Polybius, Histories

Translation

Book 39 - Chapter 8

<head lang="la">B. Olymp. 158, 4. Ex Epilogo</head><w lemma="%2A%28%2Foti">Ὅτι</w> <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="%2Apolu%2Fbio%2Fs">Πολύβιός</w> <w lemma="fhsi">φησι</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="te%2Flos">τέλος</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="suggrafh%3Ds:">συγγραφῆς·</w> <w lemma="tau%3Dta">ταῦτα</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="ou%29%3Dn">οὖν</w> <w lemma="h%28mei%3Ds">ἡμεῖς</w> <w lemma="katapra%2Fcantes">καταπράξαντες</w> <w lemma="e%29k">ἐκ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="%2A%28rw%2Fmhs">Ῥώμης</w> <w lemma="e%29panh%2Flqomen">ἐπανήλθομεν</w>, <w lemma="w%28sanei%5C">ὡσανεὶ</w> <w lemma="kefa%2Flaia%2F">κεφάλαιά</w> <w lemma="tina">τινα</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="propepoliteume%2Fnwn">προπεπολιτευμένων</w> <w lemma="kateirgasme%2Fnoi">κατειργασμένοι</w>, <w lemma="xa%2Frin">χάριν</w> <w lemma="a%29ci%2Fan">ἀξίαν</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="pro%5Cs">πρὸς</w> <w lemma="%2A%28rwmai%2Fous">Ῥωμαίους</w> <w lemma="eu%29noi%2Fas">εὐνοίας</w>.

<w lemma="dio%5C">διὸ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="pa%3Dsi">πᾶσι</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="qeoi%3Ds">θεοῖς</w> <w lemma="eu%29xa%5Cs">εὐχὰς</w> <w lemma="poiou%2Fmeqa">ποιούμεθα</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="loipo%5Cn">λοιπὸν</w> <w lemma="me%2Fros">μέρος</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="zwh%3Ds">ζωῆς</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="tou%2Ftois">τούτοις</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="e%29pi%5C">ἐπὶ</w> <w lemma="tou%2Ftwn">τούτων</w> <w lemma="diamei%3Dnai">διαμεῖναι</w>, <w lemma="qewrou%3Dntes">θεωροῦντες</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="tu%2Fxhn">τύχην</w> <w lemma="w%28s">ὡς</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fstin">ἔστιν</w> <w lemma="a%29gaqh%5C">ἀγαθὴ</w> <w lemma="fqonh%3Dsai">φθονῆσαι</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="a%29nqrw%2Fpois">ἀνθρώποις</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="ma%2Flista">μάλιστα</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="tou%3Dto">τοῦτο</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="me%2Fros">μέρος</w> <w lemma="i%29sxu%2Fei">ἰσχύει</w> <w lemma="kaq%27">καθ᾽</w> <w lemma="o%28%2F">ὅ</w> <w lemma="tis">τις</w> <w lemma="a%29%5Cn">ἂν</w> <w lemma="dokh%3D%7C">δοκῇ</w> <w lemma="ma%2Flista">μάλιστα</w> <w lemma="makari%2Fzesqai">μακαρίζεσθαι</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="katorqou%3Dn">κατορθοῦν</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="tw%3D%7C">τῷ</w> <w lemma="bi%2Fw%7C">βίῳ</w>. <w lemma="%2Akai%5C">Καὶ</w> <w lemma="tau%3Dta">ταῦτα</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="ou%28%2Ftw">οὕτω</w> <w lemma="gene%2Fsqai">γενέσθαι</w> <w lemma="sune%2Fpesen:">συνέπεσεν·</w>

