by Polybius
4. There is this analogy between the plan of my History and the marvellous spirit of the age with which I have to deal. Just as Fortune made almost all the affairs of the world incline in one direction, and forced them to converge upon one and the same point; so it is my task as an historian to put before my readers a compendious view of the part played by Fortune in bringing about the general catastrophe. It was this peculiarity which originally challenged my attention, and determined me on undertaking this work. And combined with this was the fact that no writer of our time has undertaken a general history. Had any one done so my ambition in this direction would have been much diminished. But, in point of fact, I notice that by far the greater number of historians concern themselves with isolated wars and the incidents that accompany them: while as to a general and comprehensive scheme of events, their date, origin, and catastrophe, no one as far as I know has undertaken to examine it. I thought it, therefore, distinctly my duty neither to pass by myself, nor allow any one else to pass by, without full study, a characteristic specimen of the dealings of Fortune at once brilliant and instructive in the highest degree. For fruitful as Fortune is in change, and constantly as she is producing dramas in the life of men, yet never assuredly before this did she work such a marvel, or act such a drama, as that which we have witnessed. And of this we cannot obtain a comprehensive view from writers of mere episodes. It would be as absurd to expect to do so as for a man to imagine that he has learnt the shape of the whole world, its entire arrangement and order, because he has visited one after the other the most famous cities in it; or perhaps merely examined them in separate pictures. That would be indeed absurd: and it has always seemed to me that men, who are persuaded that they get a competent view of universal from episodical history, are very like persons who should see the limbs of some body, which had once been living and beautiful, scattered and remote; and should imagine that to be quite as good as actually beholding the activity and beauty of the living creature itself. But if some one could there and then reconstruct the animal once more, in the perfection of its beauty and the charm of its vitality, and could display it to the same people, they would beyond doubt confess that they had been far from conceiving the truth, and had been little better than dreamers. For indeed some idea of a whole may be got from a part, but an accurate knowledge and clear comprehension cannot. Wherefore we must conclude that episodical history contributes exceedingly little to the familiar knowledge and secure grasp of universal history. While it is only by the combination and comparison of the separate parts of the whole, — by observing their likeness and their difference, — that a man can attain his object: can obtain a view at once clear and complete; and thus secure both the profit and the delight of History.
[1] Ὑποθησόμεθα δὲ ταύτης ἀρχὴν τῆς βύβλου τὴν πρώτην διάβασιν ἐξ Ἰταλίας Ῥωμαίων. αὕτη δ᾽ ἔστιν συνεχὴς μὲν τοῖς ἀφ᾽ ὧν Τίμαιος ἀπέλιπεν, πίπτει δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἐνάτην καὶ εἰκοστὴν πρὸς ταῖς ἑκατὸν ὀλυμπιάδα. [2] διὸ καὶ ῥητέον ἂν εἴη πῶς καὶ πότε συστησάμενοι τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν καὶ τίσιν ἀφορμαῖς μετὰ ταῦτα χρησάμενοι διαβαίνειν ὥρμησαν εἰς Σικελίαν: ταύτῃ γὰρ τῇ γῇ πρῶτον ἐπέβησαν τῶν ἐκτὸς τόπων τῆς Ἰταλίας. [3] καὶ ῥητέον αὐτὴν τὴν τῆς διαβάσεως αἰτίαν ψιλῶς, ἵνα μὴ τῆς αἰτίας αἰτίαν ἐπιζητούσης ἀνυπόστατος ἡ τῆς ὅλης ὑποθέσεως ἀρχὴ γένηται καὶ θεωρία. [4] ληπτέον δὲ καὶ τοῖς καιροῖς ὁμολογουμένην καὶ γνωριζομένην ἀρχὴν παρ᾽ ἅπασι καὶ τοῖς πράγμασι δυναμένην αὐτὴν ἐξ αὑτῆς θεωρεῖσθαι, κἂν δέῃ τοῖς χρόνοις βραχὺ προσαναδραμόντας κεφαλαιώδη τῶν μεταξὺ πράξεων ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἀνάμνησιν. [5] τῆς γὰρ ἀρχῆς ἀγνοουμένης ἢ καὶ νὴ Δί᾽ ἀμφισβητουμένης οὐδὲ τῶν ἑξῆς οὐδὲν οἷόν τε παραδοχῆς ἀξιωθῆναι καὶ πίστεως: ὅταν δ᾽ ἡ περὶ ταύτης ὁμολογουμένη παρασκευασθῇ δόξα, τότ᾽ ἤδη καὶ πᾶς ὁ συνεχὴς λόγος ἀποδοχῆς τυγχάνει παρὰ τοῖς ἀκούουσιν.
