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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §11.35.1-11.35.4

Rumor of the Victory at Plataea and Battle Preparations

Passage 36 of 723 · Greek

Summary

On the day after the Greek landing, a rumor of the victory at Plataea arrives, which Leotychides uses to encourage his men. Meanwhile, the Persians disarm the Greeks in their ranks out of distrust and prepare for the battle.

§11.35.1οἱ δʼ Ἕλληνες κατασκεψάμενοι τὰ κατʼ αὐτοὺς ἀπεβίβασαν τὴν δύναμιν.
The Greeks, having reconnoitered the situation confronting them, landed their forces.
τῇ δʼ ὑστεραίᾳ παρασκευαζομένων αὐτῶν τὰ πρὸς τὴν παράταξιν, προσέπεσε φήμη ὅτι νενικήκασιν οἱ Ἕλληνες τοὺς Πέρσας κατὰ τὰς Πλαταιάς.
On the next day, while they were preparing for the battle formation, a rumor reached them that the Greeks had conquered the Persians at Plataea.
§11.35.2διόπερ οἱ μὲν περὶ Λεωτυχίδην ἀθροίσαντες ἐκκλησίαν, τὰ πλήθη παρεκάλεσαν εἰς τὴν μάχην, τά τε ἄλλα προφερόμενοι καὶ τὴν ἐν Πλαταιαῖς νίκην τραγῳδοῦντες, διʼ ἣν ὑπελάμβανον θρασυτέρους ποιήσειν τοὺς μέλλοντας ἀγωνίζεσθαι.
Therefore, Leotychides and his colleagues, having called an assembly, exhorted the multitude to the battle, bringing forward other arguments and dramatically recounting the victory at Plataea, by which they supposed they would make those about to fight more courageous.
θαυμαστὸν δὲ ἐγένετο τὸ ἀποτέλεσμα· κατὰ γὰρ τὴν αὐτὴν ἡμέραν ἐφάνησαν αἱ παρατάξεις γεγενημέναι, ἥ τε πρὸς τῇ Μυκάλῃ συντελεσθεῖσα καὶ ἡ κατὰ τὰς Πλαταιὰς γενομένη.
And the result was marvelous; for it became clear that the battle formations had taken place on the same day, both the one fought at Mycale and the one that occurred at Plataea.
§11.35.3διόπερ ἔδοξαν οἱ περὶ τὸν Λεωτυχίδην οὔπω μὲν πεπυσμένοι περὶ τῆς νίκης, ἀφʼ ἑαυτῶν δὲ πλάττοντες τὴν εὐημερίαν, στρατηγήματος ἕνεκεν τοῦτο πεποιηκέναι· τὸ γὰρ μέγεθος τοῦ διαστήματος ἤλεγχεν ἀδύνατον οὖσαν τὴν προσαγγελίαν.
For this reason, Leotychides and his colleagues were thought to have done this as a stratagem, although they had not yet heard of the victory but were fabricating the good news on their own; for the greatness of the distance proved that the message was impossible to have arrived.
§11.35.4οἱ δὲ τῶν Περσῶν ἡγεμόνες, ἀπίστως ἔχοντες τοῖς Ἕλλησι, τούτους μὲν ἀφώπλισαν, τὰ δὲ ὅπλα τοῖς ἑαυτῶν φίλοις παρέδωκαν· παρακαλέσαντες δὲ τὰ πλήθη, καὶ τὸν Ξέρξην αὐτὸν μετὰ πολλῆς δυνάμεως εἰπόντες ἥξειν βοηθόν, ἐποίησαν ἅπαντας εὐθαρσεῖς πρὸς τὸν κίνδυνον.
The commanders of the Persians, being distrustful of the Greeks, disarmed them and delivered the arms to their own friends; and having exhorted the multitude, and saying that Xerxes himself would come as an ally with a great force, they made everyone courageous in the face of the danger.

Notes

  1. §11.35.1τὰ κατʼ αὐτοὺς — It literally means 'the things concerning them,' but in this context, it refers to the situation of the enemy (the Persians) directly opposing the Greeks.
  2. §11.35.2ἐφάνησαν ... γεγενημέναι — The verb φαίνομαι with the participle γεγενημέναι expresses the objective fact that 'it became clear that they had taken place,' distinguishing it from its use with an infinitive, which would mean 'it seemed to have taken place' (with implied doubt).
  3. §11.35.3ἔδοξαν ... πεποιηκέναι — The subject of the verb ἔδοξαν ('they were thought') is οἱ περὶ τὸν Λεωτυχίδην, and both the infinitive πεποιηκέναι and its accompanying participles πεπυσμένοι and πλάττοντες agree in the nominative case.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §11.35.1-11.35.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:11.35.1-11.35.4

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