- 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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- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:19.6.1-19.6.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Agathocles, under the pretext of suppressing a rebellion, recruited a private army of discontented citizens and soldiers from the interior, treacherously arrested the leaders of the Six Hundred, and ordered his men to massacre them and plunder their property.
ὁ δʼ οὖν Ἀγαθοκλῆς ἐπιθυμητὴς ὢν δυναστείας πολλὰς ἀφορμὰς ἔσχεν εἰς τὸ συντελέσαι τὸ βουλευθέν. οὐ μόνον γὰρ στρατηγὸς ὢν κύριος τῆς δυνάμεως ἦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ προσαγγελθέντος1 ὅτι τινὲς τῶν ἀποστατῶν ἐν τῇ μεσογείῳ πρὸς Ἐρβίτῃ συνάγουσι δύναμιν, ἐξουσίαν ἔλαβεν ἀνυπόπτως καταγράφειν οὓς προαιροῖτο στρατιώτας.
At all events, Agathocles, desiring power, found many resources for accomplishing what he had planned. For he was not only master of the forces as general, but also, when it was reported that some of the rebels were gathering a force in the interior near Herbita, he received authority to enroll without suspicion such soldiers as he might choose.
διὸ καὶ προσποιηθεὶς στρατεύειν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἐρβίταν κατέλεξεν εἰς τάξεις τούς τʼ ἐκ Μοργαντίνης καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν ἐν τῇ μεσογείῳ πόλεων τοὺς αὐτῷ πρότερον συμπορευθέντας πρὸς Καρχηδονίους.
Therefore, pretending to march against Herbita, he registered in the ranks those from Morgantina and the other cities of the interior who had formerly marched with him against the Carthaginians.
οὗτοι γὰρ πάντες πρὸς Ἀγαθοκλέα μὲν εὐνούστατα διέκειντο, πολλὰ προευεργετημένοι κατὰ τὰς στρατείας, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἐν Συρακούσσαις ὀλιγαρχίας κεκοινωνηκότας ἑξακοσίους ἀεὶ πολεμικῶς εἶχον καὶ καθόλου τὸν δῆμον ἐμίσουν, ἀναγκαζόμενοι ποιεῖν τὸ προσταττόμενον. τούτων δʼ ὄντων μὲν τὸν ἀριθμὸν εἰς τρισχιλίους, ταῖς δʼ ὁρμαῖς καὶ ταῖς προαιρέσεσιν εὐθετωτάτων πρὸς τὴν κατάλυσιν τῆς δημοκρατίας προσεπελέξατο2 καὶ τῶν πολιτῶν τοὺς διὰ πενίαν καὶ φθόνον ἐναντιουμένους ταῖς τῶν ἰσχυόντων ἐπιφανείαις.
For all of these were most well-disposed toward Agathocles, having already received many benefits during his campaigns, while they were always hostile toward the Six Hundred who shared the oligarchy in Syracuse, and hated the Syracusan citizen body as a whole, because they were forced to do what was commanded of them. Though these men were about three thousand in number and most fit in their impulses and intentions for the overthrow of the democracy, Agathocles also chose in addition those of the citizens who, because of poverty and envy, were opposed to the prominence of the powerful.
ὡς δʼ αὐτῷ πάντʼ ἦν εὐτρεπῆ, τοῖς μὲν στρατιώταις παρήγγειλεν ἀπαντᾶν ἅμʼ ἡμέρᾳ εἰς τὸ Τιμολεόντιον, αὐτὸς δὲ μεταπεμπόμενος τοὺς περὶ Πείσαρχον καὶ Διοκλέα, τοὺς δοκοῦντας προεστάναι τῆς τῶν ἑξακοσίων ἑταιρίας, ὡς περί τινων κοινῇ συμφερόντων διαλεξόμενος, ἐπειδὴ παρεγένοντο παραλαβόντες τῶν φίλων εἰς τεσσαράκοντα, προσποιηθεὶς ἑαυτὸν ἐπιβουλεύεσθαι συνελάμβανεν ἅπαντας καὶ κατηγόρησε μὲν αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς στρατιώταις, φήσας ὑπὸ τῶν ἑξακοσίων ἁρπάζεσθαι διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν δῆμον εὔνοιαν, καὶ κατωδύρετο τὴν περὶ αὐτὸν τύχην.