5. I shall adopt as the starting-point of this book the first occasion on which the Romans crossed the sea from Italy. This is just where the History of Timaeus left off; and it falls in the 129th Olympiad. I shall accordingly have to describe what the state of their affairs in Italy was, how long that settlement had lasted, and on what resources they reckoned, when they resolved to invade Sicily. For this was the first place outside Italy in which they set foot. The precise cause of their thus crossing I must state without comment; for if I let one cause lead me back to another, my point of departure will always elude my grasp, and I shall never arrive at the view of my subject which I wish to present. As to dates, then, I must fix on some era agreed upon and recognised by all: and as to events, one that admits of distinctly separate treatment; even though I may be obliged to go back some short way in point of time, and take a summary review of the intermediate transactions. For if the facts with which one starts are unknown, or even open to controversy, all that comes after will fail of approval and belief. But opinion being once formed on that point, and a general assent obtained, all the succeeding narrative becomes intelligible.
[1] ἔτος μὲν οὖν ἐνειστήκει μετὰ μὲν τὴν ἐν Αἰγὸς ποταμοῖς ναυμαχίαν ἐννεακαιδέκατον, πρὸ δὲ τῆς ἐν Λεύκτροις μάχης ἑκκαιδέκατον, [2] ἐν ᾧ Λακεδαιμόνιοι μὲν τὴν ἐπ᾽ Ἀνταλκίδου λεγομένην εἰρήνην πρὸς βασιλέα τῶν Περσῶν ἐκύρωσαν καὶ πρεσβύτερος Διονύσιος τῇ περὶ τὸν Ἐλλέπορον ποταμὸν μάχῃ νενικηκὼς τοὺς κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν Ἕλληνας ἐπολιόρκει Ῥήγιον, Γαλάται δὲ κατὰ κράτος ἑλόντες αὐτὴν τὴν Ῥώμην κατεῖχον πλὴν τοῦ Καπετωλίου. [3] πρὸς οὓς ποιησάμενοι Ῥωμαῖοι σπονδὰς καὶ διαλύσεις εὐδοκουμένας Γαλάταις καὶ γενόμενοι πάλιν ἀνελπίστως τῆς πατρίδος ἐγκρατεῖς καὶ λαβόντες οἷον ἀρχὴν τῆς συναυξήσεως ἐπολέμουν ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς χρόνοις πρὸς τοὺς ἀστυγείτονας. [4] γενόμενοι δ᾽ ἐγκρατεῖς ἁπάντων τῶν Λατίνων διά τε τὴν ἀνδρείαν καὶ τὴν ἐν ταῖς μάχαις ἐπιτυχίαν μετὰ ταῦτ᾽ ἐπολέμουν Τυρρηνοῖς, ἔπειτα Κελτοῖς, ἑξῆς δὲ Σαυνίταις τοῖς πρός τε τὰς ἀνατολὰς καὶ τὰς ἄρκτους συντερμονοῦσι τῇ τῶν Λατίνων χώρᾳ. [5] μετὰ δέ τινα χρόνον Ταραντίνων διὰ τὴν εἰς τοὺς πρεσβευτὰς Ῥωμαίων ἀσέλγειαν καὶ τὸν διὰ ταῦτα φόβον ἐπισπασαμένων Πύρρον, τῷ πρότερον ἔτει τῆς τῶν Γαλατῶν ἐφόδου τῶν τε περὶ Δελφοὺς φθαρέντων καὶ περαιωθέντων εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν, [6] Ῥωμαῖοι Τυρρηνοὺς μὲν καὶ Σαυνίτας ὑφ᾽ αὑτοὺς πεποιημένοι, τοὺς δὲ κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν Κελτοὺς πολλαῖς μάχαις ἤδη νενικηκότες, τότε πρῶτον ἐπὶ τὰ λοιπὰ μέρη τῆς Ἰταλίας ὥρμησαν, οὐχ ὡς ὑπὲρ ὀθνείω�
