- 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
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- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:18.6.1-18.6.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The satrapies inclining toward the south of Asia are described, including the geography of India, Arachosia, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, and Egypt, and their distribution among Alexander's generals.
τῶν δὲ πρὸς μεσημβρίαν ἐστραμμένων πρώτη μὲν παρὰ τὸν Καύκασόν ἐστιν Ἰνδική, βασιλεία μεγάλη καὶ πολυάνθρωπος, οἰκουμένη δʼ ὑπὸ πλειόνων Ἰνδικῶν ἐθνῶν, ὧν ἐστι μέγιστον τὸ τῶν Γανδαριδῶν ἔθνος, ἐφʼ οὓς1 διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἐλεφάντων οὐκ ἐπεστράτευσεν ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος.
And of those turned toward the south, the first is India along the Caucasus, a great and populous kingdom, inhabited by many Indian nations, of which the greatest is the nation of the Gandaridae, against whom Alexander did not make an expedition on account of the multitude of elephants among them.
ὁρίζει δὲ τὴν χώραν ταύτην καὶ τὴν ἑξῆς Ἰνδικὴν ποταμὸς ὁ ὀνομαζόμενος Γάγγης, μέγιστος ὢν τῶν περὶ τοὺς τόπους καὶ τὸ πλάτος ἔχων σταδίων τριάκοντα. ἐχομένη δὲ ταύτης ἡ λοιπὴ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς, ἣν κατεπολέμησεν ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος, ποταμίοις ὕδασι κατάρρυτος καὶ κατὰ τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν ἐπιφανεστάτη, καθʼ ἣν ὑπῆρχε σὺν ἄλλαις πλείοσι βασιλείαις ἥ τε τοῦ Πώρου καὶ Ταξίλου δυναστεία, διʼ ἧς2 συμβαίνει ῥεῖν τὸν Ἰνδὸν ποταμόν, ἀφʼ οὗ τὴν προσηγορίαν ἔσχεν ἡ χώρα.
This region and the adjacent India are bounded by the river called Ganges, which is the greatest of those in these regions and has a width of thirty stades. Adjacent to this is the rest of India, which Alexander subdued, well-watered by river waters and most famous for its prosperity; within which existed, along with many other kingdoms, the principality of Porus and Taxiles, through which the Indus River happens to flow, from which the region received its name.
ἐχομένη δὲ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς ἀφώριστο σατραπείας3 Ἀραχωσία καὶ Κεδρωσία καὶ Καρμανία, πρὸς δὲ ταύταις Περσίς, ἐν ᾗ τὴν Σουσιανὴν καὶ Σιττακινὴν κεῖσθαι συμβέβηκεν· ἑξῆς δὲ Βαβυλωνία μέχρι τῆς κατὰ τὴν Ἀραβίαν ἀοικήτου· ἐκ δὲ θατέρου μέρους, ἀφʼ οὗ ποιούμεθα τὴν ἀνάβασιν, Μεσοποταμία περιειλημμένη δυσὶ ποταμοῖς, τῷ τε Εὐφράτῃ καὶ Τίγριδι, διʼ οὓς τέτευχε ταύτης τῆς προσηγορίας· ἐχομένη δὲ τῆς Βαβυλωνίας Συρία ἡ ἄνω καλουμένη καὶ αἱ συνεχεῖς ταύτῃ παραθαλάττιοι Κιλικία καὶ Παμφυλία καὶ ἡ Κοίλη Συρία, καθʼ ἣν ἡ Φοινίκη περιείληπται. παρὰ δὲ τὰ πέρατα τῆς Κοίλης Συρίας καὶ τὴν συνεχῶς κειμένην ἔρημον, καθʼ ἣν ὁ Νεῖλος φερόμενος ὁρίζει Συρίαν τε καὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον, ἀπεδέδεικτο σατραπεία πασῶν ἀρίστη καὶ προσόδους ἔχουσα μεγάλας Αἴγυπτος. πᾶσαι δʼ αὗται καυματώδεις εἰσίν, ὡς ἀντιπνέοντος4 τοῦ κατὰ μεσημβρίαν ἀέρος τῷ πρὸς ἄρκτους καθήκοντι. αἱ μὲν οὖν ὑπʼ Ἀλεξάνδρου καταπολεμηθεῖσαι σατραπεῖαι τὸν εἰρημένον τρόπον κείμεναι διεμερίσθησαν τοῖς ἀξιολογωτάτοις τῶν ἀνδρῶν.
And adjacent to India, Arachosia, Gedrosia, and Carmania were set apart as satrapies, and in addition to these, Persis, in which it happens that Susiana and Sittacine are situated; and next, Babylonia as far as the uninhabited land adjacent to Arabia. And on the other side, from which we make our ascent, is Mesopotamia, enclosed by two rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris, because of which it obtained this name. And adjacent to Babylonia is what is called Upper Syria, and the coastal regions continuous with this, Cilicia and Pamphylia and Coele-Syria, in which Phoenicia is enclosed. And along the borders of Coele-Syria and the desert lying adjacent to it, through which the Nile flows and bounds both Syria and Egypt, there was established a satrapy, the best of all and having great revenues, Egypt. All these are hot regions, as the southern air blows against that which extends toward the north. Now, the satrapies subdued by Alexander, being situated in the aforementioned manner, were divided among the most prominent men.
- 18.6.1ἐφʼ οὓς
The relative pronoun οὓς is masculine plural, despite its antecedent being the neuter singular collective noun τὸ τῶν Γανδαριδῶν ἔθνος (the nation of the Gandaridae). This is a construction according to sense (synesis), referring to the people making up the nation.
- 18.6.2διʼ ἧς
The relative pronoun ἧς (feminine singular) takes the immediately preceding δυναστεία (principality, feminine singular) as its antecedent, meaning 'through which principality.' While it could loosely refer to 'the rest of India' (ἡ λοιπὴ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς), the grammatical gender and proximity make δυναστεία the most natural antecedent.
- 18.6.3ἀφώριστο σατραπείας
The verb ἀφώριστο is third-person singular, although its subjects are plural in coordination (Ἀραχωσία καὶ Κεδρωσία καὶ Καρμανία). This is either because the verb agrees with the first subject or treats the multiple subjects as a single unit. σατραπείας is an accusative plural (Attic form), functioning predicatively as 'as satrapies.'
- 18.6.4ὡς ἀντιπνέοντος
This is a genitive absolute construction ἀντιπνέοντος τοῦ ... ἀέρος introduced by ὡς to express the subjective reason. τῷ πρὸς ἄρκτους καθήκοντι (that which extends toward the north) is in the dative case as the complement of ἀντιπνέοντος (blowing against).