Polybius · The Histories §5.83.1-5.83.7

Exhortation of the Phalanxes by Both Kings

Passage 447 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Both Ptolemy and Antiochus, accompanied by their generals, ride along the lines of their phalanxes to encourage the soldiers by recalling ancestral glory and promising future hopes.

§5.83.1τοῦτον δὲ τὸν τρόπον τῶν δυνάμεων ἐκτεταγμένων ἐπιπαρῄεσαν οἱ βασιλεῖς ἀμφότεροι κατὰ πρόσωπον τὰς αὑτῶν τάξεις παρακαλοῦντες ἅμα τοῖς ἡγεμόσι καὶ φίλοις. §5.83.2μεγίστας δʼ ἐν τοῖς φαλαγγίταις ἐλπίδας ἔχοντες ἀμφότεροι πλείστην καὶ σπουδὴν καὶ παράκλησιν ἐποιοῦντο περὶ ταύτας τὰς τάξεις, §5.83.3Πτολεμαίῳ μὲν Ἀνδρομάχου καὶ Σωσιβίου καὶ τῆς ἀδελφῆς Ἀρσινόης, τῷ δὲ Θεοδότου καὶ Νικάρχου συμπαρακαλούντων διὰ τὸ παρʼ ἑκατέρῳ τούτους ἔχειν τὰς τῶν φαλαγγιτῶν ἡγεμονίας. §5.83.4ἦν δὲ παραπλήσιος ὁ νοῦς τῶν ὑφʼ ἑκατέρου παρακαλουμένων.

When the forces had been drawn up in this manner, both kings rode along the line, accompanied by their officers and friends, encouraging their own troops. As both placed their greatest hopes in the phalangites, they showed the greatest zeal and addressed the warmest encouragement to these regiments, Andromachus, Sosibius, and the king's sister Arsinoe joining in the exhortations on Ptolemy's side, and Theodotus and Nicarchus on Antiochus' side, because these individuals held the command of the phalangites in their respective armies. The substance of the addresses of both was very similar.

ἴδιον μὲν γὰρ ἔργον ἐπιφανὲς καὶ κατηξιωμένον προφέρεσθαι τοῖς παρακαλουμένοις οὐδέτερος αὐτῶν εἶχε διὰ τὸ προσφάτως παρειληφέναι τὰς ἀρχάς, §5.83.5τῆς δὲ τῶν προγόνων δόξης καὶ τῶν ἐκείνοις πεπραγμένων ἀναμιμνήσκοντες φρόνημα καὶ θάρσος τοῖς φαλαγγίταις ἐπειρῶντο παριστάναι. §5.83.6μάλιστα δὲ τὰς ἐξ αὑτῶν εἰς τὸ μέλλον ἐλπίδας ἐπιδεικνύντες, καὶ κατʼ ἰδίαν τοὺς ἡγουμένους καὶ κοινῇ πάντας τοὺς ἀγωνίζεσθαι μέλλοντας ἠξίουν καὶ παρεκάλουν ἀνδρωδῶς καὶ γενναίως χρήσασθαι τῷ παρόντι κινδύνῳ. §5.83.7ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τούτοις παραπλήσια λέγοντες, τὰ μὲν διʼ αὑτῶν, τὰ δὲ καὶ διὰ τῶν ἑρμηνέων, παρίππευον.

For neither of them had any glorious and personal achievement of his own to quote to those whom they were exhorting, since they had both but recently succeeded to their kingdoms; but by reminding them of the glory of their ancestors and of the great deeds performed by them, they endeavored to inspire the phalangites with spirit and courage. Above all, by pointing out the expectations they themselves held for the future, they requested and exhorted both the leaders individually and all those who were about to fight in common to face the present danger manfully and nobly. Speaking in this and similar terms, partly in their own person and partly through interpreters, they rode along the ranks.

Notes

5.83.3Πτολεμαίῳ μὲν Ἀνδρομάχου ... συμπαρακαλούντων — Πτολεμαίῳ (and τῷ δὲ in the next clause) is a dative of relation ('on Ptolemy's side'), while the genitives Ἀνδρομάχου ... form a genitive absolute construction with the present participle συμπαρακαλούντων ('Andromachus and others joining in the exhortation'), describing the circumstances accompanying the main action of the kings.
5.83.4τῶν ὑφʼ ἑκατέρου παρακαλουμένων — The participle παρακαλουμένων could be taken as masculine plural referring to 'those who were exhorted', but is here better understood as a neuter plural used substantively, meaning 'the things spoken by way of encouragement'. This is supported by the noun ὁ νοῦς ('the drift, substance'), indicating that the tenor of their speeches was similar.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §5.83.1-5.83.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.83.1-5.83.7

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