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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §11.88.1-11.88.6

Athenian Colonization and Ducetius' Founding of Palice

Passage 89 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The expedition of general Pericles to the Peloponnese and Athenian colonization, alongside Syracusan campaigns against the Tyrrhenians in Sicily and the founding of the city of Palice by the Sicel leader Ducetius.

§11.88.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος δʼ Ἀθήνησι Λυσικράτους ἐν Ῥώμῃ κατεστάθησαν ὕπατοι Γάιος Ναύτιος Ῥούτιλος καὶ Λεύκιος Μινούκιος Καρουτιανός.
When Lysicrates was archon in Athens, in Rome Gaius Nautius Rutilus and Lucius Minucius Carutianus were established as consuls.
ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων Περικλῆς ὁ τῶν Ἀθηναίων στρατηγὸς ἀποβὰς εἰς Πελοπόννησον ἐδῄωσε τὴν τῶν Σικυωνίων χώραν. §11.88.2ἐπεξελθόντων δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτὸν τῶν Σικυωνίων πανδημεὶ καὶ μάχης γενομένης, ὁ Περικλῆς νικήσας καὶ πολλοὺς κατὰ τὴν φυγὴν ἀνελὼν κατέκλεισεν αὐτοὺς εἰς πολιορκίαν.
During their term of office, Pericles, the general of the Athenians, landed in the Peloponnese and ravaged the territory of the Sicyonians. Although the Sicyonians came out against him in full force and a battle took place, Pericles was victorious, and having slain many of them in their flight, he shut them up and besieged them.
προσβολὰς δὲ ποιούμενος τοῖς τείχεσι, καὶ μὴ δυνάμενος ἑλεῖν τὴν πόλιν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἀποστειλάντων βοήθειαν τοῖς πολιορκουμένοις, ἀνέζευξεν ἐκ τῆς Σικυῶνος· εἰς δὲ τὴν Ἀκαρνανίαν πλεύσας καὶ τὴν τῶν Οἰνιαδῶν χώραν καταδραμὼν καὶ λαφύρων πλῆθος ἀθροίσας, ἀπέπλευσεν ἐκ τῆς Ἀκαρνανίας. §11.88.3μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐλθὼν εἰς Χερρόνησον χιλίοις τῶν πολιτῶν κατεκληρούχησε τὴν χώραν.
But after making assaults on the walls and being unable to take the city, and furthermore since the Lacedaemonians had sent aid to the besieged, he withdrew from Sicyon; then, having sailed to Acarnania, overrun the territory of the Oeniadae, and gathered a great amount of booty, he sailed away from Acarnania. After these events, having gone to the Chersonesus, he distributed the land by lot to one thousand of the citizens.
ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις Τολμίδης ὁ ἕτερος στρατηγὸς εἰς τὴν Εὔβοιαν παρελθὼν ἄλλοις χιλίοις πολίταις ταύτην καὶ τὴν τῶν Ναξίων γῆν διένειμε. §11.88.4κατὰ δὲ τὴν Σικελίαν Τυρρηνῶν λῃζομένων τὴν θάλατταν, οἱ Συρακόσιοι ναύαρχον ἑλόμενοι Φάϋλλον ἔπεμψαν εἰς τὴν Τυρρηνίαν.
At the same time that these things were being done, Tolmides, the other general, having advanced into Euboea, distributed this land and the territory of the Naxians to another thousand citizens. Meanwhile in Sicily, since the Tyrrhenians were plundering the sea, the Syracusans chose Phayllus as admiral and sent him to Tyrrhenia.
οὗτος δʼ ἐκπλεύσας τὸ μὲν πρῶτον νῆσον τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Αἰθάλειαν ἐπόρθησε, παρὰ δὲ τῶν Τυρρηνῶν λάθρᾳ χρήματα λαβών, ἀπέπλευσεν εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν οὐδὲν ἄξιον μνήμης διαπραξάμενος. §11.88.5οἱ δὲ Συρακόσιοι τοῦτον μὲν ὡς προδότην καταδικάσαντες ἐφυγάδευσαν, ἕτερον δὲ στρατηγὸν καταστήσαντες Ἀπελλῆν ἐξαπέστειλαν ἐπὶ Τυρρηνοὺς ἔχοντα τριήρεις ἑξήκοντα.
Having sailed out, he at first ravaged the island called Aethalia, but having secretly accepted money from the Tyrrhenians, he sailed back to Sicily, having accomplished nothing worthy of mention. The Syracusans condemned him as a traitor and exiled him, and having appointed another general, Apelles, they dispatched him against the Tyrrhenians with sixty triremes.
οὗτος δὲ τὴν παραθαλάττιον Τυρρηνίαν καταδραμών, ἀπῆρεν εἰς Κύρνον κατεχομένην ὑπὸ Τυρρηνῶν κατʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς χρόνους· πορθήσας δὲ πλεῖστα τῆς νήσου καὶ τὴν Αἰθάλειαν χειρωσάμενος, ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς τὰς Συρακούσας αἰχμαλώτων τε πλῆθος κομίζων καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ὠφέλειαν ἄγων οὐκ ὀλίγην. §11.88.6μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Δουκέτιος ὁ τῶν Σικελῶν ἀφηγούμενος τὰς πόλεις ἁπάσας τὰς ὁμοεθνεῖς πλὴν τῆς Ὕβλας εἰς μίαν καὶ κοινὴν ἤγαγε συντέλειαν, δραστικὸς δʼ ὢν νεωτέρων ὠρέγετο πραγμάτων, καὶ παρὰ τοῦ κοινοῦ τῶν Σικελῶν ἀθροίσας δύναμιν ἀξιόλογον τὰς Μένας, ἥτις ἦν αὐτοῦ πατρίς, μετῴκισεν εἰς τὸ πεδίον, καὶ πλησίον τοῦ τεμένους τῶν ὀνομαζομένων Παλικῶν ἔκτισε πόλιν ἀξιόλογον, ἣν ἀπὸ τῶν προειρημένων θεῶν ὠνόμαζε Παλικήν.
Having overrun coastal Tyrrhenia, he sailed to Cyrnus, which was held by the Tyrrhenians at that time; and after ravaging most of the island and subduing Aethalia, he returned to Syracuse, bringing a multitude of captives and carrying off no small amount of other booty. After these events, Ducetius, the leader of the Sicels, united into one single league all the cities of his same race except Hybla. Since he was an energetic man, he grasped at new enterprises, and having gathered a considerable force from the common league of the Sicels, he relocated the inhabitants of Menae, which was his native city, to the plain, and near the sacred precinct of the gods called Palici, he founded a notable city, which he named Palice after the aforementioned gods.

