Polybius, Histories
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Book 10 - Chapter 2

1
<head lang="la">II. Res Hispaniae</head><w lemma="%2A%28%2Foti">Ὅτι</w> <w lemma="me%2Fllontes">μέλλοντες</w> <w lemma="i%28storei%3Dn">ἱστορεῖν</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="praxqe%2Fnta">πραχθέντα</w> <w lemma="%2Apopli%2Fw%7C">Ποπλίῳ</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2A%29ibhri%2Fan">Ἰβηρίαν</w>, <w lemma="sullh%2Fbdhn">συλλήβδην</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="pa%2Fsas">πάσας</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="bi%2Fon">βίον</w> <w lemma="e%29pitelesqei%2Fsas">ἐπιτελεσθείσας</w> <w lemma="au%29tw%3D%7C">αὐτῷ</w> <w lemma="pra%2Fceis">πράξεις</w>, <w lemma="a%29nagkai%3Don">ἀναγκαῖον</w> <w lemma="h%28gou%2Fmeqa">ἡγούμεθα</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="proepisth%3Dsai">προεπιστῆσαι</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="a%29kou%2Fontas">ἀκούοντας</w> <w lemma="e%29pi%5C">ἐπὶ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="ai%28%2Fresin">αἵρεσιν</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="fu%2Fsin">φύσιν</w> <w lemma="ta%29ndro%2Fs">τἀνδρός</w>.
2
<w lemma="tw%3D%7C">τῷ</w> <w lemma="ga%5Cr">γὰρ</w> <w lemma="sxedo%5Cn">σχεδὸν</w> <w lemma="e%29pifane%2Fstaton">ἐπιφανέστατον</w> <w lemma="au%29to%5Cn">αὐτὸν</w> <w lemma="gegone%2Fnai">γεγονέναι</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="pro%5C">πρὸ</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w>, <w lemma="zhtou%3Dsi">ζητοῦσι</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="pa%2Fntes">πάντες</w> <w lemma="ei%29de%2Fnai">εἰδέναι</w> <w lemma="ti%2Fs">τίς</w> <w lemma="pot%27">ποτ᾽</w> <w lemma="h%29%3Dn">ἦν</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="a%29po%5C">ἀπὸ</w> <w lemma="poi%2Fas">ποίας</w> <w lemma="fu%2Fsews">φύσεως</w> <w lemma="h%29%5C">ἢ</w> <w lemma="tribh%3Ds">τριβῆς</w> <w lemma="o%28rmhqei%5Cs">ὁρμηθεὶς</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="thlikau%2Ftas">τηλικαύτας</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="tosau%2Ftas">τοσαύτας</w> <w lemma="e%29petele%2Fsato">ἐπετελέσατο</w> <w lemma="pra%2Fceis">πράξεις</w>,
3
<w lemma="a%29gnoei%3Dn">ἀγνοεῖν</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="yeudodocei%3Dn">ψευδοδοξεῖν</w> <w lemma="a%29nagka%2Fzontai">ἀναγκάζονται</w> <w lemma="dia%5C">διὰ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="e%29chgoume%2Fnous">ἐξηγουμένους</w> <w lemma="u%28pe%5Cr">ὑπὲρ</w> <w lemma="au%29tou%3D">αὐτοῦ</w> <w lemma="parapepaike%2Fnai">παραπεπαικέναι</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="a%29lhqei%2Fas">ἀληθείας</w>.
4
<w lemma="o%28%2Fti">ὅτι</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fstin">ἔστιν</w> <w lemma="u%28gie%5Cs">ὑγιὲς</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="nuni%5C">νυνὶ</w> <w lemma="lego%2Fmenon">λεγόμενον</w> <w lemma="u%28f%27">ὑφ᾽</w> <w lemma="h%28mw%3Dn">ἡμῶν</w> <w lemma="dh%3Dlon">δῆλον</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fstai">ἔσται</w> <w lemma="dia%5C">διὰ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="h%28mete%2Fras">ἡμετέρας</w> <w lemma="e%29chgh%2Fsews">ἐξηγήσεως</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="e%29pishmai%2Fnesqai">ἐπισημαίνεσθαι</w> <w lemma="duname%2Fnois">δυναμένοις</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="ka%2Fllista">κάλλιστα</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="parabolw%2Ftata">παραβολώτατα</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="e%29kei%2Fnw%7C">ἐκείνῳ</w> <w lemma="pepragme%2Fnwn">πεπραγμένων</w>.
