- 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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- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:20.79.1-20.79.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-06
Deinocrates, wishing to maintain his own power, obstructs Agathocles' peace proposals. Discerning his intent, Agathocles exposes Deinocrates' ambition to the exiles and secures a peace treaty with Carthage to reverse his fortunes.
Ἀγαθοκλῆς δʼ ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ τούτων μετεωρισθεὶς οὐδὲ τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ἐλπίδας ἐξελέγξας τῇ πείρᾳ1 τηλικαύτην ἀρχὴν ἔκδοτον πεποίηται ταῖς ὁμολογίαις. ταύτας δʼ ἀσυντελέστους συνέβη γενέσθαι2 τῇ μὲν Ἀγαθοκλέους προαιρέσει κυρωθείσας, διὰ δὲ τὴν Δεινοκράτους πλεονεξίαν μὴ προσδεχθείσας.
Agathocles, encouraged by none of these things and not even putting human hopes to the test of experience, surrendered so great a dominion by the agreements. But it happened that these agreements came to nothing, although they had been ratified by the choice of Agathocles, because they were not accepted owing to the greed of Deinocrates.
οὗτος γὰρ μοναρχίας ὢν ἐπιθυμητὴς τῆς μὲν ἐν ταῖς Συρακούσσαις δημοκρατίας ἀλλότριος ἦν, τῇ δὲ ἡγεμονίᾳ τῇ τότε οὔσῃ περὶ αὐτὸν εὐαρεστεῖτο· ἀφηγεῖτο γὰρ πεζῶν μὲν πλειόνων ἢ δισμυρίων, ἱππέων δὲ τρισχιλίων, πόλεων δὲ πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων, ὥστε αὐτὸν μὲν καλεῖσθαι τῶν φυγάδων στρατηγόν, τῇ δʼ ἀληθείᾳ βασιλικὴν ἔχειν ὑπεροχήν, τῆς ἐξουσίας οὔσης περὶ αὐτὸν αὐτοκράτορος.
For the latter, being desirous of monarchy, was hostile to the democracy in Syracuse, and was well pleased with the leadership that was then centered around him; for he commanded more than twenty thousand infantry, three thousand cavalry, and many great cities, so that although he was called the general of the exiles, in truth he possessed a kingly preeminence, since his authority was absolute.
εἰ κατέλθοι δʼ εἰς τὰς Συρακούσσας, πάντως ἀναγκαῖον ἂν ἦν3 ἰδιώτην ὑπάρχειν καὶ ἕνα τῶν πολλῶν ἀριθμεῖσθαι, τῆς αὐτονομίας ἀγαπώσης τὴν ἰσότητα, ἔν τε ταῖς χειροτονίαις ὑπὸ τοῦ τυχόντος δημαγωγοῦ παρευημερεῖσθαι,4 τοῦ πλήθους ἀντικειμένου ταῖς ὑπεροχαῖς τῶν ἀνδρῶν τῶν ἀγόντων παρρησίαν. διόπερ Ἀγαθοκλῆς μὲν δικαίως ἂν λέγοιτο λελοιπέναι τὴν τῆς τυραννίδος τάξιν, Δεινοκράτης δʼ αἴτιος εἶναι νομίζοιτο τῶν ὕστερον τῷ δυνάστῃ κατορθωθέντων.
If he should return to Syracuse, it would be absolutely necessary for him to be a private citizen and to be numbered as one of the many, since autonomy loves equality, and in the elections to be outstripped by any ordinary demagogue, since the multitude is opposed to the preeminence of men who speak with frankness. Therefore, Agathocles might justly be said to have abandoned the post of tyranny, but Deinocrates should be considered the cause of the successes subsequently achieved by the ruler.
οὗτος γάρ, συνεχῶς Ἀγαθοκλέους διαπρεσβευομένου περὶ τῶν ὁμολογιῶν καὶ δεομένου συγχωρῆσαι τὰ δύο φρούρια πρὸς καταβίωσιν, ἀεὶ προφάσεις εὐλόγους κατεσκεύαζε, διʼ ὧν διέκοπτε τὰς ἐλπίδας τῶν ὁμολογιῶν, ποτὲ μὲν ἀποφαινόμενος ἐκ Σικελίας αὐτὸν ἀπαλλάττεσθαι, ποτὲ δὲ τὰ τέκνα πρὸς ὁμηρίαν αἰτῶν.