When everything was ready for him, he ordered the soldiers to meet at daybreak at the Timoleonteum, while he himself sent for the associates of Peisarchus and Diocles, who were thought to lead the faction of the Six Hundred, pretending that he was going to confer with them about matters of common interest. When they arrived bringing about forty of their friends, he pretended that a plot was being laid against him and arrested them all. He then accused them before the soldiers, claiming that he was being seized by the Six Hundred because of his goodwill toward the people, and lamented his own fortune.
παροξυνομένου δὲ τοῦ πλήθους καὶ βοῶντος μηκέτι μέλλειν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ χειρὸς ἐπιθεῖναι τοῖς ἀδικήσασι τὴν δίκην, τοῖς μὲν σαλπιγκταῖς παρήγγειλε σημαίνειν τὸ πολεμικόν, τοῖς δὲ στρατιώταις ἀναιρεῖν τοὺς αἰτίους καὶ διαρπάζειν τὰς κτήσεις τῶν ἑξακοσίων καὶ τῶν τούτοις κοινοπραγούντων.
As the crowd became incited and cried out to delay no longer, but to inflict punishment on the wrongdoers on the spot, he ordered the trumpeters to sound the call to battle, and commanded the soldiers to kill those responsible and to plunder the property of the Six Hundred and of those who cooperated with them.
ὁρμησάντων δὲ πάντων ἐπὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν ἡ πόλις ἐπληρώθη ταραχῆς καὶ μεγάλων ἀτυχημάτων· οἱ μὲν γὰρ χαριέστατοι τῶν πολιτῶν, ἀγνοοῦντες τὸν καθʼ αὑτῶν κεκυρωμένον ὄλεθρον, ἐξεπήδων ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν εἰς τὰς ὁδούς, μαθεῖν σπεύδοντες τὸν θόρυβον, οἱ δὲ στρατιῶται τὰ μὲν διὰ τὴν πλεονεξίαν, τὰ δὲ διὰ τὸν θυμὸν ἠγριωμένοι τὰς ψυχὰς ἀνῄρουν τοὺς διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν γυμνὰ τὰ σώματα τῶν ἀμυνομένων ὅπλων3 παρεχομένους.
When everyone rushed to the plunder, the city was filled with tumult and great misfortunes; for the most respectable of the citizens, ignorant of the destruction decreed against them, rushed out of their houses into the streets, eager to learn the cause of the uproar, while the soldiers, their souls made wild partly by greed and partly by anger, slaughtered those who, because of their ignorance, exposed their bodies bare of defensive weapons.
- 19.6.1προσαγγελθέντος
A genitive absolute of a passive participle used impersonally, where the following ὅti-clause ('that some of the rebels were gathering a force') serves as the logical subject.
- 19.6.3τούτων δʼ ὄντων μὲν... εὐθετωτάτων... προσεπελέξατο
The subject of the main clause is Agathocles (implied), and the main verb is προσεπελέξαto. The opening phrase τούτων δʼ ὄντων μὲν... εὐθετωτάτων is a genitive absolute ('since these were... and most fit'), in which εὐθετωτάτων is a genitive predicate adjective agreeing with τούτων. The object of the main verb is τῶν πολιτῶν τοὺς... ἐναντιουμένους ('those of the citizens who were opposed...').
- 19.6.6γυμνὰ τὰ σώματα τῶν ἀμυνομένων ὅπλων
The adjective γυμνός takes a genitive of separation. Here, τῶν ἀμυνομένων ὅπλων ('defensive weapons') depends on γυμνά, meaning 'bare of/lacking defensive weapons'. γυμνὰ τὰ σώματα functions predicatively with the participle παρεχομένους ('presenting their bodies bare [of weapons]').