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Appian · Macedonian Affairs §IX#1

Peace Negotiations with Philip and the Senate's Terms

Passage 3 of 9 · Greek

Summary

The defeated Philip negotiates for peace with Flamininus, who, despite the dissatisfaction of the Aetolians, proposes terms that preserve the Macedonian kingdom for the stability of Greece. However, the Senate deems Flamininus's proposals too lenient, imposes much stricter conditions, and finally ratifies the peace agreement.

§IX#1"ὅτι ἡττηθεὶς πάλιν ὁ Φίλιππος περὶ συμβάσεων ἐπεκηρυκεύετο πρὸς Φλαμινῖνον, ὁ δʼ αὖθις αὐτῷ συνελθεῖν ἐς λόγους συνεχώρει, πολλὰ μὲν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν δυσχεραινόντων, καὶ διαβαλλόντων αὐτὸν ἐς δωροδοκίαν, καὶ καταγιγνωσκόντων τῆς ἐς ἅπαντα εὐχεροῦς μεταβολῆς, ἡγούμενος δʼ οὔτε Ῥωμαίοις συμφέρειν οὔτε τοῖς Ἕλλησι Φιλίππου καθαιρεθέντος ἐπιπολάσαι τὴν Αἰτωλῶν βίαν.
Having been defeated again, Philip sent envoys to Flamininus to treat for terms, and the latter agreed to meet him again for conference, although the Aetolians were highly displeased, accusing him of taking bribes and condemning his easy change of mind on all matters; but he believed that if Philip were overthrown, the dominance of the Aetolians' violence would be advantageous neither to the Romans nor to the Greeks.
τάχα δʼ αὐτὸν καὶ τὸ παράδοξον τῆς νίκης ἀγαπᾶν ἐποίει.
Perhaps also the unexpectedness of his victory made him content.
συνθέμενος δὲ χωρίον οἷ τὸν Φίλιππον ἐπελθεῖν ἔδει τοὺς συμμάχους ἐκέλευσε γνώμην προαποφήνασθαι κατὰ πόλεις.
Having agreed upon a place where Philip was to meet him, he ordered the allies to express their opinions beforehand city by city.
τὰ μὲν δὴ παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων φιλάνθρωπα ἦν, τό τε τῆς τύχης ἄδηλον ἐξ ὧν ἔπαθεν ὁ Φίλιππος ὑφορωμένων, καὶ τὸ πταῖσμα τοῦτο οὐ κατʼ ἀσθένειαν ἀλλὰ πλέον ἐκ συντυχίας αὐτὸν παθεῖν ἡγουμένων·
The opinions from the others indeed were lenient, as they feared the uncertainty of fortune from what Philip had suffered, and believed that he had met with this failure not through weakness but rather by chance.
Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ ὁ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν πρόεδρος ἀγνοεῖν ἔφη τὸν Φλαμινῖνον ὅτι μηδὲν ἄλλο μήτε Ῥωμαίοις μήθʼ Ἕλλησι συνοίσει πλὴν ἐξαιρεθῆναι τὴν ἀρχὴν τὴν Φιλίππου.
But Alexander, the leader of the Aetolians, said that Flamininus did not know that nothing else would benefit either the Romans or the Greeks except the complete removal of Philip's rule.
ὁ δὲ Ἀλέξανδρον ἀγνοεῖν ἔφη τὴν Ῥωμαιων φύσιν, οἳ οὐδένα πω τῶν ἐχθρῶν εὐθὺς ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἀνέτρεψαν, ἀλλὰ πολλῶν ἐς αὐτοὺς ἁμαρτόντων, καὶ Καρχηδονίων ἔναγχος, ἐφείσαντο, τὰ σφέτερα αὐτοῖς ἀποδόντες καὶ φίλους ποιησάμενοι τους ἠδικηκότας.
But he replied that Alexander did not know the character of the Romans, who had never immediately destroyed any of their enemies from the very beginning, but rather, though many had offended against them, and recently the Carthaginians, they spared them, restoring their possessions to them and making friends of those who had wronged them.
ἀγνοεῖς δʼ, ἔφη, καὶ τοῦθʼ, ὅτι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἔθνη πολλά, ὅσα βάρβαρα τὴν Μακεδονίαν περικάθηται, εἴ τις ἐξέλοι τοὺς Μακεδόνων βασιλέας, ἐπιδραμεῖται ῥᾳδίως.
"And you are ignorant of this too," he said, "that many nations, as many as are barbarian and sit around Macedonia, will easily overrun the Greeks if anyone should remove the kings of the Macedonians.
ὅθεν ἐγὼ δοκιμάζω τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ἐᾶν τῶν Μακεδόνων προπολεμεῖν ὑμῶν πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους, Φίλιππον δὲ ἐκστῆναι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ὧν πρότερον ἀντέλεγε χωρίων, καὶ Ῥωμαίοις ἐς τὴν τοῦ πολέμου δαπάνην ἐσενεγκεῖν τάλαντα διακόσια, ὅμηρά τε δοῦναι τὰ ἀξιολογώτατα καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Δημήτριον, μέχρι δὲ ταῦθʼ ἡ σύγκλητος ἐπικυρώσει, τετραμήνους ἀνοχὰς γενέσθαι. δεξαμένου δὲ πάντα τοῦ Φιλίππου, τὴν μὲν εἰρήνην ἡ βουλὴ μαθοῦσα ἐπεκύρωσε, τὰς δὲ προτάσεις τὰς Φλαμινίνου σμικρύνασα καὶ φαυλίσασα, ἐκέλευσε τὰς πόλεις ὅσαι ἦσαν Ἑλληνίδες ὑπὸ Φιλίππῳ, πάσας ἐλευθέρας εἶναι, καὶ τὰς φρουρὰς ἀπʼ αὐτῶν Φίλιππον ἐξαγαγεῖν πρὸ τῶν ἐπιόντων Ἰσθμίων, ναῦς τε ὅσας ἔχει, χωρὶς ἑξήρους μιᾶς καὶ σκαφῶν πέντε καταφράκτων, παραδοῦναι τῷ Φλαμινίνῳ, καὶ ἀργυρίου τάλαντα Ῥωμαίοις ἐσενεγκεῖν πεντακόσια μὲν αὐτίκα πεντακόσια δὲ ἔτεσι δέκα, ἑκάστου τὸ μέρος ἔτους ἐς Ῥώμην ἀναφέροντα, ἀποδοῦναι δὲ καὶ αἰχμάλωτα καὶ αὐτόμολα αὐτῶν ὅσα ἔχοι.
Therefore, I propose to leave the kingdom of the Macedonians to fight on your behalf against the barbarians, and that Philip should withdraw from the territories of the Greeks which he previously contested, and contribute two hundred talents to the Romans for the expense of the war, and give the most notable persons as hostages along with his son Demetrius, and that until the Senate ratifies these terms, there should be a four months' truce." When Philip accepted everything, the Senate, on learning of it, ratified the peace, but belittling and disparaging the proposals of Flamininus, ordered that all the cities which were Greek and under Philip should be free, and that Philip should withdraw his garrisons from them before the coming Isthmian games, and hand over to Flamininus all the ships he had, except for one six-banked ship and five decked vessels, and contribute five hundred talents of silver to the Romans immediately and another five hundred in ten years, bringing each year's portion to Rome, and also restore all their prisoners and deserters that he held.
τάδε μὲν ἡ βουλὴ προσέθηκε, καὶ Φίλιππος ἐδέξατο ἅπαντα· ᾧ καὶ μάλιστα ἡ σμικρολογία Φλαμινίνου καταφανὴς ἐγένετο.
The Senate added these terms, and Philip accepted them all; by which also the pettiness of Flamininus's proposals was made most clear.
συμβούλους δʼ ἔπεμπον αὐτῷ, καθάπερ εἰώθεσαν ἐπὶ τοῖς λήγουσι πολέμοις, δέκα ἄνδρας, μεθʼ ὧν αὐτὸν ἔδει τὰ εἰλημμένα καθίστασθαι. "
And they sent ten commissioners to him, as was their custom at the end of wars, with whom he was to settle the affairs of the conquered territories.

