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Book 38 - Chapter 1

1
<head lang="la">Olymp. 158, 2. I. Ex Prooemio</head><w lemma="%2A%28%2Foti">Ὅτι</w> <w lemma="h%28">ἡ</w> <num>λη#</num><w lemma="bi%2Fblos">βίβλος</w> <w lemma="perie%2Fxei">περιέχει</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="sunte%2Fleian">συντέλειαν</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="%2A%28ellh%2Fnwn">Ἑλλήνων</w> <w lemma="a%29tuxi%2Fas">ἀτυχίας</w>.
2
<w lemma="kai%2Fper">καίπερ</w> <w lemma="ga%5Cr">γὰρ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="%2A%28ella%2Fdos">Ἑλλάδος</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="kaqo%2Flou">καθόλου</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="me%2Fros">μέρος</w> <w lemma="pleona%2Fkis">πλεονάκις</w> <w lemma="e%29ptaikui%2Fas">ἐπταικυίας</w>, <w lemma="o%28%2Fmws">ὅμως</w> <w lemma="ou%29d%27">οὐδ᾽</w> <w lemma="o%28poi%2Fois">ὁποίοις</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Fn">ἄν</w> <w lemma="tis">τις</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="pro%2Fteron">πρότερον</w> <w lemma="e%29lattwma%2Ftwn">ἐλαττωμάτων</w> <w lemma="oi%29keio%2Fteron">οἰκειότερον</w> <w lemma="e%29farmo%2Fsai">ἐφαρμόσαι</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="a%29tuxi%2Fas">ἀτυχίας</w> <w lemma="o%29%2Fnoma">ὄνομα</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fnnoian">ἔννοιαν</w> <w lemma="tau%2Fthn">ταύτην</w> <w lemma="w%28s">ὡς</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="kaq%27">καθ᾽</w> <w lemma="h%28ma%3Ds">ἡμᾶς</w> <w lemma="gegono%2Fsin">γεγονόσιν</w>.
3
<w lemma="ou%29">οὐ</w> <w lemma="ga%5Cr">γὰρ</w> <w lemma="mo%2Fnon">μόνον</w> <w lemma="a%29f%27">ἀφ᾽</w> <w lemma="w%28%3Dn">ὧν</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fpaqon">ἔπαθον</w> <w lemma="e%29leh%2Fsai">ἐλεήσαι</w> <w lemma="tis">τις</w> <w lemma="a%29%5Cn">ἂν</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="%2A%28%2Fellhnas">Ἕλληνας</w>, <w lemma="e%29%2Fti">ἔτι</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="ma%3Dllon">μᾶλλον</w> <w lemma="e%29f%27">ἐφ᾽</w> <w lemma="oi%28%3Ds">οἷς</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fpracan">ἔπραξαν</w> <w lemma="h%29tuxhke%2Fnai">ἠτυχηκέναι</w> <w lemma="nomi%2Fseie">νομίσειε</w>, <w lemma="puqo%2Fmenos">πυθόμενος</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="e%28ka%2Fstwn">ἑκάστων</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="a%29lhqei%2Fas">ἀληθείας</w>.
4
<w lemma="dokou%3Dntos">δοκοῦντος</w> <w lemma="gou%3Dn">γοῦν</w> <w lemma="megi%2Fstou">μεγίστου</w> <w lemma="pa%2Fqous">πάθους</w> <w lemma="gegone%2Fnai">γεγονέναι</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="%2Akarxhdoni%2Fous">Καρχηδονίους</w> <w lemma="ou%29k">οὐκ</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Flatton">ἔλαττον</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Fn">ἄν</w> <w lemma="tis">τις</w> <w lemma="h%28gh%2Fsaito">ἡγήσαιτο</w>, <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="de%2F">δέ</w> <w lemma="ti">τι</w> <w lemma="mei%3Dzon">μεῖζον</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2A%28ella%2Fda">Ἑλλάδα</w> <w lemma="to%2Fte">τότε</w> <w lemma="sumba%2Fn">συμβάν</w>.
