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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §12.70.1-12.70.6

Boeotian Victory at the Battle of Delium

Passage 164 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The Battle of Delium ends in a victory for the Boeotian coalition, with the Athenian army suffering heavy casualties and fleeing. Afterward, the Boeotians use the spoils to construct and decorate public buildings and successfully capture Delium.

§12.70.1ἀμφοτέρων δὲ προθύμως ὡρμημένων παρετάχθησαν αἱ δυνάμεις τόνδε τὸν τρόπον.
Both sides having eagerly set forth, the forces were drawn up in the following manner.
παρὰ τοῖς Βοιωτοῖς ἐτάχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας Θηβαῖοι, ἐπὶ δὲ τὸ εὐώνυμον Ὀρχομένιοι, τὴν δὲ μέσην ἀνεπλήρουν φάλαγγα Βοιωτοί·
On the side of the Boeotians, the Thebans were stationed on the right wing, the Orchomenians on the left, and the Boeotians filled the center of the phalanx.
προεμάχοντο δὲ πάντων οἱ παρʼ ἐκείνοις ἡνίοχοι καὶ παραβάται καλούμενοι, ἄνδρες ἐπίλεκτοι τριακόσιοι.
And there fought in front of all those who were called among them 'charioteers and combatants,' three hundred select men.
Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ διατάττοντες ἔτι τὴν δύναμιν ἠναγκάσθησαν συνάψαι μάχην.
The Athenians, while still arranging their force, were forced to join battle.
§12.70.2γενομένης δὲ τῆς παρατάξεως ἰσχυρᾶς, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον οἱ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἱππεῖς ἀγωνιζόμενοι λαμπρῶς ἠνάγκασαν φυγεῖν τοὺς ἀντιστάντας ἱππεῖς· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῶν πεζῶν διαγωνισαμένων οἱ ταχθέντες κατὰ τοὺς Θηβαίους Ἀθηναῖοι βιασθέντες ἐτράπησαν, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ τοὺς ἄλλους Βοιωτοὺς τρεψάμενοι καὶ συχνοὺς ἀνελόντες ἐφʼ ἱκανὸν τόπον ἐδίωξαν.
When the engagement became severe, at first the Athenian cavalry, fighting splendidly, forced the opposing cavalry to flee; after this, when the infantry joined the struggle, the Athenians stationed against the Thebans, being hard pressed, were routed, but the rest routed the other Boeotians and, having slain many, pursued them for a considerable distance.
§12.70.3οἱ δὲ Θηβαῖοι, διαφέροντες ταῖς τῶν σωμάτων ῥώμαις, ἐπέστρεψαν ἀπὸ τοῦ διωγμοῦ, καὶ τοῖς διώκουσι τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐπιπεσόντες φυγεῖν ἠνάγκασαν· ἐπιφανεῖ δὲ μάχῃ νικήσαντες μεγάλην ἀπηνέγκαντο δόξαν πρὸς ἀνδρείαν.
But the Thebans, excelling in bodily strength, returned from the pursuit and, falling upon the pursuing Athenians, forced them to flee; and having won a victory in a famous battle, they carried off great renown for courage.
§12.70.4τῶν δʼ Ἀθηναίων οἱ μὲν εἰς Ὠρωπόν, οἱ δὲ εἰς τὸ Δήλιον κατέφυγον, τινὲς δὲ πρὸς τὴν θάλατταν διέτειναν πρὸς τὰς ἰδίας ναῦς, ἄλλοι δὲ κατʼ ἄλλους ὡς ἔτυχε τόπους διεσπάρησαν.
Of the Athenians, some fled to Oropus, some to Delium, some made for the sea to their own ships, and others scattered in various directions as chance directed.
ἐπιγενομένης δὲ τῆς νυκτὸς ἔπεσον τῶν μὲν Βοιωτῶν οὐ πλείους τῶν πεντακοσίων, τῶν δʼ Ἀθηναίων πολλαπλάσιοι τούτων.
When night came on, there fell of the Boeotians not more than five hundred, but of the Athenians many times this number.
εἰ μὲν οὖν ἡ νὺξ μὴ προκατέλαβεν, οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἂν ἐτελεύτησαν· αὕτη γὰρ μεσολαβήσασα τὰς τῶν διωκόντων ὁρμὰς διέσωσε τοὺς φεύγοντας.
If, therefore, night had not anticipated them, the majority of the Athenians would have perished; for this, by intercepting the onset of the pursuers, saved those who were fleeing.
§12.70.5ὅμως δὲ τοσοῦτο πλῆθος τῶν ἀναιρεθέντων ἦν, ὥστε τοὺς Θηβαίους ἐκ τῆς τῶν λαφύρων τιμῆς τήν τε στοὰν τὴν μεγάλην ἐν ἀγορᾷ κατασκευάσαι καὶ χαλκοῖς ἀνδριᾶσι κοσμῆσαι, τοὺς δὲ ναοὺς καὶ τὰς κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν στοὰς τοῖς ὅπλοις τοῖς ἐκ τῶν σκύλων προσηλωθεῖσι καταχαλκῶσαι· τήν τε τῶν Δηλίων πανήγυριν ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν χρημάτων ἐνεστήσαντο ποιεῖν.
Nevertheless, the multitude of the slain was so great that the Thebans, from the value of the spoils, constructed the great colonnade in the marketplace and adorned it with bronze statues, and covered the temples and the colonnades in the marketplace with bronze by nailing up the weapons from the spoils; and they established the festival of the Delia to be celebrated from these funds.
§12.70.6μετὰ δὲ τὴν μάχην οἱ μὲν Βοιωτοὶ τῷ Δηλίῳ προσβολὰς ποιησάμενοι κατὰ κράτος εἷλον τὸ χωρίον· τῶν δὲ φρουρούντων τὸ Δήλιον οἱ πλείους μὲν μαχόμενοι γενναίως ἀπέθανον, διακόσιοι δὲ ἥλωσαν· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ κατέφυγον εἰς τὰς ναῦς, καὶ διεκομίσθησαν μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων εἰς τὴν Ἀττικήν.
After the battle, the Boeotians made assaults on Delium and took the place by storm; of those who guarded Delium, the majority died fighting bravely, and two hundred were captured; the rest fled to the ships, and were conveyed with the others to Attica.
Ἀθηναῖοι μὲν οὖν ἐπιβουλεύσαντες τοῖς Βοιωτοῖς τοιαύτῃ συμφορᾷ περιέπεσον.
Thus the Athenians, having plotted against the Boeotians, fell into such a disaster.

