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Polybius · The Histories §9.30.1-9.30.9

Speech on Philip V's Cruelty and Alliance against Macedon

Passage 631 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

The Aetolian envoy highlights Philip V's impiety and cruelty, as well as Aetolia's past achievements, arguing that with the entry of the Romans and King Attalus, there is no need to fear Macedon and its Achaean allies in the present war.

§9.30.1περί γε μὴν τῆς Φιλίππου παρανομίας τίς χρεία πλείω λέγειν;
Concerning indeed the lawlessness of Philip, what need is there to say more?
§9.30.2τῆς μὲν γὰρ εἰς τὸ θεῖον ἀσεβείας ἱκανὸν ὑπόδειγμʼ αἱ περὶ τοὺς ἐν Θέρμῳ ναοὺς ὕβρεις, τῆς δʼ εἰς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὠμότητος ἡ περὶ τοὺς Μεσσηνίους ἀθεσία καὶ παρασπόνδησις
For of his impiety towards the divine, a sufficient proof is his outrages against the temples in Thermum, and of his cruelty towards men, his faithlessness and treaty-breaking towards the Messenians.
§9.30.3Αἰτωλοὶ γὰρ μόνοι μὲν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀντωφθάλμησαν πρὸς Ἀντίπατρον ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν ἀδίκως ἀκληρούντων ἀσφαλείας, μόνοι δὲ πρὸς τὴν Βρέννου καὶ τῶν ἅμα τούτῳ βαρβάρων ἔφοδον ἀντέστησαν, μόνοι δὲ καλούμενοι συνηγωνίζοντο, §9.30.4βουλόμενοι τὴν πάτριον ἡγεμονίαν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὑμῖν συγκατασκευάζειν.
For the Aetolians alone of the Greeks stood face to face against Antipater for the safety of those who were unjustly unfortunate, and alone resisted the invasion of Brennus and the barbarians with him, and alone, when called upon, fought alongside you, wishing to help you establish the ancestral hegemony of the Greeks.
ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον εἰρήσθω.
Let these things, then, have been said by us to this extent.
§9.30.5περὶ δὲ τοῦ νῦν ἐνεστῶτος διαβουλίου γράφειν μὲν καὶ χειροτονεῖν ἀναγκαῖόν πώς ἐστιν ὡς περὶ πολέμου βουλευομένοις, τῇ μέντοι γʼ ἀληθείᾳ μὴ νομίζειν τοῦτον εἶναι πόλεμον.
But concerning the present deliberation, while it is in a way necessary to draft resolutions and to vote as men deliberating about war, yet in truth, you should not think that this is a war.
§9.30.6Ἀχαιοὺς μὲν γὰρ οὐχ οἷον διανοησομένους βλάπτειν ὑμῶν τὴν χώραν, μεγάλην δὲ χάριν ἕξειν αὐτοὺς ὑπολαμβάνω τοῖς θεοῖς, ἐὰν δύνωνται τὴν ἰδίαν τηρεῖν, ἐπειδὰν αὐτοῖς ὁ πόλεμος ὑπʼ Ἠλείων καὶ Μεσσηνίων διὰ τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς συμμαχίαν, ἅμα δὲ τούτοις ὑφʼ ἡμῶν περισταθῇ.
For I suppose that the Achaeans, so far from intending to harm your territory, will feel great gratitude to the gods if they can guard their own, when the war is brought around them by the Eleans and Messenians because of their alliance with us, and at the same time by us.
§9.30.7Φίλιππον δὲ πάντως πέπεισμαι λήξειν τῆς ὁρμῆς κατὰ μὲν γῆν ὑπʼ Αἰτωλῶν πολεμούμενον, κατὰ δὲ θάλατταν ὑπό τε Ῥωμαίων καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως Ἀττάλου.
And I am completely persuaded that Philip will cease from his impulse, being attacked on land by the Aetolians, and at sea by both the Romans and King Attalus.
§9.30.8λίαν δʼ εὐμαρῶς ἔστι συλλογίσασθαι τὸ μέλλον ἐκ τῶν ἤδη γεγονότων.
And it is extremely easy to infer the future from what has already happened.
§9.30.9εἰ γὰρ πρὸς μόνους Αἰτωλοὺς πολεμῶν μηδέποτε δυνατὸς ἦν χειρώσασθαι τούτους, ἦ που συμβεβηκότων ἀξιόχρεως ἂν εἴη πρὸς τὸν ἐνεστῶτα πόλεμον;
For if, when fighting against the Aetolians alone, he was never able to subdue them, would he indeed, now that these things have happened, be a match for the present war?

Notes

  1. §9.30.5μὴ νομίζειν — While it could be governed by the preceding impersonal expression 'it is necessary' (ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι), it is more naturally interpreted as an infinitive used as an imperative (imperative infinitive), urging the audience not to consider it a war.
  2. §9.30.6οὐχ οἷον — An idiomatic expression meaning 'so far from doing' or 'far from being,' which strongly negates the following clause. Here, used with the future participle διανοησομένους, it expresses that the Achaeans have absolutely no intention of harming the territory.
  3. §9.30.9συμβεβηκότων — A genitive absolute construction consisting of the perfect participle neuter plural of the intransitive verb συμβαίνω, with the subject omitted. In this context, it refers to the newly arisen circumstances mentioned in the preceding clause (the intervention of the Romans and King Attalus), meaning 'now that these circumstances have occurred.'

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §9.30.1-9.30.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.30.1-9.30.9

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