Humanitext Reader

Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §12.8.1-12.8.4

War between Syracuse and Acragas and the Battle of Himeras

Passage 102 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The outbreak and course of the war between Syracuse and Acragas in Sicily. Sparked by the action of Ducetius, who broke his agreement with Syracuse to colonize "Fair Beach," Acragas declared war on Syracuse, leading to a Syracusan victory at the River Himeras and a subsequent peace treaty.

§12.8.1κατὰ δὲ τὴν Σικελίαν Συρακοσίοις πρὸς Ἀκραγαντίνους συνέστη πόλεμος διὰ τοιαύτας αἰτίας.
Meanwhile in Sicily, a war arose between the Syracusans and the Acragantines for the following reasons.
Συρακόσιοι καταπολεμήσαντες Δουκέτιον δυνάστην τῶν Σικελῶν, καὶ γενόμενον ἱκέτην ἀπολύσαντες τῶν ἐγκλημάτων, ἀπέδειξαν αὐτῷ τὴν τῶν Κορινθίων πόλιν οἰκητήριον.
The Syracusans, having defeated in war Ducetius, the ruler of the Sicels, and having released him from his charges when he became a suppliant, assigned the city of the Corinthians to him as a dwelling-place.
§12.8.2οὗτος δὲ ὀλίγον χρόνον μείνας ἐν τῇ Κορίνθῳ τὰς ὁμολογίας ἔλυσε, καὶ προσποιησάμενος χρησμὸν ὑπὸ θεῶν αὐτῷ δεδόσθαι κτίσαι τὴν Καλὴν Ἀκτὴν ἐν τῇ Σικελίᾳ, κατέπλευσεν εἰς τὴν νῆσον μετά τινων οἰκητόρων· συνεπελάβοντο δὲ καὶ τῶν Σικελῶν τινες, ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ Ἀρχωνίδης ὁ τῶν Ἑρβιταίων δυναστεύων.
But he, after remaining a short time in Corinth, broke the agreement, and pretending that an oracle had been given to him by the gods to found "Fair Beach" (Kale Akte) in Sicily, he sailed to the island with some settlers; and some of the Sicels also assisted him, among whom was Archonides, the ruler of the Herbitaeans.
οὗτος μὲν οὖν περὶ τὸν οἰκισμὸν τῆς Καλῆς Ἀκτῆς ἐγίνετο.
He, then, occupied himself with the colonization of Fair Beach.
§12.8.3Ἀκραγαντῖνοι δὲ ἅμα μὲν φθονοῦντες τοῖς Συρακοσίοις, ἅμα δʼ ἐγκαλοῦντες αὐτοῖς ὅτι Δουκέτιον ὄντα κοινὸν πολέμιον διέσωσαν ἄνευ τῆς Ἀκραγαντίνων γνώμης, πόλεμον ἐξήνεγκαν τοῖς Συρακοσίοις.
The Acragantines, partly envying the Syracusans, and partly charging them because they had saved Ducetius, who was a common enemy, without the consent of the Acragantines, declared war on the Syracusans.
§12.8.4σχιζομένων δὲ τῶν Σικελικῶν πόλεων, καὶ τῶν μὲν τοῖς Ἀκραγαντίνοις, τῶν δὲ τοῖς Συρακοσίοις συστρατευόντων, ἠθροίσθησαν παρʼ ἀμφοτέροις δυνάμεις ἀξιόλογοι.
And since the Sicilian cities were divided, with some joining the campaign with the Acragantines and others with the Syracusans, noteworthy forces were gathered on both sides.
φιλοτιμίας δὲ μεγάλης γενομένης ταῖς πόλεσιν, ἀντεστρατοπέδευσαν ἀλλήλοις περὶ τὸν Ἱμέραν ποταμόν, καὶ γενομένης παρατάξεως ἐνίκησαν οἱ Συρακόσιοι, καὶ τῶν Ἀκραγαντίνων ἀνεῖλον ὑπὲρ τοὺς χιλίους.
Since great rivalry arose between the cities, they encamped opposite one another near the River Himeras, and when a battle was joined, the Syracusans won, and slew more than a thousand of the Acragantines.
μετὰ δὲ τὴν μάχην διαπρεσβευσαμένων περὶ συνθέσεως τῶν Ἀκραγαντίνων, οἱ Συρακόσιοι συνέθεντο τὴν εἰρήνην.
And after the battle, when the Acragantines sent envoys to treat for terms, the Syracusans concluded peace.

Notes

  1. 12.8.1ἀπέδειξαν αὐτῷ τὴν τῶν Κορινθίων πόλιν οἰκητήριον — The verb ἀποδείκνυμι takes a double accusative construction, meaning "to designate A (accusative) as B (accusative)." Here, τὴν τῶν Κορινθίων πόλιν is the direct object and οἰκητήριον is the predicate accusative, while αὐτῷ is a dative of interest ("for him").
  2. 12.8.2προσποιησάμενος χρησμὸν ὑπὸ θεῶν αὐτῷ δεδόσθαι κτίσαι — The participle προσποιησάμενος ("pretending") governs an accusative and infinitive construction. The subject of the perfect passive infinitive δεδόσθαι is χρησμόν, and the active infinitive κτίσαι ("to found") functions as an explanatory or appositional infinitive explaining the content of the oracle (χρησμόν).
  3. 12.8.2περὶ τὸν οἰκισμὸν ... ἐγίνετο — The phrase consisting of the verb γίνομαι with the preposition περί and an accusative is an idiomatic expression meaning "to be occupied with" or "to busy oneself with." Here, it indicates that he was devoted to the colonization (οἰκισμός).
  4. 12.8.4σχιζομένων δὲ τῶν Σικελικῶν πόλεων, καὶ τῶν μὲν τοῖς Ἀκραγαντίνοις, τῶν δὲ τοῖς Συρακοσίοις συστρατευόντων — A double genitive absolute construction. The main subject in the genitive, τῶν Σικελικῶν πόλεων, is subdivided partitively by the correlative expression τῶν μὲν ... τῶν δέ, each part of which syntactically coordinates with the genitive participle συστρατευόντων.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §12.8.1-12.8.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:12.8.1-12.8.4

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.