Polybius, Histories

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Book 39 - Chapter 5

1
<w lemma="%2Atau%3Dta">Ταῦτα</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="dioikh%2Fsantes">διοικήσαντες</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="e%28%5Cc">ἓξ</w> <w lemma="mhsi%5Cn">μησὶν</w> <w lemma="oi%28">οἱ</w> <w lemma="de%2Fka">δέκα</w> [<w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w>] <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="e%29arinh%3Ds">ἐαρινῆς</w> <w lemma="w%28%2Fras">ὥρας</w> <w lemma="e%29nistame%2Fnhs">ἐνισταμένης</w> <w lemma="a%29pe%2Fpleusan">ἀπέπλευσαν</w> <w lemma="ei%29s">εἰς</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2A%29itali%2Fan">Ἰταλίαν</w>, <w lemma="kalo%5Cn">καλὸν</w> <w lemma="dei%3Dgma">δεῖγμα</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="%2A%28rwmai%2Fwn">Ῥωμαίων</w> <w lemma="proaire%2Fsews">προαιρέσεως</w> <w lemma="a%29poleloipo%2Ftes">ἀπολελοιπότες</w> <w lemma="pa%3Dsi">πᾶσι</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="%2A%28%2Fellhsin">Ἕλλησιν</w>.
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<w lemma="e%29netei%2Flanto">ἐνετείλαντο</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="tw%3D%7C">τῷ</w> <w lemma="%2Apolubi%2Fw%7C">Πολυβίῳ</w> <w lemma="xwrizo%2Fmenoi">χωριζόμενοι</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="po%2Fleis">πόλεις</w> <w lemma="e%29piporeuqh%3Dnai">ἐπιπορευθῆναι</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="w%28%3Dn">ὧν</w> <w lemma="oi%28">οἱ</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Fnqrwpoi">ἄνθρωποι</w> <w lemma="a%29mfiba%2Fllousi">ἀμφιβάλλουσι</w> <w lemma="dieukrinh%3Dsai">διευκρινῆσαι</w>, <w lemma="me%2Fxris">μέχρις</w> <w lemma="ou%28%3D">οὗ</w> <w lemma="sunh%2Fqeian">συνήθειαν</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fxwsi">ἔχωσι</w> <w lemma="th%3D%7C">τῇ</w> <w lemma="politei%2Fa%7C">πολιτείᾳ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="no%2Fmois">νόμοις</w>.
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<w lemma="o%28%5C">ὃ</w> <w lemma="dh%5C">δὴ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="meta%2F">μετά</w> <w lemma="tina">τινα</w> <w lemma="xro%2Fnon">χρόνον</w> <w lemma="e%29poi%2Fhse">ἐποίησε</w> <w lemma="pro%5Cs">πρὸς</w> <w lemma="lo%2Fgon">λόγον</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="a%29nqrw%2Fpous">ἀνθρώπους</w> <w lemma="ste%2Frcai">στέρξαι</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="dedome%2Fnhn">δεδομένην</w> <w lemma="politei%2Fan">πολιτείαν</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="mhde%5Cn">μηδὲν</w> <w lemma="a%29po%2Frhma">ἀπόρημα</w> <w lemma="mh%2Fte">μήτε</w> <w lemma="kat%27">κατ᾽</w> <w lemma="i%29di%2Fan">ἰδίαν</w> <w lemma="mh%2Fte">μήτε</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="koino%5Cn">κοινὸν</w> <w lemma="e%29k">ἐκ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="no%2Fmwn">νόμων</w> <w lemma="gene%2Fsqai">γενέσθαι</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="mhdeno%2Fs">μηδενός</w>.
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<w lemma="dio%5C">διὸ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="kaqo%2Flou">καθόλου</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="e%29c">ἐξ</w> <w lemma="a%29rxh%3Ds">ἀρχῆς</w> <w lemma="a%29podexo%2Fmenoi">ἀποδεχόμενοι</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="timw%3Dntes">τιμῶντες</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Fndra">ἄνδρα</w>, <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="e%29sxa%2Ftous">ἐσχάτους</w> <w lemma="kairou%5Cs">καιροὺς</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="proeirhme%2Fnas">προειρημένας</w> <w lemma="pra%2Fceis">πράξεις</w> <w lemma="eu%29dokou%2Fmenoi">εὐδοκούμενοι</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="pa%2Fnta">πάντα</w> <w lemma="tro%2Fpon">τρόπον</w> <w lemma="tai%3Ds">ταῖς</w> <w lemma="megi%2Fstais">μεγίσταις</w> <w lemma="timai%3Ds">τιμαῖς</w> <w lemma="e%29ti%2Fmhsan">ἐτίμησαν</w> <w lemma="au%29to%5Cn">αὐτὸν</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="po%2Fleis">πόλεις</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="zw%3Dnta">ζῶντα</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="metalla%2Fcanta">μεταλλάξαντα</w>.