5
<w lemma="oi%28">οἱ</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="ou%29%3Dn">οὖν</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Flloi">ἄλλοι</w> <w lemma="pa%2Fntes">πάντες</w> <w lemma="au%29to%5Cn">αὐτὸν</w> <w lemma="e%29pituxh%3D">ἐπιτυχῆ</w> <w lemma="tina">τινα</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="plei%3Don">πλεῖον</w> <w lemma="ai%29ei%5C">αἰεὶ</w> <w lemma="paralo%2Fgws">παραλόγως</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="tau%29toma%2Ftw%7C">ταὐτομάτῳ</w> <w lemma="katorqou%3Dnta">κατορθοῦντα</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="e%29pibola%5Cs">ἐπιβολὰς</w> <w lemma="pareisa%2Fgousi">παρεισάγουσι</w>,
6
<w lemma="nomi%2Fzontes">νομίζοντες</w> <w lemma="w%28s">ὡς</w> <w lemma="a%29%5Cn">ἂν</w> <w lemma="ei%29">εἰ</w> <w lemma="qeiote%2Frous">θειοτέρους</w> <w lemma="ei%29%3Dnai">εἶναι</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="qaumastote%2Frous">θαυμαστοτέρους</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="toiou%2Ftous">τοιούτους</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Fndras">ἄνδρας</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="lo%2Fgon">λόγον</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="e%28ka%2Fstois">ἑκάστοις</w> <w lemma="pratto%2Fntwn">πραττόντων</w>, <w lemma="a%29gnoou%3Dntes">ἀγνοοῦντες</w> <w lemma="o%28%2Fti">ὅτι</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="e%29paineto%2Fn">ἐπαινετόν</w>, <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="makaristo%5Cn">μακαριστὸν</w> <w lemma="ei%29%3Dnai">εἶναι</w> <w lemma="sumbai%2Fnei">συμβαίνει</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="proeirhme%2Fnwn">προειρημένων</w>, <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="koino%2Fn">κοινόν</w> <w lemma="e%29sti">ἐστι</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="tuxou%3Dsi">τυχοῦσι</w>,
7
<w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="e%29paineto%5Cn">ἐπαινετὸν</w> <w lemma="mo%2Fnon">μόνον</w> <w lemma="i%29%2Fdion">ἴδιον</w> <w lemma="u%28pa%2Frxei">ὑπάρχει</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="eu%29logi%2Fstwn">εὐλογίστων</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="fre%2Fnas">φρένας</w> <w lemma="e%29xo%2Fntwn">ἐχόντων</w> <w lemma="a%29ndrw%3Dn">ἀνδρῶν</w>, <w lemma="ou%28%5Cs">οὓς</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="qeiota%2Ftous">θειοτάτους</w> <w lemma="ei%29%3Dnai">εἶναι</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="prosfilesta%2Ftous">προσφιλεστάτους</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="qeoi%3Ds">θεοῖς</w> <w lemma="nomiste%2Fon">νομιστέον</w>.
8
<w lemma="e%29moi%5C">ἐμοὶ</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="dokei%3D">δοκεῖ</w> <w lemma="%2Apo%2Fplios">Πόπλιος</w> <w lemma="%2Alukou%2Frgw%7C">Λυκούργῳ</w> <w lemma="tw%3D%7C">τῷ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="%2Alakedaimoni%2Fwn">Λακεδαιμονίων</w> <w lemma="nomoqe%2Fth%7C">νομοθέτῃ</w> <w lemma="paraplhsi%2Fan">παραπλησίαν</w> <w lemma="e%29sxhke%2Fnai">ἐσχηκέναι</w> <w lemma="fu%2Fsin">φύσιν</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="proai%2Fresin">προαίρεσιν</w>.
