Ptolemy's Relief Fleet and Demetrius' Defensive Blockade — Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica Book 20 (20.49.1–20.49.6), Greek & English

§20.49.1

Πτολεμαῖος δὲ πυθόμενος τὴν τῶν ἰδίων ἧτταν ἐξέπλευσεν ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου δύναμιν ἔχων ἀξιόλογον πεζικήν τε καὶ ναυτικήν. κατενεχθεὶς δὲ τῆς Κύπρου πρὸς τὴν Πάφον ἔκ τε τῶν πόλεων παρεδέξατο τὰ σκάφη καὶ παρέπλευσεν εἰς Κίτιον, τῆς Σαλαμῖνος¹ ἀπέχον σταδίους διακοσίους.

Ptolemy, having learned of the defeat of his own forces, sailed out from Egypt having a noteworthy force both of infantry and of navy. And having put in at Paphos in Cyprus, he received ships from the cities and sailed along the coast to Citium, which is two hundred stades distant from Salamis.

§20.49.2

εἶχε δὲ τὰς πάσας ναῦς μακρὰς ἑκατὸν καὶ τεσσαράκοντα· τούτων δʼ ἦν ἡ μεγίστη πεντήρης, ἡ δʼ ἐλαχίστη τετρήρης· στρατιωτικὰ δὲ πόρια ταύταις ἐπηκολούθει πλείω τῶν διακοσίων, ἄγοντα² πεζοὺς οὐκ ἐλάττους τῶν μυρίων. οὗτος μὲν οὖν πρὸς τὸν Μενέλαον κατὰ γῆν ἔπεμψέ τινας, διακελευόμενος τὰς ναῦς, ἂν ᾖ δυνατόν, κατὰ τάχος ἐκ τῆς Σαλαμῖνος πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀποστεῖλαι, οὔσας ἑξήκοντα· ἤλπιζε γάρ, εἰ προσλάβοι³ ταύτας, ῥᾳδίως κρατήσειν τῇ ναυμαχίᾳ, διακοσίοις σκάφεσιν ἀγωνιζόμενος.

And he had in all one hundred and forty warships; of these the largest was a quinquereme, and the smallest a quadrireme; and more than two hundred military transports followed these, carrying not fewer than ten thousand infantry. He, then, sent some men by land to Menelaus, urging him, if it should be possible, to dispatch the ships, which were sixty in number, with speed from Salamis to him; for he hoped that, if he should secure these in addition, he would easily win the sea-fight, contending with two hundred ships.

§20.49.4

ὁ δὲ Δημήτριος νοήσας αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐπιβολὴν ἐπὶ μὲν τῆς πολιορκίας ἀπέλιπε μέρος τῆς δυνάμεως, τὰς δὲ ναῦς ἁπάσας πληρώσας καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν τοὺς κρατίστους ἐμβιβάσας βέλη καὶ πετροβόλους ἐνέθετο καὶ τῶν τρισπιθάμων ὀξυβελῶν τοὺς ἱκανοὺς ταῖς πρῴραις ἐπέστησε.

But Demetrius, having perceived his plan, left a part of his force for the siege, and having manned all his ships and embarked the best of his soldiers, he put on board missiles and stone-throwers, and placed a sufficient number of the three-span arrow-shooting engines on the prows.

§20.49.5

κοσμήσας δὲ πολυτελῶς πρὸς ναυμαχίαν τὸν στόλον περιέπλευσε τὴν πόλιν καὶ κατὰ τὸ στόμα τοῦ λιμένος μικρὸν ἔξω βέλους ἀφεὶς τὰς ἀγκύρας διενυκτέρευσεν, ἅμα μὲν τὰς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ναῦς κωλύων συμμῖξαι ταῖς ἄλλαις, ἅμα δὲ καραδοκῶν τὸν ἐπίπλουν τῶν πολεμίων καὶ πρὸς ναυμαχίαν ὢν ἕτοιμος.

And having equipped his fleet sumptuously for the sea-fight, he sailed around the city and having cast anchor near the mouth of the harbor a little outside of range of missiles, he passed the night, on the one hand preventing the ships from the city from mingling with the others, and on the other hand watching for the approach of the enemy and being ready for the sea-fight.

§20.49.6

τοῦ δὲ Πτολεμαίου πλέοντος ἐπὶ τὴν Σαλαμῖνα καὶ τῶν ὑπηρετικῶν πλοίων συνεπομένων πόρρωθεν καταπληκτικὸν ὁρᾶσθαι συνέβαινε τὸν στόλον διὰ τὸ πλῆθος.

And as Ptolemy was sailing against Salamis and the auxiliary vessels were following from afar, it happened that the fleet was a terrifying sight to look upon because of its multitude.

Syntax notes3 items

20.49.1τῆς Σαλαμῖνος
Genitive of separation modifying the verb of distance ἀπέχον.
20.49.3ἄγοντα
Present participle in the neuter plural nominative, agreeing in gender and number with its antecedent πόρια (transports).
20.49.3εἰ προσλάβοι
The optative is used in the conditional clause (optative of indirect discourse) to represent a future expectation from a past perspective dependent on ἤλπιζε.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:20.49.1-20.49.6