�, ἐπὶ δὲ τὸ πλεῖον ὡς ὑπὲρ ἰδίων ἤδη καὶ καθηκόντων σφίσι πολεμήσοντες, ἀθληταὶ γεγονότες ἀληθινοὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον ἔργων ἐκ τῶν πρὸς τοὺς Σαυνίτας καὶ Κελτοὺς ἀγώνων. [7] ὑποστάντες δὲ γενναίως τὸν πόλεμον τοῦτον καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον τάς τε δυνάμεις καὶ Πύρρον ἐκβαλόντες ἐκ τῆς Ἰταλίας αὖθις ἐπολέμουν καὶ κατεστρέφοντο τοὺς κοινωνήσαντας Πύρρῳ τῶν πραγμάτων. [8] γενόμενοι δὲ παραδόξως ἁπάντων ἐγκρατεῖς καὶ ποιησάμενοι τοὺς τὴν Ἰταλίαν οἰκοῦντας ὑφ᾽ αὑτοὺς πλὴν Κελτῶν μετὰ ταῦτα πολιορκεῖν ἐνεχείρησαν τοὺς τότε κατέχοντας τὸ Ῥήγιον Ῥωμαίους.
6. It was in the nineteenth year after the sea-fight at Aegospotami, and the sixteenth before the battle at Leuctra; the year in which the Lacedaemonians made what is called the Peace of Antalcidas with the King of Persia; the year in which the elder Dionysius was besieging Rhegium after beating the Italian Greeks on the River Elleporus; and in which the Gauls took Rome itself by storm and were occupying the whole of it except the Capitol. With these Gauls the Romans made a treaty and settlement which they were content to accept: and having thus become beyond all expectation once more masters of their own country, they made a start in their career of expansion; and in the succeeding period engaged in various wars with their neighbours. First, by dint of valour, and the good fortune which attended them in the field, they mastered all the Latini; then they went to war with the Etruscans; then with the Celts; and next with the Samnites, who lived on the eastern and northern frontiers of Latium. Some time after this the Tarentines insulted the ambassadors of Rome, and, in fear of the consequences, invited and obtained the assistance of Pyrrhus. This happened in the year before the Gauls invaded Greece, some of whom perished near Delphi, while others crossed into Asia. Then it was that the Romans — having reduced the Etruscans and Samnites to obedience, and conquered the Italian Celts in many battles — attempted for the first time the reduction of the rest of Italy. The nations for whose possessions they were about to fight they affected to regard, not in the light of foreigners, but as already for the most part belonging and pertaining to themselves. The experience gained from their contests with the Samnites and the Celts had served as a genuine training in the art of war. Accordingly, they entered upon the war with spirit, drove Pyrrhus from Italy, and then undertook to fight with and subdue those who had taken part with him. They succeeded everywhere to a marvel, and reduced to obedience all the tribes inhabiting Italy except the Celts; after which they undertook to besiege some of their own citizens, who at that time were occupying Rhegium.