9
<w lemma="ou%29%2Fte">οὔτε</w> <w lemma="ga%5Cr">γὰρ</w> <w lemma="%2Alukou%3Drgon">Λυκοῦργον</w> <w lemma="h%28ghte%2Fon">ἡγητέον</w> <w lemma="deisidaimonou%3Dnta">δεισιδαιμονοῦντα</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="pa%2Fnta">πάντα</w> <w lemma="prose%2Fxonta">προσέχοντα</w> <w lemma="th%3D%7C">τῇ</w> <w lemma="%2Apuqi%2Fa%7C">Πυθίᾳ</w> <w lemma="susth%2Fsasqai">συστήσασθαι</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="%2Alakedaimoni%2Fwn">Λακεδαιμονίων</w> <w lemma="poli%2Fteuma">πολίτευμα</w>, <w lemma="ou%29%2Fte">οὔτε</w> <w lemma="%2Apo%2Fplion">Πόπλιον</w> <w lemma="e%29c">ἐξ</w> <w lemma="e%29nupni%2Fwn">ἐνυπνίων</w> <w lemma="o%28rmw%2Fmenon">ὁρμώμενον</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="klhdo%2Fnwn">κληδόνων</w> <w lemma="thlikau%2Fthn">τηλικαύτην</w> <w lemma="peripoih%3Dsai">περιποιῆσαι</w> <w lemma="th%3D%7C">τῇ</w> <w lemma="patri%2Fdi">πατρίδι</w> <w lemma="dunastei%2Fan:">δυναστείαν·</w>
10
<w lemma="a%29ll%27">ἀλλ᾽</w> <w lemma="o%28rw%3Dntes">ὁρῶντες</w> <w lemma="e%28ka%2Fteroi">ἑκάτεροι</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="pollou%5Cs">πολλοὺς</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="a%29nqrw%2Fpwn">ἀνθρώπων</w> <w lemma="ou%29%2Fte">οὔτε</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="para%2Fdoca">παράδοξα</w> <w lemma="prosdexome%2Fnous">προσδεχομένους</w> <w lemma="r%28a%7Cdi%2Fws">ῥᾳδίως</w> <w lemma="ou%29%2Fte">οὔτε</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="deinoi%3Ds">δεινοῖς</w> <w lemma="tolmw%3Dntas">τολμῶντας</w> <w lemma="paraba%2Fllesqai">παραβάλλεσθαι</w> <w lemma="xwri%5Cs">χωρὶς</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="e%29k">ἐκ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="qew%3Dn">θεῶν</w> <w lemma="e%29lpi%2Fdos">ἐλπίδος</w>,
11
<w lemma="%2Alukou%3Drgos">Λυκοῦργος</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="ai%29ei%5C">αἰεὶ</w> <w lemma="proslambano%2Fmenos">προσλαμβανόμενος</w> <w lemma="tai%3Ds">ταῖς</w> <w lemma="i%29di%2Fais">ἰδίαις</w> <w lemma="e%29pibolai%3Ds">ἐπιβολαῖς</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="e%29k">ἐκ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="%2Apuqi%2Fas">Πυθίας</w> <w lemma="fh%2Fmhn">φήμην</w> <w lemma="eu%29paradektote%2Fras">εὐπαραδεκτοτέρας</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="pistote%2Fras">πιστοτέρας</w> <w lemma="e%29poi%2Fei">ἐποίει</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="i%29di%2Fas">ἰδίας</w> <w lemma="e%29pinoi%2Fas">ἐπινοίας</w>,
12
<w lemma="%2Apo%2Fplios">Πόπλιος</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="paraplhsi%2Fws">παραπλησίως</w> <w lemma="e%29nergazo%2Fmenos">ἐνεργαζόμενος</w> <w lemma="ai%29ei%5C">αἰεὶ</w> <w lemma="do%2Fcan">δόξαν</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="polloi%3Ds">πολλοῖς</w> <w lemma="w%28s">ὡς</w> <w lemma="meta%2F">μετά</w> <w lemma="tinos">τινος</w> <w lemma="qei%2Fas">θείας</w> <w lemma="e%29pipnoi%2Fas">ἐπιπνοίας</w> <w lemma="poiou%2Fmenos">ποιούμενος</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="e%29pibola%2Fs">ἐπιβολάς</w>, <w lemma="eu%29qarseste%2Frous">εὐθαρσεστέρους</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="proqumote%2Frous">προθυμοτέρους</w> <w lemma="kateskeu%2Faze">κατεσκεύαζε</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="u%28potattome%2Fnous">ὑποταττομένους</w> <w lemma="pro%5Cs">πρὸς</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="deina%5C">δεινὰ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Frgwn">ἔργων</w>.
13
<w lemma="o%28%2Fti">ὅτι</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="e%28%2Fkasta">ἕκαστα</w> <w lemma="meta%5C">μετὰ</w> <w lemma="logismou%3D">λογισμοῦ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="pronoi%2Fas">προνοίας</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fpratte">ἔπραττε</w>, <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="dio%2Fti">διότι</w> <w lemma="pa%2Fnta">πάντα</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="lo%2Fgon">λόγον</w> <w lemma="e%29ce%2Fbaine">ἐξέβαινε</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="te%2Flh">τέλη</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="pra%2Fcewn">πράξεων</w> <w lemma="au%29tw%3D%7C">αὐτῷ</w>, <w lemma="dh%3Dlon">δῆλον</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fstai">ἔσται</w> <w lemma="dia%5C">διὰ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="le%2Fgesqai">λέγεσθαι</w> <w lemma="mello%2Fntwn">μελλόντων</w>.
<head>The Recovery of Tarentum</head><head>II. Affairs of Spain</head><head>Character of Scipio</head>Now that I am about to recount Scipio\'s exploits in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Spain&groupId=983&placeId=1735">Spain</a>, and in short everything that he achieved in his life, I think it necessary to convey to my readers, in the first place, a notion of his character and natural parts.
For the fact that he was almost the most famous man of all time makes everyone desirous to know what sort of man he was, and were the natural gifts and the training which enabled him to accomplish so many great actions.
But none can help falling into error and acquiring a mistaken impression of him, as the estimate of those who have given us their views about him is very wide of the truth.
