- 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-grc6:20.50.1-20.50.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
Demetrius and Ptolemy both draw up their fleets in preparation for the upcoming sea-fight off Salamis, and offer prayers to the gods before the battle begins.
ὁ δὲ Δημήτριος κατανοήσας τὸν ἐπίπλουν Ἀντισθένην μὲν τὸν ναύαρχον ἔχοντα ναῦς δέκα τῶν πεντηρικῶν ἀπέλιπε κωλύσοντα1 τὰς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ναῦς ἐπεξιέναι πρὸς τὴν ναυμαχίαν, ἔχοντος τοῦ λιμένος στενὸν τὸν ἔκπλουν,2 τοῖς δʼ ἱππεῦσι προσέταξε παράγειν παρὰ τὸν αἰγιαλόν, ἵνʼ ἐάν τι γένηται πταῖσμα, διασώσαιεν τοὺς πρὸς τὴν γῆν διανηξομένους.
But Demetrius, having perceived their approach, left Antisthenes the admiral with ten of the quinqueremes to prevent the ships from the city from going out to join the sea-fight, since the harbor had a narrow exit; and he ordered the cavalry to advance along the shore, so that if any mishap should occur, they might rescue those who swam to the land.
αὐτὸς δʼ ἐκτάξας τὰς ναῦς ἀπήντα τοῖς πολεμίοις, ἔχων τὰς ἁπάσας ὀκτὼ πλείους τῶν ἑκατὸν σὺν ταῖς πληρωθείσαις ἐκ τῶν χωρίων τῶν ληφθέντων· τούτων δʼ ἦσαν αἱ μέγισται μὲν ἑπτήρεις, αἱ πλεῖσται δὲ πεντήρεις.
He himself, having drawn up his ships, went to meet the enemy, having in all one hundred and eight, including those manned from the captured places; of these, the largest were septiremes, and the most were quinqueremes.
καὶ τὸ μὲν εὐώνυμον κέρας ἐπεῖχον ἑπτήρεις ἑπτὰ Φοινίκων, τετρήρεις δὲ τριάκοντα τῶν Ἀθηναίων, Μηδίου τοῦ ναυάρχου τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἔχοντος· ἐπίπλους3 δὲ τούτοις ἔταξεν ἑξήρεις δέκα καὶ πεντήρεις ἄλλας τοσαύτας, διεγνωκὼς ἰσχυρὸν κατασκευάσαι τοῦτο τὸ κέρας ἐφʼ οὗ καὶ αὐτὸς ἤμελλε διαγωνίζεσθαι.
And the left wing was occupied by seven septiremes of the Phoenicians, and thirty quadriremes of the Athenians, Medius the admiral having the command; and as a support for these he stationed ten hexaremes and as many other quinqueremes, having resolved to make strong this wing, on which he himself was also going to fight.
κατὰ μέσην δὲ τὴν τάξιν τὰ ἐλάχιστα τῶν σκαφῶν ἔστησεν, ὧν ἡγοῦντο Θεμίσων τε ὁ Σάμιος καὶ Μαρσύας ὁ τὰς Μακεδονικὰς πράξεις συνταξάμενος. τὸ δὲ δεξιὸν εἶχε κέρας Ἡγήσιππός τε ὁ Ἁλικαρνασσεὺς καὶ Πλειστίας ὁ Κῷος, ἀρχικυβερνήτης ὢν τοῦ σύμπαντος στόλου.
In the center of the line he stationed the smallest of the vessels, which were commanded by Themison the Samian and Marsyas who composed the history of Macedonian affairs. And the right wing was held by Hegesippus of Halicarnassus and Pleistias of Cos, who was the chief pilot of the entire fleet.
Πτολεμαῖος δὲ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἔτι νυκτὸς ἐπέπλει κατὰ σπουδὴν ἐπὶ τὴν Σαλαμῖνα, νομίζων φθάσαι τοὺς πολεμίους τὸν εἴσπλουν ποιησάμενος·4 ὡς δʼ ἡμέρας ἐπιγενομένης οὐ μακρὰν ὁ τῶν ἐναντίων στόλος ἐκτεταγμένος ἑωρᾶτο, καὶ αὐτὸς τὰ πρὸς τὴν ναυμαχίαν παρεσκευάζετο.
Now Ptolemy, at first, while it was still night, was sailing in haste against Salamis, thinking that he would forestall the enemy by making his entrance; but when day broke and the enemy’s fleet was seen drawn up not far away, he also began to prepare for the sea-fight.
τὰ μὲν οὖν πόρια πόρρωθεν ἐπακολουθεῖν παρήγγειλεν, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων νεῶν τὴν ἁρμόζουσαν τάξιν ποιησάμενος αὐτὸς τὸ λαιὸν κέρας διακατεῖχε, συναγωνιζομένων αὐτῷ τῶν μεγίστων σκαφῶν. τοιαύτης δὲ τῆς διατάξεως γενομένης εὐχὰς ἑκάτεροι τοῖς θεοῖς ἐποιοῦντο, καθάπερ ἦν ἔθος, διὰ τῶν κελευστῶν, συνεπιλαβομένου καὶ τοῦ πλήθους τῇ φωνῇ.
He, therefore, ordered the transports to follow at a distance, and having made the fitting arrangement of the other ships, he himself occupied the left wing, with the largest vessels fighting alongside him. When this disposition had been made, both sides made prayers to the gods, as was the custom, through the boatswains, with the multitude also joining in with their voices.
- 20.50.1κωλύσοντα
Future participle expressing purpose, modifying the noun Ἀντισθένην. It takes the following accusative and infinitive construction (τὰς ... ἐπεξιέναι) meaning 'in order to prevent...'
- 20.50.1ἔχοντος τοῦ λιμένος στενὸν τὸν ἔκπλουν
Genitive absolute construction. The adjective στενόν ('narrow') is in the predicate position, meaning 'since the harbor had its exit narrow,' expressing the reason or circumstance.
- 20.50.3ἐπίπλους
Accusative plural of the noun ἐπίπλους ('reinforcement' or 'support fleet'), functioning here in an appositive or predicative sense to mean 'as a reserve force' or 'as support ships'.
- 20.50.5φθάσαι τοὺς πολεμίους τὸν εἴσπλουν ποιησάμενος
The verb φθάνω ('to forestall' or 'to anticipate') is typically construed with a participle to mean 'to do something before someone else.' Here, the infinitive φθάσαι is combined with the nominative participle ποιησάμενος (agreeing with the subject of νομίζων) to express 'forestalling the enemy by making the entrance.'