- 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
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- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:19.88.1-19.88.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The Epirotes crown Alcetas as king, prompting an intervention by Cassander's general Lyciscus. Despite the arrival of Alcetas's sons to help, they are defeated by Lyciscus's reinforced army, and the city of Eurymenae is utterly destroyed.
ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πρασσομένοις Ἠπειρῶται τελευτήσαντος Αἰακίδου τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτῶν Ἀλκέτᾳ τὴν βασιλείαν παρέδωκαν, ὃς ἦν πεφυγαδευμένος μὲν ὑπὸ Ἀρύμβου τοῦ πατρός, ἀλλοτρίως δὲ διακείμενος πρὸς Κάσανδρον.1
While these things were being done, the Epirotes, upon the death of their king Aeacides, handed over the kingdom to Alcetas, who had been exiled by his father Arymbas and was hostilely disposed toward Cassander.
διὸ καὶ Λυκίσκος ὁ τεταγμένος ἐπὶ τῆς Ἀκαρνανίας στρατηγὸς ὑπὸ Κασάνδρου παρῆλθε μετὰ δυνάμεως εἰς τὴν Ἤπειρον, ἐλπίδας ἔχων ῥᾳδίως τὸν Ἀλκέταν ἀποστήσειν τῆς ἀρχῆς ἀσυντάκτων ἔτι τῶν κατὰ τὴν βασιλείαν ὄντων.2
Therefore Lyciscus, the general stationed in charge of Acarnania by Cassander, also came with a force into Epirus, having hopes that he would easily depose Alcetas from his rule while the affairs of the kingdom were still in disorder.
καταστρατοπεδεύσαντος δʼ αὐτοῦ περὶ Κασσωπίαν πόλιν Ἀλκέτας τοὺς μὲν υἱοὺς Ἀλέξανδρον καὶ Τεῦκρον ἀπέστειλεν ἐπὶ τὰς πόλεις, διακελευσάμενος στρατολογεῖν ὡς πλείστους, αὐτὸς δὲ μεθʼ ἧς εἶχε δυνάμεως3 ἀναζεύξας, ἐπειδὴ πλησίον ἐγένετο τῶν πολεμίων, ἀνέμενε τὴν τῶν υἱῶν παρουσίαν.
When he had encamped near the city of Cassopia, Alcetas sent his sons Alexander and Teucer to the cities, ordering them to enlist as many soldiers as possible; but he himself, marching out with the force he had, when he came near the enemy, awaited the arrival of his sons.
τῶν δὲ περὶ Λυκίσκον ἐπικειμένων καὶ πολὺ τοῖς πλήθεσιν ὑπερεχόντων οἱ μὲν Ἠπειρῶται καταπλαγέντες προσεχώρησαν τοῖς πολεμίοις, ὁ δʼ Ἀλκέτας καταλειφθεὶς κατέφυγεν εἰς Εὐρυμενὰς πόλιν Ἠπειρωτικήν.
But as Lyciscus and his men pressed upon them and far surpassed them in numbers, the Epirotes, being terrified, went over to the enemy, and Alcetas, having been abandoned, fled to Eurymenae, a city of Epirus.
ἐνταῦθα δʼ αὐτοῦ πολιορκουμένου παρεγενήθησαν οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον βοήθειαν φέροντες τῷ πατρί. γενομένης οὖν μάχης ἰσχυρᾶς ἀνῃρέθησαν πολλοὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν, ἐν οἷς ἦσαν ἄλλοι τέ τινες τῶν ἀξιολόγων ἀνδρῶν καὶ Μίκυθος ὁ στρατηγὸς καὶ Λύσανδρος Ἀθηναῖος ὁ κατασταθεὶς ἐπὶ τῆς Λευκάδος ὑπὸ Κασάνδρου.
While he was being besieged there, Alexander and his men arrived, bringing help to their father. A fierce battle having then taken place, many of the soldiers were slain, among whom were some other men of distinction, as well as Micythus the general, and Lysander the Athenian, who had been stationed over Leucas by Cassander.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Δεινίου βοηθήσαντος τοῖς ἐλαττουμένοις4 ἐγένετο δευτέρα μάχη, καθʼ ἣν οἱ μὲν περὶ Ἀλέξανδρον καὶ Τεῦκρον ἡττηθέντες ἔφυγον εἴς τι χωρίον ἐρυμνὸν μετὰ τοῦ πατρός, ὁ δὲ Λυκίσκος Εὐρυμενὰς ἐκπολιορκήσας καὶ διαρπάσας κατέσκαψε·
After this, since Deinias brought aid to those who were getting the worst of it, a second battle took place, in which Alexander and Teucer and their men, having been defeated, fled with their father to a certain stronghold; but Lyciscus, having taken Eurymenae by siege and plundered it, razed it to the ground.
- 19.88.1ὃς ἦν πεφυγαδευμένος μὲν ὑπὸ Ἀρύμβου τοῦ πατρός, ἀλλοτρίως δὲ διακείμενος πρὸς Κάσανδρον
The verb ἦν (imperfect 3rd singular of εἰμί) governs both the perfect passive participle πεφυγαδευμένος and the present participle διακείμενος, forming periphrastic conjugations. A single copula is shared to parallel two contrasting states of the subject at a specific point in the past: the completed state of "having been exiled" and the ongoing state of "being hostilely disposed."
- 19.88.2ἀσυντάκτων ἔτι τῶν κατὰ τὴν βασιλείαν ὄντων
This is a genitive absolute construction where the logical subject is the articular phrase τῶν κατὰ τὴν βασιλείαν [πραγμάτων] ("the affairs concerning the kingdom") with the present participle ὄντων, and ἀσυντάκτων (genitive neuter plural of the adjective ἀσύντακτος) functions as a predicate. It literally means "while the affairs concerning the kingdom were still in a state of disorder."
- 19.88.3μεθʼ ἧς εἶχε δυνάμεως
This phrase exhibits attraction of the relative pronoun and assimilation of the antecedent. The underlying structure would be μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως ἣν εἶχε ("with the force which he had"), but the relative pronoun ἣν (accusative) is attracted to the genitive case required by the preposition μετά, becoming ἧς, and the antecedent δυνάμεως is incorporated into the relative clause.
- 19.88.6τοῖς ἐλαττουμένοις
The referent of the present middle participle τοῖς ἐλαττουμένοις ("those who were getting the worst of it") is the Cassandrian army led by Lyciscus, which had suffered a disadvantage in the previous battle (19.88.5) by losing key figures like the general Micythus and Lysander. The context—where Deinias, another general of Cassander's faction, came to their aid and reversed the tide of battle, resulting in the defeat of Alcetas's sons—makes this referent clear.