Notes

  1. 11.88.2ἐπεξελθόντων δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτὸν τῶν Σικυωνίων πανδημεὶ καὶ μάχης γενομένης — Two genitive absolute clauses are coordinated by καὶ, introducing subjects (τῶν Σικυωνίων and μάχης) distinct from that of the main clause (ὁ Περικλῆς) to describe the circumstances prior to or simultaneous with the main action.
  2. 11.88.3χιλίοις τῶν πολιτῶν κατεκληρούχησε τὴν χώραν — The verb κατεκληρούχησε (from κατακληρουχέω, "to allot, distribute land to colonists") here governs the accusative of the territory distributed (τὴν χώραν) and the dative of the recipients who benefit from the allotment (χιλίοις τῶν πολιτῶν).
  3. 11.88.5ἀπῆρεν εἰς Κύρνον — The verb ἀπῆρεν is the third-person singular aorist indicative active of ἀπαίρω ("to lift up, set sail"). It is used here intransitively with the ellipsis of an object like τὰς ναῦς ("the ships") or τὸν στρατόν ("the army"), meaning "he set sail" or "he departed."
  4. 11.88.6νεωτέρων ὠρέγετο πραγμάτων — The verb ὠρέγετο (imperfect of ὀρέγομαι, "to reach after, desire") governs the genitive case, here represented by the comparative adjective νεωτέρων and the noun πραγμάτων. The phrase νεώτερα πράγματα typically denotes "novelties" or, in a political context, "innovations" or "revolutions."

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §11.88.1-11.88.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:11.88.1-11.88.6

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