Alcetas' Defeat and Flight to Termessus — Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica Book 18 (18.45.1–18.45.5), Greek & English

§18.45.1

Ἀλκέτας πολλοὺς ἀποβαλὼν μόλις διεξέπεσε πρὸς τὴν τῶν πεζῶν φάλαγγα, ὁ δʼ Ἀντίγονος ἐξ ὑπερδεξίων τόπων ἐπαγαγὼν τούς τε ἐλέφαντας καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν κατεπλήξατο τοὺς πολεμίους πολὺ τοῖς πλήθεσι λειπομένους·¹ ἦσαν γὰρ οἱ σύμπαντες πεζοὶ μὲν μύριοι καὶ ἑξακισχίλιοι, ἱππεῖς δὲ ἐννακόσιοι, οἱ δʼ Ἀντιγόνου χωρὶς τῶν ἐλεφάντων πεζοὶ μὲν πλείους τῶν τετρακισμυρίων, ἱππεῖς δὲ ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἑπτακισχιλίους.

Alcetas, having lost many of his men, barely broke through to the phalanx of the infantry, but Antigonus, bringing up the elephants and his entire force from higher ground, terrified the enemy, who were far inferior in numbers; for they were in all sixteen thousand infantry and nine hundred cavalry, while those of Antigonus, apart from the elephants, were more than forty thousand infantry and over seven thousand cavalry.

§18.45.2

ἅμα δὲ τῶν ἐλεφάντων ἐπιόντων² κατὰ μέτωπον καὶ τῶν ἱππέων διὰ τὸ πλῆθος πανταχῇ περιχεομένων, ἔτι δὲ τῶν πεζῶν πολλαπλασίων καὶ κρειττόνων ὄντων ταῖς ἀρεταῖς καὶ τὴν στάσιν ὑπερδέξιον ἐχόντων πολὺς θόρυβος καὶ φόβος κατεῖχε τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἀλκέταν· διὰ δὲ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς ὀξύτητος καὶ τῆς ἐνεργείας οὐδʼ ἐκτάξαι καλῶς τὴν φάλαγγα κατίσχυσε.

And at the same time, with the elephants attacking in front, and the cavalry pouring around on all sides because of their multitude, and furthermore, with the infantry being many times more numerous and superior in valor and holding higher ground, great confusion and fear gripped Alcetas and his men; and because of the extreme speed and energy of the attack, he was not even able to draw up his phalanx properly.

§18.45.3

τροπῆς δὲ παντελοῦς γενομένης Ἄτταλος μὲν καὶ Δόκιμος καὶ Πολέμων καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀξιολόγων ἡγεμόνων ἐζωγρήθησαν, Ἀλκέτας δὲ μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων ὑπασπιστῶν καὶ παίδων³ ἔφυγε μετὰ τῶν Πισιδῶν τῶν συστρατευομένων εἰς πόλιν Πισιδικὴν ὄνομα Τερμησσόν.

When a complete rout had occurred, Attalus, Docimus, Polemon, and many of the noteworthy leaders were captured alive, while Alcetas, with his own shield-bearers and pages, fled with the Pisidians who were campaigning with him to a Pisidian city named Termessus.

§18.45.4

ὁ δʼ Ἀντίγονος τούτους μὲν καθʼ ὁμολογίαν παραλαβὼν τοὺς λοιποὺς εἰς τὰ ἴδια τάγματα κατέταξε καὶ φιλανθρώπως αὐτοῖς χρησάμενος ηὔξησε τὴν ἰδίαν δύναμιν οὐ μετρίως.

Antigonus, having received these men by capitulation, enrolled the rest into his own units, and, treating them humanely, increased his own force not a little.

§18.45.5

οἱ δὲ Πισίδαι τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὄντες εἰς ἑξακισχιλίους καὶ ταῖς ἀλκαῖς διαφέροντες παρεκάλουν τὸν Ἀλκέταν θαρρεῖν, ἐπαγγελλόμενοι μηδʼ ἑνί τῳ τρόπῳ ἐγκαταλείψειν αὐτόν. διέκειντο γὰρ πρὸς αὐτὸν εὐνοϊκῶς καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν διὰ τοιαύτας τινὰς αἰτίας.

The Pisidians, being about six thousand in number and outstanding in valor, urged Alcetas to be of good courage, promising that they would in no way abandon him. For they were exceedingly well-disposed toward him for reasons such as the following.

Syntax notes3 items

18.45.1πολὺ τοῖς πλήθεσι λειπομένους
The circumstantial participle λειπομένους ('being inferior') is modified by πολύ (adverbial accusative of degree, 'by far') and the dative of respect τοῖς πλήθεσι ('in numbers').
18.45.2ἅμα δὲ τῶν ἐλεφάντων ἐπιόντων ...
Beginning with ἅμα δέ, three consecutive genitive absolute constructions (τῶν ἐλεφάντων ἐπιόντων..., τῶν ἱππέων ... περιχεομένων, and τῶν πεζῶν ... ὄντων) are arranged in parallel before reaching the main subject and verb πολὺς θόρυβος καὶ φόβος κατεῖχε, vividly depicting the simultaneous and chaotic pressures on the battlefield.
18.45.3παίδων
Here παίδων does not mean 'children' in the biological sense, but rather 'pages,' 'servants,' or 'personal attendants' who accompanied commanders in Hellenistic armies.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (2, latest 2026-09-22)

2026-09-22 AI review — source 2

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:18.45.1-18.45.5