That what I myself state here is sound will be evident to all who by means of my narrative are able to appreciate the most glorious and hazardous of his exploits.
As for all other writers, they represent him as a man favoured by fortune, who always owed the most part of his success to the unexpected and to mere chance,
such men being, in their opinion, more divine and more worthy of admiration than those who always act by calculation. They are not aware that one of the two things deserves praise and the other only congratulation, the latter being common to ordinary men,
whereas what is praiseworthy belongs alone to men of sound judgement and mental ability, whom we should consider to be the most divine and most beloved by the gods.
To me it seems that the character and principles of Scipio much resembled those of Lycurgus, the Lacedaemonian legislator.
For neither must we suppose that Lycurgus drew up the constitution of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sparta&groupId=660&placeId=1208">Sparta</a> under the influence of superstition and solely prompted by the Pythia, nor that Scipio won such an empire for his country by following the suggestion of dreams and omens.
But since both of them saw that most men neither readily accept anything unfamiliar to them, nor venture on great risks without the hope of divine help, Lycurgus made his own scheme more acceptable and more easily believed in by invoking the oracles of the Pythia in support of projects due to himself,
while Scipio similarly made the men under his command more sanguine and more ready to face perilous enterprises by instilling into them the belief that his projects were divinely inspired.
That everything he did was done with calculation and foresight, and that all his enterprises fell out as he had reckoned, will be clear from what I am about to say.

Walbank Commentary

Overview
10.2.1 - 10.20.8
<p rend="Plain Text">Scipio's character; the capture of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=New Carthage&groupId=791&placeId=1430">New Carthage</a></p> <p rend="Plain Text"> To succeed the two Scipios, killed in 211 (viii. 38 n., ix. 11), Publius' son, P. Cornelius P.f. L.n. Scipio (Africanus), was sent out with imperium pro consule by popular vote (Livy, xxvi. 18. 4–11, 19. 10–11); on the reasons for his appointment in place of Claudius Nero see Scullard, Pol. 66. Livy dates his arrival in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Spain&groupId=983&placeId=1735">Spain</a> to 211, and consequently <milestone unit="page" n="191">[191]</milestone> puts the fall of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=New Carthage&groupId=791&placeId=1430">New Carthage</a> in 210; but in fact he arrived in 210, and took the Punic base in 209 (see above, p. 14). On Scipio's preparations during winter 210–9 see Livy, xxvi. 19. 12–20. 6. </p> <p rend="Plain Text">The account of Scipio's character, introduced at the point at which he harangues his troops before crossing the <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Ebro&groupId=549&placeId=1031">Ebro</a> in spring 209 (cf. 6. 1 n.), does not aim at completeness (3. 1, where his beneficence and magnanimity are passed over as well known; cf. Bruns, 3). The digression is designed to counter popular views of how Scipio took <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=New Carthage&groupId=791&placeId=1430">New Carthage</a>, and is thus parallel to the polemic against the sensational historians who attributed Hannibal's crossing of the <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Alps&groupId=313&placeId=609">Alps</a> to divine intervention (iii. 47. 6–48. 12); in both passages (11. 4, cf. iii. 48. 12) P. supports his version by the claim of autopsy. Consequently the origin and credibility of P.'s interpretation of Scipio's character cannot be disentangled from the question of the credibility of his account of the capture of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=New Carthage&groupId=791&placeId=1430">New Carthage</a>. According to P., Scipio learnt, while still in winter quarters, of the existence of a shallow lagoon on the inside of the city, and of a fall in its level each evening (8. 7); and on arriving there, the day before the attack was due to begin, he harangued his troops, promising them inter alia the manifest intervention of Neptune (11. 7–8) on their side. When at the proper time the ebb came and the wading party was sent across the lagoon, the army was struck with the thought that this was <w lang="el-GR">μετά τινος θεοῦ προνοίας</w> (14. 11). This illustrates P.'s thesis that Scipio did not owe his success to 'the gods and Tyche' (9.2), but to his own foresight (2. 13); but that he, like Lycurgus (2. 8–11), deliberately represented the fruit of calculation as the work of divine powers (2. 12).</p> <p rend="Plain Text"> What is the truth about the ebb? Although the Mediterranean is in general tideless, tides occur at some points. But if this ebb is a tidal phenomenon P. must be wrong in saying that it occurred daily <w lang="el-GR">ἐπὶ δείλην ὀψίαν</w> (though he may, of course, have generalized what was true for the day for which Scipio planned the attack). Alternatively the ebb had some other cause such as wind action. Livy (xxvi. 45. 