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Polybius · The Histories §5.18.1-5.18.11

Philip's rapid march and arrival at Amyclae

Passage 382 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

This passage describes how King Philip reached Amyclae near Sparta with extreme speed through a continuous march, greatly surprising and throwing into panic the unprepared Lacedaemonians by his bold operations unexpected of his age.

§5.18.1Τεγεατῶν γίνεσθαι πόλει.
be in the city of the Tegeans.
ταῦτα δὲ διαπραξάμενος, καὶ μείνας οὐδένα χρόνον ἐν τῇ Κορίνθῳ, παρήγγειλε τοῖς Μακεδόσιν ἀναζυγήν.
Having accomplished this, and having stayed in Corinth for no time at all, he ordered the Macedonians to strike camp.
ποιησάμενος δὲ τὴν πορείαν διʼ Ἄργους ἧκε δευτεραῖος εἰς Τεγέαν. §5.18.2προσαναλαβὼν δὲ τοὺς ἡθροισμένους τῶν Ἀχαιῶν προῆγε διὰ τῆς ὀρεινῆς, σπουδάζων λαθεῖν τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους ἐμβαλὼν εἰς τὴν χώραν. §5.18.3περιελθὼν δὲ ταῖς ἐρημίαις, τεταρταῖος ἐπέβαλε τοῖς καταντικρὺ τῆς πόλεως λόφοις, καὶ παρῄει δεξιὸν ἔχων τὸ Μενελάιον ἐπʼ αὐτὰς τὰς Ἀμύκλας. §5.18.4οἱ δὲ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, θεωροῦντες ἐκ τῆς πόλεως παράγουσαν τὴν δύναμιν, ἐκπλαγεῖς ἐγένοντο καὶ περίφοβοι, θαυμάζοντες τὸ συμβαῖνον. §5.18.5ἀκμὴν γὰρ ἦσαν μετέωροι ταῖς διανοίαις ἐκ τῶν προσπιπτόντων ὑπὲρ τοῦ Φιλίππου περὶ τὴν καταφθορὰν τοῦ Θέρμου καὶ καθόλου ταῖς ἐν Αἰτωλίᾳ πράξεσι, καί τις ἐνεπεπτώκει θροῦς παρʼ αὐτοῖς ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὸν Λυκοῦργον ἐκπέμπειν βοηθήσοντα τοῖς Αἰτωλοῖς. §5.18.6ὑπὲρ δὲ τοῦ τὸ δεινὸν ἥξειν ἐπὶ σφᾶς οὕτως ὀξέως ἐκ τηλικούτου διαστήματος οὐδὲ διενοεῖτο παράπαν αὐτῶν οὐδείς, ἅτε καὶ τῆς ἡλικίας ἐχούσης ἀκμὴν εὐκαταφρόνητόν τι τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως.
Having made his march through Argos, he arrived on the second day at Tegea. also with him the assembled forces of the Achaeans, he advanced through the mountainous region, anxious to escape the notice of the Lacedaemonians as he invaded their country. round through desert places, on the fourth day he reached the hills opposite the city, and passed on to Amyclae itself, keeping the Menelaium on his right. the Lacedaemonians, seeing from the city the force passing by, were struck with amazement and filled with fear, wondering at what was happening. they were still in suspense in their minds owing to the reports arriving about Philip concerning the destruction of Thermus and in general his actions in Aetolia, and a rumor had spread among them that they should send out Lycurgus to assist the Aetolians. that the danger would come upon them so swiftly from so great a distance not one of them had even imagined at all, especially as the king's age was still at an eligible point for being somewhat despised.
διὸ καὶ παρὰ δόξαν αὐτοῖς τῶν πραγμάτων συγκυρούντων εἰκότως ἦσαν ἐκπλαγεῖς. §5.18.7ὁ γὰρ Φίλιππος τολμηρότερον καὶ πρακτικώτερον ἢ κατὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν χρώμενος ταῖς ἐπιβολαῖς εἰς ἀπορίαν καὶ δυσχρηστίαν ἅπαντας ἦγε τοὺς πολεμίους. §5.18.8ἀναχθεὶς γὰρ ἐκ μέσης Αἰτωλίας, καθάπερ ἐπάνω προεῖπον, καὶ διανύσας ἐν νυκτὶ τὸν Ἀμβρακικὸν κόλπον, εἰς Λευκάδα κατῆρε. §5.18.9δύο δὲ μείνας ἡμέρας ἐνταῦθα, τῇ τρίτῃ ποιησάμενος ὑπὸ τὴν ἑωθινὴν τὸν ἀνάπλουν, δευτεραῖος πορθήσας ἅμα τὴν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν παραλίαν ἐν Λεχαίῳ καθωρμίσθη. §5.18.10μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα κατὰ τὸ συνεχὲς ποιούμενος τὰς πορείας ἑβδομαῖος ἐπέβαλε τοῖς ὑπὲρ τὴν πόλιν κειμένοις παρὰ τὸ Μενελάιον λόφοις, ὥστε τοὺς πλείστους ὁρῶντας τὸ γεγονὸς μὴ πιστεύειν τοῖς συμβαίνουσιν.
Therefore, as events turned out contrary to their expectation, they were naturally struck with amazement. Philip, by executing his plans with a boldness and activity greater than was to be expected from his age, brought all his enemies into perplexity and distress. having set out from the heart of Aetolia, as I said above, and having traversed the Ambracian gulf in a single night, he arrived at Leucas. having remained there two days, on the third day making his departure before dawn, and at the same time plundering the coast of the Aetolians, on the second day he anchored in Lechaeum. after this, making his marches continuously, on the seventh day he reached the hills lying above the city along the Menelaium, so that most of those who saw what had happened could not believe the events.
οἱ μὲν οὖν Λακεδαιμόνιοι, §5.18.11περιδεεῖς γεγονότες διὰ τὸ παράδοξον, ἠπόρουν καὶ δυσχρήστως διέ
Now, the Lacedaemonians, become terrified due to the unexpectedness of the event, were at a loss and in a difficult...

