Μεσολαβηθείς
cut short, interrupted
Translated by David Whitehead8 Jan 2009Vetting: high4 revisions
Translation
"He persuaded his son, if he himself happened to be cut short by fate, to implement the war against the Romans".1 That is, [if he were] stopped in the middle.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Μεσολαβηθείς· τὸν δὲ υἱὸν ἔπεισεν, εἰ τύχοι μεσολαβηθεὶς αὐτὸς ὑπὸ τῆς πεπρωμένης, ἐξενεγκεῖν τὸν κατὰ Ῥωμαίων πόλεμον. τουτέστιν ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ συσχεθείς.
Betacode
*mesolabhqei/s: to\n de\ ui(o\n e)/peisen, ei) tu/xoi mesolabhqei\s au)to\s u(po\ th=s peprwme/nhs, e)cenegkei=n to\n kata\ *(rwmai/wn po/lemon. toute/stin e)n tw=| metacu\ susxeqei/s.
Notes (1)
- The headword -- aorist passive participle, masculine nominative singular, of
mesolabe/w -- is presumably extracted from the quotation. - 1Polybius fr. 184 Büttner-Wobst (individuals unidentifiable). For the idiom "cut short/interrupted by fate" see also Diodorus Siculus 1.3.3, 11.26.7, 16.1.5. For (this word for) fate, see pi 1022. Büttner-Wobst notes (538) that Hemsterhusius (Tiberius Hemsterhuys (1685-1766)) -- believing that it should be understood as referring to Philip V of Macedon (238–179 BCE; cf. OCD(4) s.v., p. 1129) and his son Perseus (ca. 212-166) -- attributed this fragment to Polybius (ibid.). Although accepting the fragment himself, Büttner-Wobst concedes (ibid.) that Hultsch thought its wording was in fact characteristic of Diodorus Siculus. Walbank agrees that the fragment apparently pertains to Philip and Perseus, but cautions that it is not clearly Polybian (754). ↩
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)
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Revision history4 revisions · last 26 Nov 2018
- typo in primary note, expanded n.1, added bibliography — Ronald Allen
- Revised — David Whitehead
- x-ref — David Whitehead
- cosmetics, status — Catharine Roth
- Translated — David Whitehead