8) mentions a north wind which assisted the tide; and Scullard (Scip. 76–9) quotes several examples of similar phenomena due to wind, from the <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Red Sea&groupId=223&placeId=474">Red Sea</a>, the Crimea, the Suez Canal, and Geneva. It is also attested that north or north-east winds can lower the level of the water by one to one and a half feet in the neighbourhood of Cartagena (Mediterranean Pilot <emph rend="superscript">6</emph> , i. 69; Scullard, Scip. 78–79 n. 3). Scullard also considers (Scip. 79) the possibility of volcanic phenomena, but rightly dismisses this as unlikely. Tide or wind, either explanation of the ebb presents difficulties. If it was tidal (and so predictable) why did Scipio launch a violent attack in the morning instead of waiting for the ebb later in the day? Having promised Neptune's help (11. 7), why did he embark on an <milestone unit="page" n="192">[192]</milestone> operation the success of which would have made that help superfluous? And why did Mago do nothing to guard against an obvious danger? If on the other hand the ebb was caused by wind action, clearly Scipio could not be quite sure it would occur; how then could he, the previous day, promise the god's intervention? </p> <p rend="Plain Text">These difficulties would be evaded if the whole story of the ebb were a legend. But the character of P.'s sources virtually excludes this hypothesis. For his account of the capture of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=New Carthage&groupId=791&placeId=1430">New Carthage</a> he used at least three, and possibly four, sources, apart from his own autopsy (11. 4 n.). He had the evidence of C. Laelius, Scipio's close friend (3. 2), probably oral (Laqueur, Hermes, 1921, 207–25, argues unconvincingly for a written account). He had also access to an account written by P. Scipio himself and sent (presumably after 190) to Philip V of Macedon (9. 3), in which he confirmed that his operations were based on the calculations expounded by P., including the information on the lagoon. Further, Silenus described the capture (Livy, xxvi. 49. 3), and P. may be assumed to have consulted him. The strong similarity between the accounts of P. and Livy points to a common tradition, but it is not easy to establish the relationship between the two versions. It has been argued that Livy used P., either directly or more probably via Coelius, and that the additional details which he gives (cf. Klotz, Appians Darstellung, 73) come from a secondary source like Silenus (added by Livy or again, more probably, by Coelius); cf. Kahrstedt, iii. 289 ff.; De Sanctis, iii. 2. 372. On this hypothesis, the Roman point of view in both P. and Livy derives from P.'s use of Scipio and Laelius. Klotz has argued, however, that Livy's additions form an integral part of the narrative and are only to be explained as coming from a source common to P. and to Livy (again, used probably via Coelius); cf. Klotz, Livius, 178 f.; Hermes, 1952, 334–43. On this view the Roman colouring must derive from this common original source, who will hardly be other than Fabius Pictor. P. will have made Fabius his main source, checking him from Laelius and Scipio's letter.</p> <p rend="Plain Text"> To choose between these hypotheses is not easy. But it weighs against Klotz that in xxvi. 45. 9, 'hoc cura ac ratione compertum in prodigium ac deos uertens Scipio . . .', Livy echoes P.'s own attitude towards Scipio's exploitation of the gods; and though this phrase occurs in Livy's account of Scipio's speech just before the crossing of the lagoon, which has nothing corresponding in P. and owes a good deal to Livian rhetorical elaboration, nevertheless its ultimate origin in P. seems unquestionable. If, as Klotz argues, the additions in Livy read like an integral part of his narrative, this could merely be evidence of Livy's skill rather than an argument for the use of a common source from which P. omitted them. Further, at two points (9. 7 and 11. 1–3), where P. seems to have combined two sources with <milestone unit="page" n="193">[193]</milestone> less than his usual skill, Livy (xxvi. 42. 6, 42. 9) faithfully reproduces what he says. Klotz's theory is therefore to be rejected. P.'s source will be most likely Silenus, modified by information from Laelius and Scipio; but though conclusive evidence is lacking, he may well have made use of Fabius too, for a Roman source could have obtained information on Mago's dispositions (12. 2–3) from Mago himself when a prisoner at <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a> (cf. 19. 8) perhaps more easily than Silenus in the camp of Hannibal. Livy's account will go back ultimately to P., probably through Coelius; but he gives information not in P. which is not always due to elaboration (e.g. xxvi. 42. 5, 43. 1, and 44. 