Humanitext Reader

Polybius · The Histories §9.11.1-9.11.4

Carthaginian Dissension and Hasdrubal's Injustice

Passage 610 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

It describes how the Carthaginian leaders lost self-control and fell into internal strife, and how Hasdrubal unjustly demanded money from their loyal ally Andobales and forced him to give hostages.

§9.11.1ὅτι οἱ τῶν Καρχηδονίων ἡγεμόνες, κρατήσαντες τῶν ὑπεναντίων, σφῶν αὐτῶν οὐκ ἠδύναντο κρατεῖν, §9.11.2καὶ δόξαντες τὸν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους πόλεμον ἀνῃρηκέναι πρὸς αὑτοὺς ἐστασίαζον, ἀεὶ παρατριβόμενοι διὰ τὴν ἔμφυτον Φοίνιξι πλεονεξίαν καὶ φιλαρχίαν.
That the Carthaginian leaders, having conquered their enemies, were unable to control themselves, and, believing that they had put an end to the war with the Romans, fell into strife among themselves, being constantly at friction with each other owing to the greed and ambition inherent in the Phoenicians.
§9.11.3ὧν ὑπάρχων Ἀσδρούβας ὁ Γέσκωνος εἰς τοῦτο κακοπραγμοσύνης προήχθη διὰ τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ὡς τὸν πιστότατον τῶν κατʼ Ἰβηρίαν φίλων Ἀνδοβάλην, πάλαι μὲν ἀποβαλόντα τὴν ἀρχὴν διὰ Καρχηδονίους, ἄρτι δὲ πάλιν ἀπειληφότα διὰ τὴν πρὸς ἐκείνους εὔνοιαν, ἐπεβάλετο χρημάτων πλῆθος αἰτεῖν.
Of these, Hasdrubal, the son of Gesco, was led by his power to such a pitch of wickedness that he attempted to demand a large sum of money from Andobales, the most faithful of their friends in Iberia, who had long ago lost his rule on account of the Carthaginians, but had recently recovered it again because of his goodwill toward them.
§9.11.4τοῦ δὲ παρακούσαντος διὰ τὸ θαρρεῖν ἐπὶ τῇ προγεγενημένῃ πίστει πρὸς τοὺς Καρχηδονίους, ψευδῆ διαβολὴν ἐπενέγκας ἠνάγκασε τὸν Ἀνδοβάλην δοῦναι τὰς ἑαυτοῦ θυγατέρας εἰς ὁμηρείαν.
And when Andobales refused to comply, because he relied on his past loyalty to the Carthaginians, Hasdrubal brought a false charge against him and compelled Andobales to give his own daughters as hostages.

Notes

  1. §9.11.1ὅτι — The conjunction ὅτι is used here without a main clause, which is a common feature in historical epitomes and chapter headings to introduce the summary of events, meaning 'That...'.
  2. §9.11.3ὧν ὑπάρχων — The relative pronoun in the genitive ὧν refers back to the 'Carthaginian leaders' (οἱ τῶν Καρχηδονίων ἡγεμόνες) of the previous section, and with the participle ὑπάρχων, it expresses a partitive relation ('being one of whom').
  3. §9.11.3ὡς ... ἐπεβάλετο — The conjunction ὡς (used instead of ὥστε) followed by the indicative past (ἐπεβάλετο) introduces a clause of result, expressing an actual past consequence ('with the result that he attempted...').
  4. §9.11.4τοῦ δὲ παρακούσαντος — This is a genitive absolute construction with the demonstrative pronoun (τοῦ, referring to Andobales) acting as the logical subject, expressing the cause of the main verb's action ('And when he refused to comply').

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §9.11.1-9.11.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.11.1-9.11.4

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.