[1] ἴδιον γάρ τι συνέβη καὶ παραπλήσιον ἑκατέραις ταῖς περὶ τὸν πορθμὸν ἐκτισμέναις πόλεσιν: εἰσὶ δ᾽ αὗται Μεσσήνη καὶ Ῥήγιον. [2] Μεσσήνην μὲν γὰρ οὐ πολλοῖς ἀνώτερον χρόνοις τῶν νῦν λεγομένων καιρῶν Καμπανοὶ παρ᾽ Ἀγαθοκλεῖ μισθοφοροῦντες καὶ πάλαι περὶ τὸ κάλλος καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν εὐδαιμονίαν τῆς πόλεως ὀφθαλμιῶντες ἅμα τῷ λαβεῖν καιρὸν εὐθὺς ἐπεχείρησαν παρασπονδεῖν: [3] παρεισελθόντες δ᾽ ὡς φίλιοι καὶ κατασχόντες τὴν πόλιν οὓς μὲν ἐξέβαλον τῶν πολιτῶν, οὓς δ᾽ ἀπέσφαξαν. [4] πράξαντες δὲ ταῦτα τὰς μὲν γυναῖκας καὶ τὰ τέκνα τῶν ἠκληρηκότων, ὥς ποθ᾽ ἡ τύχη διένειμεν παρ᾽ αὐτὸν τὸν τῆς παρανομίας καιρὸν ἑκάστοις, οὕτως ἔσχον: τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς βίους καὶ τὴν χώραν μετὰ ταῦτα διελόμενοι κατεῖχον. [5] ταχὺ δὲ καὶ ῥᾳδίως καλῆς χώρας καὶ πόλεως ἐγκρατεῖς γενόμενοι παρὰ πόδας εὗρον μιμητὰς τῆς πράξεως. Ῥηγῖνοι γάρ, [6] καθ᾽ ὃν καιρὸν Πύρρος εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἐπεραιοῦτο, καταπλαγεῖς γενόμενοι τὴν ἔφοδον αὐτοῦ, δεδιότες δὲ καὶ Καρχηδονίους θαλαττοκρατοῦντας ἐπεσπάσαντο φυλακὴν ἅμα καὶ βοήθειαν παρὰ Ῥωμαίων. [7] οἱ δ᾽ εἰσελθόντες χρόνον μέν τινα διετήρουν τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὴν ἑαυτῶν πίστιν, ὄντες τετρακισχίλιοι τὸν ἀριθμόν, ὧν ἡγεῖτο Δέκιος Καμπανός: [8] τέλος δὲ ζηλώσαντες τοὺς Μαμερτίνους, ἅμα δὲ καὶ συνεργοὺς λαβόντες αὐτοὺς παρεσπόνδησαν τοὺς Ῥηγίνους, ἐκπαθεῖς ὄντες ἐπί τε τῇ τῆς πόλεως εὐκαιρίᾳ καὶ τῇ τῶν Ῥηγίνων περὶ τοὺς ἰδίους βίους εὐδαιμονίᾳ: καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἐκβαλόντες, τοὺς δ᾽ ἀποσφάξαντες τῶν πολιτῶν τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον τοῖς Καμπανοῖς κατέσχον τὴν πόλιν. [9] οἱ δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι βαρέως μὲν ἔφερον τὸ γεγονός: οὐ μὴν εἶχόν γε ποιεῖν οὐδὲν διὰ τὸ συνέχεσθαι τοῖς προειρημένοις πολέμοις. [10] ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἀπὸ τούτων ἐγένοντο, συγκλείσαντες αὐτοὺς ἐπολιόρκουν τὸ Ῥήγιον, καθάπερ ἐπάνω προεῖπον. [11] κρατήσαντες δὲ τοὺς μὲν πλείστους ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ καταλήψει διέφθειραν, ἐκθύμως ἀμυνομένους διὰ τὸ προορᾶσθαι τὸ μέλλον, ζωγρίᾳ δ᾽ ἐκυρίευσαν πλειόνων ἢ τριακοσίων. [12] ὧν ἀναπεμφθέντων εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην, οἱ στρατηγοὶ προαγαγόντες εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν καὶ μαστιγώσαντες ἅπαντας κατὰ τὸ παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἔθος ἐπελέκισαν, βουλόμενοι διὰ τῆς εἰς ἐκείνους τιμωρίας, καθ᾽ ὅσον οἷοί τ᾽ ἦσαν, διορθοῦσθαι παρὰ τοῖς συμμάχοις τὴν αὑτῶν πίστιν. [13] τὴν δὲ χώραν καὶ τὴν πόλιν παραχρῆμα τοῖς Ῥηγίνοις ἀπέδοσαν.
7. For misfortunes befell Messene and Rhegium, the cities built on either side of the Strait, peculiar in their nature and alike in their circumstances.
Not long before the period we are now describing some Campanian mercenaries of Agathocles, having for some time cast greedy eyes upon Messene, owing to its beauty and wealth, no sooner got an opportunity than they made a treacherous attempt upon that city. They entered the town under guise of friendship, and, having once got possession of it, they drove out some of the citizens and put others to the sword. This done, they seized promiscuously the wives and children of the dispossessed citizens, each keeping those which fortune had assigned him at the very moment of the lawless deed. All other property and the land they took possession of by a subsequent division and retained.
