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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §13.114.1-13.114.3

Peace Treaty between Himilco and Dionysius

Passage 293 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Himilco proposes peace terms due to the plague, and a treaty is concluded defining the status of Sicilian cities and Dionysius' rule. The Carthaginians withdraw but continue to suffer from the plague in Libya, and the author concludes Book 13.

§13.114.1διόπερ ὑπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀναγκαζόμενος Ἰμίλκας ἔπεμψεν εἰς Συρακούσας κήρυκα, παρακαλῶν τοὺς ἡττημένους διαλύσασθαι.
Therefore Himilco, compelled by the circumstances, sent a herald to Syracuse, urging the defeated to come to terms.
ἀσμένως δʼ ὑπακούσαντος τοῦ Διονυσίου τὴν εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τοῖσδε ἔθεντο· Καρχηδονίων εἶναι μετὰ τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀποίκων Ἐλύμους καὶ Σικανούς· Σελινουντίους δὲ καὶ Ἀκραγαντίνους, ἔτι δʼ Ἱμεραίους, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Γελῴους καὶ Καμαριναίους οἰκεῖν μὲν ἐν ἀτειχίστοις ταῖς πόλεσι, φόρον δὲ τελεῖν τοῖς Καρχηδονίοις· Λεοντίνους δὲ καὶ Μεσσηνίους καὶ Σικελοὺς ἅπαντας αὐτονόμους εἶναι, καὶ Συρακοσίους μὲν ὑπὸ Διονύσιον τετάχθαι, τὰ δὲ αἰχμάλωτα καὶ τὰς ναῦς ἀποδοῦναι τοὺς ἔχοντας τοῖς ἀποβαλοῦσι.
Dionysius having gladly complied, they made peace on the following conditions: that the Elymians and Sicanians should belong to the Carthaginians along with the original colonists; that the Selinuntines, Acragantines, and also Himeraeans, and in addition to these the Geloans and Camarinaeans, should dwell in unfortified cities and pay tribute to the Carthaginians; that the Leontines, Messenians, and all the Sicels should be autonomous; that the Syracusans should be placed under Dionysius; and that those who held the captives and the ships should restore them to those who had lost them.
§13.114.2τῶν συνθηκῶν δὲ γενομένων Καρχηδόνιοι μὲν εἰς Λιβύην ἐξέπλευσαν, πλεῖον ἢ τὸ ἥμισυ μέρος τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀποβαλόντες ὑπὸ τῆς νόσου· οὐδὲν δʼ ἧττον καὶ κατὰ Λιβύην διαμείναντος τοῦ λοιμοῦ, παμπληθεῖς αὐτῶν τε τῶν Καρχηδονίων, ἔτι δὲ τῶν συμμάχων διεφθάρησαν.
When the treaty was concluded, the Carthaginians sailed away to Libya, having lost more than half of their soldiers to the disease; nevertheless, as the plague persisted in Libya as well, vast numbers both of the Carthaginians themselves and also of their allies perished.
§13.114.3ἡμεῖς δὲ παραγενηθέντες ἐπὶ τὴν κατάλυσιν τῶν πολέμων, κατὰ μὲν τὴν Ἑλλάδα τοῦ Πελοποννησιακοῦ, κατὰ δὲ τὴν Σικελίαν τοῦ Καρχηδονίοις πρὸς Διονύσιον πρώτου συστάντος, ἡγούμεθα δεῖν ἐπιτετελεσμένης τῆς προθέσεως τὰς ἑξῆς πράξεις εἰς τὴν ἐχομένην βίβλον καταχωρίσαι.
Now that we have arrived at the conclusion of the wars—namely, the Peloponnesian War in Greece, and the first war of the Carthaginians against Dionysius in Sicily—we believe it proper, since our purpose has been fulfilled, to record the subsequent events in the following book.

Notes

  1. 13.114.1ἀσμένως δʼ ὑπακούσαντος τοῦ Διονυσίου — Genitive absolute construction. The genitive noun τοῦ Διονυσίου acts as the subject of the participle ὑπακούσαντος (aorist active participle of ὑπακούω), expressing cause or circumstance ('Dionysius having gladly complied').
  2. 13.114.1Καρχηδονίων εἶναι — This begins a series of accusative and infinitive (AcI) constructions specifying the terms of the peace treaty following τὴν εἰρήνην ... ἔθεντο ('they made peace'). Καρχηδονίων is a possessive genitive functioning as a predicate with εἶναι ('to belong to/be of the Carthaginians'). The subsequent clauses also employ infinitives (οἰκεῖν, τελεῖν, εἶναι, τετάχθαι, ἀποδοῦναι) to outline the treaty's provisions.
  3. 13.114.1τοὺς ἔχοντας τοῖς ἀποβαλοῦσι — The substantively used present participle τοὺς ἔχοντας ('those who hold/possess') acts as the subject accusative of the infinitive ἀποδοῦναι ('to return/restore'), while the aorist participle τοῖς ἀποβαλοῦσι ('to those who lost') serves as the indirect object in the dative case.
  4. 13.114.3τοῦ Πελοποννησιακοῦ... τοῦ Καρχηδονίοις πρὸς Διονύσιον πρώτου συστάντος — Both τοῦ Πελοποννησιακοῦ (the Peloponnesian) and τοῦ ... πρώτου συστάντος (the first [war] having arisen, with the aorist active participle συστάντος from συνίστημι) are genitives in apposition to τῶν πολέμων ('the wars'), specifying which wars are being concluded.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §13.114.1-13.114.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:13.114.1-13.114.3

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