Geography of Sicily and the Siege of Lilybaeum — Polybius, The Histories Book 1 (1.42.1–1.42.13), Greek & English

§1.42.1

τὴν μὲν οὖν σύμπασαν Σικελίαν τῇ θέσει τετάχθαι συμβαίνει¹ πρὸς τὴν Ἰταλίαν καὶ τἀκείνης πέρατα παραπλησίως τῇ τῆς Πελοποννήσου θέσει πρὸς τὴν λοιπὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τὰ ταύτης ἄκρα, τούτῳ δʼ αὐτῷ διαφέρειν² ἀλλήλων, ᾗ ʼκείνη μὲν χερρόνησός ἐστιν, αὕτη δὲ νῆσος· ἧς μὲν γὰρ ὁ μεταξὺ τόπος ἐστὶ πορευτός, ἧς δὲ πλωτός.

Now, the whole of Sicily, in its position, happens to be situated in relation to Italy and its extremities in much the same way as the position of the Peloponnese in relation to the rest of Greece and its capes, differing from each other in this very respect, that the latter is a peninsula, while the former is an island; for the passage between the one is made by land, and that of the other by sea.

§1.42.3

τὸ δὲ σχῆμα τῆς Σικελίας ἐστὶ μὲν τρίγωνον, αἱ δὲ κορυφαὶ τῶν γωνιῶν ἑκάστης ἀκρωτηρίων λαμβάνουσι τάξεις, ὧν τὸ μὲν πρὸς μεσημβρίαν νεῦον, εἰς δὲ τὸ Σικελικὸν πέλαγος ἀνατεῖνον Πάχυνος καλεῖται, τὸ δʼ εἰς τὰς ἄρκτους κεκλιμένον ὁρίζει μὲν τοῦ πορθμοῦ τὸ πρὸς δύσεις μέρος, ἀπέχει δὲ τῆς Ἰταλίας ὡς δεκαδύο στάδια, προσαγορεύεται δὲ Πελωριάς.

The shape of Sicily is triangular, and the summits of each of its angles take the rank of capes. That which points to the south and extends into the Sicilian sea is called Pachynus. That which inclines to the north bounds the western part of the strait, and is about twelve stades distant from Italy; it is called Pelorias.

§1.42.6

τὸ δὲ τρίτον τέτραπται μὲν εἰς αὐτὴν τὴν Λιβύην, ἐπίκειται δὲ τοῖς προκειμένοις τῆς Καρχηδόνος ἀκρωτηρίοις εὐκαίρως, διέχον ὡς χιλίους σταδίους, νεύει δʼ εἰς χειμερινὰς δύσεις, διαιρεῖ δὲ τὸ Λιβυκὸν καὶ τὸ Σαρδῷον πέλαγος, προσαγορεύεται δὲ Λιλύβαιον.

The third faces Libya itself, lying conveniently opposite the promontories of Carthage, at a distance of about a thousand stades, pointing towards the winter sunset, dividing the Libyan and Sardinian seas; it is called Lilybaeum.

§1.42.7

ἐπὶ δὲ τούτῳ πόλις ὁμώνυμος κεῖται τῷ τόπῳ, περὶ ἣν τότε συνέβαινε τοὺς Ῥωμαίους συνίστασθαι τὴν πολιορκίαν, τείχεσί τε διαφερόντως ἠσφαλισμένην³ καὶ πέριξ τάφρῳ βαθείᾳ καὶ τενάγεσιν ἐκ θαλάττης, διʼ ὧν ἐστιν εἰς τοὺς λιμένας εἴσπλους πολλῆς δεόμενος ἐμπειρίας καὶ συνηθείας.

Upon this cape lies a city of the same name, around which at that time the Romans happened to establish their siege. It was exceptionally well fortified with walls, and surrounded by a deep ditch and by shallows from the sea, through which the passage into the harbors required much experience and familiarity.