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<w lemma="pa%2Fntes">πάντες</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fkrinan">ἔκριναν</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="lo%2Fgon">λόγον</w> <w lemma="tou%3Dto">τοῦτο</w> <w lemma="poiei%3Dn:">ποιεῖν·</w> <w lemma="mh%5C">μὴ</w> <w lemma="ga%5Cr">γὰρ</w> <w lemma="e%29cergasame%2Fnou">ἐξεργασαμένου</w> <w lemma="tou%2Ftou">τούτου</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="gra%2Fyantos">γράψαντος</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="koinh%3Ds">κοινῆς</w> <w lemma="dikaiodosi%2Fas">δικαιοδοσίας</w> <w lemma="no%2Fmous">νόμους</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Fkrita">ἄκριτα</w> <w lemma="pa%2Fnta">πάντα</w> <w lemma="h%29%3Dn">ἦν</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="pollh%3Ds">πολλῆς</w> <w lemma="ge%2Fmonta">γέμοντα</w> <w lemma="taraxh%3Ds">ταραχῆς</w>.
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<w lemma="dio%5C">διὸ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="tou%3Dto">τοῦτο</w> <w lemma="ka%2Flliston">κάλλιστον</w> <w lemma="%2Apolubi%2Fw%7C">Πολυβίῳ</w> <w lemma="pepra%3Dxqai">πεπρᾶχθαι</w> <w lemma="nomiste%2Fon">νομιστέον</w> <w lemma="pa%2Fntwn">πάντων</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="proeirhme%2Fnwn">προειρημένων</w>. —
<head>Diaeus Succeeds Critolaus</head>At the sight of the city utterly perishing amidst the flames Scipio burst into tears, and stood long reflecting on the inevitable change which awaits cities, nations, and dynasties, one and all, as it does every one of us men. This, he thought, had befallen <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Ilium&groupId=645&placeId=1183">Ilium</a>, once a powerful city, and the once mighty empires of the Assyrians, Medes, Persians, and that of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Macedonia&groupId=723&placeId=428">Macedonia</a> lately so splendid. And unintentionally or purposely he quoted,—the words perhaps escaping him unconsciously,—<note anchored="yes" place="unspecified" id="note8">Homer,<bibl n="Hom. Il. 6.448" default="NO" valid="yes"><title>Il.</title>6, 448</bibl>.</note><quote><l>"The day shall be when holy Troy shall fall</l><l>And Priam, lord of spears, and Priam's folk."</l></quote>And on my asking him boldly (for I had been his tutor) what he meant by these words, he did not name <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a> distinctly, but was evidently fearing for her, from this sight of the mutability of human affairs. . . .Another still more remarkable saying of his I may record. . . [When he had given the order for firing the town] he immediately<pb n="530" />turned round and grasped me by the hand and said: "O Polybius, it is a grand thing, but, I know not how, I feel a terror and dread, lest some one should one day give the same order about my own native city." . . . Any observation more practical or sensible it is not easy to make. For in the midst of supreme success for one's self and of disaster for the enemy, to take thought of one's own position and of the possible reverse which may come, and in a word to keep well in mind in the midst of prosperity the mutability of Fortune, is the characteristic of a great man, a man free from weaknesses and worthy to be remembered. . . .<note anchored="yes" type="summary" place="inline" resp="ess" id="note9">After the rejection of the orders conveyed by the legates of Metellus (38, 11), Critolaus collected the Achaean levies at <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Corinth&groupId=493&placeId=928">Corinth</a>, under the pretext of going to war with <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sparta&groupId=660&placeId=1208">Sparta</a>; but he soon induced the league to declare themselves openly at war with <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a>. He was encouraged by the adhesion of the Boeotarch Pytheas, and of the Chalcidians. The Thebans were the readier to join him because they had lately been ordered by Metellus, as arbiter in the disputes, to pay fines to the Phocians, Euboeans, and Amphissians. When news of these proceedings reached <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a> in the spring of B. C. 146, the consul Mummius was ordered to lead a fleet and army against Achaia. But Metellus in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Macedonia&groupId=723&placeId=428">Macedonia</a> wished to have the credit of settling the matter himself; he therefore sent envoys to the Achaeans ordering them to release from the league the towns already named by the Senate viz. <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sparta&groupId=660&placeId=1208">Sparta</a>, <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Corinth&groupId=493&placeId=928">Corinth</a>, <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Argos&groupId=361&placeId=689">Argos</a>, Heracleia, and <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Orchomenus&groupId=814&placeId=1470">Orchomenus</a> in Arcadia, and advanced with his army from <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Macedonia&groupId=723&placeId=428">Macedonia</a> through <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Thessaly&groupId=1028&placeId=1816">Thessaly</a> by the coast road, skirting the Sinus Maliacus. Critolaus was already engaged in besieging <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Heraclea&groupId=624&placeId=1147">Heraclea</a> Oetea, to compel it to return to its obedience to the league, and when his scouts informed him of the approach of Metellus, he retreated to Scarphea on the coast of Locris, some miles south of the pass of Thermopylae. But before he could get into Scarphea Metellus caught him up, killed a large number of his men, and took one thousand prisoners. Critolaus himself disappeared; Pausanias seems to imagine that he was drowned in the salt marshes of the coast, but Livy says that he poisoned himself.<bibl n="Paus. 7.14.15" default="NO" valid="yes">Pausanias, 7, 14, 15</bibl>.<bibl n="Liv. Per. 52" default="NO" valid="yes">Livy, Ep. 52</bibl>. Orosius, 5, 3.</note><pb n="531" />