- 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-grc6:19.82.1-19.82.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Demetrius draws up his forces for the battle, concentrating his elite cavalry and most of the elephants on the left wing, while placing the infantry phalanx and the right wing in an oblique formation to avoid early engagement.
ἐπὶ μὲν οὖν τὸ λαιὸν κέρας ἔταξε, καθʼ ὃ τὸν κίνδυνον αὐτὸς ἤμελλε ποιεῖσθαι, πρώτους μὲν τοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν ἱππεῖς ἐπιλέκτους διακοσίους, ἐν οἷς ἦσαν οἵ τε ἄλλοι φίλοι πάντες καὶ Πίθων ὁ συνεστρατευμένος μὲν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ, συγκαθιστάμενος δὲ ὑπʼ Ἀντιγόνου στρατηγὸς καὶ τῶν ὅλων1 μέτοχος.
On the left wing, then, where he himself was about to face the danger, he placed first of all the two hundred select cavalry around his person, among whom were all his other friends and Pithon, who had campaigned with Alexander and had been appointed general by Antigonus, sharing in the supreme command.
πρόταγμα2 δὲ τρεῖς εἴλας ἱππέων ἔταξεν καὶ πλαγιοφυλάκους τὰς ἴσας καὶ χωρὶς ἔξω τοῦ κέρατος ἀπολελυμένας τρεῖς Ταραντίνων, ὥστʼ εἶναι τοὺς περὶ τὸ σῶμα τεταγμένους ἱππεῖς ξυστοφόρους μὲν πεντακοσίους, Ταραντίνους δὲ ἑκατόν.
As a vanguard he placed three squadrons of cavalry, and as flank guards an equal number, and separately outside the wing three detached squadrons of Tarentines, so that the cavalry drawn up around his person numbered five hundred lance-bearing cavalry and one hundred Tarentines.
ἑξῆς δʼ ἔταξε τῶν ἱππέων τοὺς καλουμένους μὲν ἑταίρους, ὄντας δὲ τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὀκτακοσίους, μετὰ δὲ τούτους παντοδαποὺς ἱππεῖς οὐκ ἐλάττους τῶν χιλίων πεντακοσίων. πρὸ παντὸς δὲ τοῦ κέρατος ἔστησε τῶν ἐλεφάντων τριάκοντα καὶ τὰ διαστήματα αὐτῶν ἐπλήρωσε τοῖς ψιλικοῖς τάγμασιν, ὧν ἦσαν ἀκοντισταὶ μὲν καὶ τοξόται χίλιοι, σφενδονῆται δὲ Πέρσαι πεντακόσιοι.
Next to these he placed the cavalry called the “Companions,” numbering eight hundred, and after them various cavalry of all kinds, not fewer than fifteen hundred. In front of the entire wing he stationed thirty of the elephants, and filled the intervals between them with light-armed units, of whom one thousand were javelin-throwers and archers, and five hundred were Persian slingers.
τὸ μὲν οὖν εὐώνυμον κέρας οὕτω κατασκευάσας διενοεῖτο τούτῳ κρίνειν τὴν μάχην. ἐχομένην δʼ ἔστησε τὴν τῶν πεζῶν φάλαγγα, συνεστῶσαν ἐξ ἀνδρῶν μυρίων χιλίων· τούτων δὲ ἦσαν Μακεδόνες μὲν δισχίλιοι, Λύκιοι δὲ καὶ Παμφύλιοι χίλιοι, μισθοφόροι δʼ ὀκτακισχίλιοι. ἐπὶ δὲ τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας ἔταξε τοὺς λοιποὺς ἱππεῖς χιλίους πεντακοσίους, ὧν Ἀνδρόνικος ἡγεῖτο. τούτῳ δʼ ἦν συντεταγμένον λοξὴν φυλάττειν τὴν στάσιν καὶ φυγομαχεῖν, καραδοκοῦντα τὴν διʼ αὐτοῦ3 γινομένην κρίσιν. τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς τῶν ἐλεφάντων τρεισκαίδεκα ἔστησε πρὸ τῆς τῶν πεζῶν φάλαγγος, μίξας εἰς τὰ διαστήματα τῶν ψιλῶν τοὺς ἱκανούς. Δημήτριος μὲν οὖν διεκόσμησε τὴν ἰδίαν δύναμιν τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον.
Having thus organized the left wing, he intended to decide the battle with this force. Next to it he stationed the phalanx of infantry, consisting of eleven thousand men; of these, two thousand were Macedonians, one thousand were Lycians and Pamphylians, and eight thousand were mercenaries. On the right wing he placed the remaining fifteen hundred cavalry, commanded by Andronicus. This commander had been ordered to maintain an oblique formation and avoid engagement, awaiting the decision to be brought about through him. The remaining thirteen elephants he stationed in front of the infantry phalanx, mixing a sufficient number of light-armed troops into the intervals. Demetrius, then, drew up his own forces in this manner.
- 19.82.1τῶν ὅλων
A substantivized neuter plural genitive (from τὰ ὅλα, meaning "general affairs" or "the whole"), functioning as the complement of the noun μέτοχος (sharer, partner). Here it denotes sharing in the supreme command or overall decision-making of the campaign under Antigonus.
- 19.82.2πρόταγμα
Functions as an appositive or a predicate accusative to τρεῖς εἴλας (the direct object of the verb ἔταξεν), denoting its purpose or role as "a vanguard". Similarly, the subsequent word πλαγιοφυλάκους is a predicate accusative meaning "as flank guards".
- 19.82.4διʼ αὐτοῦ
The preposition διά with the genitive. Contextually, the pronoun αὐτοῦ refers back to Demetrius, who was the subject of the previous sentence and was personally leading the main forces on the left wing (cf. αὐτός in §19.82.1). Andronicus on the right wing is instructed to await the decision to be brought about through Demetrius' own action on the left.