5
<w lemma="oi%28">οἱ</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="ga%5Cr">γὰρ</w> <w lemma="to%2Fpon">τόπον</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fsxaton">ἔσχατον</w> <w lemma="a%29pologi%2Fas">ἀπολογίας</w> <w lemma="ge">γε</w> <w lemma="pro%5Cs">πρὸς</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="e%29piginome%2Fnous">ἐπιγινομένους</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="sfw%3Dn">σφῶν</w> <w lemma="a%29pe%2Fleipon">ἀπέλειπον</w>, <w lemma="ou%28%3Dtoi">οὗτοι</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="ou%29d%27">οὐδ᾽</w> <w lemma="a%29formh%5Cn">ἀφορμὴν</w> <w lemma="eu%29%2Flogon">εὔλογον</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fdosan">ἔδοσαν</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="boulome%2Fnois">βουλομένοις</w> <w lemma="sfi%2Fsi">σφίσι</w> <w lemma="bohqei%3Dn">βοηθεῖν</w> <w lemma="u%28pe%5Cr">ὑπὲρ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="h%28marthme%2Fnwn">ἡμαρτημένων</w>.
6
<w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="%2Akarxhdo%2Fnioi">Καρχηδόνιοι</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="a%28%2Fma">ἅμα</w> <w lemma="tai%3Ds">ταῖς</w> <w lemma="peripetei%2Fais">περιπετείαις</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Frdhn">ἄρδην</w> <w lemma="a%29fanisqe%2Fntes">ἀφανισθέντες</w> <w lemma="a%29nepai%2Fsqhtoi">ἀνεπαίσθητοι</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="sfete%2Frwn">σφετέρων</w> <w lemma="ei%29s">εἰς</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="me%2Fllon">μέλλον</w> <w lemma="e%29ge%2Fnonto">ἐγένοντο</w> <w lemma="sumptwma%2Ftwn">συμπτωμάτων</w>, <w lemma="oi%28">οἱ</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="%2A%28%2Fellhnes">Ἕλληνες</w> <w lemma="e%29forw%3Dntes">ἐφορῶντες</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="au%28tw%3Dn">αὑτῶν</w> <w lemma="a%29tuxi%2Fas">ἀτυχίας</w> <w lemma="paisi%5C">παισὶ</w> <w lemma="pai%2Fdwn">παίδων</w> <w lemma="parado%2Fsimon">παραδόσιμον</w> <w lemma="e%29poi%2Fhsan">ἐποίησαν</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="a%29klhri%2Fan">ἀκληρίαν</w>.
7
<w lemma="w%28%2Fste">ὥστε</w> <w lemma="kaq%27">καθ᾽</w> <w lemma="o%28%2Fson">ὅσον</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="zw%3Dntas">ζῶντας</w> <w lemma="meta%5C">μετὰ</w> <w lemma="timwri%2Fas">τιμωρίας</w> <w lemma="e%29leeinote%2Frous">ἐλεεινοτέρους</w> <w lemma="nomi%2Fzomen">νομίζομεν</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="au%29toi%3Ds">αὐτοῖς</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="deinoi%3Ds">δεινοῖς</w> <w lemma="e%29kleipo%2Fntwn">ἐκλειπόντων</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="bi%2Fon">βίον</w>, <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="tosou%3Dto">τοσοῦτο</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="to%2Fte">τότε</w> <w lemma="peripetei%2Fas">περιπετείας</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="%2A%28ellh%2Fnwn">Ἑλλήνων</w> <w lemma="e%29leeinote%2Fras">ἐλεεινοτέρας</w> <w lemma="nomiste%2Fon">νομιστέον</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="sumba%2Fntwn">συμβάντων</w> <w lemma="%2Akarxhdoni%2Fois">Καρχηδονίοις</w>,
8
<w lemma="e%29a%5Cn">ἐὰν</w> <w lemma="mh%2F">μή</w> <w lemma="tis">τις</w> <w lemma="a%29frontistw%3Dn">ἀφροντιστῶν</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="kaqh%2Fkontos">καθήκοντος</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="kalou%3D">καλοῦ</w>, <w lemma="pro%5Cs">πρὸς</w> <w lemma="au%29to%5C">αὐτὸ</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="sumfe%2Fron">συμφέρον</w> <w lemma="a%29poble%2Fpwn">ἀποβλέπων</w> <w lemma="poih%3Dtai">ποιῆται</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="a%29po%2Ffasin">ἀπόφασιν</w>.
