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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §12.31.1-12.31.3

Corcyraean Naval Victory and Capture of Epidamnus

Passage 125 of 723 · Greek

Summary

During the archonship of Theodorus in Athens, the formation of the Campanian nation and the rise of the Bosporan Kingdom are recorded, while in Greece, the Corcyraeans defeat the Corinthians in a sea battle and capture Epidamnus.

§12.31.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος δʼ Ἀθήνησι Θεοδώρου Ῥωμαῖοι μὲν κατέστησαν ὑπάτους Μάρκον Γενύκιον καὶ Ἀγρίππαν Κούρτιον Χίλωνα.
At Athens, when Theodorus was archon, the Romans established Marcus Genucius and Agrippa Curtius Chilo as consuls.
ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων κατὰ μὲν τὴν Ἰταλίαν τὸ ἔθνος τῶν Καμπανῶν συνέστη, καὶ ταύτης ἔτυχε τῆς προσηγορίας ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς τοῦ πλησίον κειμένου πεδίου.
During their term of office, in Italy the nation of the Campanians was formed, and obtained this appellation from the fertility of the surrounding plain.
κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἀσίαν οἱ τοῦ Κιμμερίου Βοσπόρου βασιλεύσαντες, ὀνομασθέντες δὲ Ἀρχαιανακτίδαι, ἦρξαν ἔτη δύο πρὸς τοῖς τετταράκοντα· διεδέξατο δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν Σπάρτακος, καὶ ἦρξεν ἔτη ἑπτά.
In Asia, those who ruled over the Cimmerian Bosporus, called the Archeanactidae, held power for forty-two years; and Spartacus succeeded to the rule and held power for seven years.
§12.31.2κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἑλλάδα Κορίνθιοι πρὸς Κερκυραίους διαπολεμοῦντες καὶ παρασκευασάμενοι ναυτικὰς δυνάμεις, συνεστήσαντο ναυμαχίαν.
In Greece, the Corinthians, carrying on war against the Corcyraeans and having prepared naval forces, engaged in a sea battle.
οἱ μὲν οὖν Κορίνθιοι ἔχοντες ναῦς ἑβδομήκοντα καλῶς ἐξηρτυμένας, ἐπέπλευσαν τοῖς πολεμίοις· οἱ δὲ Κερκυραῖοι τριήρεσιν ὀγδοήκοντα ἀντιταχθέντες ἐνίκησαν τῇ ναυμαχίᾳ, καὶ τὴν Ἐπίδαμνον ἐκπολιορκήσαντες τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους αἰχμαλώτους ἀπέκτειναν, τοὺς δὲ Κορινθίους δήσαντες εἰς φυλακὴν παρέδοσαν.
Now the Corinthians, having seventy well-equipped ships, sailed against the enemy; but the Corcyraeans, opposing them with eighty triremes, won the sea battle, and having taken Epidamnus by siege, they put the other prisoners to death, but bound the Corinthians and threw them into prison.
§12.31.3μετὰ δὲ τὴν ναυμαχίαν οἱ μὲν Κορίνθιοι καταπλαγέντες κατέπλευσαν εἰς Πελοπόννησον, οἱ δὲ Κερκυραῖοι θαλαττοκρατοῦντες τῆς κατʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς τόπους θαλάττης ἐπέπλεον τοῖς Κορινθίων συμμάχοις καὶ τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν ἐπόρθουν.
After the sea battle, the Corinthians, struck with terror, sailed back to the Peloponnese, while the Corcyraeans, being masters of the sea in those regions, sailed against the allies of the Corinthians and plundered their territory.

Notes

  1. §12.31.1ἀρετῆς — The noun ἀρετή (virtue, excellence) is used here in reference to land, meaning "fertility" or "richness".
  2. §12.31.2διαπολεμοῦντες καὶ παρασκευασάμενοι — The present participle διαπολεμοῦντες indicates an ongoing state of war, whereas the aorist participle παρασκευασάμενοι denotes a completed prior action of "preparing" naval forces before the battle.
  3. §12.31.3θαλαττοκρατοῦντες — The verb θαλαττοκρατέω (to be master of the sea) governs the genitive τῆς... θαλάττης (of the sea) as its complement, in a cognate-like construction.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §12.31.1-12.31.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:12.31.1-12.31.3

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