§1.42.8

ταύτῃ δὲ προσστρατοπεδεύσαντες ἐξ ἑκατέρου μέρους οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι καὶ τὰ μεταξὺ τῶν στρατοπέδων τάφρῳ καὶ χάρακι καὶ τείχει διαλαβόντες ἤρξαντο προσάγειν ἔργα κατὰ τὸν ἔγγιστα κείμενον τῆς θαλάττης πύργον ὡς πρὸς τὸ Λιβυκὸν πέλαγος.

The Romans, having encamped against it on both sides and secured the space between their camps with a ditch, a palisade, and a wall, began to advance their works against the tower lying closest to the sea, facing the Libyan sea.

§1.42.9

προσκατασκευάζοντες δʼ ἀεὶ τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις καὶ παρεκτείνοντες τῶν ἔργων τὰς κατασκευὰς τέλος ἓξ πύργους τοὺς συνεχεῖς τῷ προειρημένῳ κατέβαλον, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς πάντας ἅμα κριοκοπεῖν ἐνεχείρησαν.

Always adding new structures to the existing ones and extending the range of their works, they finally threw down six towers adjacent to the aforesaid one, and at the same time attempted to batter all the remaining ones with battering rams.

§1.42.10

γινομένης δʼ ἐνεργοῦ καὶ καταπληκτικῆς τῆς πολιορκίας, καὶ τῶν πύργων τῶν μὲν πονούντων ἀνʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, τῶν δʼ ἐρειπομένων, ἅμα δὲ καὶ τῶν ἔργων ἐπιβαινόντων ἀεὶ καὶ μᾶλλον ἐντὸς τῆς πόλεως, ἦν ἰσχυρὰ διατροπὴ καὶ κατάπληξις παρὰ τοῖς πολιορκουμένοις, καίπερ ὄντων ἐν τῇ πόλει χωρὶς τοῦ πολιτικοῦ πλήθους αὐτῶν τῶν μισθοφόρων εἰς μυρίους.

As the siege became active and terrifying, with some of the towers suffering damage every day and others falling in ruins, and with the works advancing more and more into the city, there was great consternation and alarm among the besieged, even though there were in the city, besides the mass of citizens, about ten thousand mercenaries.

§1.42.12

οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ὅ γε στρατηγὸς αὐτῶν Ἰμίλκων οὐδὲν παρέλειπε τῶν δυνατῶν, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἀντοικοδομῶν, τὰ δʼ ἀντιμεταλλεύων οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν⁴ ἀπορίαν παρεῖχε τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις.

Nevertheless, their general, Himilco, left nothing undone that was possible, but by building counter-walls and digging counter-mines, he caused no ordinary difficulty to the enemy.

§1.42.13

ἔτι δὲ καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐπιπορευόμενος καὶ τοῖς ἔργοις ἐγχειρῶν, εἴ πως δύναιτο πῦρ ἐμβαλεῖν, πολλοὺς ὑπὲρ τούτου τοῦ μέρους καὶ παραβόλους ἀγῶνας δὴ συνίστατο καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτωρ, ὥστε πλείους ἐνίοτε γίνεσθαι νεκροὺς ἐν ταῖς τοιαύταις συμπλοκαῖς τῶν εἰωθότων πίπτειν ἐν ταῖς παρατάξεσι.

Moreover, making sorties every day and attacking the works, in the hope of somehow setting them on fire, he engaged in many hazardous combats for this object, both by day and by night, so that sometimes more died in these encounters than those who usually fell in regular battles.

Syntax notes4 items

1.42.1τετάχθαι συμβαίνει
The impersonal verb συμβαίνει governs the perfect passive infinitive τετάχθαι, with Σικελίαν serving as its subject accusative.
1.42.2διαφέρειν
An infinitive that either depends on συμβαίνει in the preceding sentence or functions as an infinitive in indirect discourse, continuing the narrative.
1.42.7ἠσφαλισμένην
A participle that logically agrees with the nominative noun πόλις, but is attracted into the accusative case (ἠσφαλισμένην) due to the influence of the relative pronoun ἣν or the overall accusative-and-infinitive structure.
1.42.12οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν
A classic example of litotes; the negation of ὁ τυχών ("ordinary" or "common") expresses the strong meaning of "extraordinary" or "no common."

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.42.1-1.42.13