<w lemma="h%28mei%3Ds">ἡμεῖς</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="paragegono%2Ftes">παραγεγονότες</w> <w lemma="e%29pi%5C">ἐπὶ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="te%2Frma">τέρμα</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="o%28%2Flhs">ὅλης</w> <w lemma="pragmatei%2Fas">πραγματείας</w> <w lemma="boulo%2Fmeqa">βουλόμεθα</w>, <w lemma="prosanamnh%2Fsantes">προσαναμνήσαντες</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="a%29rxh%3Ds">ἀρχῆς</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="proekqe%2Fsews">προεκθέσεως</w> <w lemma="h%28%3Ds">ἧς</w> <w lemma="e%29poihsa%2Fmeqa">ἐποιησάμεθα</w> <w lemma="katabalo%2Fmenoi">καταβαλόμενοι</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="i%28stori%2Fan">ἱστορίαν</w>, <w lemma="sugkefalaiw%2Fsasqai">συγκεφαλαιώσασθαι</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="o%28%2Flhn">ὅλην</w> <w lemma="u%28po%2Fqesin">ὑπόθεσιν</w>, <w lemma="oi%29keiw%2Fsantes">οἰκειώσαντες</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="a%29rxh%5Cn">ἀρχὴν</w> <w lemma="tw%3D%7C">τῷ</w> <w lemma="te%2Flei">τέλει</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="e%29ceqe%2Fmeqa">ἐξεθέμεθα</w> <w lemma="toigarou%3Dn">τοιγαροῦν</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="a%29rxai%3Ds">ἀρχαῖς</w> <w lemma="o%28%2Fti">ὅτι</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="prokataskeuh%3Ds">προκατασκευῆς</w> <w lemma="poihso%2Fmeqa">ποιησόμεθα</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="a%29rxh%5Cn">ἀρχὴν</w> <w lemma="a%29f%27">ἀφ᾽</w> <w lemma="w%28%3Dn">ὧν</w> <w lemma="%2Ati%2Fmaios">Τίμαιος</w> <w lemma="a%29pe%2Flipen:">ἀπέλιπεν·</w>

<w lemma="e%29pidramo%2Fntes">ἐπιδραμόντες</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="kefalaiwdw%3Ds">κεφαλαιωδῶς</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2A%29itali%2Fan">Ἰταλίαν</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="%2Asikeli%2Fan">Σικελίαν</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="%2Alibu%2Fhn">Λιβύην</w> <w lemma="pra%2Fceis">πράξεις</w>, <w lemma="e%29peidh%5C">ἐπειδὴ</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="mo%2Fnwn">μόνων</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="to%2Fpwn">τόπων</w> <w lemma="tou%2Ftwn">τούτων</w> <w lemma="ka%29kei%3Dnos">κἀκεῖνος</w> <w lemma="pepoi%2Fhtai">πεποίηται</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="i%28stori%2Fan">ἱστορίαν</w>, <w lemma="o%28%2Ft%27">ὅτ᾽</w> <w lemma="a%29nh%2Flqomen">ἀνήλθομεν</w> <w lemma="e%29pi%5C">ἐπὶ</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="xro%2Fnous">χρόνους</w>, <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="oi%28%3Ds">οἷς</w> <w lemma="%2A%29anni%2Fbas">Ἀννίβας</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="pare%2Flabe">παρέλαβε</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="%2Akarxhdo%2Fnos">Καρχηδόνος</w> <w lemma="duna%2Fmeis">δυνάμεις</w>, <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="%2Adhmhtri%2Fou">Δημητρίου</w> <w lemma="%2Afi%2Flippos">Φίλιππος</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="%2Amakedoni%2Fa%7C">Μακεδονίᾳ</w> <w lemma="basilei%2Fan">βασιλείαν</w>, <w lemma="%2Akleome%2Fnhs">Κλεομένης</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="%2Aspartia%2Fths">Σπαρτιάτης</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Ffugen">ἔφυγεν</w> <w lemma="e%29k">ἐκ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="%2A%28ella%2Fdos">Ἑλλάδος</w>, <w lemma="a%28%2Fma">ἅμα</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="tou%2Ftois">τούτοις</w> <w lemma="%2A%29anti%2Foxos">Ἀντίοχος</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="th%3D%7C">τῇ</w> <w lemma="%2Asuri%2Fa%7C">Συρίᾳ</w> <w lemma="basilei%2Fan">βασιλείαν</w> <w lemma="diede%2Fdekto">διεδέδεκτο</w>, <w lemma="%2Aptolemai%3Dos">Πτολεμαῖος</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="kat%27">κατ᾽</w> <w lemma="%2Aai%29%2Fgupton">Αἴγυπτον</w> <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="klhqei%5Cs">κληθεὶς</w> <w lemma="%2Afilopa%2Ftwr">Φιλοπάτωρ</w>,

