Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ πολέμου
many empty things in war
Translated by David Whitehead15 Dec 2000Vetting: high7 revisions
Translation
Polybios [writes] that "when there was an eclipse of the moon in the time of Perseus the Macedonian, a rumor took hold of the masses that it signified an eclipse of a king. And this, while it raised the spirits of the Romans, dismayed the Macedonians. So what they say is true: many empty things in war".
Greek original · Adler’s text
Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ πολέμου· Πολύβιος· ὅτι τῆς σελήνης ἐκλειπούσης ἐπὶ Περσέως τοῦ Μακεδόνος ἐκράτησεν ἡ φήμη παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς, ὅτι βασιλέως ἔκλειψιν σημαίνει. καὶ τοῦτο τοὺς μὲν Ῥωμαίους εὐθαρσεστέρους ἐποίησε, τοὺς δὲ Μακεδόνας ἐταπείνωσε ταῖς ψυχαῖς. οὕτως ἀληθές ἐστι τὸ περιφερόμενον, ὅτι πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ πολέμου.
Betacode
*polla\ kaina\ tou= pole/mou: *polu/bios: o(/ti th=s selh/nhs e)kleipou/shs e)pi\ *perse/ws tou= *makedo/nos e)kra/thsen h( fh/mh para\ toi=s polloi=s, o(/ti basile/ws e)/kleiyin shmai/nei. kai\ tou=to tou\s me\n *(rwmai/ous eu)qarseste/rous e)poi/hse, tou\s de\ *makedo/nas e)tapei/nwse tai=s yuxai=s. ou(/tws a)lhqe/s e)sti to\ perifero/menon, o(/ti polla\ kaina\ tou= pole/mou.
Notes
- Polybius 29.16 (on the Battle of Pydna, 168 BCE), preserved only here.
The Suda mss twice havekaina/ , "fresh", instead ofkena/ , "empty", but the correctness of the latter is guaranteed by the numerous appearances of this proverb elsewhere; see Walbank (below) 387, and generally Tosi (cited under alpha 378) no.811.
References
F.W. Walbank, A Historical Commentary on Polybius, vol.3 (Oxford 1979).
Neighbouring entries
π1865Πολλάmanyπ1866Πολλά γ' ἡμᾶς λανθάνειmany things at any rate escape usπ1867Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ πολέμουmany empty things in warπ1868Πολλά κεν εἰδείης οἷς τὸν θεὸν ἐξαπατήσαιςyou would know many things with which you might deceive the godπ1869Πολλὰ μεταξὺ πέλει κύλικος καὶ χείλεος ἄκρουmany things lie between a cup and a lip's edge
Revision history7 revisions · last 15 Aug 2012
- Revised — David Whitehead
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- Translated — David Whitehead