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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §12.37.1-12.37.2

The Execution of Maelius and the Siege of Potidaea

Passage 131 of 723 · Greek

Summary

During the archonship of Pythodorus, Spurius Maelius is executed in Rome, and the Athenian general Phormio continues the siege of Potidaea. Additionally, Thucydides begins writing his history of the Peloponnesian War.

§12.37.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος δʼ Ἀθήνησι Πυθοδώρου Ῥωμαῖοι μὲν ὑπάτους κατέστησεν Τίτον Κοΐντιον καὶ Νίττον Μενήνιον, Ἠλεῖοι δʼ ἤγαγον Ὀλυμπιάδα ἑβδόμην πρὸς ταῖς ὀγδοήκοντα, καθʼ ἣν ἐνίκα στάδιον Σώφρων Ἀμπρακιώτης.
When Pythodorus was archon in Athens, the Romans established Titus Quinctius and Nittus Menenius as consuls, and the Eleans celebrated the eighty-seventh Olympiad, in which Sophron of Ambracia won the stadion.
ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ Σπόριος Μαίλιος ἐπιθέμενος τυραννίδι ἀνῃρέθη.
During their term of office, in Rome, Spurius Maelius, having aimed at a tyranny, was put to death.
Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ περὶ Ποτίδαιαν νενικηκότες ἐπιφανεῖ μάχῃ, Καλλίου τοῦ στρατηγοῦ πεσόντος ἐν τῇ παρατάξει, στρατηγὸν ἕτερον ἐξέπεμψαν Φορμίωνα.
The Athenians, having won a notable battle around Potidaea, after their general Callias had fallen in the battle line, sent out another general, Phormio.
οὗτος δὲ παραλαβὼν τὸ στρατόπεδον καὶ προσκαθήμενος τῇ πόλει τῶν Ποτιδαιατῶν συνεχεῖς προσβολὰς ἐποιεῖτο· ἀμυνομένων δὲ τῶν ἔνδον εὐρώστως ἐγένετο πολυχρόνιος πολιορκία.
Having taken over the army and sitting down before the city of the Potidaeans, he made continuous assaults; but since those within defended themselves vigorously, the siege became long-lasting.
§12.37.2Θουκυδίδης δὲ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος τὴν ἱστορίαν ἐντεῦθεν ἀρξάμενος ἔγραψε τὸν γενόμενον πόλεμον Ἀθηναίοις πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους τὸν ὀνομασθέντα Πελοποννησιακόν.
And Thucydides the Athenian, having begun his history from this point, wrote of the war that arose between the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians, which was named the Peloponnesian War.
οὗτος μὲν οὖν ὁ πόλεμος διέμεινεν ἐπὶ ἔτη εἴκοσι ἑπτά, ὁ δὲ Θουκυδίδης ἔτη δύο πρὸς τοῖς εἴκοσι γέγραφεν ἐν βίβλοις ὀκτώ, ὡς δέ τινες διαιροῦσιν, ἐννέα.
Now this war lasted for twenty-seven years, but Thucydides wrote of twenty-two years in eight books, or, as some divide them, nine.

Notes

  1. §12.37.1κατέστησεν — Although the subject Ῥωμαῖοι is a plural noun, the verb preserved in the manuscripts is κατέστησεν (third-person singular), creating a grammatical mismatch. While some editors emend it to the plural κατέστησαν, if retained, it must be understood as a constructio ad sensum (agreement according to sense), treating 'the Romans' as a collective singular entity.
  2. §12.37.1Καλλίου τοῦ στρατηγοῦ πεσόντος ἐν τῇ παρατάξει — A genitive absolute construction. While the preceding perfect participle νενικηκότες (nominative plural) describes the victory of the Athenians, this phrase introduces the death of the general Callias as a circumstantial or causal factor, prompting the main verb ἐξέπεμψαν ('they sent out').
  3. §12.37.2ἔτη δύο πρὸς τοῖς εἴκοσι — The preposition πρός with the dative τοῖς εἴκοσι means 'in addition to,' making the phrase mean 'two in addition to twenty,' i.e., twenty-two years. This refers to the span of time covered by Thucydides' unfinished history (from 431 to 411 BC).

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §12.37.1-12.37.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:12.37.1-12.37.2

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