<w lemma="e%29phggeila%2Fmeqa">ἐπηγγειλάμεθα</w> <w lemma="dio%2Fti">διότι</w> <w lemma="pa%2Flin">πάλιν</w> <w lemma="a%29po%5C">ἀπὸ</w> <w lemma="tou%2Ftwn">τούτων</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="kairw%3Dn">καιρῶν</w> <w lemma="a%29rca%2Fmenoi">ἀρξάμενοι</w> <w lemma="kaq%27">καθ᾽</w> <w lemma="ou%28%5Cs">οὓς</w> <w lemma="h%29%3Dn">ἦν</w> <w lemma="o%29lumpia%5Cs">ὀλυμπιὰς</w> <w lemma="e%29na%2Fth">ἐνάτη</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="triakosth%5C">τριακοστὴ</w> <w lemma="pro%5Cs">πρὸς</w> <w lemma="tai%3Ds">ταῖς</w> <w lemma="e%28kato%2Fn">ἑκατόν</w>, <w lemma="die%2Fcimen">διέξιμεν</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="koina%5Cs">κοινὰς</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="oi%29koume%2Fnhs">οἰκουμένης</w> <w lemma="pra%2Fceis">πράξεις</w>, <w lemma="perigra%2Ffontes">περιγράφοντες</w> <w lemma="kat%27">κατ᾽</w> <w lemma="o%29lumpia%2Fdas">ὀλυμπιάδας</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="diairou%3Dntes">διαιροῦντες</w> <w lemma="kat%27">κατ᾽</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Ftos">ἔτος</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="sugkri%2Fnontes">συγκρίνοντες</w> <w lemma="e%29k">ἐκ</w> <w lemma="parabolh%3Ds">παραβολῆς</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="katallh%2Flous">καταλλήλους</w> <w lemma="e%28%2Fws">ἕως</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="%2Akarxhdo%2Fnos">Καρχηδόνος</w> <w lemma="a%28lw%2Fsews">ἁλώσεως</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="%2A%29axaiw%3Dn">Ἀχαιῶν</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="%2A%28rwmai%2Fwn">Ῥωμαίων</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="%2A%29isqmo%5Cn">Ἰσθμὸν</w> <w lemma="ma%2Fxhs">μάχης</w>, <w lemma="e%29%2Fti">ἔτι</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="e%29pigenome%2Fnhs">ἐπιγενομένης</w> <w lemma="e%29k">ἐκ</w> <w lemma="tou%2Ftwn">τούτων</w> <w lemma="a%29pokatasta%2Fsews">ἀποκαταστάσεως</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="%2A%28%2Fellhnas">Ἕλληνας</w>.

<w lemma="e%29c">ἐξ</w> <w lemma="w%28%3Dn">ὧν</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="ka%2Flliston">κάλλιστον</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Ffamen">ἔφαμεν</w>, <w lemma="a%28%2Fma">ἅμα</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="w%29felimw%2Ftaton">ὠφελιμώτατον</w> <w lemma="perigene%2Fsqai">περιγενέσθαι</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="filomaqou%3Dsi:">φιλομαθοῦσι·</w> <w lemma="tou%3Dto">τοῦτο</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="h%29%3Dn">ἦν</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="gnw%3Dnai">γνῶναι</w> <w lemma="pw%3Ds">πῶς</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="ti%2Fni">τίνι</w> <w lemma="ge%2Fnei">γένει</w> <w lemma="politei%2Fas">πολιτείας</w> <w lemma="e%29pikrathqe%2Fnta">ἐπικρατηθέντα</w> <w lemma="sxedo%5Cn">σχεδὸν</w> <w lemma="a%28%2Fpanta">ἅπαντα</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="oi%29koume%2Fnhn">οἰκουμένην</w> <w lemma="u%28po%5C">ὑπὸ</w> <w lemma="mi%2Fan">μίαν</w> <w lemma="a%29rxh%5Cn">ἀρχὴν</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fpese">ἔπεσε</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2A%28rwmai%2Fwn">Ῥωμαίων</w>, <w lemma="o%28%5C">ὃ</w> <w lemma="pro%2Fteron">πρότερον</w> <w lemma="ou%29x">οὐχ</w> <w lemma="eu%28ri%2Fsketai">εὑρίσκεται</w> <w lemma="gegono%2Fs">γεγονός</w>.