9
<w lemma="o%28%2Fti">ὅτι</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fsti">ἔστι</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="nu%3Dn">νῦν</w> <w lemma="ei%29rhme%2Fnon">εἰρημένον</w> <w lemma="u%28f%27">ὑφ᾽</w> <w lemma="h%28mw%3Dn">ἡμῶν</w> <w lemma="a%29lhqe%2Fs">ἀληθές</w>, <w lemma="ei%29%2Fpoi">εἴποι</w> <w lemma="tis">τις</w> <w lemma="a%29%5Cn">ἂν</w> <w lemma="u%28pomnhsqei%5Cs">ὑπομνησθεὶς</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="paraqei%5Cs">παραθεὶς</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="dokou%2Fsas">δοκούσας</w> <w lemma="megi%2Fstas">μεγίστας</w> <w lemma="sumfora%5Cs">συμφορὰς</w> <w lemma="gegone%2Fnai">γεγονέναι</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2A%28ella%2Fda">Ἑλλάδα</w> <w lemma="pro%5Cs">πρὸς</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="nu%3Dn">νῦν</w> <w lemma="u%28f%27">ὑφ᾽</w> <w lemma="h%28mw%3Dn">ἡμῶν</w> <w lemma="lego%2Fmena">λεγόμενα</w>.
<head>I. From The Introduction.</head>The thirty-eighth Book contains the completion of the disaster of Greece.
For though both the whole of Greece and her several parts had often met with mischance, yet to none of her former defeats can we more fittingly apply the name of disaster with all it signifies than to the events of my own time.
For not only are the Greeks to be pitied for what they suffered, but we cannot fail to think that what they did was still more disastrous to them when we know the truth in detail.
The ruin of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Carthage&groupId=441&placeId=820">Carthage</a> is indeed considered to have been the greatest of calamities, but when we come to think of it the fate of Greece was no less terrible and in some ways even more so.
For the Carthaginians at least left to posterity some ground, however slight, for defending their cause, but the Greeks gave no plausible pretext to any one who wished to support them and acquit them of error.
And again the Carthaginians, having been utterly exterminated by the calamity which overtook them, were for the future insensible of their sufferings, but the Greeks, continuing to witness their calamities, handed on from father to son the memory of their misfortune.
So that inasmuch as we consider that those who remain alive and suffer punishment are more to be pitied than those who perished in the actual struggle, we should consider the calamities that then befel Greece more worthy of pity than the fate of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Carthage&groupId=441&placeId=820">Carthage</a>, unless in pronouncing on the matter we discard all notion of what is decorous and noble, and keep our eyes only on material advantage.
Every one will acknowledge the truth of what I say if he recalls what are thought to have been the greatest misfortunes that had befallen Greece and compares them with my present narrative.

