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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §12.6.1-12.6.2

The Battle of Coronea and Death of Tolmides

Passage 100 of 723 · Greek

Summary

During the archonship of Timarchides, the Lacedaemonians invade Attica and Tolmides captures Chaeronea, but after a crushing Athenian defeat at Coronea where Tolmides is killed, Athens is forced to grant autonomy to all Boeotian cities to recover their captured soldiers.

§12.6.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος δʼ Ἀθήνησι Τιμαρχίδου Ῥωμαῖοι μὲν ὑπάτους κατέστησαν Σπόριον Ταρπήιον καὶ Αὖλον Ἀστέριον Φοντίνιον.
When Timarchides was archon in Athens, the Romans established Spurius Tarpeius and Aulus Asterius Fontinius as consuls.
ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων Λακεδαιμόνιοι μὲν εἰς τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἐμβαλόντες ἐπόρθησαν πολλὴν χώραν, καὶ τῶν φρουρίων τινὰ πολιορκήσαντες ἐπανῆλθον εἰς τὴν Πελοπόννησον, Τολμίδης δὲ ὁ τῶν Ἀθηναίων στρατηγὸς εἷλε Χαιρώνειαν.
During their term, the Lacedaemonians invaded Attica and ravaged much of the territory, and after besieging some of the fortresses, they returned to the Peloponnese, while Tolmides, the general of the Athenians, captured Chaeronea.
§12.6.2τῶν δὲ Βοιωτῶν συστραφέντων καὶ τοῖς περὶ τὸν Τολμίδην ἐνεδρευσάντων, ἐγένετο μάχη καρτερὰ περὶ τὴν Κορώνειαν, καθʼ ἣν Τολμίδης μὲν μαχόμενος ἀνῃρέθη, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων Ἀθηναίων οἱ μὲν κατεκόπησαν, οἱ δὲ ζῶντες ἐλήφθησαν.
But when the Boeotians gathered together and laid an ambush for Tolmides and his men, a fierce battle took place near Coronea, in which Tolmides was killed while fighting, and of the other Athenians, some were cut down and others were taken alive.
τηλικαύτης δὲ συμφορᾶς γενομένης τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, ἠναγκάσθησαν ἀφεῖναι τὰς πόλεις ἁπάσας τὰς κατὰ τὴν Βοιωτίαν αὐτονόμους, ἵνα τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους ἀπολάβωσιν.
Since such a great disaster had befallen the Athenians, they were forced to leave all the cities throughout Boeotia independent in order to recover their prisoners.

Notes

  1. §12.6.2τοῖς περὶ τὸν Τολμίδην — Meaning 'Tolmides and his men.' The phrase οἱ περί with an accusative is an idiomatic expression denoting a central figure and those around them (here, the general Tolmides and the Athenian forces under his command). It is in the dative case because it is governed by the preceding participle ἐνεδρευσάντων (from ἐνεδρεύω, 'to lie in ambush for').
  2. §12.6.2αὐτονόμους — The feminine plural accusative of the adjective αὐτόνομος ('independent', 'autonomous'), used predicatively. It functions as a resultative complement to τὰς πόλεις ἁπάσας, the object of the infinitive ἀφεῖναι ('to leave', 'to set free'), meaning 'to leave all the cities independent.'

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §12.6.1-12.6.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:12.6.1-12.6.2

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