<w lemma="tou%2Ftwn">τούτων</w> <w lemma="dh%5C">δὴ</w> <w lemma="pa%2Fntwn">πάντων</w> <w lemma="h%28mi%3Dn">ἡμῖν</w> <w lemma="e%29pitetelesme%2Fnwn">ἐπιτετελεσμένων</w> <w lemma="lei%2Fpetai">λείπεται</w> <w lemma="diasafh%3Dsai">διασαφῆσαι</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="xro%2Fnous">χρόνους</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="perieilhmme%2Fnous">περιειλημμένους</w> <w lemma="u%28po%5C">ὑπὸ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="i%28stori%2Fas">ἱστορίας</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="plh%3Dqos">πλῆθος</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="bu%2Fblwn">βύβλων</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="a%29riqmo%5Cn">ἀριθμὸν</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="o%28%2Flhs">ὅλης</w> <w lemma="pragmatei%2Fas">πραγματείας</w>.

<head>III. From the Epilogue</head>Polybius says at the end of his work: "Accordingly, having achieved this I returned home from <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a>. I had, as it were, been enabled to capitalize the results of my previous political action, a favour which my devotion to <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a> well merited.

Therefore, I pray to all the gods, that during the rest of my life all may remain in the same condition and on the same terms, seeing as I do how apt Fortune is to envy men, and how she especially puts forth her power in cases where we think that our life has been most blessed and most successful.

"So it happened to fall out; and I, now I have reached the end of my whole work, wish, after recalling to my readers the initial scheme that I laid before them as the foundation of the work, to give a summary of the whole subject matter, establishing both in general and in particular the connexion between the beginning and the end.

I explained therefore at the beginning that I would commence my introductory books from the point where Timaeus left off,

and after a cursory view of events in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Italy&groupId=656&placeId=1199">Italy</a>, <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sicily&groupId=973&placeId=1724">Sicily</a>, and <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Africa&groupId=300&placeId=294">Africa</a> — this author having dealt only with these parts in his history — upon reaching the time when Hannibal was entrusted with the Carthaginian forces, when Philip, son of Demetrius, succeeded to the throne of Macedon, when Cleomenes of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sparta&groupId=660&placeId=1208">Sparta</a> was exiled from Greece and when Antiochus inherited the throne of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Syria&groupId=995&placeId=502">Syria</a> and Ptolemy Philopator that of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Egypt&groupId=556&placeId=368">Egypt</a>,

I undertook to make a fresh beginning from this date, i.e. the 139th Olympiad, and henceforth to deal with the general history of the whole world, classing it under Olympiads, dividing those into years and taking a comparative view of the succession of events until the capture of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Carthage&groupId=441&placeId=820">Carthage</a>, the battle of the Achaeans and Romans at the Isthmus and the consequent settlement of Greece.

As I said, students by this treatment will attain the best and most salutary result, which is to know how and by what system of polity the whole world was subjected to the single rule of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a> — an event without any parallel in the past.

Now that I have actually accomplished all this, nothing remains for me but to indicate the dates included in the history, to give a list of the number of books and an index of the whole work."

