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Polybius · The Histories §7.5.1-7.5.8

Hieronymus Rejects the Treaty and Decides on War with Rome

Passage 541 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Roman envoys arrive to protest against Hieronymus, who then summons his council. Following the advice of the pro-Carthaginian faction, Hieronymus demands impossible reparations from Rome, effectively refusing to abide by the treaty, and begins preparing for war.

§7.5.1δυνάμεις εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν.
forces into Sicily.
οἱ δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι ταῦτα πυνθανόμενοι πάλιν ἔπεμψαν πρὸς αὐτὸν πρέσβεις, διαμαρτυρόμενοι μὴ παραβαίνειν τὰς πρὸς τοὺς προγόνους αὐτοῦ τεθειμένας συνθήκας.
And the Romans, having learned of these matters, sent envoys to him again, protesting that he should not violate the treaty concluded with his ancestors.
§7.5.2ὑπὲρ ὧν Ἱερώνυμος ἁθροίσας τὸ συνέδριον ἀνέδωκε διαβούλιον τί δεῖ ποιεῖν.
In response to this, Hieronymus, having assembled the council, submitted for deliberation what ought to be done.
§7.5.3οἱ μὲν οὖν ἐγχώριοι τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἦγον, δεδιότες τὴν τοῦ προεστῶτος ἀκρισίαν· Ἀριστόμαχος δʼ ὁ Κορίνθιος καὶ Δάμιππος ὁ Λακεδαιμόνιος καὶ Αὐτόνους ὁ Θετταλὸς ἠξίουν ἐμμένειν ταῖς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους συνθήκαις.
Now, the local members remained silent, fearing the thoughtlessness of their leader; but Aristomachus of Corinth, Damippus of Lacedaemon, and Autonous of Thessaly urged that they should abide by the treaty with the Romans.
§7.5.4Ἀδρανόδωρος δὲ μόνος οὐκ ἔφη δεῖν παριέναι τὸν καιρόν· εἶναι δὲ τὸν ἐνεστῶτα μόνον ἐν ᾧ κατακτήσασθαι δυνατόν ἐστι τὴν τῆς Σικελίας ἀρχήν.
But Adranodorus alone declared that they must not let the opportunity slip, and that the present was the only moment in which it was possible to acquire the sovereignty of Sicily.
§7.5.5τοῦ δὲ ταῦτʼ εἰπόντος, ἤρετο τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἱπποκράτην ποίας μετέχουσι γνώμης.
When he had said this, Hieronymus asked Hippocrates and his companions what opinion they held.
τῶν δὲ φησάντων τῆς Ἀδρανοδώρου, πέρας εἶχε τὸ διαβούλιον.
And when they said they agreed with that of Adranodorus, the deliberation came to an end.
καὶ τὰ μὲν τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ἐκεκύρωτο τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον·
In this manner, then, the matters concerning the war against the Romans were ratified.
§7.5.6βουλόμενος δὲ μὴ σκαιῶς δοκεῖν ἀποκρίνεσθαι τοῖς πρεσβευταῖς, εἰς τηλικαύτην ἀστοχίαν ἐνέπεσε διʼ ἧς τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις οὐ μόνον δυσαρεστήσειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ προσκόπτειν ἔμελλε προφανῶς.
And wishing not to seem to reply to the envoys in an unseemly manner, he fell into such a great miscalculation that he was likely not only to displease the Romans but also to offend them openly.
§7.5.7ἔφη γὰρ ἐμμενεῖν ἐν ταῖς συνθήκαις, ἐὰν αὐτῷ πρῶτον μὲν τὸ χρυσίον ἀποδῶσι πᾶν, ὃ παρʼ Ἱέρωνος ἔλαβον τοῦ πάππου, δεύτερον δὲ τὸν σῖτον ἐκ παντὸς ἀποκαταστήσωσι τοῦ χρόνου καὶ τὰς ἄλλας δωρεάς, ἃς εἶχον παρʼ ἐκείνου, τὸ δὲ τρίτον ὁμολογήσωσι τὴν ἐντὸς Ἱμέρα ποταμοῦ χώραν καὶ πόλεις εἶναι Συρακοσίων.
For he said he would abide by the treaty if, first, they restored to him all the gold which they had received from his grandfather Hiero; secondly, they refunded the corn and the other gifts which they had had from him during the whole period; and thirdly, they agreed that the territory and the cities within the river Himeras should belong to the Syracusans.
§7.5.8οἱ μὲν οὖν πρεσβευταὶ καὶ τὸ συνέδριον ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐχωρίσθησαν· οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἱερώνυμον ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν καιρῶν ἐνήργουν τὰ τοῦ πολέμου, καὶ τάς τε δυνάμεις ἥθροιζον καὶ καθώπλιζον τάς τε λοιπὰς χορηγίας ἡτοίμαζον. [εχξ. δε λεγατ. π. 1. ]
Upon these terms, then, the envoys and the council parted; and from this time on, Hieronymus and his faction actively carried on the preparations for war, assembling and arming their forces, and getting ready the rest of the supplies. [Exc. de legat. 1.]

Notes

  1. §7.5.4οὐκ ἔφη δεῖν ... εἶναι δὲ — The negative particle οὐκ, which syntactically negates the infinitive δεῖν, is placed before the main verb ἔφη ("said") in the idiom of οὔ φημι ("to say that... not"). In the subsequent coordinate infinitive clause introduced by δέ (εἶναι δὲ...), however, the negation does not apply; the verb ἔφη is understood from the context as a simple affirmative verb of saying ("and he said that..."). This transition from a negative statement to an affirmative one under a single verb of saying is a common Greek idiom.
  2. §7.5.5τῶν δὲ φησάντων τῆς Ἀδρανοδώρου — Within the genitive absolute construction τῶν δὲ φησάντων ("and when they said"), the feminine genitive singular phrase τῆς Ἀδρανοδώρου has an ellipsis of the noun γνώμης ("opinion"), which appeared in the preceding question ποίας μετέχουσι γνώμης. It also implies the ellipsis of the infinitive μετέχειν ("to share"), forming the full semantic structure: [μετέχειν] τῆς Ἀδρανοδώρου [γνώμης] ("that they shared the opinion of Adranodorus").
  3. §7.5.7ἐὰν αὐτῷ πρῶτον μὲν τὸ χρυσίον ἀποδῶσι πᾶν — Within the indirect speech governed by the infinitive ἐμμενεῖν, the conditional clause is introduced by ἐάν with the subjunctive verbs (ἀποδῶσι, ἀποκαταστήσωσι, ὁμολογήσωσι). This reflects the structure of a vivid future conditional (ἐάν with subjunctive, with a future indicative in the apodosis) in direct speech. In indirect discourse, the subjunctives are retained in their original mood rather than being changed to the optative, preserving the vividness of the statement.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §7.5.1-7.5.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.5.1-7.5.8

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