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Polybius · The Histories §5.27.1-5.27.8

The Arrest of Leontius and Peltasts' Protest

Passage 391 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

While Megaleas flees from Athens to Thebes, King Philip stays with Aratus and orders the arrest of Leontius after sending away the peltasts on a pretext. The peltasts send envoys to protest and offer to pay the fine, which only further provokes the king.

§5.27.1Ἐλατείας ἀνέστρεφε, κατὰ δὲ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ὁ Μεγαλέας εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας ἀπεχώρησε, καταλιπὼν τὸν Λεόντιον ἐν ἐγγύῃ τῶν εἴκοσι ταλάντων. §5.27.2τῶν δʼ ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις στρατηγῶν οὐ προσδεξαμένων αὐτόν, μετῆλθε πάλιν εἰς τὰς Θήβας. §5.27.3ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἀναχθεὶς ἐκ τῶν κατὰ Κίρραν τόπων κατέπλευσε μετὰ τῶν ὑπασπιστῶν εἰς τὸν τῶν Σικυωνίων λιμένα, κἀκεῖθεν ἀναβὰς εἰς τὴν πόλιν τοὺς μὲν ἄρχοντας παρῃτήσατο, παρὰ δʼ Ἄρατον καταλύσας μετὰ τούτου τὴν πᾶσαν ἐποιεῖτο διαγωγήν, τῷ δʼ Ἀπελλῇ συνέταξε πλεῖν εἰς Κόρινθον. §5.27.4προσπεσόντων δὲ τῶν κατὰ τὸν Μεγαλέαν αὐτῷ, τοὺς μὲν πελταστάς, ὧν ἡγεῖτο Λεόντιος, εἰς τὴν Τριφυλίαν ἐξαπέστειλε μετὰ Ταυρίωνος, ὥς τινος χρείας κατεπειγούσης, τούτων δʼ ἀφορμησάντων, ἀπαγαγεῖν ἐκέλευσε τὸν Λεόντιον πρὸς τὴν ἀναδοχήν. §5.27.5συνέντες δʼ οἱ πελτασταὶ τὸ γεγονός, διαπεμψαμένου τινὰ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τοῦ Λεοντίου, πρεσβευτὰς ἐξαπέστειλαν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, παρακαλοῦντες, εἰ μὲν πρὸς ἄλλο τι πεποίηται τὴν ἀπαγωγὴν τοῦ Λεοντίου, μὴ χωρὶς αὑτῶν ποιήσασθαι τὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐγκαλουμένων κρίσιν, §5.27.6εἰ δὲ μή, ὅτι νομιοῦσι μεγαλείως παρολιγωρεῖσθαι καὶ καταγινώσκεσθαι πάντες — εἶχον γὰρ ἀεὶ τὴν τοιαύτην ἰσηγορίαν Μακεδόνες πρὸς τοὺς βασιλεῖς — §5.27.7εἰ δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἐγγύην τοῦ Μεγαλέου, διότι τὰ χρήματα κατὰ κοινὸν εἰσενέγκαντες ἐκτίσουσιν αὐτοί. §5.27.8τὸν μὲν οὖν Λεόντιον ὁ βασιλεὺς παροξυνθεὶς θᾶττον ἢ προέθετο διὰ τὴν τῶν πελταστῶν
returned from Elatea. At this time Megaleas withdrew to Athens, leaving Leontius as surety for the twenty talents. But when the generals in Athens did not receive him, he went back to Thebes. The king, having put to sea from the district of Cirrha, sailed with his hypaspists into the harbour of Sicyon; and having gone up from there to the city, he declined the invitations of the magistrates, and lodging at the house of Aratus, spent all his time with him, while he ordered Apelles to sail to Corinth. When the news concerning Megaleas reached him, he sent off the peltasts, whom Leontius commanded, to Triphylia with Taurion, on the pretext of some urgent necessity; and when they had set out, he ordered Leontius to be led away to prison because of his surety. The peltasts, having understood what had happened because Leontius had sent someone to them, dispatched envoys to the king, entreating him that, if he had made the arrest of Leontius for some other reason, he should not conduct the trial on the charges without them; otherwise, they would consider themselves all to be greatly slighted and condemned—for the Macedonians always had this kind of freedom of speech towards their kings— but if it was because of the surety for Megaleas, they themselves would pay it by contributing the money in common. The king, therefore, provoked more quickly than he had intended by that of the peltasts, [ordered] Leontius...

Notes

  1. §5.27.1Ἐλατείας ἀνέστρεφε — Directly continues the incomplete ending of the previous chapter "οὗτος μὲν αὖτις ἐξ" (the latter again from...), with the subject being the demonstrative pronoun `οὗτος` (Apelles) from the preceding sentence.
  2. §5.27.4πρὸς τὴν ἀναδοχήν — The preposition `πρός` here expresses cause or ground ("on account of", "by reason of"), referring to Leontius's failure to fulfill his obligation as surety (`ἐγγύη`) for the twenty talents of Megaleas.
  3. §5.27.5εἰ μὲν πρὸς ἄλλο τι πεποίηται — `πεποίηται` is the third-person singular perfect middle/passive. The subject is contextually the king (Philip), either interpreted in the middle voice (with active meaning, "he has made") or as a passive ("has been made" with the arrest as subject). Here the middle interpretation with the king as subject is adopted.
  4. §5.27.6εἰ δὲ μή, ὅτι νομιοῦσι — The `ὅτι` clause following `εἰ δὲ μή` ("otherwise") introduces an indirect statement, carrying over the nuance of a verb of saying or warning implied by the preceding participle `παρακαλοῦντες` ("entreating").
  5. §5.27.8διὰ τὴν τῶν πελταστῶν — The feminine singular accusative article `τὴν` implies the omission of a feminine noun such as `πρεσβείαν` (embassy) or `ἔντευξιν` (petition) of the peltasts mentioned above. This chunk ends in the middle of the sentence.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §5.27.1-5.27.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.27.1-5.27.8

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