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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §13.5.1-13.5.4

The Flight of Alcibiades and Exile to Sparta

Passage 184 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Slanders against Alcibiades intensify in Athens, leading to his recall by the Salaminia; he escapes to Sparta, and the Athenians condemn him to death in absentia.

§13.5.1τούτων δὲ πραττομένων οἱ κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν ἔχθραν μισοῦντες τὸν Ἀλκιβιάδην ἐν Ἀθήναις, πρόφασιν ἔχοντες τὴν τῶν ἀγαλμάτων περικοπήν, διέβαλον αὐτὸν ἐν ταῖς δημηγορίαις ὡς συνωμοσίαν κατὰ τοῦ δήμου πεποιημένον.
\nWhile these things were taking place, those in Athens who hated Alcibiades out of personal enmity, using the mutilation of the statues as a pretext, slandered him in the public assemblies, claiming that he had formed a conspiracy against the democracy.
συνελάβετο δʼ αὐτῶν ταῖς διαβολαῖς τὸ πραχθὲν παρὰ τοῖς Ἀργείοις· οἱ γὰρ ἰδιόξενοι συνθέμενοι καταλῦσαι τὴν ἐν Ἄργει δημοκρατίαν πάντες ὑπὸ τῶν πολιτῶν ἀνῃρέθησαν. §13.5.2πιστεύσας οὖν ὁ δῆμος ταῖς κατηγορίαις, καὶ δεινῶς ὑπὸ τῶν δημαγωγῶν παροξυνθείς, ἀπέστειλε τὴν Σαλαμινίαν ναῦν εἰς Σικελίαν, κελεύων τὴν ταχίστην ἥκειν Ἀλκιβιάδην ἐπὶ τὴν κρίσιν.
What had happened among the Argives also contributed to their slanders; for his personal guest-friends, who had agreed to overthrow the democracy in Argos, were all put to death by the citizens.\n\nTherefore, the people, believing the accusations and being violently incited by the demagogues, dispatched the ship Salaminia to Sicily, ordering Alcibiades to return as quickly as possible to stand trial.
παραγενομένης οὖν τῆς νεὼς εἰς τὴν Κατάνην, Ἀλκιβιάδης, ἀκούσας τῶν πρέσβεων τὰ δόξαντα τῷ δήμῳ,τοὺς συνδιαβεβλημένους ἀναλαβὼν εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν τριήρη μετὰ τῆς Σαλαμινίας ἐξέπλευσεν. §13.5.3ἐπεὶ δʼ εἰς Θουρίους κατέπλευσεν, εἴτε καὶ συνειδὼς αὑτῷ τὴν ἀσέβειαν ὁ Ἀλκιβιάδης εἴτε καὶ φοβηθεὶς τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ κινδύνου, μετὰ τῶν συνδιαβεβλημένων διαδρὰς ἐκποδὼν ἐχωρίσθη.
When the ship arrived in Catana, Alcibiades, having heard from the envoys the decrees of the people, took those who had been slandered with him into his own trireme and sailed away along with the Salaminia.\n\nBut when he put in at Thurii, Alcibiades, whether because he was conscious of his own impiety or because he feared the magnitude of the danger, escaped with those who had been slandered with him and disappeared.
οἱ δʼ ἐν τῇ Σαλαμινίᾳ νηὶ παραγενόμενοι τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐζήτουν τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἀλκιβιάδην· ὡς δʼ οὐχ εὕρισκον, ἀποπλεύσαντες εἰς Ἀθήνας ἀπήγγειλαν τῷ δήμῳ τὰ πεπραγμένα. §13.5.4οἱ μὲν οὖν Ἀθηναῖοι παραδόντες δικαστηρίῳ τοῦ τε Ἀλκιβιάδου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν συμφυγόντων τὰ ὀνόματα δίκην ἐρήμην κατεδίκασαν θανάτου.
Those on the Salaminia at first searched for Alcibiades and his companions, but when they could not find them, they sailed back to Athens and reported what had happened to the people.\n\nThe Athenians, therefore, having handed over the names of Alcibiades and the others who had fled with him to a court, condemned them to death in a trial in absentia.
ὁ δʼ Ἀλκιβιάδης ἐκ τῆς Ἰταλίας διαπλεύσας ἐπὶ Πελοπόννησον ἔφυγεν εἰς Σπάρτην, καὶ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους παρώξυνεν ἐπιθέσθαι τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις.
Alcibiades, having sailed across from Italy to the Peloponnesus, fled to Sparta and incited the Lacedaemonians to attack the Athenians.

Notes

  1. 13.5.1ὡς συνωμοσίαν κατὰ τοῦ δήμου πεποιημένον — The construction of ὡς with the perfect participle (accusative masculine singular) modifies αὐτόν (Alcibiades), the object of the verb διέβαλον, representing the subjective allegation or pretext of the slanderers ('as having formed...').
  2. 13.5.1συνελάβετο δʼ αὐτῶν ταῖς διαβολαῖς τὸ πραχθὲν — The verb συλλαμβάνομαι takes the dative (αὐτῶν ταῖς διαβολαῖς, 'their slanders') to mean 'contribute to' or 'help'. The subject is the neuter substantive participle τὸ πραχθὲν ('what had happened').
  3. 13.5.2τὴν ταχίστην — An adverbial accusative expression with the feminine noun ὁδός ('way') omitted, meaning 'as quickly as possible' or 'by the quickest way'.
  4. 13.5.2ἀκούσας τῶν πρέσβεων τὰ δόξαντα — A construction where the verb ἀκούω takes a genitive of the person (τῶν πρέσβεων, 'from the envoys') and an accusative of the thing (тὰ δόξαντα, 'the decrees').
  5. 13.5.3συνειδὼς αὑτῷ τὴν ἀσέβειαν — The construction of σύνοιδα with a reflexive dative (αὑτῷ) and an accusative (τὴν ἀσέβειαν) means 'to be conscious of something in oneself'. Here in the participial form, it means 'being conscious of his own impiety'.
  6. 13.5.4δίκην ἐρήμην κατεδίκασαν θανάτου — The verb καταδικάζω typically takes a genitive of the person and a genitive of the penalty. Here, δίκην ἐρήμην is an accusative expression ('trial in absentia' or 'by default judgment'), while θανάτου is the genitive of penalty ('death'). The condemned persons are implied from the preceding clause.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §13.5.1-13.5.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:13.5.1-13.5.4

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