- Source
- Diodorus Siculus. Diodori Bibliotheca Historica. Vols. 4-5 (partial). Bekker, Immanuel; Dindorf, Ludwig; Fischer, Curt Theodor; editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903-1906.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:18.2.1-18.2.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
After Alexander's death, a conflict arose between the infantry phalanx and the prominent bodyguards over the succession, but they eventually reached an agreement to make the mentally ill Arridaeus king and Perdiccas regent.
ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος γὰρ Ἀθήνησι Κηφισοδώρου Ῥωμαῖοι μὲν κατέστησαν ὑπάτους Λεύκιον Φρούριον καὶ Δέκιον Ἰούνιον. ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ βασιλέως τετελευτηκότος ἄπαιδος ἀναρχία καὶ πολλὴ στάσις ἐγένετο περὶ τῆς ἡγεμονίας.
For when Cephisodorus was archon in Athens, the Romans elected Lucius Furius and Decius Junius as consuls. During their term of office, after King Alexander had died childless, there arose anarchy and great dissension concerning the leadership.
ἡ μὲν γὰρ τῶν πεζῶν φάλαγξ Ἀρριδαῖον τὸν Φιλίππου μὲν υἱόν, ψυχικοῖς δὲ πάθεσι συνεχόμενον ἀνιάτοις προῆγεν ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλείαν· οἱ δὲ μέγιστον ἔχοντες ἀξίωμα τῶν φίλων καὶ σωματοφυλάκων συνεδρεύσαντες καὶ προσλαβόμενοι τὸ τῶν ἱππέων τῶν ἑταίρων ὀνομαζομένων σύστημα τὸ μὲν πρῶτον διαγωνίζεσθαι τοῖς ὅπλοις πρὸς τὴν φάλαγγα διέγνωσαν καὶ πρέσβεις ἀπέστειλαν πρὸς τοὺς πεζοὺς ἐκ τῶν ἀξίωμα ἐχόντων ἀνδρῶν, ὧν ἦν ἐπιφανέστατος Μελέαγρος, ἀξιοῦντες1 πειθαρχεῖν αὐτοῖς.
For the phalanx of the infantry set forward for the kingship Arridaeus, who was a son of Philip but was afflicted with incurable mental ailments; whereas those of the friends and bodyguards who possessed the greatest prestige held a council, and having associated with themselves the body of the cavalry called “Companions,” decided at first to fight it out with arms against the phalanx, and dispatched envoys to the infantry from among the men of prestige, of whom Meleager was the most illustrious, demanding that they submit to them.
ὁ δὲ Μελέαγρος ὡς ἧκεν πρὸς τοὺς φαλαγγίτας, τῆς μὲν πρεσβείας οὐδεμίαν ἐποιήσατο μνείαν, τοὐναντίον δʼ ἐπαινέσας αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς δεδογμένοις παρώξυνε κατὰ τῶν ἐναντιουμένων. διόπερ οἱ Μακεδόνες ἡγεμόνα καταστήσαντες ἑαυτῶν τὸν Μελέαγρον προῆγον πρὸς τοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων.
But Meleager, when he came to the phalanx-soldiers, made no mention of the embassy, but on the contrary, having praised them for their decisions, incited them against those who opposed them. Therefore the Macedonians, having appointed Meleager as their leader, advanced with arms against those who spoke against them.
τῶν δὲ σωματοφυλάκων ἀποχωρησάντων ἐκ τῆς Βαβυλῶνος καὶ παρασκευαζομένων εἰς πόλεμον οἱ χαριέστατοι τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἔπεισαν αὐτοὺς ὁμονοῆσαι. εὐθὺ δὲ βασιλέα κατέστησαν τὸν Φιλίππου υἱὸν Ἀρριδαῖον καὶ μετωνόμασαν Φίλιππον, ἐπιμελητὴν δὲ τῆς βασιλείας Περδίκκαν, ᾧ καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν δακτύλιον τελευτῶν δεδώκει, τοὺς δὲ ἀξιολογωτάτους τῶν φίλων καὶ σωματοφυλάκων παραλαβεῖν2 τὰς σατραπείας καὶ ὑπακούειν τῷ τε βασιλεῖ καὶ τῷ Περδίκκᾳ.
While the bodyguards had withdrawn from Babylon and were preparing for war, the most reasonable of the men persuaded them to come to an agreement. And immediately they established Philip’s son Arridaeus as king and renamed him Philip, and appointed as regent of the kingdom Perdiccas, to whom the king at his death had given his ring, and agreed that the most prominent of the friends and bodyguards should take over the satrapies and obey both the king and Perdiccas.
- 18.2.2ἀξιοῦντες
Present participle, masculine, plural, nominative, agreeing with the main subject of the sentence, "those of the friends and bodyguards who possessed the greatest prestige..." (οἱ δὲ μέγιστον ἔχοντες ἀξίωμα...). It indicates that the demanding party is the leading faction of officers who sent the embassy, rather than the envoys themselves.
- 18.2.4τοὺς δὲ ἀξιολογωτάτους ... παραλαβεῖν
An accusative and infinitive construction (with παραλαβεῖν and ὑπακούειν). It functions as an explanation of the specific terms of the agreement (ὁμονοῆσαι) or the decisions they made, meaning "[and they agreed] that the most prominent... should take over... and obey."