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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §12.74.1-12.74.6

Battle of Amphipolis and Fifty-Year Peace Treaty

Passage 168 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Cleon and Brasidas clash in the Battle of Amphipolis, where both generals are killed and the Spartans emerge victorious. The patriotic attitude of Brasidas' mother upon his death is praised, and both sides agree to a fifty-year peace treaty, ending ten years of war.

§12.74.1πυθόμενος δὲ τὸν Βρασίδαν μετὰ δυνάμεως διατρίβειν περὶ πόλιν Ἀμφίπολιν, ἀνέζευξεν ἐπʼ αὐτόν.
Learning that Brasidas was staying with a force around the city of Amphipolis, he marched against him.
ὁ δὲ Βρασίδας ὡς ἤκουσε προσιόντας τοὺς πολεμίους, ἐκτάξας τὴν δύναμιν ἀπήντα τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις·
And Brasidas, when he heard that the enemy was approaching, drew up his force and went to meet the Athenians.
γενομένης δὲ παρατάξεως μεγάλης, καὶ τῶν στρατοπέδων ἀγωνισαμένων ἀμφοτέρων λαμπρῶς, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἰσόρροπος ἦν ἡ μάχη, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα παρʼ ἑκατέροις τῶν ἡγεμόνων φιλοτιμουμένων διʼ ἑαυτῶν κρῖναι τὴν μάχην, συνέβη πολλοὺς τῶν ἀξιολόγων ἀνδρῶν ἀναιρεθῆναι, τῶν στρατηγῶν αὑτοὺς καταστησάντων εἰς τὴν μάχην καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς νίκης ἀνυπέρβλητον φιλοτιμίαν εἰσενεγκαμένων.
A great battle took place, and both armies fought splendidly; at first the battle was evenly balanced, but after this, since the commanders on both sides were eager to decide the battle by themselves, it happened that many of the noteworthy men were slain, because the generals threw themselves into the fight and displayed an unsurpassable rivalry for victory.
§12.74.2ὁ μὲν οὖν Βρασίδας ἀριστεύσας καὶ πλείστους ἀνελὼν ἡρωικῶς κατέστρεψε τὸν βίον· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τοῦ Κλέωνος ἐν τῇ μάχῃ πεσόντος, ἀμφότεραι μὲν αἱ δυνάμεις διὰ τὴν ἀναρχίαν ἐταράχθησαν, τὸ τέλος δʼ ἐνίκησαν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ τρόπαιον ἔστησαν.
Brasidas, having distinguished himself and slain very many, heroically ended his life; and likewise Cleon having fallen in the battle, both forces were thrown into confusion because of the lack of leadership, but in the end the Lacedaemonians won and set up a trophy.
οἱ δʼ Ἀθηναῖοι τοὺς νεκροὺς ὑποσπόνδους, ἀνελόμενοι καὶ θάψαντες ἀπέπλευσαν εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας.
The Athenians, having taken up their dead under a truce and buried them, sailed away to Athens.
§12.74.3εἰς δὲ τὴν Λακεδαίμονα παραγενομένων τινῶν ἐκ τῆς μάχης καὶ τὴν Βρασίδου νίκην ἅμα καὶ τελευτὴν ἀπαγγειλάντων, ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Βρασίδου πυνθανομένη περὶ τῶν πραχθέντων κατὰ τὴν μάχην ἐπηρώτησε, ποῖός τις γέγονεν ἐν τῇ παρατάξει Βρασίδας·
When some men arrived in Lacedaemon from the battle and reported both the victory and the death of Brasidas, the mother of Brasidas, learning of what had been done in the battle, asked what kind of man Brasidas had been in the engagement.
τῶν δʼ ἀποκριναμένων ὅτι πάντων Λακεδαιμονίων ἄριστος, εἶπεν ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ τετελευτηκότος ὅτι Βρασίδας ὁ υἱὸς αὐτῆς ἦν ἀγαθὸς ἀνήρ, πολλῶν μέντοι γε ἑτέρων καταδεέστερος.
When they replied that he was the best of all the Lacedaemonians, the mother of the deceased said that her son Brasidas was indeed a brave man, but inferior to many others.
§12.74.4τῶν δὲ λόγων τούτων διαδοθέντων κατὰ τὴν πόλιν οἱ ἔφοροι δημοσίᾳ τὴν γυναῖκα ἐτίμησαν, ὅτι προέκρινε τὸν τῆς πατρίδος ἔπαινον τῆς τοῦ τέκνου δόξης.
When these words were spread abroad in the city, the ephors publicly honored the woman, because she preferred the praise of her country to the glory of her child.
§12.74.5μετὰ δὲ τὴν εἰρημένην μάχην ἔδοξαν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις συνθέσθαι σπονδὰς πεντηκονταετεῖς ἐπὶ τοῖσδε· τοὺς μὲν αἰχμαλώτους παρʼ ἀμφοτέροις ἀπολυθῆναι, τὰς δὲ πόλεις ἀποδοῦναι τὰς κατὰ πόλεμον ληφθείσας.
After the aforementioned battle, the Athenians and Lacedaemonians decided to make a fifty-year treaty on the following terms: that the prisoners on both sides be released, and that the cities taken during the war be restored.
§12.74.6ὁ μὲν οὖν Πελοποννησιακὸς πόλεμος, διαμείνας μέχρι τῶν ὑποκειμένων καιρῶν ἔτη δέκα, τὸν εἰρημένον τρόπον κατελύθη.
The Peloponnesian War, then, having lasted ten years up to the present times, was brought to an end in the manner described.

Notes

  1. §12.74.1φιλοτιμουμένων — A genitive plural participle agreeing with the genitive noun `τῶν ἡγεμόνων`, which depends on the prepositional phrase `παρʼ ἑκατέροις`. Syntactically, it functions with `τῶν ἡγεμόνων` as the semantic subject of the action ("the commanders desiring to decide the battle by themselves").
  2. §12.74.3πολλῶν μέντοι γε ἑτέρων καταδεέστερος — The comparative adjective `καταδεέστερος` ("inferior to") is accompanied by the genitive of comparison `πολλῶν ἑτέρων` ("many others").

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §12.74.1-12.74.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:12.74.1-12.74.6

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