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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §11.38.1-11.38.7

Reign and Death of Gelon and Succession of Hieron

Passage 39 of 723 · Greek

Summary

After recounting the political situations in Athens and Rome, the author describes the peaceful reign of King Gelon of Sicily, his adherence to the law by requesting a simple funeral upon his death, the fate of his monument, the immortal glory preserved for him by history, and the succession of his brother Hieron.

§11.38.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος δʼ Ἀθήνησι Τιμοσθένους ἐν Ῥώμῃ τὴν ὑπατικὴν ἀρχὴν διεδέξαντο Καίσων Φάβιος καὶ Λεύκιος Αἰμίλιος Μάμερκος.
At Athens, when Timosthenes was archon, in Rome Caeso Fabius and Lucius Aemilius Mamercus succeeded to the consulship.
ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων κατὰ τὴν Σικελίαν πολλή τις εἰρήνη κατεῖχε τὴν νῆσον, τῶν μὲν Καρχηδονίων εἰς τέλος τεταπεινωμένων, τοῦ δὲ Γέλωνος ἐπιεικῶς προεστηκότος τῶν Σικελιωτῶν καὶ πολλὴν εὐνομίαν τε καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐπιτηδείων εὐπορίαν παρεχομένου ταῖς πόλεσι.
During their term of office, in Sicily a profound peace held the island, since the Carthaginians had been completely humbled, and Gelon ruled the Siceliots moderately and provided the cities with great good order and an abundance of all necessaries.
§11.38.2τῶν δὲ Συρακοσίων τὰς μὲν πολυτελεῖς ἐκφορὰς νόμῳ καταλελυκότων καὶ τὰς εἰωθυίας δαπάνας εἰς τοὺς τελευτῶντας γίνεσθαι περιῃρηκότων, ἐγγεγραμμένων δὲ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ καὶ τῶν παντελῶς λιτῶν ἐνταφίων, ὁ βασιλεὺς Γέλων βουλόμενος τὴν τοῦ δήμου σπουδὴν ἐν ἅπασι διαφυλάττειν, τὸν περὶ τῆς ταφῆς νόμον ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ βέβαιον ἐτήρησεν· §11.38.3ὑπὸ γὰρ ἀρρωστίας συνεχόμενος καὶ τὸ ζῆν ἀπελπίσας, τὴν μὲν βασιλείαν παρέδωκεν Ἱέρωνι τῷ πρεσβυτάτῳ τῶν ἀδελφῶν, περὶ δὲ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ταφῆς ἐνετείλατο διαστελλόμενος ἀκριβῶς τηρῆσαι τὸ νόμιμον.
And although the Syracusans had by law abolished costly funerals and done away with the customary expenses incurred for the dead, and there had been written into the law even the most simple burial garments, King Gelon, wishing to preserve the devotion of the people in all things, kept the law concerning burial strictly observed in his own case; for being afflicted with illness and despairing of his life, he handed over the kingship to Hieron, the eldest of his brothers, and concerning his own burial, he gave strict instructions to observe the law precisely.
διὸ καὶ τελευτήσαντος αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐκφορὰν κατὰ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν αὐτοῦ συνετέλεσεν ὁ διαδεξάμενος τὴν βασιλείαν.
Therefore, when he died, the one who succeeded to the kingship performed the funeral in accordance with his instruction.
§11.38.4ἐτάφη δʼ αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα κατὰ τὸν ἀγρὸν τῆς γυναικὸς ἐν ταῖς καλουμέναις Ἐννέα τύρσεσιν, οὔσαις τῷ βάρει τῶν ἔργων θαυμασταῖς.
His body was buried on his wife's estate at the place called the Nine Towers, which were wonderful because of the grandeur of their construction.
ὁ δὲ ὄχλος ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἅπας συνηκολούθησεν, ἀπέχοντος τοῦ τόπου σταδίους διακοσίους.
And the entire multitude from the city followed, although the place was two hundred stades distant.
§11.38.5ἐνταῦθα δʼ αὐτοῦ ταφέντος ὁ μὲν δῆμος τάφον ἀξιόλογον ἐπιστήσας ἡρωικαῖς τιμαῖς ἐτίμησε τὸν Γέλωνα, ὕστερον δὲ τὸ μὲν μνῆμα ἀνεῖλον Καρχηδόνιοι στρατεύσαντες ἐπὶ Συρακούσας, τὰς δὲ τύρσεις Ἀγαθοκλῆς κατέβαλε διὰ τὸν φθόνον. ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὔτε Καρχηδόνιοι διὰ τὴν ἔχθραν οὔτε Ἀγαθοκλῆς διὰ τὴν ἰδίαν κακίαν οὔτε ἄλλος οὐδεὶς ἠδυνήθη τοῦ Γέλωνος ἀφελέσθαι τὴν δόξαν·
When he had been buried there, the people erected a remarkable tomb and honored Gelon with heroic honors; but later the monument was destroyed by the Carthaginians when they campaigned against Syracuse, and the towers were demolished by Agathocles because of his envy.
§11.38.6ἡ γὰρ τῆς ἱστορίας δικαία μαρτυρία τετήρηκε τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ φήμην, κηρύττουσα διαπρυσίως εἰς ἅπαντα τὸν αἰῶνα.
But nevertheless, neither the Carthaginians because of their enmity, nor Agathocles because of his own wickedness, nor anyone else has been able to rob Gelon of his glory; for the just testimony of history has preserved his reputation, proclaiming it aloud to all eternity.
δίκαιον γὰρ ἅμα καὶ συμφέρον ἐστὶ τῷ κοινῷ βίῳ διὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν τοὺς μὲν πονηροὺς τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἐξουσίαις γεγενημένων βλασφημεῖσθαι, τοὺς δὲ εὐεργετικοὺς τυγχάνειν ἀθανάτου μνήμης· οὕτω γὰρ μάλιστα συμβήσεται πολλοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν κοινὴν εὐεργεσίαν προτρέπεσθαι τῶν μεταγενεστέρων.
For it is at once just and beneficial to the common life of mankind that, through history, the wicked among those who have been in power should be reviled, while the beneficent should obtain immortal memory; for in this way especially it will come about that many of those of later generations will be encouraged to public beneficence.
§11.38.7Γέλων μὲν οὖν ἑπταετῆ χρόνον ἐβασίλευσεν, Ἱέρων δʼ ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ διαδεξάμενος τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐβασίλευσε τῶν Συρακοσίων ἔτη ἕνδεκα καὶ μῆνας ὀκτώ.
So Gelon reigned for a period of seven years, and his brother Hieron, succeeding to the rule, reigned over the Syracusans for eleven years and eight months.