Walbank Commentary

Overview

39.8.1 - 39.8.8

The conclusion of the Histories From the exc. de sent.; the introductory words indicate that this was the epilogue to the Histories. In it P. briefly reviews the general scheme of the work, the period it covers and its main purpose. The secondary reason alleged (in iii. 4–5) for the extension down to 145 is here ignored, perhaps because P. did not regard it as very important in the whole scheme. Lehmann, Entretiens sur Polybe, 186–200, especially 193 f., regards the omission of this secondary reason as serious, and argues that the whole passage, §§ 3–8, is in fact the work of a posthumous editor; but the passages xxx. 6. 3–4 and xxxviii. 4. 8, which he quotes as supporting P.'s proposal to provide the material for the passing of moral judgements on <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a>'s exercise of power, seem nothing more than normal examples of P.'s didactic purpose, and it is more likely that the extension of the Histories to cover the years 168–145 was really designed to enable P. to narrate <milestone unit="page" n="739">[739]</milestone> the events in which Scipio Aemilianus and himself had played prominent parts (cf. Walbank, Polybius, 182–3; Entretiens sur Polybe, 22–27; Historiographia Antiqua, 159–62), and consequently that P. here simply omitted the somewhat factitious reason alleged in iii. 4–5. A more serious difficulty arises in § 5, where the text gives a false and inadequate account of the contents and purpose of the <w lang="el-GR">προκατασκευή</w> (books i and ii). There is no mention of the Achaean events recounted in book ii, to which P. attributed importance (ii. 71. 1); and a difficulty is created by P.'s statement that, because Timaeus dealt only with the west, he is giving a cursory account of events there, when in the main the period dealt with in the <w lang="el-GR">προκατασκευή</w> is later than that dealt with by Timaeus. (There are of course exceptions to thisthe events leading to the rise of Hiero (i. 6–9) and the early history of the Celts in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Italy&groupId=656&placeId=1199">Italy</a> (ii. 18–20), but Timaeus was not the source for the latter.) In i. 13. 7 P. emphasizes that the <w lang="el-GR">προκατασκευή</w> was written <w lang="el-GR">κεφαλαιωδῶς</w>, compared with the Histories proper; and in i. 5. 4, ii. 14. 1, and ii. 35. 10 he used the same word with special reference to western affairs. The passage becomes easier to understand if one assumes P. to be speaking of a <w lang="el-GR">προκατασκευή</w> which deals only with the west. The sense might then be: My plan was to follow Timaeus' History with a cursory account of affairs in the west (for it was only with the west that he was concerned) whereas (we must understand) for Greece I followed Aratus, who went down to 220, and therefore I did not need to include Greek affairs at all in the <w lang="el-GR">προκατασκευή</w> (cf. Petzold, Historia, 1960, 249). In fact, iii. 32. 2, a passage echoed here with its reference to Cleomenes' flight and the battle at the Isthmus, also envisages a work in 40 books, in which affairs in the west date from Pyrrhus, but those in Greece from the battle of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sellasia&groupId=966&placeId=1714">Sellasia</a>, and so implies a <w lang="el-GR">προκατασκευή</w> without the Achaean section of book ii. Gelzer, Kl. Schr. iii. 111 f., explained the absence of any reference to the Achaean events down to 220 as representing a stage in the composition of the Histories before P. had inserted the Greek chapters into the <w lang="el-GR">προκατασκευή</w>, and in Kl. Schr. iii. 206 he modified his view to allow for the completion of the Achaean section before 168 (though it was not, he thought, inserted into the Histories until much later). In ii. 37–70 n. I argued against this hypothesis; but the passage in ii. 37. 8 ff. which implies that the Achaean Confederation is still in existence may well be carried over from the earlier composition, and Gelzer's theory now seems to me to offer the best explanation of the absence of any reference to Achaean events in iii. 32. 2 and in the present passage. <note type="footnote" id="note1">See also Petzold, Studien, 97–100; but on his suggested reason for the insertion of the Achaean chapters in book ii see my criticism in JRS, 1970, 252.</note> It implies of course that P. first composed this epilogue at a stage <milestone unit="page" n="740">[740]</milestone> before the Achaean section was incorporated in book ii, and consequently that that had not taken place at the time when books i–vi were published, either just before, or according to Lehmann, Entretiens sur Polybe, 192, just after the period 150–146. This seems more plausible than Lehmann's hypothesis (Entretiens sur Polybe, 193 ff.) that the epilogue (§§ 3–8) is the work of a posthumous editor, a man evidently both deceitful (since he pretended to be writing as P.) and ignorant (since he had not even read books i and ii). (Lehmann does not consider iii. 32. 2 at all in this context) It also seems more plausible than to assume compression by the excerptor in § 5.

