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Herodotus · Histories §6.23.1-6.23.6

Samian Seizure of Zancle and the Betrayal by Hippocrates

Passage 925 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Upon arriving in Sicily, the Samians occupy the defenseless city of Zancle on the advice of Anaxilaus, and Hippocrates, who was an ally of the Zancleans, betrays them and hands them over to the Samians after making a pact.

§6.23.1Σάμιοι γὰρ κομιζόμενοι ἐς Σικελίην ἐγίνοντο ἐν Λοκροῖσι τοῖσι Ἐπιζεφυρίοισι, καὶ Ζαγκλαῖοι αὐτοί τε καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐτῶν, τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Σκύθης, περικατέατο πόλιν τῶν Σικελῶν ἐξελεῖν βουλόμενοι.
For the Samians, while on their way to Sicily, arrived at Epizephyrian Locri, and the Zancleans themselves and their king, whose name was Scythes, were besieging a city of the Sicels, wishing to capture it.
§6.23.2μαθὼν δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Ῥηγίου τύραννος Ἀναξίλεως, τότε ἐὼν διάφορος τοῖσι Ζαγκλαίοισι, συμμίξας τοῖσι Σαμίοισι ἀναπείθει ὡς χρεὸν εἴη Καλὴν μὲν ἀκτήν, ἐπʼ ἣν ἔπλεον, ἐᾶν χαίρειν, τὴν δὲ Ζάγκλην σχεῖν ἐοῦσαν ἔρημον ἀνδρῶν.
But when Anaxilaus, the tyrant of Rhegium, who was then at variance with the Zancleans, learned of this, he met with the Samians and persuaded them that they ought to let Kale Akte, toward which they were sailing, go, and instead occupy Zancle, which was empty of men.
§6.23.3πειθομένων δὲ τῶν Σαμίων καὶ σχόντων τὴν Ζάγκλην, ἐνθαῦτα οἱ Ζαγκλαῖοι, ὡς ἐπύθοντο ἐχομένην τὴν πόλιν ἑωυτῶν, ἐβοήθεον αὐτῇ καὶ ἐπεκαλέοντο Ἱπποκράτεα τὸν Γέλης τύραννον· ἦν γὰρ δή σφι οὗτος σύμμαχος.
When the Samians were persuaded and occupied Zancle, the Zancleans thereupon, as soon as they learned that their city was held, came to its aid and called upon Hippocrates, the tyrant of Gela; for he was indeed their ally.
§6.23.4ἐπείτε δὲ αὐτοῖσι καὶ ὁ Ἱπποκράτης σὺν τῇ στρατιῇ ἧκε βοηθέων, Σκύθην μὲν τὸν μούναρχον τῶν Ζαγκλαίων ὡς ἀποβαλόντα τὴν πόλιν ὁ Ἱπποκράτης πεδήσας καὶ τὸν ἀδελφεὸν αὐτοῦ Πυθογένεα ἐς Ἴνυκα πόλιν ἀπέπεμψε, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς Ζαγκλαίους κοινολογησάμενος τοῖσι Σαμίοισι καὶ ὅρκους δοὺς καὶ δεξάμενος προέδωκε.
When Hippocrates also came to their aid with his army, he fettered Scythes, the monarch of the Zancleans, on the ground of having lost the city, and sent him and his brother Pythogenes to the city of Inyx, while the rest of the Zancleans he betrayed and delivered up, after holding a conference with the Samians and giving and receiving oaths.
§6.23.5μισθὸς δέ οἱ ἦν εἰρημένος ὅδε ὑπὸ τῶν Σαμίων, πάντων τῶν ἐπίπλων καὶ ἀνδραπόδων τὰ ἡμίσεα μεταλαβεῖν τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλι, τὰ δʼ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀγρῶν πάντα Ἱπποκράτεα λαγχάνειν.
And the reward agreed upon for him by the Samians was this: that he should receive half of all the movable goods and slaves in the city, and that Hippocrates should obtain everything in the fields.
§6.23.6τοὺς μὲν δὴ πλεῦνας τῶν Ζαγκλαίων αὐτὸς ἐν ἀνδραπόδων λόγῳ εἶχε δήσας, τοὺς δὲ κορυφαίους αὐτῶν τριηκοσίους ἔδωκε τοῖσι Σαμίοισι κατασφάξαι· οὐ μέντοι οἵ γε Σάμιοι ἐποίησαν ταῦτα.
Thus, he himself kept the majority of the Zancleans bound as slaves, and three hundred of their leading men he gave to the Samians to slaughter; however, the Samians did not do this.

Notes

  1. §6.23.2ἐᾶν χαίρειν — An idiomatic expression combining the infinitive ἐᾶν and χαίρειν (literally 'to bid farewell to', 'to let go', 'to dismiss'). Here it refers to abandoning the plan for Kale Akte, which was their original destination.
  2. §6.23.4ὡς ἀποβαλόντα — The participle with the conjunction ὡς expresses a subjective or alleged reason ('on the ground of having lost', 'alleging that he lost'). It indicates the ostensible reason given by Hippocrates for fettering Scythes.
  3. §6.23.5μεταλαβεῖν — The infinitive μεταλαβεῖν (and the subsequent λαγχάνειν) is used in an appositional or explanatory sense, defining the content of the main clause's noun phrase μισθὸς ... ὅδε ('this reward').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §6.23.1-6.23.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.23.1-6.23.6

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