The speed with which they became masters of a fair territory and city found ready imitators of their conduct. The people of Rhegium, when Pyrrhus was crossing to Italy, felt a double anxiety. They were dismayed at the thought of his approach, and at the same time were afraid of the Carthaginians as being masters of the sea. They accordingly asked and obtained a force from Rome to guard and support them. The garrison, four thousand in number, under the command of a Campanian named Decius Jubellius, entered the city, and for a time preserved it, as well as their own faith. But at last, conceiving th
e idea of imitating the Mamertines, and having at the same time obtained their co-operation, they broke faith with the people of Rhegium, enamoured of the pleasant site of the town and the private wealth of the citizens, and seized the city after having, in imitation of the Mamertines, first driven out some of the people and put others to the sword. Now, though the Romans were much annoyed at this transaction, they could take no active steps, because they were deeply engaged in the wars I have mentioned above. But having got free from them they invested and besieged the troops. They presently took the place and killed the greater number in the assault, — for the men resisted desperately, knowing what must follow, — but took more than three hundred alive. These were sent to Rome, and there the Consuls brought them into the forum, where they were scourged and beheaded according to custom: for they wished as far as they could to vindicate their good faith in the eyes of the allies. The territory and town they at once handed over to the people of Rhegium.
[1] οἱ δὲ Μαμερτῖνοι — τοῦτο γὰρ τοὔνομα κυριεύσαντες οἱ Καμπανοὶ τῆς Μεσσήνης προσηγόρευσαν σφᾶς αὐτούς — ἕως μὲν συνεχρῶντο τῇ τῶν Ῥωμαίων συμμαχίᾳ τῶν τὸ Ῥήγιον κατασχόντων, οὐ μόνον τῆς ἑαυτῶν πόλεως καὶ χώρας ἀσφαλῶς κατεκράτουν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῆς συνορούσης οὐχ ὡς ἔτυχε παρηνώχλουν τοῖς τε Καρχηδονίοις καὶ τοῖς Συρακοσίοις καὶ πολλὰ μέρη τῆς Σικελίας ἐφορολόγουν. [2] ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἐστερήθησαν τῆς προειρημένης ἐπικουρίας, συγκλεισθέντων τῶν τὸ Ῥήγιον κατεχόντων εἰς τὴν πολιορκίαν, παρὰ πόδας ὑπὸ τῶν Συρακοσίων αὐτοὶ πάλιν συνεδιώχθησαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν διά τινας τοιαύτας αἰτίας. [3] χρόνοις οὐ πολλοῖς πρότερον αἱ δυνάμεις τῶν Συρακοσίων διενεχθεῖσαι πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ διατρίβουσαι περὶ τὴν Μεργάνην κατέστησαν ἐξ αὑτῶν ἄρχοντας, Ἀρτεμίδωρόν τε καὶ τὸν μετὰ ταῦτα βασιλεύσαντα τῶν Συρακοσίων Ἱέρωνα, νέον μὲν ὄντα κομιδῇ, πρὸς δέ τι γένος εὐφυῆ βασιλικῆς καὶ πραγματικῆς οἰκονομίας. [4] ὁ δὲ παραλαβὼν τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ παρεισελθὼν εἰς τὴν πόλιν διά τινων οἰκείων καὶ κύριος γενόμενος τῶν ἀντιπολιτευομένων οὕτως ἐχρήσατο πρᾴως καὶ μεγαλοψύχως τοῖς πράγμασιν, ὥστε τοὺς Συρακοσίους, καίπερ οὐδαμῶς εὐδοκουμένους ἐπὶ ταῖς τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀρχαιρεσίαις, τότε πάντας ὁμοθυμαδὸν εὐδοκῆσαι στρατηγὸν αὑτῶν ὑπάρχειν Ἱέρωνα. [5] ὃς ἐκ τῶν πρώτων ἐπινοημάτων εὐθέως δῆλος ἦν τοῖς ὀρθῶς σκοπουμένοις μειζόνων ὀρεγό