Notes

  1. 1πολλὰ μὲν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν δυσχεραινόντων, καὶ διαβαλλόντων αὐτὸν ἐς δωροδοκίαν, καὶ καταγιγνωσκόντων τῆς ἐς ἅπαντα εὐχεροῦς μεταβολῆς — This is a genitive absolute construction with three coordinate participles (δυσχεραινόντων, διαβαλλόντων, καταγιγνωσκόντων) sharing τῶν Αἰτωλῶν as their subject. πολλὰ is used adverbially ('greatly', 'highly') modifying δυσχεραινόντων. καταγιγνωσκόντων ('condemning', 'blaming') governs the genitive of the thing charged, which is μεταβολῆς ('change').
  2. 1Φιλίππου καθαιρεθέντος — A genitive absolute with the aorist passive participle, expressing a conditional force ('if Philip were overthrown'). It functions as a subordinate condition within the accusative-with-infinitive construction οὔτε... ἐπιπολάσαι ('that... would not be advantageous'), where τὴν Αἰτωλῶν βίαν is the subject accusative of ἐπιπολάσαι.
  3. 1ὑφορωμένων... ἡγουμένων — Genitive absolute construction with the logical subject understood from the preceding παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων ('from the others'). It functions causally to explain why the other allies expressed lenient opinions ('since they feared... and believed...').
  4. 2προπολεμεῖν ὑμῶν — The verb προπολεμέω ('to fight in front of', 'to fight on behalf of') governs the genitive of the person or entity defended (ὑμῶν). It describes the geopolitical role of Macedonia acting as a shield for the Greeks against the barbarians.
  5. 3ᾧ καὶ μάλιστα ἡ σμικρολογία Φλαμινίνου — The relative pronoun ᾧ is a dative neuter singular in the linking relative usage ('by which', 'as a result of which'), referring to the Senate's addition of strict terms. σμικρολογία here denotes 'pettiness' or 'belittling', meaning that the mildness or inadequacy of Flamininus's original proposals was made apparent by contrast with the Senate's harsher demands.

Cite this passage

Appian, Macedonian Affairs §IX#1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0551.tlg011.humanitext-grc2:IX%231

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