- 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-grc6:20.67.1-20.67.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-06
The Greek army under Agathocles also falls into a similar panic due to misidentifying the retreating Libyans as the Carthaginian army, resulting in over four thousand casualties from friendly fire. Both armies thus suffer heavily from the proverbial "empty alarms of war."
οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἀγαθοκλέα κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον δι’ ἀπάτην καὶ προσδοκίαν ψευδῆ ταῖς ὁμοίαις περιέπεσον συμφοραῖς. τῶν γὰρ ἀποστατῶν Λιβύων μετὰ τὸν ἐμπυρισμὸν τῆς παρεμβολῆς καὶ τὸν γενόμενον θόρυβον οὐ τολμησάντων προάγειν, ἀλλʼ εἰς τοὐπίσω πάλιν ἐπανιόντων1 τῶν Ἑλλήνων τινὲς αἰσθόμενοι προσιόντας αὐτοὺς καὶ δόξαντες τὴν τῶν Καρχηδονίων δύναμιν ἥκειν2 ἀπήγγειλαν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἀγαθοκλέα πλησίον ὑπάρχειν τὸ τῶν πολεμίων στρατόπεδον.
At the same time, those around Agathocles, through deception and a false expectation, fell into similar disasters. For since the revolted Libyans, after the burning of the camp and the confusion that arose, did not dare to advance but were returning back again, some of the Greeks, perceiving them approaching and supposing that the force of the Carthaginians had come, reported to those around Agathocles that the army of the enemy was near.
τοῦ δυνάστου δὲ παραγγείλαντος εἰς ὅπλα χωρεῖν, ἐξέπιπτον ἐκ τῆς στρατοπεδείας οἱ στρατιῶται μετὰ πολλοῦ θορύβου. ἅμα δὲ τῆς τε κατὰ τὴν παρεμβολὴν φλογὸς εἰς ὕψος ἀρθείσης καὶ τῆς τῶν Καρχηδονίων κραυγῆς ἐξακούστου γινομένης ὑπέλαβον πρὸς ἀλήθειαν τοὺς βαρβάρους ἁπάσῃ τῇ δυνάμει προσάγειν ἐπʼ αὐτούς.
When the ruler ordered them to take up arms, the soldiers rushed out of the camp with great tumult. At the same time, as the flame at the camp rose to a height and the shouting of the Carthaginians became clearly audible, they supposed in truth that the barbarians were advancing against them with their entire force.
τῆς δʼ ἐκπλήξεως τὸ βουλεύεσθαι παραιρουμένης3 ἐνέπεσε φόβος εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον καὶ πάντες πρὸς φυγὴν ὥρμησαν. εἶτα προσμιξάντων αὐτοῖς τῶν Λιβύων καὶ τῆς νυκτὸς μείζονα τὴν ἄγνοιαν φυλαττούσης οἱ περιτυγχάνοντες ἀλλήλους ὡς πολεμίους ἠμύνοντο.
Since panic deprived them of counsel, fear fell upon the camp and everyone rushed to flight. Then, when the Libyans joined them, and the night preserved their ignorance even greater, those who encountered one another defended themselves against each other as if they were enemies.
ὅλην δὲ τὴν νύκτα πανταχῇ διασπειρομένων αὐτῶν καὶ πανικῷ θορύβῳ συνεχομένων συνέβη πλείους τῶν τετρακισχιλίων ἀναιρεθῆναι. ἐπιγνωσθείσης δὲ μόγις τῆς ἀληθείας οἱ διασωθέντες ἐπανῆλθον εἰς τὴν παρεμβολήν. αἱ μὲν οὖν δυνάμεις ἀμφότεραι τὸν εἰρημένον τρόπον ἠτύχησαν, ἐξαπατηθεῖσαι κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν τοῖς κενοῖς τοῦ πολέμου.4
As they were scattered everywhere throughout the whole night and held by panic confusion, it happened that more than four thousand were slain. When the truth was at last recognized, those who had escaped returned to the camp. Thus both forces met with misfortune in the manner described, being deceived, as the proverb says, by the empty alarms of war.
- 20.67.1τῶν γὰρ ἀποστατῶν Λιβύων ... ἐπανιόντων
A genitive absolute construction, expressing the background circumstances (cause or time) involving a subject different from that of the main clause (τινές).
- 20.67.1αἰσθόμενοι προσιόντας αὐτοὺς καὶ δόξαντες τὴν τῶν Καρχηδονίων δύναμιν ἥκειν
Two nominative participles, αἰσθόμενοι and δόξαντες, are connected by καί. The former, as a verb of perception, takes the accusative participle προσιόντας αὐτοὺς as its complement; the latter, as a verb of thinking, governs the accusative and infinitive clause τὴν ... δύναμιν ἥκειν.
- 20.67.3τῆς δʼ ἐκπλήξεως τὸ βουλεύεσθαι παραιρουμένης
A genitive absolute construction. The articular infinitive τὸ βουλεύεσθαι (deliberation, rational judgment) functions as the direct object (accusative) of the participle παραιρουμένης (depriving, taking away).
- 20.67.4τοῖς κενοῖς τοῦ πολέμου
The neuter plural substantivized adjective τὰ κενά (empty things) combined with the genitive τοῦ πολέμου (of war), proverbially referring to "unfounded panics" or "empty alarms of war."