For the latter, although Agathocles was continuously sending envoys concerning the agreements and begging to be allowed two fortresses for his retirement, always devised plausible pretexts by which he cut off the hopes of the agreements, at one time declaring that Agathocles must depart from Sicily, and at another time demanding his children as hostages.
ὁ δʼ Ἀγαθοκλῆς γνοὺς αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐπίνοιαν πρὸς μὲν τοὺς φυγάδας διεπέμπετο κατηγορῶν τοῦ Δεινοκράτους ὡς διακωλύοντος αὐτοῦ τυχεῖν αὐτοὺς τῆς αὐτονομίας, πρὸς δὲ Καρχηδονίους πρεσβευτὰς ἀποστείλας συνέθετο τὴν εἰρήνην ἐφʼ οἷς τὰς πόλεις κομίσασθαι τοὺς Φοίνικας5 πάσας τὰς πρότερον ὑπʼ αὐτοὺς γεγενημένας· ἀντὶ δὲ τούτων ἔλαβε παρὰ Καρχηδονίων χρυσίον μὲν εἰς ἀργυρίου λόγον ἀναγόμενον τριακοσίων ταλάντων, ὡς δὲ Τίμαιός φησιν, ἑκατὸν πεντήκοντα, σίτου δὲ μεδίμνων εἴκοσι μυριάδας. καὶ τὰ μὲν περὶ Σικελίαν ἐν τούτοις ἦν.
But Agathocles, recognizing his design, sent messengers to the exiles, accusing Deinocrates of preventing them from obtaining their autonomy; and having dispatched envoys to the Carthaginians, he concluded peace on the condition that the Phoenicians should recover all the cities that had formerly been subject to them. In return for these, he received from the Carthaginians gold amounting to the value of three hundred talents of silver (or, as Timaeus says, one hundred and fifty), and two hundred thousand medimnoi of grain. And such was the state of affairs in Sicily.
- 20.79.1οὐδὲ τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ἐλπίδας ἐξελέγξας τῇ πείρᾳ
The aorist active participle ἐξελέγξας (nominative masculine singular) is parallel to the preceding passive participle μετεωρισθείς and agrees with the subject Agathocles. The dative τῇ πείρᾳ expresses means.
- 20.79.1ταύτας δʼ ἀσυντελέστους συνέβη γενέσθαι
The impersonal verb συνέβη takes the infinitive γενέσθαι with its subject accusative ταύτας ("these agreements"). The adjective ἀσυντελέστους is a predicate accusative agreeing with the subject of the infinitive.
- 20.79.3εἰ κατέλθοι δʼ εἰς τὰς Συρακούσσας, πάντως ἀναγκαῖον ἂν ἦν...
A mixed conditional sentence with an optative in the protasis (εἰ κατέλθοι) and an indicative past with ἄν in the apodosis (ἀναγκαῖον ἂν ἦν). This structure emphasizes the past necessity of the counterfactual result.
- 20.79.3ἔν τε ταῖς χειροτονίαις ὑπὸ τοῦ τυχόντος δημαγωγοῦ παρευημερεῖσθαι
The passive infinitive παρευημερεῖσθαι ("to be outstripped / defeated") depends on the preceding ἀναγκαῖον ἂν ἦν, parallel with ὑπάρχειν and ἀριθμεῖσθαι. The agent is expressed by the prepositional phrase ὑπὸ τοῦ τυχόντος δημαγωγοῦ.
- 20.79.5ἐφʼ οἷς τὰς πόλεις κομίσασθαι τοὺς Φοίνικας
The phrase ἐφʼ οἷς (equivalent to ἐπὶ τούτοις ὥστε) introduces the condition "on the terms that." It is followed by the infinitive κομίσασθαι, whose subject accusative is τοὺς Φοίνικας ("the Phoenicians").