Notes

  1. 12.70.1πάντων — The genitive πάντων is a genitive of comparison or position governed by the verb προεμάχοντο ('fought in front of'), meaning 'in front of all' or 'before all.'
  2. 12.70.3ἐπέστρεψαν ἀπὸ τοῦ διωγμοῦ — Meaning 'they turned back from the pursuit.' It uses the preposition ἀπό to indicate the point of departure for their change of direction, where the Thebans broke off their own pursuit of the Athenians to turn back against the other Athenians who were pursuing their Boeotian allies.
  3. 12.70.5τοῖς ὅπλοις τοῖς ἐκ τῶν σκύλων προσηλωθεῖσι — A dative phrase expressing the instrument or material for the verb καταχαλκῶσαι ('to cover with bronze'). The participle προσηλωθεῖσι ('nailed up') modifies τοῖς ὅπλοις ('weapons'), indicating that the weapons taken from the spoils (σκῦλα) were nailed to the walls of the temples and colonnades to cover them.
  4. 12.70.5τῶν Δηλίων — A genitive noun. It can be interpreted either as the genitive of the neuter plural τὰ Δήλια (the Delian festival) or as referring to the sanctuary at Delium (τὸ Δήλιον). It refers to the establishment of a festival connected with the sanctuary of Delium, or perhaps a rival festival to the Athenian 'Delia' on Delos.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §12.70.1-12.70.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:12.70.1-12.70.6

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