Re: The problematic Strabo text

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, george knysh <gknysh@...> wrote:

>
> Disagreement about the start scenario of the events north of the
> Black Sea in the late 2nd c. BCE may be due to translation
> issues. So far only the Jones translation for the Loeb edition of
> Strabo has been cited. Let me repeat it:
>  
> "This city was at first self-governing, but when it was sacked by
> the barbarians it was forced to choose Mithridates Eupator as
> protector. He was then leading an army against the barbarians who
> lived beyond the isthmus as far as the Borysthenes and the Adrias;
> this, however, was preparatory to a campaign against the Romans. So,
> then, in accordance with these hopes of his he gladly sent an army
> to Chersonesus, and at the same time carried on war against the
> Scythians, not only against Scilurus, but also the sons of
> Scilurus 'Palacus and the rest' who, according to Poseidonius were
> fifty in number, but according to Apollonides were eighty. At the
> same time, also, he not only subdued all these by force, but also
> established himself as lord of the Bosporus, receiving the country
> as a voluntary gift from Parisades who held sway over it. So from
> that time on down to the present the city of the Chersonesites has
> been subject to the potentates of the Bosporus."
>  
>  
> But there is also the earlier translation, which runs as follows:
>  
> Cf. 

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/textdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D3

>  
> "It was formerly governed by its own laws, but after it was ravaged
> by barbarous nations, the inhabitants were obliged to elect as their
> protector, Mithridates Eupator, who was anxious to direct his forces
> against the barbarians who lived above the isthmus, and occupied the
> country as far as the Dnieper and the Adriatic, and thus to prepare
> himself against war with the Romans. Mithridates, with these views,
> readily despatched an expedition into the Chersonesus, and carried
> on war at the same time against the Scythians, Scilurus, and the
> sons of Scilurus, namely, Palacus and his brothers, whom Posidonius
> reckons to have been fifty, and Apollonides eighty, in number. By
> the subjugation of these enemies he became at once master of the
> Bosporus, which Pairisades, who held the command of it, voluntarily
> surrendered. From that time to the present the city of the
> Chersonites has been subject to the princes of the Bosporus."
>  
> Falconer's "ravaged" is clearly better than Jones' "sacked". And his
> translation of the next segment suggests not an actual deed (as
> Jones') but an intention.

Here'e the original Greek:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0197%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D3
'αὕτη δ᾽ ἦν πρότερον αὐτόνομος, πορθουμένη δὲ á½`πὸ τῶν βαρβάρων ἠναγκάσθη προστάτην á¼`λέσθαι Μιθριδάτην τὸν Εὐπάτορα, στρατηγιῶντα ἐπὶ τοὺς á½`πὲρ τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ μέχρι Î'ορυσθένους βαρβάρους: ταῦτα δ᾽ ἦν ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους παρασκευή. ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν κατὰ ταύτας τὰς ἐλπίδας ἄσμενος πέμψας εἰς τὴν Χερρόνησον στρατιὰν ἅμα πρός τε τοὺς Σκύθας ἐπολέμει Σκίλουρόν τε καὶ τοὺς Σκιλούρου παῖδας τοὺς περὶ Πάλακον, οá½"ς Ποσειδώνιος μὲν πεντήκοντά φησιν Ἀπολλωνίδης δὲ ὀγδοήκοντα: ἅμα δὲ τούτους τε ἐχειρώσατο βίᾳ καὶ Î'οσπόρου κατέστη κύριος παρ᾽ á¼`κόντος λαβὼν Παιρισάδου τοῦ κατέχοντος. ἐξ ἐκείνου δὴ τοῦ χρόνου τοῖς τοῦ Î'οσπόρου δυνάσταις ἡ τῶν Χερρονησιτῶν πόλις á½`πήκοος μέχρι νῦν ἐστι.'

The crucial word is 'στρατηγιῶντα'. The built-in notes in Perseus says
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=strathgiw%3Dnta&la=greek&prior=*eu)pa/tora
'
στρατηγιῶντα part pl pres act neut acc contr desiderative
στρατηγιῶντα part pl pres act neut nom contr desiderative
στρατηγιῶντα part pl pres act neut voc contr desiderative
στρατηγιῶντα part sg pres act masc acc contr desiderative
'

So it's a desiderative. Cf.
http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?p.9:238.perseusmonographs
'Desideratives express desire. Such verbs end in -σειω, -ιαω, and rarely in -αω. Thus,
πολεμησείω desire to wage war (πολεμέω),
ἀπαλλαξείω wish to get rid of (ἀλλάττω exchange),
γελασείω wish to laugh (γελάω);
στρατηγιάω wish to be general (στρατηγός);
φονάω wish to shed blood (φόνος murder).'

http://www.areopage.net/lexique.pdf
has
'στρατηγιαω âˆ'ω Ambitionner le commandement'

so there can be no doubt here that Jones has translated wrong here. And you were right and I was wrong. It shows also that Mithridates had those ambitions very early.

> Falconer modernizes the references to the Borysthenes and Adrias. On
> the whole, his translation seems more in accord with the rest of the
> available evidence. (Though I still have problems with "Adrias" (but
> that is due to the transcription of the original not to the
> translations).

I found this town
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrans
that might be the Adria of the translation; it doesn't appear in the Perseus version but it does here:
'Î`ὕτη δ' ἦν πρότερον αὐτόνομος, πορθουμένη δὲ á½`πὸ τῶν βαρβάρων ἠναγκάσθη προστάτην á¼`λέσθαι Μιθριδάτην τὸν Εὐπάτορα, στρατηγιῶντα ἐπὶ τοὺς á½`πὲρ τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ μέχρι Î'ορυσθένους βαρβάρους καὶ τοῦ Ἀνδρίου· ταῦτα δ' ἦν ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους παρασκευή.'
translated
"Cette ville, qui avait commencé par être autonome, dut, pour se soustraire aux continuelles dévastations des barbares, solliciter le protectorat de Mithridate Eupator. Dans ce temps-là justement Mithridate méditait une expédition contre les peuples barbares qui sont échelonnés au-dessus de l'isthme depuis le Borysthène jusqu'à l'Adriatique : ce devait être pour lui le prélude de sa guerre contre Rome."
http://tinyurl.com/3oxsp6w

And BTW, looking for something else I found this description of a possible itinerary of the Argonauts relevant to our interests: up the Danube to Nauportus, then porting the naus to the Adriatic:
http://hs.zrc-sazu.si/Portals/1/sp/mm/2_Sasel_Kosweb.pdf
It seems Nauportus would be the place to unload cargo which had feet to take them the last stretch to Aquileia and another boat trip. The presence of a Celtic (ie. Tauriscan) or pre-Celtic toll station here indiactes a source of potential conflict between these middlemen and the buyers and sellers (Romans and Dacians), to whom they were unnecessary.



Torsten