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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §11.21.1-11.21.5

Gelon's Relief of Himera and Plan for a Surprise Attack

Passage 22 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Gelon of Syracuse arrives at Himera with a strong reinforcing army, clearing the Carthaginian raiders to capture numerous prisoners and boosting the city's morale. He then intercepts a letter revealing that Hamilcar is expecting cavalry from Selinus, and devises a plan to use his own cavalry to infiltrate the enemy camp and eliminate Hamilcar.

§11.21.1ὁ δὲ Γέλων καὶ αὐτὸς ἡτοιμακὼς ἦν τὴν δύναμιν, πυθόμενος δὲ τὴν τῶν Ἱμεραίων ἀθυμίαν ἀνέζευξεν ἐκ τῶν Συρακουσῶν κατὰ σπουδήν, ἔχων πεζοὺς μὲν οὐκ ἐλάττους τῶν πεντακισμυρίων, ἱππεῖς δὲ ὑπὲρ τοὺς πεντακισχιλίους.
Gelon, who had himself also made his army ready, on learning of the despondency of the Himeraeans, set out from Syracuse in haste, having a land force of not less than fifty thousand and over five thousand cavalry.
διανύσας δὲ ταχέως τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ πλησιάσας τῇ πόλει τῶν Ἱμεραίων, ἐποίησε θαρρεῖν τοὺς πρότερον καταπεπληγμένους τὰς τῶν Καρχηδονίων δυνάμεις.
Having quickly completed his journey and approached the city of the Himeraeans, he inspired courage in those who had previously been terrified of the forces of the Carthaginians.
§11.21.2αὐτὸς μὲν γὰρ στρατοπεδείαν οἰκείαν βαλόμενος τῶν περὶ τὴν πόλιν τόπων, ταύτην μὲν ὠχύρωσε τάφρῳ βαθείᾳ καὶ χαρακώματι περιλαβών, τοὺς δʼ ἱππεῖς ἅπαντας ἐξαπέστειλεν ἐπὶ τοὺς κατὰ τὴν χώραν πλανωμένους τῶν πολεμίων καὶ περὶ τὰς ὠφελείας διατρίβοντας.
For he himself, having established his own camp in the places around the city, fortified it by surrounding it with a deep ditch and a palisade, and sent out all his cavalry against those of the enemy who were wandering over the countryside and occupied with gathering booty.
οὗτοι δὲ παραδόξως ἐπιφανέντες διεσπαρμένοις ἀτάκτως κατὰ τὴν χώραν, τοσούτους ἀνῆγον αἰχμαλώτους ὅσους ἕκαστος ἄγειν ἠδύνατο.
These, appearing unexpectedly to the enemy who were scattered in disorder over the countryside, brought back as many captives as each of them was able to lead.
εἰσαχθέντων δὲ αἰχμαλώτων εἰς τὴν πόλιν πλειόνων ἢ μυρίων, ὁ μὲν Γέλων μεγάλης ἀποδοχῆς ἐτύγχανεν, οἱ δὲ κατὰ τὴν Ἱμέραν κατεφρόνησαν τῶν πολεμίων.
When more than ten thousand captives had been brought into the city, Gelon met with a great reception, and the people in Himera came to despise the enemy.
§11.21.3ἀκόλουθα δὲ τούτοις πράττων ὁ μὲν Γέλων ἁπάσας τὰς πύλας, ἃς διὰ φόβον πρότερον ἐνῳκοδόμησαν οἱ περὶ Θήρωνα, ταύτας τοὐναντίον διὰ τὴν καταφρόνησιν ἐξῳκοδόμησε, καὶ ἄλλας προσκατεσκεύασε, διʼ ὧν ἦν εὐχρηστεῖσθαι πρὸς τὰς κατεπειγούσας χρείας.
Acting in accordance with these events, Gelon, on the contrary, because of their contempt for the enemy, opened up all the gates which Theron's men had previously walled up out of fear, and constructed additional ones through which they could easily serve their pressing needs.
καθόλου δὲ Γέλων στρατηγίᾳ καὶ συνέσει διαφέρων εὐθὺς ἐζήτει, διʼ οὗ τρόπου καταστρατηγήσας τοὺς βαρβάρους ἀκινδύνως αὐτῶν ἄρδην ἀνελεῖ τὴν δύναμιν.
In general, Gelon, excelling as he did in generalship and intelligence, immediately sought by what means he might outgeneral the barbarians and utterly destroy their force without risk.
συνεβάλετο δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ αὐτόματον πρὸς τὴν ἐπίνοιαν μεγάλα, τοιαύτης γενομένης περιστάσεως.
And chance also contributed greatly to his plan, when a circumstance of the following kind occurred.
§11.21.4κρίναντος αὐτοῦ τὰς τῶν πολεμίων ναῦς ἐμπρῆσαι, καὶ τοῦ Ἀμίλκα διατρίβοντος μὲν κατὰ τὴν ναυτικὴν στρατοπεδείαν, παρασκευαζομένου δὲ θύειν τῷ Ποσειδῶνι μεγαλοπρεπῶς, ἧκον ἀπὸ τῆς χώρας ἱππεῖς ἄγοντες πρὸς τὸν Γέλωνα βιβλιαφόρον ἐπιστολὰς κομίζοντα παρὰ Σελινουντίων, ἐν αἷς ἦν γεγραμμένον, ὅτι πρὸς ἣν ἔγραψεν ἡμέραν Ἀμίλκας ἀποστεῖλαι τοὺς ἱππεῖς, πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐκπέμψουσιν.
When he had decided to set fire to the enemy's ships, and Hamilcar was staying in the naval camp and preparing to offer a magnificent sacrifice to Poseidon, there came from the countryside cavalry bringing to Gelon a letter-carrier who was bearing letters from the Selinuntians, in which it had been written that they would send out the cavalry on the very day on which Hamilcar had written for them to send them.
§11.21.5οὔσης δὲ τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης καθʼ ἣν ἔμελλε συντελεῖν τὴν θυσίαν Ἀμίλκας, κατὰ ταύτην Γέλων ἀπέστειλεν ἰδίους ἱππεῖς, οἷς ἦν προστεταγμένον περιελθεῖν τοὺς πλησίον τόπους καὶ προσελαύνειν ἅμʼ ἡμέρᾳ πρὸς τὴν ναυτικὴν στρατοπεδείαν, ὡς ὄντας Σελινουντίων συμμάχους, γενομένους δʼ ἐντὸς τοῦ ξυλίνου τείχους τὸν μὲν Ἀμίλκαν ἀποκτεῖναι, τὰς δὲ ναῦς ἐμπρῆσαι.
Since this was the day on which Hamilcar was about to perform the sacrifice, on this very day Gelon sent out his own cavalry, who had been commanded to go around the nearby places and ride up at dawn to the naval camp, as if they were the allied cavalry of the Selinuntians, and, once they got inside the wooden wall, to kill Hamilcar and set fire to the ships.
ἐξέπεμψε δὲ καὶ σκοποὺς εἰς τοὺς ὑπερκειμένους λόφους, οἷς προσέταξεν, ὅταν ἴδωσι τοὺς ἱππεῖς γενομένους ἐντὸς τοῦ τείχους, ἆραι τὸ σύσσημον.
He also sent out scouts to the hills lying above, whom he ordered to raise the signal when they saw that the cavalry had gotten inside the wall.
αὐτὸς δʼ ἅμʼ ἡμέρᾳ τὴν δύναμιν διατεταχὼς ἀνέμενε τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν σκοπῶν ἐσομένην δήλωσιν.
He himself, having drawn up his army at dawn, waited for the disclosure that was to come from the scouts.