10 on the part played by the fleet) and may have been added by Coelius from elsewhere. </p> <p rend="Plain Text">With all these sources to draw on P. will hardly have described a purely imaginary ebb. On the other hand, some of the difficulties which it creates and which have been mentioned above are perhaps less serious than they seem. If the ebb was due to wind action (and this is on the whole more likely, despite P.'s use of <w lang="el-GR">ἄμπωτις</w>, 14. 2 and 14. 7) the risk that it might not occur on the day in question could be very considerably reduced if Scipio had his local informants with him to confirm that weather conditions made its occurrence reasonably certain. Moreover, the morning attack was probably designed to exhaust the enemy (as P. indicates, 12. 7) rather than to capture the city by direct assault. As attacker Scipio had the initiative and could contrive the time-table of the operation; and if things went especially well, it was always possible to send the wading-party across the lagoon even before the ebb, since, as Scullard observes (Scip. 80–81), it was fordable without it (8. 7). Scipio was counting on using the ebb; but he was not wholly dependent on it for the success of his strategy.</p> <p rend="Plain Text"> There is then no good reason to doubt P.'s assertion that an ebb took place at the critical moment and that its appearance was foreseen well in advance and counted on by Scipio as part of his plan; for in view of the fact that P. had access to Scipio's own account of the attack and that he assures his readers (9. 3) that this account confirms his own version of Scipio's calculations, the fall in the level of the water can scarcely be regarded as an act of Tyche on which he was not primarily relying. However, some difficulties still remain unexplained. In particular, P.'s statement that on the previous day Scipio promised his men Neptune's help has been regarded as hardly credible; and it has even been suggested that when Livy (xxvi. 45. 9) makes Scipio refer to Neptune's guidance in a speech delivered just as the attack is about tobe launched, this order of events is the right one, and P. has transposed Scipio's speech to the earlier position to support his picture of Scipio's unscrupulous rationalism (Scullard, Scip. 81–82). On this hypothesis what were originally mere words of <milestone unit="page" n="194">[194]</milestone> encouragement to the men about to cross the lagoon have been twisted into a prophetic claim to supernatural help. </p> <p rend="Plain Text">Such a view would carry serious implications for P.'s integrity as a historian. But if the speech was movedand one must accept the view that it is taken from P.'s original source, not invented (cf. Vol. I, pp. 13–14)then surely it is Livy (or his immediate source) who has moved it for rhetorical effect, along with the reference to the information given by Tarraconese fishermen, which now comes in awkwardly in this context (cf. Meyer, Kl. Schr. ii. 450 n.). Delivered at the very moment of the attack, the speech is more rhetorically effective than it would be delivered the previous day (as in P.); cf. Klotz, Appians Darstellung, 74: 'wenn Livius diese Tatsache in die sptere Erzhlung einfgt, so tut er dies aus knstlerischen Rcksichten' (though for 'er' read perhaps 'er selbst oder seine Quelle'). In fact, the reference to Poseidon the previous day is perfectly credible if the risk of the prophecy's not being fulfilled is only very slight; and this was so. For even if it proved necessary to send the men across the lagoon before the ebb occurred, this manoeuvre could without too much difficulty have been attributed to Neptune. In any case, in the moment of victory no one was going to ask too many questions about Scipio's promise; an epiphany could always be conveniently reported from some other part of the field, and in the last resort only the successful prophecies are remembered.</p> <p rend="Plain Text"> By saying that Neptune would give his help, when he was in fact proposing to use the ebb water to cross the lagoon Scipio lies open to a charge of using religious terminology to deceive. Reluctance to believe this has been due to a reluctance to follow P. in his characterization of Scipio as a man who cynically exploited religion to gain his ends; and it has been pointed out that the other story recounted to support this thesis, viz. that of Scipio's election to the aedileship, must be rejected for the reasons given below (4. 1–5. 8 n.), and that there is little evidence from the rest of Scipio's career as P. describes it (Haywood, 33–34). The origins of P.'s interpretation have been much debated. Ed. Meyer argued that it went back to C. Laelius, whom he took to be a Stoic rationalist (Kl. Schr. ii. 423–57 = S.-B. Berlin, 1916, 1068–85); but, as Laqueur has shown (Hermes, 1921, 151 ff.), rationalism was no part of Stoic doctrine before Panaetius, and there in no evidence that Laelius was either a Stoic or a rationalist. Scullard (Scip. 12) therefore seems to be right when he claims P.'s rationalism as his own, not that of Laelius. P. approves Scipio's supposed policy of attributing his achievements to the gods in order to impress the masses, just as he expresses his willingness to allow false stories of miracles in order to instil piety into the populace (xvi. 12. 