- 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
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:20.95.1-20.95.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-06
Demetrius deploys his completed massive siege tower and battering rams to launch a general assault on Rhodes. After an attempted mediation by Cnidian envoys fails, the siege is resumed, and Demetrius demolishes a sturdy tower and adjacent wall.
Δημήτριος δὲ τῶν τε μηχανῶν αὐτῷ1 τέλος ἐχουσῶν καὶ τοῦ πρὸς τὸ τεῖχος τόπου παντὸς ἀνακαθαρθέντος τὴν μὲν ἑλέπολιν μέσην ἔστησε, τὰς δὲ χωστρίδας χελώνας ἐπιδιεῖλεν, οὔσας ὀκτώ· κατέστησεν δʼ εἰς ἑκάτερον μέρος τῆς μηχανῆς τέτταρας καὶ τούτων ἑκάστῃ συνῆψεν στοὰν μίαν εἰς τὸ δύνασθαι μετʼ ἀσφαλείας ἐπιτελεῖν τὸ προσταττόμενον τοὺς εἰσιόντας τε καὶ πάλιν ἐξιόντας,2 κριοφόρους δὲ δύο πολλαπλασίας τοῖς μεγέθεσιν· εἶχε γὰρ ἑκατέραν πηχῶν ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι, σεσιδηρωμένην καὶ τὴν ἐμβολὴν ἔχουσαν παραπλησίαν νεὼς ἐμβόλῳ, καὶ προωθουμένην μὲν εὐκινήτως, ὑπότροχον δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐναγώνιον ἐνέργειαν λαμβάνουσαν δι’ ἀνδρῶν οὐκ ἐλαττόνων ἢ χιλίων.
When his engines were completed and all the ground leading to the wall had been cleared, Demetrius set up the Helepolis in the center, and distributed the tortoise-shelters for filling trenches, which were eight in number; he stationed four of them on each side of the engine and connected to each of them a gallery, so that those entering and leaving again might be able to perform their assigned duty in safety, and also two battering rams many times larger than the usual ones in size. For each of these was one hundred and twenty cubits long, plated with iron and having a projecting point similar to the ram of a ship, and it was easily pushed forward, being on wheels and receiving its driving force during action from no fewer than a thousand men.
μέλλων δὲ προσάγειν τὰς μηχανὰς τοῖς τείχεσι τοὺς μὲν πετροβόλους καὶ τοὺς ὀξυβελεῖς παρήνεγκε τῆς ἑλεπόλεως εἰς ἑκάστην στέγην τοὺς ἁρμόζοντας, ἐπὶ δὲ τοὺς λιμένας καὶ τοὺς πλησίον τόπους ἀπέστειλε τὴν ναυτικὴν δύναμιν, πρὸς δὲ τὸ λοιπὸν τεῖχος τὸ δυνάμενον προσβολὰς δέξασθαι τὸ πεζὸν στρατόπεδον ἐπιδιεῖλεν.
As he was about to bring the engines against the walls, he brought the appropriate stone-throwers and bolt-projectors to each story of the Helepolis, while he dispatched his naval force against the harbors and the nearby areas, and distributed his infantry army against the remaining part of the wall that was capable of receiving assaults.
ἔπειτα δὲ πρὸς ἓν παρακέλευσμα καὶ σημεῖον πάντων συναλαλαξάντων πανταχόθεν τῇ πόλει προσβολὰς ἐποιεῖτο. διασείοντος δʼ αὐτοῦ τοῖς κριοῖς καὶ τοῖς πετροβόλοις τὰ τείχη παρεγενήθησαν Κνιδίων πρέσβεις, ἀξιοῦντες ἐπισχεῖν καὶ πείσειν ἐπαγγελλόμενοι τοὺς Ῥοδίους δέχεσθαι3 τὰ δυνατώτατα τῶν προσταγμάτων.
Then, at a single command and signal, when all raised the war-cry together, he made assaults on the city from all sides. While he was shaking the walls with his rams and stone-throwers, ambassadors from Cnidus arrived, asking him to hold back and promising to persuade the Rhodians to accept the most possible of his demands.
ἀνέντος δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τῶν πρέσβεων δεῦρο κἀκεῖσε πολλὰ διαλεχθέντων πέρας οὐ δυναμένων συμφωνῆσαι πάλιν ἐνηργεῖτο τὰ τῆς πολιορκίας. καὶ Δημήτριος μὲν κατέβαλε τὸν στερεώτατον τῶν πύργων, ᾠκοδομημένον ἐκ λίθων τετραπέδων, καὶ μεσοπύργιον ὅλον διέσεισεν, ὥστε μὴ δύνασθαι τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει πάροδον ἔχειν ἐπὶ τὰς ἐπάλξεις κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν τόπον.
When the king relaxed his attack and the ambassadors had talked much to and fro, but in the end were unable to come to an agreement, the operations of the siege were actively carried on again. And Demetrius threw down the strongest of the towers, built of squared stones, and shook an entire curtain wall, so that those in the city were unable to have access to the battlements at this place.
- 20.95.1αὐτῷ
The dative αὐτῷ functions as a dative of interest (dativus commodi) or possession in relation to the coordinated genitive absolute phrase (τῶν τε μηχανῶν αὐτῷ τέλος ἐχουσῶν), indicating that the completion of these engines occurred for Demetrius or under his control.
- 20.95.1εἰς τὸ δύνασθαι μετʼ ἀσφαλείας ἐπιτελεῖν τὸ προσταττόμενον τοὺς εἰσιόντας τε καὶ πάλιν ἐξιόντας
In the prepositional purpose clause starting with εἰς τὸ followed by the infinitive δύνασθαι, the grammatical subject of this infinitive is the accusative phrase τοὺς εἰσιόντας τε καὶ πάλιν ἐξιόντας placed at the end of the clause through hyperbaton, while τὸ προσταττόμενον serves as the object of the dependent infinitive ἐπιτελεῖν.
- 20.95.4ἀξιοῦντες ἐπισχεῖν καὶ πείσειν ἐπαγγελλόμενοι τοὺς Ῥοδίους δέχεσθαι
The two participles ἀξιοῦντες and ἐπαγγελλόμενοι modify the main verb παρεγενήθησαν. The future infinitive πείσειν depends on ἐπαγγελλόμενοι as a complementary infinitive and takes τοὺς Ῥοδίους as its object, which in turn acts as the subject of the dependent infinitive δέχεσθαι.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1