Notes

  1. §11.21.1ἡτοιμακὼς ἦν — A periphrastic completion construction using the copula ἦν and the perfect participle ἡτοιμακὼς. This emphasizes the state of Gelon having already prepared his forces prior to receiving the news of the Himeraeans' despondency.
  2. §11.21.3οἱ περὶ Θήρωνα — Literally "those around Theron", an idiomatic expression common in Classical and Post-Classical Greek to refer to Theron and his followers, or simply to "Theron and his men" as a collective entity under his leadership.
  3. §11.21.4κρίναντος αὐτοῦ ... καὶ τοῦ Ἀμίλκα διατρίβοντος ... — Two genitive absolute clauses connected by καί, setting up the background circumstances with subjects (αὐτοῦ and Ἀμίλκα) different from the main clause's subject (ἱππεῖς). Note that αὐτοῦ refers to Gelon, who is also represented in the main clause by the dative τῷ Γέλωνι.
  4. §11.21.4πρὸς ἣν ἔγραψεν ἡμέραν ... πρὸς αὐτὴν — Incorporation of the antecedent into the relative clause. Instead of the standard structure πρὸς τὴν ἡμέραν, ἣν ἔγραψεν Ἀμίλκας..., the antecedent ἡμέραν is attracted into the relative clause of ἣν, and is subsequently referred back to by πρὸς αὐτήν in the main clause.
  5. §11.21.5ὡς ὄντας — The conjunction ὡς modifying the participle ὄντας indicates a pretext or appearance assumed by the subjects (the cavalry), meaning "on the pretense of being" or "as if they were" the allies of the Selinuntians.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §11.21.1-11.21.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:11.21.1-11.21.5

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