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Polybius · The Histories §5.78.1-5.78.6

Insubordination of the Galatians and Attalus' Retreat

Passage 442 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

During Attalus I's campaign, the accompanying Galatians refused to advance due to a lunar eclipse; Attalus appeased them by sending them back to the Hellespont, rewarded the loyal cities, and then retreated.

§5.78.1οὗ γενομένης ἐκλείψεως σελήνης, πάλαι δυσχερῶς φέροντες οἱ Γαλάται τὰς ἐν ταῖς πορείαις κακοπαθείας, ἅτε ποιούμενοι τὴν στρατείαν μετὰ γυναικῶν καὶ τέκνων, ἑπομένων αὐτοῖς τούτων ἐν ταῖς ἁμάξαις, §5.78.2τότε σημειωσάμενοι τὸ γεγονὸς οὐκ ἂν ἔφασαν ἔτι προελθεῖν εἰς τὸ πρόσθεν. §5.78.3ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς Ἄτταλος, χρείαν μὲν ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐδεμίαν ὁλοσχερῆ κομιζόμενος, θεωρῶν δʼ ἀποσπωμένους ἐν ταῖς πορείαις καὶ καθʼ αὑτοὺς στρατοπεδεύοντας καὶ τὸ ὅλον ἀπειθοῦντας καὶ πεφρονηματισμένους, εἰς ἀμηχανίαν ἐνέπιπτεν οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν· §5.78.4ἅμα μὲν γὰρ ἠγωνία μὴ πρὸς τὸν Ἀχαιὸν ἀπονεύσαντες συνεπίθωνται τοῖς αὑτοῦ πράγμασιν, ἅμα δʼ ὑφεωρᾶτο τὴν ἐξακολουθοῦσαν αὐτῷ φήμην, ἐὰν περιστήσας τοὺς στρατιώτας διαφθείρῃ πάντας τοὺς δοκοῦντας διὰ τῆς ἰδίας πίστεως πεποιῆσθαι τὴν εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν διάβασιν. §5.78.5διὸ τῆς προειρημένης ἀφορμῆς λαβόμενος ἐπηγγείλατο κατὰ μὲν τὸ παρὸν ἀποκαταστήσειν αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὴν διάβασιν καὶ τόπον δώσειν εὐφυῆ πρὸς κατοικίαν, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα συμπράξειν εἰς ὁπόσʼ ἂν αὐτὸν παρακαλῶσι τῶν δυνατῶν καὶ καλῶς ἐχόντων.
There an eclipse of the moon occurred; and the Galatians, who had long been bearing with difficulty the hardships of the march—since they were making the campaign with their wives and children, who followed them in wagons— then, taking this event as an omen, declared that they would not advance any further. King Attalus, who was receiving no substantial service from them, and saw that they lagged behind on the march and encamped by themselves, and were altogether disobedient and full of arrogance, fell into no ordinary embarrassment. For on the one hand, he was anxious lest they should go over to Achaeus and join in attacking his possessions, and on the other hand, he was suspicious of the bad reputation that would follow him if, surrounding them with his soldiers, he should destroy all those who were believed to have made the crossing into Asia relying on his own pledge. Therefore, seizing the aforementioned pretext, he promised for the present to restore them to the place of crossing and to give them a suitable site for settlement, and after this to co-operate with them in whatever they might request of him that was possible and proper.
Ἄτταλος μὲν οὖν, §5.78.6ἀποκαταστήσας τοὺς Αἰγοσάγας εἰς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον καὶ χρηματίσας φιλανθρώπως Λαμψακηνοῖς, Ἀλεξανδρεῦσιν, Ἰλιεῦσι, διὰ τὸ τετηρηκέναι τούτους τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν πίστιν, ἀνε
Attalus, then, having restored the Aegosages to the Hellespont and having treated the inhabitants of Lampsacus, Alexandria, and Ilium with kindness because they had preserved their loyalty towards him, retreated.

Notes

  1. 5.78.1οὗ — Although it is commonly interpreted as a relative adverb meaning 'there' (near the river Megistus), it can also be taken as the genitive of the relative pronoun referring to the preceding 'river Megistus' ('at which river'). Here it is translated as a locative adverb.
  2. 5.78.2οὐκ ἂν ἔφασαν — The negative verb ἔφασαν ('they said they would not') is accompanied by the particle ἂν. This represents the preservation of ἂν from the original direct statement, which would have been a potential or optative expression of resolve: 'we would not advance' (οὐκ ἂν προέλθοιμεν).
  3. 5.78.3οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν — An idiomatic expression consisting of the negative οὐ and the participle τυχοῦσαν ('happening, ordinary'), meaning 'out of the ordinary,' 'extraordinary,' or 'no common.'
  4. 5.78.4ἐὰν ... διαφθείρῃ — The conditional clause (ἐὰν with subjunctive) functions as an appositive or explanatory clause to the noun phrase τὴν ἐξακολουθοῦσαν αὐτῷ φήμην ('the bad reputation that would follow him'), indicating the hypothetical action ('if he should destroy them') that would cause such a reputation.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §5.78.1-5.78.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.78.1-5.78.6

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