Walbank Commentary

Overview
38.1.1 - 38.4.9
<p rend="Plain Text">On the Greek disaster of 147/6</p> <p rend="Plain Text">This excerpt from de sent. must form part of the general introduction to the book; it cannot be part of res Graeciae, since other fragments in the same collection belonging to res Africae (20. 1–11, 21. 1–3) follow it. On P.'s use of <w lang="el-GR">προεκθέσεις</w>, usually at the beginning of a new olympiad, but here at the beginning of a book, see xi. 1 a n. P.'s comments on the Achaean dbcle clearly reveal his lack of sympathy for Achaean policy and those directing it; his strong feelings are reflected in a conscious adoption of a rhetorical mode of expression (4. 1). See Walbank, Polybius, 34–40. Diod. xxxii. 26 gives a free adaptation of this passage and of 9. 1–13. 9.</p>
Specifics
38.1.1 - 38.1.1
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τὴν συντέλειαν τῆς τῶν ῾Ελλήνων ἀτυχί?ας</w>:</emph> though this is the excerptor's sentence, the phrase quoted is probably P.'s; see Hultsch ad loc. (xxxviii. 3 in his edition). By <w lang="el-GR">συντέλεια</w> P. means the complete defeat of the Achaeans; the actual destruction of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Corinth&groupId=493&placeId=928">Corinth</a>, senatus consulto, probably took place in Ol. 158, 3 and was therefore described in book xxxix, as the aftermath of the defeat (cf. pp. 47, 49). </p>
38.1.2 - 38.1.2
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τὸ τῆς ἀτυχίας ὄνομα</w>:</emph> cf. 3. 6. The word <w lang="el-GR">ἀτυχία</w>, like <w lang="el-GR">ἀτύχημα</w>, carries with it a sense of guilt, a catastrophe for which one bears the responsibility; see xii. 13. 5 n. It includes not only what happens to one, but also what one does oneself (§ 3). Cf. Gruen, JHS, 1976, 47. </p>
38.1.5 - 38.1.5
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τόπον ἔσχατον ἀπολογίας γε</w>:</emph> cf. xxx. 8. 3 (of the pro-Macedonian Rhodians), <w lang="el-GR">ὥστε παρὰ τοῖς ἐπιγινομένοις μηδ᾿ ἔσχατον ἐλέῳ καὶ συγγνώμῃ τόπον καταλιπεῖν</w>. The grounds on which the Carthaginians can be defended are very slight (for P. is committed to the Roman view about the justice of the Third Punic War: cf. xxxvi. 9. 1–10. 7 n.). </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">σφίσι βοηθεῖν</w>:</emph> i.e. in subsequent argument. </p>
38.1.6 - 38.1.6
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">παισὶ παίδων</w>:</emph> for this rhetorical phrase for 'grandchildren' see iv. 35. 15 n. </p>
38.1.8 - 38.1.8
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τοῦ καθήκοντος καὶ τοῦ καλοῦ . . . τὸ συμφέρον</w>:</emph> a contrast typical <milestone unit="page" n="685">[685]</milestone> of the Stoics; but cf. vi. 6. 9 n., where P. derives the concept of <w lang="el-GR">τὸ καλόν</w> (and <w lang="el-GR">τὸ αἰσχρόν)</w> from a generalized perception of <w lang="el-GR">τὸ συμφέρον</w>, not at all a Stoic notion. Petzold, 49, argues that the present passage represents a late stage in P.'s thought, in which he has grown more sensitive to moral considerations; against this see Walbank, Entretiens sur Polybe, 23. On the extent of Stoic influence on P. see iii. 1–5 n. (3 b); on P.'s use of <w lang="el-GR">τὸ καθῆκον</w> see von Scala, 330 n. 2, and for <w lang="el-GR">τὸ καλόν</w> and <w lang="el-GR">τὸ συμφέρον</w> as the joint aims of policy see xxi. 32 c 1–4 (Philopoemen unusual in his ability to secure both). It would be wrong to assume that P. is here rejecting the claims of <w lang="el-GR">τὸ συμφέρον</w>, but like Aristaenus (xxiv. 12. 2) he regards <w lang="el-GR">τὸ καλόν</w> as the higher aim where it is feasible. </p>
38.1.9 - 38.1.9
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τὰς δοκούσας μεγίστας συμφοράς</w>:</emph> <w lang="el-GR">συμφορά</w> is a more neutral word than <w lang="el-GR">ἀτυχία</w> (cf. 3. 7; Petzold, 49). These disasters are discussed in 2. 1–3. 7. </p>

Commentary