Notes

  1. §11.38.1τῶν μὲν Καρχηδονίων εἰς τέλος τεταπεινωμένων — Genitive absolute expressing cause. It stands in parallel construction with the following τοῦ δὲ Γέλωνος ... παρεχομένου.
  2. §11.38.2τῶν δὲ Συρακοσίων τὰς μὲν πολυτελεῖς ἐκφορὰς νόμῳ καταλελυκότων — Genitive absolute. It is most naturally interpreted here as concessive ("although...") or as setting the background. The subject of the main clause is ὁ βασιλεὺς Γέλων and the main verb is ἐτήρησεν.
  3. §11.38.4οὔσαις τῷ βάρει τῶν ἔργων θαυμασταῖς — The participle οὔσαις (feminine plural dative) modifies the preceding ταῖς καλουμέναις Ἐννέα τύρσεσιν. τῷ βάρει is a dative of respect (or relation), meaning "in the weight (magnitude or grandeur of construction)," and τῶν ἔργων ("of the works/structures") is a genitive depending on it.
  4. §11.38.6δίκαιον γὰρ ἅμα καὶ συμφέρον ἐστὶ τῷ κοινῷ βίῳ ... τοὺς μὲν πονηροὺς ... βλασφημεῖσθαι — Accusative and infinitive construction introduced by the impersonal expression δίκαιον ... ἐστί. The infinitives βλασφημεῖσθαι (and the following τυγχαίνειν) take the accusatives τοὺς μὲν πονηροὺς (and τοὺς δὲ εὐεργετικοὺς) as their subjects.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §11.38.1-11.38.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:11.38.1-11.38.7

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