Specifics

39.8.1 - 39.8.1

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ταῦτα . . . καταπράξαντες</w>:</emph> 'having accomplished this mission'; the reference is to a lost passage describing P.'s visit to <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a> and the Senate's acceptance of his settlement of affairs in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Achaea&groupId=272&placeId=533">Achaea</a> (cf. 5. 2 n.). This visit cannot be firmly dated. It may have taken place in the autumn of 145; but embassies were normally heard at the beginning of the consular year, so the winter of 145/4 is an equal possibility. See p. 50; Nissen, Rh. Mus. 1871, 274; Pdech, Mthode, 563 n. 280, who rightly rejects Unger's theory (Phil. 1896, 77–78) that P.'s visit was in 140/39 and that he then succeeded in obtaining the restoration of the Achaean Confederation (Paus. vii. 16. 10; see on this, however, 5. 2 n.). <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ὡσανεὶ κεφάλαιά τινα . . . κατειργασμένοι</w>:</emph> 'having, as it were, set a crown upon my previous political activity', rather than Paton's version, 'I had . . . been enabled to capitalize the results of my previous political action'; the <w lang="el-GR">χάρις</w> 'favour', merited by P.'s goodwill towards <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a>, and acquired from the present operation, is not (as Paton's rendering implies) exemplified by any concession which he gained for <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Achaea&groupId=272&placeId=533">Achaea</a>. Von Scala, 8, suggests that this passage (§§ 2–6) was written by the posthumous editor ('sein Verehrer und Freund'); cf. 8. 1–8 n. for Lehmann's view that §§ 3–8 had a similar origin.

39.8.2 - 39.8.2

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">πᾶσι τοῖς θεοῖς εὐχὰς ποιούμεθα</w>:</emph> a formal expression. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἐν τούτοις καὶ ἐπὶ τούτων διαμεῖναι</w>:</emph> 'that the rest of my life may continue in the same course and on the same terms'. P.'s prayer is for his own continued prosperity, not (as Lehmann, Entretiens sur Polybe, 191, supposes) for the maintenance of the status quo in Greece; for if it were the latter, there would be no reason for limiting the scope of the prayer to P.'s lifetime. Lehmann's proposal to link this passage with iv. 32. 9 and iv. 74. 5 (both of which he takes, rather improbably, to be referring to conditions after 145; cf. iv. 31. 3–33. 12 n., 73. 6–74. 8 n. with corrigenda in Vol. II, pp. 639 and 641) thus breaks down. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τὴν τύχην ὡς ἔστιν ἀγαθὴ φθονῆσαι κτλ</w>.:</emph> see Vol. I, pp. 14–20 (on the instability of fortune), p. 25 (on the personification of Tyche); <milestone unit="page" n="741">[741]</milestone> cf. von Scala, 165. One need not see Stoic influence here (as suggested by Hirzel, 879 f.; Susemihl, ii. 103 n. 86).

39.8.3 - 39.8.3

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τῆς προεκθέσεως</w>:</emph> for this initial scheme see iii. 2. 1–5. 6; cf. iii. 1. 5, <w lang="el-GR">κεφαλαιωδῶς ἐπιμνησθῆναι καὶ προεκθέσθαι</w>. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">συγκεφαλαιώσασθαι τὴν ὅλην ὑπόθεσιν</w>:</emph> 'summarize the whole content of the work'.

