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Polybius · The Histories §9.35.1-9.35.8

Macedonia as a Shield for Greece and Aetolian Sacrileges

Passage 636 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Lyciscus downplays the Aetolians' claim of defending Delphi, emphasizing that the Macedonians have long served as a vital shield for Greece, and condemns the Aetolians' own past sacrileges against Greek temples.

§9.35.1καὶ πρὸς οὐδὲν τούτων ἀπολογηθῆναι δυνάμενοι σεμνύνεσθε, διότι τὴν ἐπὶ Δελφοὺς ἔφοδον τῶν βαρβάρων ὑπέστητε, καὶ φατὲ δεῖν διὰ ταῦτα χάριν ἔχειν ὑμῖν τοὺς Ἕλληνας.
And though you are unable to defend yourselves against any of these charges, you pride yourselves because you withstood the invasion of the barbarians against Delphi, and you say that for this the Greeks ought to feel gratitude to you.
§9.35.2ἀλλʼ εἰ διὰ μίαν ταύτην χρείαν Αἰτωλοῖς χάρις ὀφείλεται, τίνος καὶ πηλίκης δεῖ τιμῆς ἀξιοῦσθαι Μακεδόνας, οἳ τὸν πλείω τοῦ βίου χρόνον οὐ παύονται διαγωνιζόμενοι πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀσφαλείας;
But if gratitude is owed to the Aetolians for this single service, what kind and how great an honor should the Macedonians be deemed worthy of, who for the greater part of their existence never cease fighting against the barbarians for the safety of the Greeks?
§9.35.3ὅτι γὰρ αἰεί ποτʼ ἂν ἐν μεγάλοις ἦν κινδύνοις τὰ κατὰ τοὺς Ἕλληνας, εἰ μὴ Μακεδόνας εἴχομεν πρόφραγμα καὶ τὰς τῶν παρὰ τούτοις βασιλέων φιλοτιμίας, τίς οὐ γινώσκει;
For who does not know that the affairs of the Greeks would always have been in great danger, had we not had the Macedonians and the ambition of their kings as a barrier?
§9.35.4μέγιστον δὲ τούτου σημεῖον· ἅμα γὰρ τῷ Γαλάτας καταφρονῆσαι Μακεδόνων νικήσαντας Πτολεμαῖον τὸν Κεραυνὸν ἐπικαλούμενον, εὐθέως καταγνόντες τῶν ἄλλων ἧκον οἱ περὶ Βρέννον εἰς μέσην τὴν Ἑλλάδα μετὰ δυνάμεως.
And the greatest proof of this is that: as soon as the Galatians, having defeated Ptolemy surnamed Ceraunus, came to despise the Macedonians, they immediately looked down upon the rest and came with an army into the very heart of Greece under Brennus.
ὃ πολλάκις ἂν συνέβαινε γίνεσθαι μὴ προκαθημένων Μακεδόνων.
This is what would have happened many times if the Macedonians had not been stationed in front of us.
§9.35.5οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τῶν γεγονότων ἔχων πολλὰ λέγειν ἀρκεῖν ἡγοῦμαι·
Nevertheless, though I have much to say about what has happened, I think this is sufficient.
§9.35.6τῶν δὲ Φιλίππῳ πεπραγμένων εἰς ἀσέβειαν ὠνείδισαν τὴν τοῦ ναοῦ καταφθοράν, οὐ προσθέντες τὴν αὑτῶν ὕβριν καὶ παρανομίαν, ἣν ἐπετελέσαντο περὶ τοὺς ἐν Δίῳ καὶ Δωδώνῃ ναοὺς καὶ τὰ τεμένη τῶν θεῶν.
But of the deeds done by Philip, they reproached him with the destruction of the temple as an impiety, not adding their own outrage and lawlessness, which they committed against the temples in Dium and Dodona and the sacred precincts of the gods.
§9.35.7ἐχρῆν δὲ λέγειν τοῦτο πρῶτον.
But it was necessary to say this first.
ὑμεῖς δʼ ἃ μὲν ἐπάθετε, τούτοις ἐξηγήσασθε, μείζω ποιοῦντες τῶν γεγονότων, ἃ δʼ ἐποιήσατε πρότεροι, πολλαπλάσια γεγονότα παρεσιωπήσατε, §9.35.8σαφῶς εἰδότες ὅτι τὰς ἀδικίας καὶ ζημίας ἅπαντες ἀεὶ τοῖς ἄρχουσι χειρῶν ἀδίκων ἐπιφέρουσι.
Yet you, while you detailed what you suffered, making them greater than what actually happened, passed over in silence your own prior deeds, which were many times greater, knowing clearly that everyone always attributes injustices and losses to those who initiated unjust hands.

Notes

  1. 9.35.3ἂν ἐν μεγάλοις ἦν κινδύνοις ... εἰ μὴ ... εἴχομεν — A conditional sentence contrary to fact using the imperfect indicative. Since the existence of the Macedonians is conceived as a continuous "barrier," it expresses a continuous state rather than a single past event (if we did not have them as a barrier, affairs would always be in danger).
  2. 9.35.4ἅμα γὰρ τῷ Γαλάτας καταφρονῆσαι... νικήσαντας — The preposition ἅμα combined with the articular infinitive τῷ καταφρονῆσαι expresses temporal simultaneity ("as soon as"). The accusative Γαλάτας is the subject of the infinitive, and the participle νικήσαντας (accusative plural) agrees with it, expressing the cause ("having defeated").
  3. 9.35.6τῶν δὲ Φιλίππῳ πεπραγμένων — The genitive τῶν πεπραγμένων is a partitive genitive, depending on the object of the main clause, τὴν καταφθοράν. The dative Φιλίππῳ is a dative of agent accompanying the perfect passive participle, meaning "deeds done by Philip."
  4. 9.35.8τοῖς ἄρχουσι χειρῶν ἀδίκων — A construction where the participle of ἄρχω (to begin, initiate) governs the genitive χειρῶν ἀδίκων. It refers to "those who initiate unjust hands (violence)," derived from the classical Greek legal idiom ἄρχειν χειρῶν ἀδίκων, meaning "to be the first to commit an assault or initiate unlawful violence."

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §9.35.1-9.35.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.35.1-9.35.8

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