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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §12.36.1-12.36.4

Meton's Nineteen-Year Cycle and the Foundation of Heracleia

Passage 130 of 723 · Greek

Summary

During the archonship of Apseudes in Athens, a transition in the Bosporan kingship occurred. In Athens, the astronomer Meton introduced his nineteen-year cycle, which remains highly accurate down to the author's day, while in Italy the Tarentines founded Heracleia.

§12.36.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος δʼ Ἀθήνησιν Ἀψεύδους Ῥωμαῖοι κατέστησαν ὑπάτους Τίτον Μενήνιον καὶ Πρόκλον Γεγάνιον Μακερῖνον.
When Apseudes was archon in Athens, the Romans established Titus Menenius and Proclus Geganius Macerinus as consuls.
ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων Σπάρτακος μὲν ὁ Βοσπόρου βασιλεὺς ἐτελεύτησεν ἄρξας ἔτη ἑπτά, διεδέξατο δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν Σέλευκος καὶ ἐβασίλευσεν ἔτη τετταράκοντα.
During their term of office, Spartacus, the king of Bosporus, died after a reign of seven years, and Seleucus succeeded to the rule and reigned for forty years.
§12.36.2ἐν δὲ ταῖς Ἀθήναις Μέτων ὁ Παυσανίου μὲν υἱός, δεδοξασμένος δὲ ἐν ἀστρολογίᾳ, ἐξέθηκε τὴν ὀνομαζομένην ἐννεακαιδεκαετηρίδα, τὴν ἀρχὴν ποιησάμενος ἀπὸ μηνὸς ἐν Ἀθήναις σκιροφοριῶνος τρισκαιδεκάτης.
In Athens, Meton, the son of Pausanias, who had won fame in astrology, published the so-called nineteen-year cycle, making its beginning from the thirteenth day of the month of Scirophorion in Athens.
ἐν δὲ τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἔτεσι τὰ ἄστρα τὴν ἀποκατάστασιν ποιεῖται καὶ καθάπερ ἐνιαυτοῦ τινος μεγάλου τὸν ἀνακυκλισμὸν λαμβάνει· διὸ καί τινες αὐτὸν Μέτωνος ἐνιαυτὸν ὀνομάζουσι. §12.36.3δοκεῖ δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ οὗτος ἐν τῇ προρρήσει καὶ προγραφῇ ταύτῃ θαυμαστῶς ἐπιτετευχέναι· τὰ γὰρ ἄστρα τήν τε κίνησιν καὶ τὰς ἐπισημασίας ποιεῖται συμφώνως τῇ γραφῇ·
And in the aforementioned years, the stars make their return and complete their revolution as if of some "great year"; wherefore some also call it the "year of Meton." And this man seems to have succeeded wonderfully in this prediction and publication; for the stars make both their movements and their weather signs in agreement with his writing.
διὸ μέχρι τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς χρόνων οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν Ἑλλήνων χρώμενοι τῇ ἐννεακαιδεκαετηρίδι οὐ διαψεύδονται τῆς ἀληθείας.
Wherefore, down to our own times, most of the Greeks, using the nineteen-year cycle, do not fall short of the truth.
§12.36.4κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἰταλίαν Ταραντῖνοι τοὺς τὴν Σῖριν καλουμένην οἰκοῦντας μετοικίσαντες ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος καὶ ἰδίους προσθέντες οἰκήτορας, ἔκτισαν πόλιν τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Ἡράκλειαν.
In Italy, the Tarentines, having removed the inhabitants of the place called Siris from their native land and having added settlers of their own, founded the city called Heracleia.

Notes

  1. 12.36.2τὴν ἀρχὴν ποιησάμενος — The middle participle 'ποιησάμενος' agrees with the subject 'Μέτων', with 'τὴν ἀρχὴν' functioning either as its direct object or adverbially to mean 'making its beginning'.
  2. 12.36.2ἐνιαυτοῦ τινος μεγάλου — A genitive case following the comparative particle 'καθάπερ' (as if). It refers to the astronomical concept of a 'great year', the long cycle in which all celestial bodies return to their original positions.
  3. 12.36.3οὐ διαψεύδονται τῆς ἀληθείας — The verb 'διαψεύδομαι' (to be mistaken in, to fail of) governs the genitive case 'τῆς ἀληθείας', indicating the standard from which they do not depart ('they do not fall short of the truth').

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §12.36.1-12.36.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:12.36.1-12.36.4

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