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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §11.23.1-11.23.3

Comparison of Himera and Plataea, Gelon and Themistocles

Passage 24 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The author discusses how historians compare the battle of Himera with Plataea, and Gelon with Themistocles, contrasting the far-reaching impacts of their victories and the ultimate fates of their respective leaders.

§11.23.1διὸ καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν συγγραφέων παραβάλλουσι ταύτην τὴν μάχην τῇ περὶ Πλαταιὰς γενομένῃ τοῖς Ἕλλησι καὶ στρατήγημα τὸ Γέλωνος τοῖς ἐπινοήμασι τοῖς Θεμιστοκλέους, καὶ τὸ πρωτεῖον διὰ τὰς ἀμφοτέρων ὑπερβολὰς τῆς ἀρετῆς οἱ μὲν τούτοις, οἱ δὲ τοῖς ἑτέροις ἀπονέμουσι.
For this reason also, many of the historians compare this battle with the one that took place for the Greeks at Plataea, and the stratagem of Gelon with the devices of Themistocles; and the first prize, on account of the outstanding virtue of both sides, some assign to the former, others to the latter.
§11.23.2καὶ γὰρ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Σικελίαν πρὸ τῆς μάχης καταπεπληγμένων τὸ πλῆθος τῶν βαρβαρικῶν δυνάμεων, οἱ κατὰ Σικελίαν πρότερον νικήσαντες ἐποίησαν τοὺς κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα θαρρῆσαι, πυθομένους τὴν τοῦ Γέλωνος νίκην· καὶ τῶν τὴν ὅλην ἡγεμονίαν παρʼ ἀμφοτέροις ἐσχηκότων παρὰ μὲν τοῖς Πέρσαις συνέβη διαπεφευγέναι τὸν βασιλέα καὶ πολλὰς μυριάδας μετʼ αὐτοῦ, παρὰ δὲ τοῖς Καρχηδονίοις μὴ μόνον ἀπολέσθαι τὸν στρατηγόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς μετασχόντας τοῦ πολέμου κατακοπῆναι, καὶ τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον μηδὲ ἄγγελον εἰς τὴν Καρχηδόνα διασωθῆναι.
For though both those in Greece and those in Sicily had been terrified before the battle by the multitude of the barbarian forces, those in Sicily, by conquering first, caused those in Greece to take heart when they learned of Gelon’s victory; and of those who held the supreme command on both sides, among the Persians it happened that the king escaped, and many tens of thousands with him, whereas among the Carthaginians not only did the general perish, but also those who had taken part in the war were cut to pieces, and, as the saying goes, not even a messenger was saved to Carthage.
§11.23.3πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους τῶν ἡγεμόνων παρὰ μὲν τοῖς Ἕλλησι Παυσανίαν καὶ Θεμιστοκλέα, τὸν μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων πολιτῶν θανατωθῆναι διὰ πλεονεξίαν καὶ προδοσίαν, τὸν δʼ ἐξ ἁπάσης τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἐξελαθέντα καταφυγεῖν πρὸς τὸν ἐχθρότατον Ξέρξην καὶ παρʼ ἐκείνῳ βιῶσαι μέχρι τῆς τελευτῆς, Γέλωνα δὲ μετὰ τὴν μάχην ἀεὶ καὶ μᾶλλον ἀποδοχῆς τυγχάνοντα παρὰ τοῖς Συρακοσίοις ἐγγηρᾶσαι τῇ βασιλείᾳ καὶ τελευτῆσαι θαυμαζόμενον, καὶ τοσοῦτον ἰσχῦσαι τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν εὔνοιαν παρὰ τοῖς πολίταις, ὥστε καὶ τρισὶν ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας τῆς ἐκείνου τὴν ἀρχὴν διαφυλαχθῆναι.
In addition to these things, of the most illustrious of the leaders, among the Greeks Pausanias and Themistocles met their ends—the former being put to death by his own citizens on account of his greed and treason, and the latter, driven out of all Greece, fleeing for refuge to his bitterest enemy, Xerxes, and living at his court until his death—whereas Gelon, after the battle, receiving ever greater acceptance among the Syracusans, grew old in his kingship and died admired, and the goodwill toward him among the citizens was so strong that the sovereignty was preserved for three members of his house.
ἀλλὰ γὰρ τούτων οἱ δικαίαν δόξαν κεκτημένοι τοὺς προσήκοντας ἐπαίνους καὶ παρʼ ἡμῶν ἔχουσιν, ἐπὶ δὲ τὸ συνεχὲς τοῖς προειρημένοις μεταβησόμεθα.
However, those of them who have acquired a just reputation receive their fitting praises also from us, and we shall pass on to what follows upon what has been said.

Notes

  1. 11.23.1οἱ μὲν τούτοις, οἱ δὲ τοῖς ἑτέροις — The reference of the pronouns τούτοις ('to these/the former') and τοῖς ἑτέροις ('to the others/the latter'). Ordinarily, οὗτος refers to the nearer antecedent (Themistocles and Plataea) and ἕτερος to the farther (Gelon and Himera), representing the division of opinion among historians as to which of the two victories deserved the first prize (the πρωτεῖον).
  2. 11.23.2τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Σικελίαν πρὸ τῆς μάχης καταπεπληγμένων τὸ πλῆθος — A genitive absolute construction where the logical subjects are 'those in Greece and those in Sicily.' The participle καταπεπληγμένων (from καταπλήσσω) is middle-passive and takes the accusative τὸ πλῆθος ('the multitude') either as a direct object (retaining active force in the middle) or as an accusative of specification/respect.
  3. 11.23.3τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους τῶν ἡγεμόνων ... τὸν μὲν ... θανατωθῆναι ... Γέλωνα δὲ ... ἐγγηρᾶσαι — The accusative at the beginning of the sentence (τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους τῶν ἡγεμόνων) serves as a proleptic appositive or general topic for the subjects of the subsequent infinitive clauses (τὸν μὲν, τὸν δʼ, Γέλωνα δὲ). Structurally, these infinitive clauses (θανατωθῆναι, καταφυγεῖν, ἐγγηρᾶσαι) are dependent either on an implied verb of saying/recording or continue the construction of συνέβη ('it happened that...') from the previous section.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §11.23.1-11.23.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:11.23.1-11.23.3

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