Μάχαιρα
dirk, sabre, sword
Translated by Catharine Roth10 Oct 2004Vetting: high12 revisions
Translation
[ma/xaira means the same as] spa/qh .1
"The Celtiberians differ greatly from others in the construction of their swords; for it has an effective point, and can deliver a powerful downward stroke from both hands.2 Wherefore the Romans abandoned their ancestral swords after the [war] against Hannibal, and adopted those of the Iberians. But while they adopted the construction of the swords, they can by no means imitate the excellence of the iron or the other aspects of their careful manufacture."3
Dream interpretation of Nikephoros the patriarch:4 'A sword being held depicts a battle. To crush swords reveals the crushing of enemies.'
"The Celtiberians differ greatly from others in the construction of their swords; for it has an effective point, and can deliver a powerful downward stroke from both hands.2 Wherefore the Romans abandoned their ancestral swords after the [war] against Hannibal, and adopted those of the Iberians. But while they adopted the construction of the swords, they can by no means imitate the excellence of the iron or the other aspects of their careful manufacture."3
Dream interpretation of Nikephoros the patriarch:4 'A sword being held depicts a battle. To crush swords reveals the crushing of enemies.'
Greek original · Adler’s text
Μάχαιρα· ἡ σπάθη. οἱ Κελτίβηρες τῇ κατασκευῇ τῶν μαχαιρῶν πολὺ διαφέρουσι τῶν ἄλλων· καὶ γὰρ κέντημα πρακτικὸν καὶ καταφορὰν ἔχει δυναμένην ἐξ ἀμφοῖν τοῖν χεροῖν. ᾗ καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι τὰς πατρίους ἀποθέμενοι μαχαίρας ἐκ τῶν κατ' Ἀννίβαν, μετέλαβον τὰς τῶν Ἰβήρων, καὶ τὴν μὲν κατασκευὴν μετέλαβον, αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν χρηστότητα τοῦ σιδήρου καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἐπιμέλειαν οὐδαμῶς δύνανται μιμεῖσθαι. λύσις ὀνείρου Νικηφόρου πατριάρχου· μάχην μάχαιρα ζωγραφεῖ κρατουμένη. συνθλᾶν μαχαίρας δυσμενῶν δηλοῖ θλάσιν.
Betacode
*ma/xaira: h( spa/qh. oi( *kelti/bhres th=| kataskeuh=| tw=n maxairw=n polu\ diafe/rousi tw=n a)/llwn: kai\ ga\r ke/nthma praktiko\n kai\ katafora\n e)/xei duname/nhn e)c a)mfoi=n toi=n xeroi=n. h(=| kai\ *(rwmai=oi ta\s patri/ous a)poqe/menoi maxai/ras e)k tw=n kat' *)anni/ban, mete/labon ta\s tw=n *)ibh/rwn, kai\ th\n me\n kataskeuh\n mete/labon, au)th\n de\ th\n xrhsto/thta tou= sidh/rou kai\ th\n a)/llhn e)pime/leian ou)damw=s du/nantai mimei=sqai. lu/sis o)nei/rou *nikhfo/rou patria/rxou: ma/xhn ma/xaira zwgrafei= kratoume/nh. sunqla=n maxai/ras dusmenw=n dhloi= qla/sin.
Notes (4)
- 1For the several related applications of the headword machaira see LSJ s.v. The glossing word
spa/qh likewise is attested in several senses, all related to the idea of a blade or something comparably shaped (cf. sigma ); the one required here is LSJ's no.6. (There is no need to invoke Lewis & Short, A Latin Dictionary s.v. spatha, III, 'a broad two-edged sword without a point (the Italian spada)'; this manifestly does not fit Appian's description of a pointed sword, about to be quoted here.) ↩ - 2i.e. it can deliver an effective cut with both edges. The change of number from plural to singular ('swords . . . it has') is in the Greek. ↩
- 3Polybius fr. 179 Büttner-Wobst [ = Polybius, Histories. Evelyn S. Shuckburgh, translator. London & New York (Macmillan) 1889; reprinted Bloomington 1962. fr.XXII (96), available on Perseus.] For the Celtiberians (and Polybius) see also under iota 112 = kappa 1306, and generally OCD(4) s.v. ('a name used by Graeco-Roman writers to describe several peoples (Arevaci, Lusones, etc.) living around the middle Ebro valley and in the eastern Meseta of Spain'). -- An alternative translation of
e)pime/leia would be 'points in which they are so elaborately finished'. Büttner-Wobst notes (537-538) that Lipsius (Joest Lips, 1547-1606) attributed this fragment to Polybius. Büttner-Wobst also follows (ibid.) the suggestion by Lipsius thatxeroi=n (hands, genitive dual of the feminine nounxei/r ) be replaced bymeroi=n (thus, from both parts); cf. n.2 above. As to the context, Walbank (754) notes that the fragment -- together with Polybius fr. 163; cf. iota 112 and n.2 thereto -- might belong either with the account of the Celtiberian War at Polybius 35.1 (web address 1) or with the geographical narrative at Polybius 34.8-9 (web address 2). ↩ - 4See notes at beta 351 and theta 11. Like the 'solutions' quoted there, the words quoted here are in iambic trimeters. ↩
References
T. Büttner-Wobst, ed., Polybii Historiae, vol. IV, (Leipzig 1904)
F.W. Walbank, A Historical Commentary on Polybius, vol. III, (Oxford 1979)
F.W. Walbank, A Historical Commentary on Polybius, vol. III, (Oxford 1979)
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from3 entries
- κ1306ΚελτίβηρεςCeltiberians, Keltiberians"[Celtiberians] have a special mode of warfare: when the infantry are weary, [the cavalry] dismount and have small pegs fastened on to the horses' reins; these they fix and make the horses obey".
- μ14Μαγίςlump, cake, trough[Meaning a] knife. Aslo [sc. attested is] ma/geiros ["butcher/cook"], [meaning] he who divides up the barley-cakes.
- μ293ΜαυλίαςknivesThey used to call machairai this [i.e. mauliai], because of being encamped together (homou aulizesthai), as [if to say] homaulias.
Neighbouring entries
Revision history12 revisions · last 7 Nov 2018
- further expanded n.3, corrected error in given name, added bibliography item, added cross-reference, added links — Ronald Allen
- expanded n.3, added bibliography — Ronald Allen
- Revised — David Whitehead
- modified n.1; tweaking — David Whitehead
- added X-ref n. 4 — Abram Ring
- restored full range of keywords — David Whitehead
- Tweaked translation; added n. 2 and renumbered nn.; tweaked former n. 3 (now n. 4). — D. Graham J. Shipley
- another keyword — David Whitehead
- another headword; augmented n.2 — David Whitehead
- tweaks to tranlation; augmented n.2 and keywords; betacoding and other cosmetics — David Whitehead
- modified translation of dream-interpretations — Catharine Roth
- translation submitted by Andres Rodriguez Cumplido — Catharine Roth
- Translated — Catharine Roth