39.8.4 - 39.8.4

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ποιησόμεθα τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀφ᾿ ὧν Τίμαιος ἀπέλιπεν</w>:</emph> cf. i. 5. 1–5 n.; that passage, verbally echoed here, makes 264 the starting-point for the <w lang="el-GR">προκατασκευή</w>. On i. 5. 1–5 see below, p. 757. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τὰς κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν καὶ Σικελίαν καὶ Λιβύην πράξεις</w>:</emph> see i. 5. 1–5 n., xii. 23. 7 n. Timaeus' account of Agathocles will have involved African events. For the implication that for the events in Greece down to 220 P. was following Aratus, and so (at the time he wrote this passage) did not envisage including a Greek section in the <w lang="el-GR">προκατασκευή</w> see 8. 1–8 n. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἐν οἷς Ἀννίβας . . . παρέλαβε τὰς . . . δυνάμεις</w>:</emph> in 221; see ii. 36. 1 n. The succession of Hannibal to the Spanish command is not included in the synchronism of ii. 70. 8–71. 4, which is concerned with the kings of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Macedonia&groupId=723&placeId=428">Macedonia</a>, <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Syria&groupId=995&placeId=502">Syria</a>, and <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Egypt&groupId=556&placeId=368">Egypt</a>. But P. is flexible about this, adding <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sparta&groupId=660&placeId=1208">Sparta</a> and <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Cappadocia&groupId=435&placeId=343">Cappadocia</a> in iv. 2. 8–9; and Hannibal is there when P. considers the wars imminent in 220 (ii. 71. 9). <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">Φίλιππος . . . ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ</w>:</emph> cf. ii. 70. 8; the date is 221. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">Κλεομένης . . . ἔφυγεν ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος</w>:</emph> see iii. 32. 3, <w lang="el-GR">τῆς Κλεομένους τοῦ Σπαρτιάτου φυγῆς</w>; cf. ii. 69. 10–11. The date is July 222 (cf. ii. 65–69 n.). <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">Ἀντίοχος . . . ἐν τῇ Συρίᾳ</w>:</emph> cf. ii. 71. 4 n.; late summer 223 (ii. 71. 3–6 n., iv. 2. 7 n., 48. 6 n.). <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">Πτολεμαῖος . . . κατ᾿ Αἴγυπτον . . . Φιλοπάτωρ</w>:</emph> early February 221; cf. ii. 65–69 n. (a), 71. 3–6 n.

39.8.6 - 39.8.6

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">πάλιν . . . ἀρξάμενοι</w>:</emph> 'beginning and going on from that date'. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ὀλυμπιὰς ἐνάτη καὶ τριακοστὴ πρὸς ταῖς ἑκατόν</w>:</emph> for P.'s startingpoint, the end of Ol. 139 = 224–220, and the beginning of Ol. 140 = 220–216, see i. 3. 1, iii. 1. 11, 118. 10, iv. 1. 3, v. 30. 8, 111. 9. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">περιγράφοντες κατ᾿ ὀλυμπιάδας</w>:</emph> for P.'s system see Vol. II, p. 1; Walbank, Polybius, 97 ff.; Actes IX <emph rend="superscript">e</emph> Congrs Bud, 202–10; Yale Stud. 1975, 197–212. P. here implies that his history is divided up under olympiads from 220 onwards. See Errington, JRS, 1967, 96; Musti, Aufstieg und Niedergang, i. 2. 1127, who rightly observes that P. is here contrasting his summary treatment in the <w lang="el-GR">προκατασκευή</w> with the olympiad arrangement of the main history (but that this does not necessarily exclude the use of olympiads at appropriate places in the former). <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">διαιροῦντες κατ᾿ ἔτος</w>:</emph> cf. ix. 1. 1, xiv. 1 a 5; Vol. II, p. 1; Walbank, Polybius, 101. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">συγκρίνοντες ἐκ παραβολῆς τὰς καταλλήλους</w>:</emph> sc. <w lang="el-GR">πράξεις</w>; 'placing <milestone unit="page" n="742">[742]</milestone> contemporary events side by side for comparison'; cf. xii. 28. 9. See iii. 32. 5 n., v. 31. 5 n.; Walbank, Polis and Imperium, 59. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἕως τῆς Καρχηδόνος ἁλώσεως</w>:</emph> in 146; cf. iii. 5. 5, xxxviii. 20–22. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τῆς Ἀχαιῶν καὶ Ῥωμαίων περὶ τὸν Ἰσθμὸν μάχης</w>:</emph> cf. iii. 32. 3, note following xxxviii. 18. 12 n., for the battle between Diaeus and L. Mummius (August/September 146). <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τῆς ἐπιγενομένης ἐκ τούτων ἀποκαταστάσεως</w>:</emph> 'the ensuing settlement'. In P. <w lang="el-GR">ἀποκατάστασις</w> always implies the restoration of something, and here the restoration of order in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Achaea&groupId=272&placeId=533">Achaea</a> is perhaps regarded as a return to normal conditions 'after a temporary aberration on the part of the Greeks' (W. Thompson, TAPA, 1971, 619, discussing <w lang="el-GR">ἀποκατάστασις)</w>. On the settlement see 5. 2 n., 8. 1 n.