9). His picture of Scipio is his answer to the 'legend' which in some form must already have existed when he wrote and which <milestone unit="page" n="195">[195]</milestone> probably appeared in his main source, whether Silenus or not; for discussion of the development of the 'legend' see below, 2. 3 n. </p> <p rend="Plain Text">This does not however mean that Scipio's speech at <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=New Carthage&groupId=791&placeId=1430">New Carthage</a> is to be rejected as part of the 'legend'. Even if P. drew largely on Silenus, he had access to Scipio's letter (9. 3) and Laelius' recollections. It has been argued that Laelius did not fully understand P.'s questions (Haywood, 35–38) and indeed the two men may have made quite different assumptions about religious matters. But unless we are to dismiss Laelius as a dotard, we must surely assume that he confirmed Silenus' account that the men were promised Neptune's help and that in the ebb the next day this 'prophency' was fulfilled. However, Scipio was not necessarily the rationalist that P. describes. De Sanctis (Riv. fil. 1936, 192–3) argues that the existence of the 'legend' implies that Scipio believed in it. This is surely going much too far. On the other hand, Scipio may well have made the 'prophecy' attributed to him at <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=New Carthage&groupId=791&placeId=1430">New Carthage</a> and yet have believed sincerely in the gods; he may even have taken the existence of the ebb as a sign that Neptune was favouring his enterprise. Scullard (Scip. 19) regards the 'legend' as a proof of Scipio's genius: 'a pure rationalist or a smaller man would never have gained such a romantic halo'. Scipio was certainly a great man, and he can hardly have been a rationalist of the Polybian stamp. He was probably religious as Romans of that age understood religious orthodoxy; but, as Haywood (44) points out, even extreme piety is not identical with mysticism, and there seems to be no reliable evidence that Scipio believed himself to be divinely inspired or thought that he could count on divine help to a greater extent or more regularly than anyone else who observed true piety. See for discussion of the problems touched on above: Kahrstedt, iii. 502–11; Ed. Meyer, Kl. Schr. ii. 423–57; Laqueur, Hermes, 1921, 131–225; Scullard, Scip. 6–19, 56–99; R. M. Haywood, 9–44; De Sanctis, Riv. fil. 1936, 189–93; H. Bengtson, HZ, 168, 1943, 487–508; F. W. Walbank, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc., 1966–7.</p>
Specifics
10.2.1 - 10.2.1
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">πάσας τὰς . . . πράξεις</w>:</emph> i.e. incidentally, as they occur in the course of the history. </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τὸ προεπιστῆσαι τοὺς ἀκούοντας</w>:</emph> 'first of all to draw readers' attention to . . .'. </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἐπὶ τὴν αἵρεσιν καὶ φύσιν</w>:</emph> the point on which P. challenges his predecessors (cf. §§ 5–6). </p>
10.2.2 - 10.2.2
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">φύσεως ἢ τριβῆς</w>:</emph> cf. xxii. 21. 2. For discussion of the relative importance P. assigns to inborn qualities and training, heredity and environment, see von Scala, 4 n. 1. </p>
10.2.3 - 10.2.3
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τοὺς ἐξηγουμένους . . . παραπεπαικέναι τῆς ἀληθείας</w>:</emph> clearly some elements of the Scipionic legend (cf. 5. 9) existed, but not necessarily all that later sources contain. Already Scipio was the recipient of <milestone unit="page" n="196">[196]</milestone> divine aid (9. 2), and his letter to Philip V may have been designed to counter such versions by a factual statement of what really happened at <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=New Carthage&groupId=791&placeId=1430">New Carthage</a>. Already too he was evidently believed to commune with the gods (5. 5 n.). This colouring will be due to Greek historians like Silenus, but it is not impossible that Ennius made some contribution, perhaps in the direction of heroizing Scipio (cf. A. R. Anderson, Harv. Stud. 1928, 31 ff.; Scullard, Scip. 9. n. 2; Haywood, 18 ff.). If Livy's account of Gracchus' speech against Scipio (Livy, xxxviii. 56. 10–12) can be accepted, already in Scipio's lifetime his image was kept in the temple of Juppiter Optimus Maximus; but it has been argued (Mommsen, Röm. Forsch. ii. 503 ff.; Ed. Meyer, Kl. Schr. ii. 434 n. 3; Caesars Monarchie, 531 ff.) that it is a forgery originating in an anti-Caesarian pamphlet or in antiSullan propaganda (De Sanctis, Riv. fil. 1936, 189 ff.). In any case however it is evidence for the placing of Scipio's image in the temple of Juppiter; but the date of this will hardly be earlier than the fire of 83 B. C. (Val. Max. i. 2. 2; De Sanctis, Riv. fil. 1936, 190, who suggests that Sulla placed it there after rebuilding). P. probably used Silenus as a source for the taking of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=New Carthage&groupId=791&placeId=1430">New Carthage</a> (2. 