Humanitext Reader

Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §11.22.1-11.22.6

Death of Hamilcar and Gelon's Victory at Himera

Passage 23 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Gelon's cavalry infiltrated the Carthaginian camp, killed Hamilcar, and set fire to the ships, enabling Gelon's main force to advance, engage in a fierce battle, and achieve a decisive victory over the Carthaginians.

§11.22.1τῶν δʼ ἱππέων ἅμα τῇ κατὰ τὸν ἥλιον ἀνατολῇ προσιππευσάντων τῇ ναυτικῇ τῶν Καρχηδονίων στρατοπεδείᾳ, καὶ προσδεχθέντων ὑπὸ τῶν φυλάκων ὡς συμμάχων, οὗτοι μὲν εὐθὺς προσδραμόντες τῷ Ἀμίλκᾳ περὶ τὴν θυσίαν γινομένῳ, τοῦτον μὲν ἀνεῖλον, τὰς δὲ ναῦς ἐνέπρησαν· ἔπειτα τῶν σκοπῶν ἀράντων τὸ σύσσημον, ὁ Γέλων πάσῃ τῇ δυνάμει συντεταγμένῃ προῆγεν ἐπὶ τὴν παρεμβολὴν τῶν Καρχηδονίων.
When the cavalry rode up at sunrise to the naval camp of the Carthaginians and were received by the guards as allies, these men immediately ran up to Hamilcar as he was occupied with the sacrifice, slew him, and set fire to the ships; then, when the scouts raised the signal, Gelon advanced with his entire army drawn up toward the encampment of the Carthaginians.
§11.22.2οἱ δὲ ἐν τῇ στρατοπεδείᾳ τῶν Φοινίκων ἡγεμόνες τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐξαγαγόντες τὴν δύναμιν ἀπήντων τοῖς Σικελιώταις καὶ συνάψαντες μάχην εὐρώστως ἠγωνίζοντο· ὁμοῦ δὲ ταῖς σάλπιγξιν ἐν ἀμφοτέροις τοῖς στρατοπέδοις ἐσήμαινον τὸ πολεμικόν, καὶ κραυγὴ τῶν δυνάμεων ἐναλλὰξ ἐγίνετο, φιλοτιμουμένων ἀμφοτέρων τῷ μεγέθει τῆς βοῆς ὑπερᾶραι τοὺς ἀντιτεταγμένους.
The commanders of the Phoenicians in the camp at first led out their army and met the Siceliots, and joining battle, they fought vigorously; at the same time, the trumpets in both camps sounded the charge, and a shout arose from the armies turn by turn, both sides striving to surpass their opponents in the volume of their shouting.
§11.22.3πολλοῦ δὲ γενομένου φόνου, καὶ τῆς μάχης δεῦρο κἀκεῖσε ταλαντευομένης, ἄφνω τῆς κατὰ τὰς ναῦς φλογὸς ἀρθείσης εἰς ὕψος, καί τινων ἀπαγγειλάντων τὸν τοῦ στρατηγοῦ φόνον, οἱ μὲν Ἕλληνες ἐθάρρησαν, καὶ ταῖς φωναῖς καὶ ταῖς ἐλπίσι τῆς νίκης ἐπαρθέντες τοῖς φρονήμασιν ἐπέκειντο θρασύτερον τοῖς βαρβάροις, οἱ δὲ Καρχηδόνιοι καταπλαγέντες καὶ τὴν νίκην ἀπογνόντες πρὸς φυγὴν ἐτράπησαν.
When much slaughter had occurred and the battle was swaying this way and that, suddenly the flame from the ships rose high into the air, and some reported the death of the general, whereupon the Greeks took heart, and being uplifted in spirit by the shouts and the hope of victory, they pressed upon the barbarians more boldly, while the Carthaginians, struck with terror and despairing of victory, turned to flight.
§11.22.4τοῦ δὲ Γέλωνος παραγγείλαντος μηδένα ζωγρεῖν, πολὺς ἐγένετο φόνος τῶν φευγόντων, καὶ πέρας κατεκόπησαν αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐλάττους τῶν πεντεκαίδεκα μυριάδων.
Since Gelon had given orders to take no one alive, there was a great slaughter of those who fled, and in the end no fewer than one hundred and fifty thousand of them were cut down.
οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ φυγόντες ἐπί τινα τόπον ἐρυμνὸν τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἠμύνοντο τοὺς βιαζομένους,ἄνυδρον δὲ κατειληφότες τόπον καὶ τῷ δίψει πιεζόμενοι ἠναγκάσθησαν ἑαυτοὺς παραδοῦναι τοῖς κρατοῦσι.
The rest, fleeing to a certain strong position, at first defended themselves against those who pressed them, but having occupied a waterless place and being distressed by thirst, they were forced to surrender themselves to the victors.
§11.22.5Γέλων δὲ ἐπιφανεστάτῃ μάχῃ νικήσας, καὶ ταύτην κατωρθωκὼς μάλιστα διὰ τῆς ἰδίας στρατηγίας, περιβόητον ἔσχε τὴν δόξαν οὐ μόνον παρὰ τοῖς Σικελιώταις, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν· §11.22.6οὐδεὶς γὰρ τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ μνημονεύεται τοιούτῳ στρατηγήματι κεχρημένος, οὐδὲ πλείονας ἐν μιᾷ παρατάξει κατακόψας τῶν βαρβάρων οὐδὲ πλῆθος αἰχμαλώτων τοσοῦτον χειρωσάμενος.
Gelon, having won a victory in a most illustrious battle, and having achieved this success chiefly through his own generalship, won a far-famed reputation not only among the Siceliots but also among all other people; for no one of those before him is recorded to have employed such a stratagem, nor to have cut down more of the barbarians in a single engagement, nor to have captured so great a multitude of prisoners.

Notes

  1. 11.22.1τῶν δʼ ἱππέων ... οὗτοι μὲν — The subject of the genitive absolute, `τῶν δʼ ἱππέων`, is picked up directly in the main clause by the nominative demonstrative pronoun `οὗτοι μὲν`. This is a type of anacoluthon used to emphasize semantic continuity.
  2. 11.22.2φιλοτιμουμένων ἀμφοτέρων τῷ μεγέθει τῆς βοῆς ὑπερᾶραι τοὺς ἀντιτεταγμένους — A genitive absolute construction expressing cause. The verb `φιλοτιμέομαι` (to strive, compete) takes the infinitive `ὑπερᾶραι` (to surpass), and `τῷ μεγέθει` (in volume) is a dative of respect or instrument.
  3. 11.22.6οὐδεὶς γὰρ τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ μνημονεύεται τοιούτῳ στρατηγήματι κεχρημένος — The passive verb `μνημονεύεται` (is recorded/mentioned) is constructed with the nominative participle `κεχρημένος` (as well as the following `κατακόψας` and `χειρωσάμενος`), forming a construction meaning "is recorded to have used." It takes a participle as a nominative complement instead of an accusative with the infinitive.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §11.22.1-11.22.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:11.22.1-11.22.6

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.