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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §13.109.1-13.109.5

Dionysius' Relief of Gela and Attack Plan against Carthage

Passage 288 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Dionysius arrives with a large force to relieve Gela, camps by the sea to cut off Carthaginian supplies, and subsequently divides his infantry into three divisions to execute a coordinated assault.

§13.109.1Διονύσιος δʼ ὁ τῶν Συρακοσίων τύραννος μεταπεμψάμενος παρὰ τῶν ἐξ Ἰταλίας Ἑλλήνων βοήθειαν ἐξῆγε καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων δύναμιν· ἐπέλεξε δὲ καὶ τῶν Συρακοσίων τοὺς πλείστους τῶν ἐν ἡλικίᾳ καὶ τοὺς μισθοφόρους κατέλεξεν εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον.
Dionysius, the tyrant of the Syracusans, having summoned help from the Greeks of Italy, led out a force also from his other allies; he also selected most of those of military age among the Syracusans and enrolled the mercenaries into his army.
§13.109.2εἶχε δὲ τοὺς ἅπαντας, ὡς μέν τινες, πεντακισμυρίους, ὡς δὲ Τίμαιος ἀνέγραψε, πεζοὺς μὲν τρισμυρίους, ἱππεῖς δὲ χιλίους, ναῦς δὲ καταφράκτους πεντήκοντα.
He had in total, as some write, fifty thousand men, but as Timaeus recorded, thirty thousand infantry, one thousand cavalry, and fifty decked ships.
μετὰ δὲ τοσαύτης δυνάμεως ἐξορμήσας ἐπὶ τὴν βοήθειαν τοῖς Γελῴοις, ὡς ἤγγισε τῆς πόλεως, κατεστρατοπέδευσε παρὰ τὴν θάλατταν.
Setting out with so great a force to help the Geloans, when he drew near the city, he encamped by the sea.
§13.109.3ἔσπευδε γὰρ μὴ διασπᾶν τὴν στρατιάν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ τόπου τὴν ὁρμὴν ποιούμενος κατὰ γῆν ἅμα καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν ἀγωνίζεσθαι· τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ψιλοῖς ἠγωνίζετο καὶ τὴν χώραν οὐκ εἴα προνομεύεσθαι, τοῖς δʼ ἱππεῦσι καὶ ταῖς ναυσὶν ἐπειρᾶτο τὰς ἀγορὰς ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τὰς κομιζομένας τοῖς Καρχηδονίοις ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας ἐπικρατείας.
For he was anxious not to divide his army, but making his start from the same place, to fight at the same time by land and by sea; indeed, with his light-armed troops he fought and did not allow the countryside to be plundered, and with his cavalry and ships he tried to cut off the supplies being brought to the Carthaginians from their own territory.
§13.109.4ἐφʼ ἡμέρας μὲν οὖν εἴκοσι διέτριβον οὐδὲν ἄξιον λόγου πράττοντες· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Διονύσιος τοὺς πεζοὺς εἰς τρία μέρη διεῖλεν, ἓν μὲν τάγμα ποιήσας τῶν Σικελιωτῶν, οἷς προσέταξεν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ τὴν πόλιν ἔχοντας ἐπὶ τὸν χάρακα τῶν ἐναντίων πορεύεσθαι· τὸ δʼ ἕτερον τάγμα συμμάχων καταστήσας ἐκέλευσεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τὴν πόλιν ἔχοντας ἐπείγεσθαι παρʼ αὐτὸν τὸν αἰγιαλόν· αὐτὸς δʼ ἔχων τὸ τῶν μισθοφόρων σύνταγμα διὰ τῆς πόλεως ὥρμησεν ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον, οὗ τὰ μηχανήματα τῶν Καρχηδονίων ἦν.
For twenty days, then, they spent their time doing nothing worthy of mention; after this, Dionysius divided the infantry into three parts, making one division of the Siceliots, whom he ordered to advance against the enemy's palisade with the city on their left; and having established the other division of the allies, he ordered them to press forward along the very beach with the city on their right; while he himself, having the division of the mercenaries, rushed through the city toward the place where the siege engines of the Carthaginians were.
§13.109.5καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἱππεῦσι παρήγγειλεν, ἐπειδὰν ἴδωσι τοὺς πεζοὺς ὡρμημένους, διαβῆναι τὸν ποταμὸν καὶ τὸ πεδίον καθιππάζεσθαι, κἂν μὲν ὁρῶσι τοὺς ἰδίους προτεροῦντας, συνεπιλαμβάνεσθαι τῆς μάχης, ἂν δʼ ἐλαττωμένους, δέχεσθαι τοὺς θλιβομένους· τοῖς δʼ ἐν ταῖς ναυσὶ παρήγγειλε πρὸς τὴν τῶν Ἰταλιωτῶν ἔφοδον τῇ παρεμβολῇ τῶν πολεμίων ἐπιπλεῦσαι.
And to the cavalry he gave orders that, as soon as they saw the infantry set in motion, they should cross the river and ride over the plain, and if they saw their own men getting the upper hand, they should join in the battle, but if they were worsted, they should receive those who were hard pressed; and to those in the ships he gave orders to sail against the enemy's camp in coordination with the assault of the Italiotes.

Notes

  1. 13.109.1τῶν ἐν ἡλικίᾳ — Refers to "those of military age". This articular adjectival phrase denotes adult males eligible for military conscription.
  2. 13.109.3τὴν χώραν οὐκ εἴα προνομεύεσθαι — προνομεύεσθαι is a middle or passive infinitive. In this context, it is best understood as passive: "he did not allow the countryside to be plundered".
  3. 13.109.4ἐν ἀριστερᾷ τὴν πόλιν ἔχοντας — The accusative participle ἔχοντας agrees with the implicit subject of the infinitive πορεύεσθαι, referring back to the relative pronoun οἷς (dative, referring to the Σικελιωτῶν).
  4. 13.109.5πρὸς τὴν τῶν Ἰταλιωτῶν ἔφοδον — The preposition πρὸς here means "in coordination with" or "in time with". Ἰταλιῶται (Italiotes, Greeks of Italy) refers back to the παρὰ τῶν ἐξ Ἰταλίας Ἑλλήνων mentioned in 109.1, who made up the "allied" division advancing along the beach in 109.4.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §13.109.1-13.109.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:13.109.1-13.109.5

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