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Polybius · The Histories §6.42.1-6.42.6

Comparison of Greek and Roman Camp-Pitching Methods

Passage 519 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Explains the difference in camp-pitching approaches between the Greeks and Romans, concluding the overview of military camps. While the Greeks prioritize natural terrain to avoid manual labor, the Romans choose to endure the labor of entrenchment for the sake of a consistent and familiar camp layout.

§6.42.1ἧι δοκοῦσι Ῥωμαῖοι καταδιώκοντες τὴν ἐν τούτοις εὐχέρειαν τὴν ἐναντίαν ὁδὸν πορεύεσθαι τοῖς Ἕλλησι κατὰ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος.
Wherefore the Romans, in pursuing convenience in these matters, seem in this respect to march in the opposite direction to the Greeks.
§6.42.2οἱ μὲν γὰρ Ἕλληνες ἐν τῷ στρατοπεδεύειν ἡγοῦνται κυριώτατον τὸ κατακολουθεῖν ταῖς ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν τόπων ὀχυρότησιν, ἅμα μὲν ἐκκλίνοντες τὴν περὶ τὰς ταφρείας ταλαιπωρίαν, ἅμα δὲ νομίζοντες οὐχ ὁμοίας εἶναι τὰς χειροποιήτους ἀσφαλείας ταῖς ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς φύσεως ἐπὶ τῶν τόπων ὑπαρχούσαις ὀχυρότησι.
For the Greeks, in pitching camp, consider it of first importance to follow the natural strength of the sites themselves, partly because they avoid the labor of entrenchment, and partly because they believe that man-made defenses are not equal to the strengths naturally inherent in the sites themselves.
§6.42.3διὸ καὶ κατά τε τὴν τῆς ὅλης παρεμβολῆς θέσιν πᾶν ἀναγκάζονται σχῆμα μεταλαμβάνειν, ἑπόμενοι τοῖς τόποις, τά τε μέρη μεταλλάττειν ἄλλοτε πρὸς ἄλλους καὶ ἀκαταλλήλους τόπους·
For which reason they are forced, in following the terrain, to adopt all kinds of shapes for the layout of the whole camp, and to shift its parts at different times to different and unsuitable places.
§6.42.4ἐξ ὧν ἄστατον ὑπάρχειν συμβαίνει καὶ τὸν κατʼ ἰδίαν καὶ τὸν κατὰ μέρος ἑκάστῳ τόπον τῆς στρατοπεδείας.
As a result of this, it happens that both the individual place and the sectional place within the camp remain unfixed for everyone.
§6.42.5Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ τὴν περὶ τὰς τάφρους ταλαιπωρίαν καὶ τἄλλα τὰ παρεπόμενα τούτοις ὑπομένειν αἱροῦνται χάριν τῆς εὐχερείας καὶ τοῦ γνώριμον καὶ μίαν ἔχειν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν αἰεὶ παρεμβολήν.
The Romans, on the other hand, choose to undergo the labor of entrenchment and the other accompanying hardships for the sake of convenience and of having an encampment that is always familiar, single, and the same.
§6.42.6τὰ μὲν οὖν ὁλοσχερέστερα μέρη τῆς περὶ τὰ στρατόπεδα θεωρίας, καὶ μάλιστα περὶ τὰς παρεμβολάς, ταῦτʼ ἔστιν. [ξοδ.
These, then, are the more general parts of the study of military camps, especially regarding their layouts. [Cod.
υρβ.
Urb.
ϝ. π. 264, 17 ηαβετ ηαεξ ξυμ αντεξεδεντιβυς αρξτε ξοηαερεντια εχξ. αντ. π. 180. ]
V p. 264, 17 has these closely connected with the preceding (Ancient Excerpts p. 180).]

Notes

  1. §6.42.1ἧι — An adverbial usage derived from the dative feminine singular of the relative pronoun ᾗ. Here it is interpreted as 'wherefore' or 'in which respect,' serving as a connective that introduces the main clause stating that the Romans seem to take the opposite course to the Greeks.
  2. §6.42.2ἅμα μὲν ἐκκλίνοντες ... ἅμα δὲ νομίζοντες — Participles (nominative plural masculine) agreeing in gender, number, and case with the subject of the main clause, οἱ Ἕλληνες. They explain two parallel 'reasons' for their thinking (ἡγοῦνται) using the correlative structure ἅμα μέν ... ἅμα δέ ('partly because... and partly because...').
  3. §6.42.4ἄστατον ὑπάρχειν συμβαίνει — The accusative with infinitive construction (the clause starting with ὑπάρχειν) functions as the subject of the impersonal verb συμβαίνει ('it happens'). The subject accusative of the infinitive is τὸν ... τόπον ('the place'), and ἄστατον ('unstable/unfixed') is its predicate accusative, meaning 'it happens that the place remains unstable'.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §6.42.1-6.42.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.42.1-6.42.6

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