Notes

  1. 5.18.1Τεγεατῶν γίνεσθαι πόλει — The phrase Τεγεατῶν γίνεσθαι πόλει completes the accusative-and-infinitive construction starting with ἐν τῇ τῶν in the previous chunk (§5.17.9), functioning as an indirect command indicating the location where the allies were to assemble.
  2. 5.18.2λαθεῖν τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους ἐμβαλὼν εἰς τὴν χώραν — The aorist participle ἐμβαλών in the nominative case is used with the verb λαθεῖν (from λανθάνω) to express the idea of invading without being noticed ('escaping notice in invading'). The logical subject of the participle is Philip, the subject of the main clause.
  3. 5.18.5ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὸν Λυκοῦργον ἐκπέμπειν βοηθήσοντα τοῖς Αἰτωλοῖς — The preposition ὑπὲρ with the genitive article τοῦ governs the accusative-and-infinitive clause τὸν Λυκοῦργον ἐκπέμπειν ('concerning the sending of Lycurgus'), which is further modified by the future participle βοηθήσοντα expressing purpose ('in order to aid').
  4. 5.18.6ἅτε καὶ τῆς ἡλικίας ἐχούσης ἀκμὴν εὐκαταφρόνητόν τι τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως — The conjunction ἅτε is used with the genitive absolute construction, consisting of the subject τῆς ἡλικίας ... τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως and the participle ἐχούσης, to present the asserted reason for the Spartans' underestimation ('seeing that the king's age was...').
  5. 5.18.11δυσχρήστως διέ — The text breaks off abruptly after the adverb δυσχρήστως and the prefix of a compound verb διέ... (most likely to be completed as διέκειντο, 'were in a difficult state').

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §5.18.1-5.18.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.18.1-5.18.11

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