Τί ἐστι τὸ
what is the [phrase]
Translated by Robert Dyer23 May 2000Vetting: high5 revisions
Translation
What the phrase in the Philippics of Demosthenes is, "that once talk-of-the-town secret", Theopompus in [book] 31 [sc. of his Philippic Histories] has clarified; for he says: "and he sends to Philip ambassadors, Antiphon and Charidemus, to negotiate an alliance. When they arrived they tried to persuade him to act in a secret alliance with the Athenians, so that they should take Amphipolis, promising him Pydna. But the ambassadors said nothing to the Athenian people, wishing to keep it a secret from the people of Pydna, as they intended to betray them, but acted in secret with the council (boule)."
Greek original · Adler’s text
Τί ἐστι τὸ ἐν τοῖς Δημοσθένους Φιλιππικοῖς, καὶ τὸ θρυλούμενόν ποτε ἀπόρρητον ἐκεῖνο, Θεόπομπος ἐν λαʹ δεδήλωκε· φησὶ γάρ· καὶ πέμπει πρὸς Φίλιππον πρεσβευτάς, Ἀντιφῶντα καὶ Χαρίδημον, πράξοντας καὶ περὶ φιλίας· οἳ παραγενόμενοι συμπείθειν αὐτὸν ἐπεχείρουν ἐν ἀπορρήτῳ συμπράττειν Ἀθηναίοις, ὅπως ἂν λάβωσιν Ἀμφίπολιν, ὑπισχνούμενοι Πύδναν. οἱ δὲ πρέσβεις οἱ τῶν Ἀθηναίων εἰς μὲν τὸν δῆμον οὐδὲν ἀπήγγελον, βουλόμενοι λανθάνειν τοὺς Πυδναίους, ἐκδιδόναι μέλλοντες αὐτούς· ἐν ἀπορρήτῳ δὲ μετὰ τῆς βουλῆς ἔπραττον.
Betacode
*ti/ e)sti to\ e)n toi=s *dhmosqe/nous *filippikoi=s, kai\ to\ qrulou/meno/n pote a)po/rrhton e)kei=no, *qeo/pompos e)n la# dedh/lwke: fhsi\ ga/r: kai\ pe/mpei pro\s *fi/lippon presbeuta/s, *)antifw=nta kai\ *xari/dhmon, pra/contas kai\ peri\ fili/as: oi(\ parageno/menoi sumpei/qein au)to\n e)pexei/roun e)n a)porrh/tw| sumpra/ttein *)aqhnai/ois, o(/pws a)\n la/bwsin *)amfi/polin, u(pisxnou/menoi *pu/dnan. oi( de\ pre/sbeis oi( tw=n *)aqhnai/wn ei)s me\n to\n dh=mon ou)de\n a)ph/ggelon, boulo/menoi lanqa/nein tou\s *pudnai/ous, e)kdido/nai me/llontes au)tou/s: e)n a)porrh/tw| de\ meta\ th=s boulh=s e)/pratton.
Notes
- Taken over almost verbatim from Harpokration s.v. (tau17 Keaney). See also Photius, Lexicon tau282 Theodoridis.
The Demosthenes passage is 2.6, and the Theopompus extract FGrH 115 F30. [The transmitted book number, '31', is inappropriate; suggested alteranatives are 1 and (Jacoby) 3.] Both refer to alleged events of 357 BCE; see in brief N.G.L. Hammond and G.T. Griffith, A History of Macedonia, ii (Oxford 1979) 241-2.
The phrase "so this is what it means",ti/ ou)=n e)sti tou=to , here abbreviated toti/ e)sti , occurs four times in simple contexts in Demosthenes (6.24, 8.7, 9.22, 37.24); he also uses it twice (4.2, 9.5) after the paradox "for what was worst of all in the past remains as the best for the future," and continues to explain, in an enthymeme, that, as they failed to act in the past, they have some hope that, by now acting, they may succeed. The scholiast on Demosthenes cites the phrase and explains the enthymeme. This entry has been omitted from our text of the Suda.
References
G.E.M. de Ste. Croix, 'The alleged secret pact between between Athens and Philip II concerning Amphipolis and Pydna', Classical Quarterly n.s.13 (1963) 110-119
Linked from4 entries
- θ517Θρυΐνῃ ψιάθῳin a rushy sack"And because of this he was stripped bare and clothed in a rushy sack." Also [sc. attested is] qrulou/menon ["someone/something being much-talked-about"].
- π2039ΠονηρόπολιςScoundrel-cityThere also exists, in Thrace, a certain [place by the name of] Scoundrel-city, which they say Philip founded, having gathered there those who were being accused of wickedness: blackmailers, false witnesses and [all] the…
- π3116ΠυδναίουςPydnaiansName of a people.
- σ1400ΣυμπράττωI act with, I collaborate with, I work alongside[Used] with a dative.
Neighbouring entries
Revision history5 revisions · last 17 Aug 2022
- typo — Catharine Roth
- coding — David Whitehead
- expansions to notes — David Whitehead
- more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- modified headword, translation, notes; added bibliography and keyword — David Whitehead
- Translated — Robert Dyer