- 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-grc6:20.100.1-20.100.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-06
The siege of Rhodes came to an end, and the Rhodians rebuilt their city and honored the supporting kings, dedicating a sacred precinct to Ptolemy as a god. Meanwhile, Demetrius sailed to Boeotia to liberate Greece, and in Bosporus, King Eumelus died and was succeeded by his son Spartacus.
οἱ μὲν οὖν Ῥόδιοι πολιορκηθέντες ἐνιαύσιον χρόνον τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ κατελύσαντο τὸν πόλεμον. τοὺς δʼ ἐν τοῖς κινδύνοις ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς γενομένους ἐτίμησαν ταῖς ἀξίαις δωρεαῖς καὶ τῶν δούλων τοὺς ἀνδραγαθήσαντας ἐλευθερίας καὶ πολιτείας ἠξίωσαν.
Thus the Rhodians, after having been besieged for a year, brought the war to an end in this manner. They honored with appropriate gifts the men who had shown themselves brave in the dangers, and deemed those of the slaves who had performed deeds of valor worthy of freedom and citizenship.
ἔστησαν δὲ καὶ τῶν βασιλέων εἰκόνας Κασάνδρου καὶ Λυσιμάχου τῶν δευτερευόντων μὲν ταῖς δόξαις, συμβεβλημένων δὲ μεγάλα πρὸς τὴν τῆς πόλεως σωτηρίαν.
They also set up statues of the kings Cassander and Lysimachus, who, though second to others in renown, had contributed greatly to the salvation of the city.
τὸν δὲ Πτολεμαῖον ἐν ἀνταποδόσει μείζονος χάριτος ὑπερβάλλεσθαι1 βουλόμενοι θεωροὺς ἀπέστειλαν εἰς Λιβύην τοὺς ἐπερωτήσοντας2 τὸ παρʼ Ἄμμωνι μαντεῖον εἰ συμβουλεύει Ῥοδίοις Πτολεμαῖον ὡς θεὸν τιμῆσαι.
But wishing to surpass themselves in returning a greater favor to Ptolemy, they sent sacred envoys to Libya to ask the oracle of Ammon if it advised the Rhodians to honor Ptolemy as a god.
συγκατατιθεμένου δὲ τοῦ χρηστηρίου τέμενος ἀνῆκαν ἐν τῇ πόλει τετράγωνον, οἰκοδομήσαντες παρʼ ἑκάστην πλευρὰν στοὰν σταδιαίαν, ὃ προσηγόρευσαν Πτολεμαῖον. ἀνῳκοδόμησαν δὲ καὶ τὸ θέατρον καὶ τὰ πεπτωκότα τῶν τειχῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τόπων τοὺς καθῃρημένους πολλῷ κάλλιον ἢ προϋπῆρχον.
Since the oracle assented, they dedicated a square precinct in the city, building on each side a colonnade a stade long, which they called the Ptolemaeum. They also rebuilt the theater, the fallen parts of the walls, and the demolished sections of other places much more beautifully than they had been before.
Δημήτριος δὲ κατὰ τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ πατρὸς διαλυσάμενος πρὸς Ῥοδίους ἐξέπλευσε μετὰ πάσης τῆς δυνάμεως καὶ κομισθεὶς διὰ νήσων κατέπλευσε τῆς Βοιωτίας εἰς Αὖλιν.
Demetrius, having come to terms with the Rhodians in accordance with his father’s instructions, sailed out with his entire force, and after making his way through the islands, put in at Aulis in Boeotia.
σπεύδων δʼ ἐλευθερῶσαι τοὺς Ἕλληνας ʽοἱ γὰρ περὶ Κάσανδρον καὶ Πολυπέρχοντα3 τὸν ἔμπροσθεν χρόνον ἄδειαν ἐσχηκότες ἐπόρθουν τὰ πλεῖστα μέρη τῆς Ἑλλάδοσʼ πρῶτον μὲν τὴν Χαλκιδέων πόλιν ἠλευθέρωσε, φρουρουμένην ὑπὸ Βοιωτῶν, καὶ τοὺς κατὰ τὴν Βοιωτίαν καταπληξάμενος ἠνάγκασεν ἀποστῆναι τῆς Κασάνδρου φιλίας, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πρὸς μὲν Αἰτωλοὺς συμμαχίαν ἐποιήσατο, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς περὶ Πολυπέρχοντα καὶ Κάσανδρον διαπολεμεῖν παρεσκευάζετο.
Hastening to liberate the Greeks (for Cassander and Polyperchon, having had immunity in the preceding time, were plundering most parts of Greece), he first liberated the city of the Chalcidians, which was garrisoned by Boeotians, and having struck terror into the inhabitants of Boeotia, compelled them to abandon their alliance with Cassander; after this, he made an alliance with the Aetolians, and began to prepare to carry on the war against Polyperchon and Cassander.
ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις Εὔμηλος μὲν ὁ Βοσπόρου βασιλεὺς βασιλεύων ἕκτον ἔτος ἐτελεύτησε, τὴν δὲ βασιλείαν διαδεξάμενος Σπάρτακος ὁ υἱὸς ἦρξεν ἔτη εἴκοσιν.
While these things were taking place, Eumelus, the king of Bosporus, died in the sixth year of his reign, and his son Spartacus, having succeeded to the kingdom, ruled for twenty years.
- 20.100.3ὑπερβάλλεσθαι
This infinitive is in the middle voice, meaning 'to surpass' or 'to outdo', taking the accusative τὸν δὲ Πτολεμαῖον as its direct object. Alternatively, it can be understood in an intransitive or reflexive sense as 'to excel (oneself) in returning a favor', with Πτολεμαῖον anticipated from the following clause. Here, it is interpreted transitively as wishing to 'surpass' others in honoring Ptolemy in return for a greater favor (μείζονος χάριτος).
- 20.100.3τοὺς ἐπερωτήσοντας
The future participle with the article expresses purpose after the verb ἀπέστειλαν, meaning 'those who would ask'. It is used substantively without a direct antecedent and stands in apposition to 'sacred envoys' (θεωρούς).
- 20.100.6οἱ γὰρ περὶ Κάσανδρον καὶ Πολυπέρχοντα
An idiomatic expression meaning 'those around Cassander', referring here to 'Cassander and his followers' or 'Cassander (and his forces) themselves'. The following name Πολυπέρχοντα is also governed by οἱ περί, indicating the entire faction led by them.