39.8.7 - 39.8.7

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">κάλλιστον . . . ἅμα δ᾿ ὠφελιμώτατον . . . τοῖς φιλομαθοῦσι</w>:</emph> cf. i. 4. 4, <w lang="el-GR">τὸ κάλλιστον ἅμα δ᾿ ὠφελιμώτατον ἐπιτήδευμα τῆς τύχης</w>; for benefit to <w lang="el-GR">οἱ φιλομαθοῦντες</w>? cf. i. 2. 8. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">πῶς καὶ τίνι γένει πολιτείας κτλ</w>.:</emph> cf. i. 1. 5 n. for references to P.'s many mentions of this theme; here, naturally, the fifty-three years are not referred to. On the omission of the secondary purpose mentioned in iii. 4–5 see 8. 1–8 n.

39.8.8 - 39.8.8

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">διασαφῆσαι τοὺς χρόνους κτλ</w>.:</emph> P. here refers forward to the contents of book xl, now lost. This evidently contained some sort of chronologically arranged rsum <w lang="el-GR">(τοὺς χρόνους τοὺς περιειλημμένους ὑπὸ τῆς ἱστορίας</w>, literally 'the periods included within the History'), indicating what was in each book; <w lang="el-GR">τὸ πλῆθος τῶν βύβλων</w> is 'the number of books', but P. must mean 'a list with contents', since a mere list of '1–40' would have no significance and 〈<w lang="el-GR">τὸν</w>〉 <w lang="el-GR">ἀριθμὸν τῆς ὅλης πραγματείας</w> (an odd phrase) must mean something like 'the numerical organization of the work as a whole'. Together this adds up to an account of the division of the work according to books, each related to its contents and the period which it covered (measured of course in olympiad years). Ziegler, RE, 'Polybios (1)', col. 1482, asserts that book xl contained the general index for the whole work. But the sentence here discussed suggests something more like an extended 'list of contents' rather than an index (which to us implies a reference list arranged alphabetically). Paton translates <w lang="el-GR">ἀριθμόν</w> 'index'; but this is an unparalleled meaning for the word. In M, the manuscript of de sent., the final sentence, 8. 8, is followed by this subscription: \?\ <w lang="el-GR">ἐν τῶι περὶ τοῦ τίς τί ἐξεῦρε</w>: <w lang="el-GR">τέλ τῆς πολυβίου ἱστορίας λόγου λθ: \?\. τὸν μ λόγον</w> <w lang="el-GR">περὶ γνωμινκῶν ἀποστομισμάτων</w> For discussion of this see Walbank, Polybius, 16–17 n. 82, where I suggest that the most satisfactory interpretation is to follow Struve <milestone unit="page" n="743">[743]</milestone> (Jahn's Jahrbcher, 7 (1828), 374) and to transpose <emph rend="italics">\?\.</emph> <w lang="el-GR">τὸν μ λόγον</w> to precede <w lang="el-GR">ἐν τῶι . . . ἐξεῦρε</w>; the sense will then be: 'For the fortieth book look in the section de rerum inuentoribus. End of book 39 of Polybius' Histories (for the section) On didactic lessons.' The relevance of material contained in book 40 to a section of excerpts de rerum inuentoribus remains a difficulty; but without knowing precisely how the book was organized and just what was included in it, one may not dismiss what on all other counts seems the most likely interpretation of this subscription. Of other proposals that of Nissen, Rh. Mus. 1871, 278, merits notice; he suggested that <w lang="el-GR">τίς τί ἐξεῦρε</w> was a Byzantine excerptor's phrase for an index (a 'who found what'); against this (cf. de Boor, Hermes, 1884, 143–4) is the unlikelihood of such a title (without the addition of <w lang="el-GR">ποῦ)</w> for an index. Nissen, following Dindorf, was probably right to emend <w lang="el-GR">ἀποστομισμάτων</w> to <w lang="el-GR">ἀποστοματισμάτων</w>. <milestone unit="page" n="744">[744]</milestone>

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