντες παραγενέσθαι μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως πρὸς σφᾶς, ἵνα τῆς κοινολογίας ἐκ χειρὸς γινομένης τύχῃ τὰ πράγματα τῆς ἁρμοζούσης διεξαγωγῆς.
The Aetolians, eager to end the war, dispatched envoys along with them to Philip, requesting him to come to them with his army, so that by a face-to-face conference the negotiations might reach a proper conclusion.
§5.103.4ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς παρορμηθεὶς τοῖς παρακαλουμένοις διέπλευσε μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως πρὸς τὰ λεγόμενα Κοῖλα τῆς Ναυπακτίας, ἃ τῆς πόλεως εἴκοσι μάλιστα σταδίους ἀφέστηκε·
The king, urged on by their requests, sailed with his forces to the so-called Coela of the Naupactian territory, which is about twenty stades distant from the city.
§5.103.5στρατοπεδεύσας δὲ καὶ περιλαβὼν χάρακι τὰς νῆας καὶ τὴν παρεμβολήν, ἔμενε προσανέχων τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἐντεύξεως.
Having encamped and enclosed his ships and the camp with a palisade, he remained there, waiting for the time of the meeting.
§5.103.6οἱ δʼ Αἰτωλοὶ χωρὶς τῶν ὅπλων ἧκον πανδημεί, καὶ διασχόντες ὡς δύο στάδια τῆς Φιλίππου παρεμβολῆς διεπέμποντο καὶ διελέγοντο περὶ τῶν ἐνεστώτων.
The Aetolians came in full force without arms, and keeping about two stades distant from Philip's camp, they sent messengers back and forth and discussed the urgent matters.
§5.103.7τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον ὁ βασιλεὺς πάντας ἐξέπεμπε τοὺς ἥκοντας παρὰ τῶν συμμάχων, κελεύσας ἐπὶ τούτοις προτείνειν τὴν εἰρήνην τοῖς Αἰτωλοῖς, ὥστʼ ἔχειν ἀμφοτέρους ἃ νῦν ἔχουσι·
At first, then, the king sent out all those who had come from the allies, ordering them to propose peace to the Aetolians on the condition that both sides should keep what they currently held.
§5.103.8δεξαμένων δὲ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν ἑτοίμως, τὸ λοιπὸν ἤδη περὶ τῶν κατὰ μέρος συνεχεῖς ἐγίνοντο διαποστολαὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὧν τὰς μὲν πλείους παρήσομεν διὰ τὸ μηδὲν ἔχειν ἄξιον μνήμης, §5.103.9τῆς δʼ Ἀγελάου τοῦ Ναυπακτίου παραινέσεως ποιησόμεθα μνήμην, ᾗ κατὰ τὴν πρώτην ἔντευξιν ἐχρήσατο πρός τε τὸν
As the Aetolians readily accepted this, from then on continuous messages were sent to each other regarding the details, most of which we shall pass over because they contain nothing worthy of mention, but we shall make mention of the exhortation of Agelaus of Naupactus, which he addressed at the first meeting to the king and

Notes

  1. 5.103.1αὖθις ἀναπλέων — Present participle modifying the verb παρῆν in the previous section (§5.102.10), describing the continuous action of sailing back and being present.
  2. 5.103.3ἵνα τῆς κοινολογίας ἐκ χειρὸς γινομένης τύχῃ τὰ πράγματα τῆς ἁρμοζούσης διεξαγωγῆς — A purpose clause introduced by ἵνα. The phrase τῆς κοινολογίας ἐκ χειρὸς γινομένης is a genitive absolute, with ἐκ χειρός meaning "directly" or "face-to-face". The neuter plural subject τὰ πράγματα takes the third-person singular verb τύχῃ (subjunctive of τυγχάνω), which governs the genitive object τῆς ἁρμοζούσης διεξαγωγῆς.
  3. 5.103.7ὥστʼ ἔχειν ἀμφοτέρους ἃ νῦν ἔχουσι — The conjunction ὥστε followed by the infinitive ἔχειν specifies the condition of the peace treaty (the principle of status quo, or *uti possidetis*). ἀμφοτέρους serves as the accusative subject of the infinitive.
  4. 5.103.9πρός τε τὸν — Although the text breaks off here, the conjunction τε ("and") and the masculine accusative article τὸν indicate that nouns such as "the king" (βασιλέα) and "the allies" (συμμάχους) were to follow.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §5.103.1-5.103.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.103.1-5.103.9

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