1–20. 8 n.) and he criticizes his account of Scipio, which was already influenced by the 'legend' and no doubt resembled in many respects his worked over version of Hannibal's crossing of the <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Alps&groupId=313&placeId=609">Alps</a> and his premonitory dream (cf. iii. 47. 6, 48. 12 n.). In the full form of the legend, as Gellius (vi. 1) attributes it to C. Oppius and Iulius Hyginus, and as it is given in de uir. ill. 49, Scipio is the son of Juppiter, who appeared in his mother's bed, before his conception, in the form of a snakean account which even Livy recognizes as borrowed from the Alexander legend (Livy, xxvi. 19. 7). For full discussion see Meyer, Kl. Schr. ii. 423–44; Scullard, Scip. 13–16; Haywood, 9–29. </p>
10.2.4 - 10.2.4
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">διὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἐξηγήσεως</w>:</emph> to be taken with <w lang="el-GR">ἐπισημαίνεσθαι</w>, 'to appreciate by means of my narrative'. </p>
10.2.5 - 10.2.5
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἐπιτυχῆ τινα . . . παρεισάγουσι</w>:</emph> cf. iii. 47. 8 for P.'s similar use of <w lang="el-GR">παρεισάγουσι</w> of sensational historians writing on Hannibal; ix. 16. 1 of Homer, 'introducing' <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Odysseus&groupId=801&placeId=1446">Odysseus</a> in a certain role. </p>
10.2.6 - 10.2.6
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τὸ μὲν ἐπαινετὸν</w>:</emph> i.e. to owe one's success to calculation; whereas to owe it to chance is merely <w lang="el-GR">μακαριστόν</w>, 'enviable'. </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">κοινόν ἐστι καὶ τοῖς τυχοῦσι</w>:</emph> a proverbial turn of phrase; cf. Corpus paroem. gr. ii. 446; Diod. xviii. 67, <w lang="el-GR">ἀστάτου καὶ κοινῆς ἅπασι τῆς τύχης οὔσης</w>; von Scala, 83 n. </p>
10.2.7 - 10.2.7
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">θειοτάτους . . . καὶ προσφιλεστάτους τοῖς θεοῖς</w>:</emph> cf. § 6, <w lang="el-GR">θειοτέρους</w>. For the opposite cf. xxxviii. 10. 8, <w lang="el-GR">τοῖς θεοῖς ἐχθροί</w>. The phrase is commonplace and has no theological significance. Cf. vi. 48. 2 n. where Lycurgus' mind is called divine. </p>
10.2.8 - 10.2.8
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">Λυκούργῳ</w>:</emph> Lycurgus, who devised the mixed constitution, having foreseen <w lang="el-GR">λόγῳ τινί</w> the nature of political cycles (vi. 10. 12), could <milestone unit="page" n="197">[197]</milestone> hardly be the victim of superstition (like Nicias, ix. 19. 1); hence he cannot have acted at the behest of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Delphi&groupId=534&placeId=363">Delphi</a>, but must have made the story that he did a cloak for his rationally based plan. </p>
10.2.9 - 10.2.9
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">πάντα προσέχοντα τῇ Πυθίᾳ</w>:</emph> that Lycurgus had his institutions from <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Delphi&groupId=534&placeId=363">Delphi</a>, or got the Pythia to approve them, is asserted by Xenophon (Rep. Lac. viii. 5) and Plato (Laws, i. 624 A), and later by Iustinus (iii. 3. 10) and Nicolaus of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Damascus&groupId=121&placeId=358">Damascus</a> (FGH 90 F 56), though Herodotus (i. 65. 4), denying this story, says that Lycurgus had his constitution from <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Crete&groupId=505&placeId=949">Crete</a>, a view shared, he adds, by the Spartans themselves. P. seeks to refute the latter opinion in vi. 45. 1–47. 6. Ed. Meyer (Forschungen, i. 231 ff.; contra Ehrenberg, Neugrnder, 12 ff.) has argued that this ascription of the Lycurgan constitution to <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Delphi&groupId=534&placeId=363">Delphi</a>, which seems to be normal in the fourth century, was adopted at <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sparta&groupId=660&placeId=1208">Sparta</a> by Pausanias (king 408–395 B.C.), and that the verse of Tyrtaeus quoted by Plutarch (Lyc. 6. 5) to support it was a later forgery (cf. Kahrstedt, Gr. Staatsrecht, i. 127 n. 3; RE, 'Lykurgos (7)', col. 2442); but it is clearly presupposed by Herodotus, loc. cit., <w lang="el-GR">οἱ μὲν δή τινες πρὸς τούτοισι λέγουσι καὶ φράσαι αὐτῷ τὴν Πυθίην τὸν νῦν κατεστεῶτα κόσμον Σπαρτιήτῃσι</w> (cf. Beloch, i. 2. 254–5), and must therefore go back to the fifth century. </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἐξ ἐνυπνίων . . . καὶ κληδόνων</w>:</emph> cf. xii. 12 b 1. </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τηλικαύτην . . . τῇ πατρίδι δυναστείαν</w>:</emph> 'such an empire for (not 'from', as Paton) his country'. </p>
10.2.10 - 10.2.10
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">οὔτε . . . οὔτε</w>:</emph> the two alternatives really apply to the two men, persuading people to accept <w lang="el-GR">τὰ παράδοξα</w> being Lycurgus' concern, and the need to have his men face <w lang="el-GR">τὰ δεινά</w> being Scipio's. </p>

Commentary