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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §11.92.1-11.92.5

Surrender and Pardon of Ducetius at Syracuse

Passage 93 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The defeated Ducetius flees to Syracuse to become a suppliant and is spared by the magnanimity of the people, who send him to Corinth with financial support. The author concludes this book at the year preceding the Athenian campaign against Cyprus.

§11.92.1τέλος δὲ θεωρῶν τοὺς ὑπολοίπους φίλους μέλλοντας αὐτῷ τὰς χεῖρας προσφέρειν, φθάσας αὐτοὺς καὶ νυκτὸς διαδρὰς ἀφίππευσεν εἰς τὰς Συρακούσας.
And finally, perceiving that his remaining friends were about to lay hands on him, forestalling them and escaping by night, he rode away on horseback to Syracuse.
ἔτι δὲ νυκτὸς οὔσης παρῆλθεν εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν τῶν Συρακοσίων, καὶ καθίσας ἐπὶ τῶν βωμῶν ἱκέτης ἐγένετο τῆς πόλεως, καὶ ἑαυτόν τε καὶ τὴν χώραν ἧς ἦν κύριος παρέδωκε τοῖς Συρακοσίοις.
While it was still night, he entered the agora of the Syracusans, and seating himself upon the altars, he became a suppliant of the city, and surrendered both himself and the territory of which he was master to the Syracusans.
§11.92.2τοῦ δὲ πλήθους διὰ τὸ παράδοξον συρρέοντος εἰς τὴν ἀγοράν, οἱ μὲν ἄρχοντες συνήγαγον ἐκκλησίαν καὶ προέθηκαν βουλὴν περὶ τοῦ Δουκετίου τί χρὴ πράττειν.
As the crowd, because of the unexpected event, flocked into the agora, the magistrates called an assembly and proposed a consultation regarding what should be done with Ducetius.
§11.92.3ἔνιοι μὲν οὖν τῶν δημηγορεῖν εἰωθότων συνεβούλευον κολάζειν ὡς πολέμιον καὶ περὶ τῶν ἡμαρτημένων τὴν προσήκουσαν ἐπιθεῖναι τιμωρίαν· οἱ δὲ χαριέστατοι τῶν πρεσβυτέρων παριόντες ἀπεφαίνοντο σώζειν τὸν ἱκέτην, καὶ τὴν τύχην καὶ τὴν νέμεσιν τῶν θεῶν ἐντρέπεσθαι·
Now, some of those who were accustomed to speak in public advised that they should punish him as an enemy and impose the fitting penalty for his misdeeds; but the most respectable of the elders, coming forward, declared that they should save the suppliant and revere Fortune and the nemesis of the gods.
δεῖν γὰρ σκοπεῖν οὐ τί παθεῖν ἄξιός ἐστι Δουκέτιος, ἀλλὰ τί πρέπει πρᾶξαι Συρακοσίοις· ἀποκτεῖναι γὰρ τὸν πεπτωκότα τῇ τύχῃ μὴ προσῆκον, σώζειν δʼ ἅμα τὴν πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς εὐσέβειαν καὶ τὸν ἱκέτην ἄξιον εἶναι τῆς τοῦ δήμου μεγαλοψυχίας.
For they said that they must consider not what Ducetius deserved to suffer, but what was proper for the Syracusans to do; for to kill one who has been cast down by Fortune is not fitting, whereas to preserve piety toward the gods and at the same time save the suppliant is worthy of the magnanimity of the people.
§11.92.4ὁ δὲ δῆμος ὥσπερ τινὶ μιᾷ φωνῇ σώζειν πάντοθεν ἐβόα τὸν ἱκέτην.
And the people, as if with one voice, cried out from all sides to save the suppliant.
Συρακόσιοι μὲν οὖν ἀπολύσαντες τῆς τιμωρίας τὸν Δουκέτιον ἐξέπεμψαν εἰς τὴν Κόρινθον, καὶ ἐνταῦθα προστάξαντες καταβιοῦν τὴν ἱκανὴν αὐτῷ χορηγίαν συναπέστειλαν.
The Syracusans, therefore, having released Ducetius from punishment, sent him away to Corinth, and having ordered him to spend his life there, they sent along with him a sufficient maintenance.
§11.92.5ἡμεῖς δὲ παρόντες ἐπὶ τὸν προηγούμενον ἐνιαυτὸν τῆς Ἀθηναίων στρατείας ἐπὶ Κύπρον Κίμωνος ἡγουμένου, κατὰ τὴν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρόθεσιν αὐτοῦ περιγράφομεν τήνδε τὴν βίβλον.
And having arrived at the year preceding the campaign of the Athenians against Cyprus under the leadership of Cimon, we bring this book to a close, in accordance with our plan established at the beginning.

Notes

  1. 11.92.1φθάσας αὐτοὺς — The participle φθάσας (from φθάνω, 'to anticipate, forestall') takes the accusative object αὐτούς ('them', referring to his plotting friends), indicating that the subsequent action of escaping by night (νυκτὸς διαδράς) took place before they could act.
  2. 11.92.3ἀποκτεῖναι γὰρ τὸν πεπτωκότα τῇ τύχῃ μὴ προσῆκον — In the indirect discourse introduced by ἀπεφαίνοντο ('declared'), the infinitive εἶναι is omitted after the impersonal participle προσῆκον (from προσήκει, 'it is fitting'). The infinitive ἀποκτεῖναι ('to kill') serves as the subject, taking τὸν πεπτωκότα τῇ τύχῃ ('the one who has been cast down by Fortune') as its object, which stands in contrast to the subsequent σώζειν δʼ ἅμα... ἄξιον εἶναι.
  3. 11.92.5παρόντες ἐπὶ τὸν προηγούμενον ἐνιαυτὸν — The participle παρόντες (from πάρειμι, 'to arrive, reach') is used with the preposition ἐπί and the accusative, indicating that the historical narrative has reached a specific chronological point (the year preceding the Athenian campaign against Cyprus).

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §11.92.1-11.92.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:11.92.1-11.92.5

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