- 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-grc6:20.25.1-20.25.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
Eumelus established a great reputation by assisting Greek cities and clearing the Pontus of pirates, but met a tragic death in a chariot accident after reigning for five years and five months.
Βυζαντίους μὲν γὰρ καὶ Σινωπεῖς καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων τῶν τὸν Πόντον οἰκούντων τοὺς πλείστους διετέλεσεν εὐεργετῶν·1 Καλλαντιανῶν δὲ πολιορκουμένων ὑπὸ Λυσιμάχου καὶ πιεζουμένων τῇ σπάνει τῶν ἀναγκαίων χιλίους ὑπεδέξατο τοὺς διὰ τὴν σιτοδείαν ἐκχωρήσαντας.2 οἷς οὐ μόνον τῆς καταφυγῆς παρέσχετο τὴν ἀσφάλειαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πόλιν ἔδωκε κατοικεῖν, ἐπὶ δὲ τούτοις τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Ψόαν καὶ τὴν χώραν κατεκληρούχησεν.
For he continually showed himself a benefactor to the Byzantines, the Sinopeans, and most of the other Greeks who inhabited the Pontus; and when the Callantians were besieged by Lysimachus and hard pressed by the scarcity of provisions, he welcomed a thousand of those who had departed on account of the famine. To them he not only provided the safety of refuge, but also gave a city to dwell in, and in addition to this, he allotted to them the region called Psoa and its territory.
ὑπὲρ δὲ τῶν πλεόντων τὸν Πόντον πόλεμον ἐξενέγκας πρὸς τοὺς λῃστεύειν εἰωθότας βαρβάρους Ἡνιόχους καὶ Ταύρους, ἔτι δʼ Ἀχαιοὺς καθαρὰν λῃστῶν ἀπέδειξε τὴν θάλασσαν, ὥστε μὴ μόνον κατὰ τὴν βασιλείαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ πᾶσαν σχεδὸν τὴν οἰκουμένην, διαγγελλόντων τῶν ἐμπόρων τὴν μεγαλοψυχίαν, ἀπολαμβάνειν τῆς εὐεργεσίας καρπὸν κάλλιστον τὸν ἔπαινον.
And on behalf of those sailing the Pontus, having waged war against the barbarians accustomed to commit piracy, namely the Heniochi and Tauri, and also the Achaeans, he rendered the sea clear of pirates, so that not only throughout his kingdom but also throughout almost the entire inhabited world, as the merchants proclaimed his magnanimity, he received praise as the fairest fruit of his beneficence.
προσεκτήσατο δὲ καὶ τῆς συνοριζούσης βαρβάρου πολλὴν καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἐπιφανεστέραν ἐπὶ πολὺ κατεσκεύασε. καθόλου δʼ ἐπεχείρησε πάντα τὰ περὶ τὸν Πόντον ἔθνη καταστρέφεσθαι καὶ τάχα ἂν ἐκράτησε τῆς ἐπιβολῆς, εἰ μὴ σύντομον ἔσχε3 τὴν τοῦ βίου τελευτήν. πέντε γὰρ ἔτη καὶ τοὺς ἴσους μῆνας βασιλεύσας κατέστρεψε τὸν βίον, παραδόξῳ συμπτώματι χρησάμενος.
And he also acquired much of the neighboring barbarian land, and made his kingdom far more illustrious. In general, he attempted to subdue all the nations around the Pontus, and would quickly have achieved his purpose, if he had not met with a swift end of his life. For having reigned five years and an equal number of months, he ended his life, meeting with an unexpected accident.
ἐκ γὰρ τῆς Σινδικῆς ἐπανιὼν εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν καὶ σπεύδων πρός τινα θυσίαν ἤλαυνε μὲν ἐπί τινος τεθρίππου πρὸς τὰ βασίλεια, τοῦ δʼ ἅρματος ὄντος τετρακύκλου καὶ σκηνὴν ἔχοντος4 συνέβη τοὺς ἵππους διαταραχθέντας ἐξενεγκεῖν αὐτόν. τοῦ γὰρ ἡνιόχου μὴ δυναμένου κρατῆσαι τῶν ἡνιῶν, φοβηθεὶς μὴ κατενεχθῇ πρὸς τὰς φάραγγας, ἐπεχείρησεν ἀφάλλεσθαι· ἐμπλακέντος δὲ τοῦ ξίφους εἰς τὸν τροχόν συνεφειλκύσθη τῇ φορᾷ καὶ παραχρῆμα ἐτελεύτησεν.
For when he was returning from Sindike to his own land and hastening to a certain sacrifice, he was driving towards the palace on a four-horse carriage, and since the chariot was four-wheeled and had a canopy, it happened that the horses, having become frightened, ran away with him. For as the charioteer was unable to control the reins, fearing lest he should be hurled down into the ravines, he attempted to leap off; but his sword having become entangled in the wheel, he was dragged along by its momentum and died instantly.
- 20.25.1διετέλεσεν εὐεργετῶν
The verb διατελέω (to continue) is used with the supplementary participle εὐεργετῶν to denote a continuous action ('he continually showed himself a benefactor').
- 20.25.1χιλίους ὑπεδέξατο τοὺς διὰ τὴν σιτοδείαν ἐκχωρήσαντας
The numeral χιλίους is placed outside the articular participle phrase τοὺς ... ἐκχωρήσαντας, specifying 'a thousand [of those] who had departed on account of the famine.'
- 20.25.3τάχα ἂν ἐκράτησε ... εἰ μὴ ... ἔσχε
A past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. The apodosis has ἄν with the aorist indicative (ἂν ἐκράτησε), and the protasis has εἰ with the aorist indicative (εἰ μὴ ... ἔσχε).
- 20.25.4τοῦ δʼ ἅρματος ὄντος τετρακύκλου καὶ σκηνὴν ἔχοντος
A genitive absolute construction, explaining the circumstances or cause for the action in the main clause which is introduced by the impersonal verb συνέβη.