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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §13.62.1-13.62.6

Fall and Destruction of Himera and Hannibal's Triumph

Passage 241 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The Carthaginian forces breached the walls of Himera and entered the city, conducting a merciless slaughter and plunder. Hannibal completely destroyed the city, executed three thousand men in revenge for his grandfather, and returned triumphantly to Carthage.

§13.62.1οἱ δʼ ἐν τῇ πόλει καταλειφθέντες διενυκτέρευον μὲν ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις ἐπὶ τῶν τειχῶν·
Those who had been left behind in the city spent the night in arms upon the walls.
ἅμα δʼ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν Καρχηδονίων περιστρατοπεδευσάντων τὴν πόλιν καὶ πυκνὰς προσβολὰς ποιουμένων, οἱ καταλειφθέντες τῶν Ἱμεραίων ἀφειδῶς ἠγωνίζοντο, προσδοκῶντες τὴν τῶν νεῶν παρουσίαν.
At daybreak, when the Carthaginians encircled the city and made frequent assaults, the Himeraeans who had been left behind fought without sparing themselves, expecting the arrival of the ships.
§13.62.2ἐκείνην μὲν οὖν τὴν ἡμέραν διεκαρτέρησαν, τῇ δʼ ὑστεραίᾳ τῶν τριήρων ἐπιφαινομένων ἤδη συνέβαινε τὸ μὲν τεῖχος πεσεῖν ὑπὸ τῶν μηχανῶν, τοὺς δʼ Ἴβηρας ἀθρόους παρεισπεσεῖν εἰς τὴν πόλιν.
Now they held out through that day, but on the next, while the triremes were already appearing, it happened that the wall fell under the engines, and the Iberians rushed in a body into the city.
τῶν δὲ βαρβάρων οἱ μὲν ἠμύνοντο τοὺς παραβοηθοῦντας τῶν Ἱμεραίων, οἱ δὲ καταλαμβανόμενοι τὰ τείχη παρεδέχοντο τοὺς ἰδίους.
Of the barbarians, some warded off those of the Himeraeans who were coming to the rescue, while others, seizing the walls, let in their own comrades.
§13.62.3κατὰ κράτος οὖν ἁλούσης τῆς πόλεως, ἐπὶ πολὺν χρόνον οἱ βάρβαροι πάντας ἐφόνευον τοὺς καταλαμβανομένους ἀσυμπαθῶς.
When the city was thus taken by storm, for a long time the barbarians mercilessly slaughtered all whom they captured.
τοῦ δʼ Ἀννίβα ζωγρεῖν παραγγείλαντος ὁ μὲν φόνος ἔληξεν, ἡ δʼ ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν εὐδαιμονία διεφορεῖτο.
But when Hannibal gave orders to take captives alive, the slaughter ceased, and the wealth from the houses was plundered.
§13.62.4ὁ δʼ Ἀννίβας τὰ μὲν ἱερὰ συλήσας καὶ τοὺς καταφυγόντας ἱκέτας ἀποσπάσας ἐνέπρησε, καὶ τὴν πόλιν εἰς ἔδαφος κατέσκαψεν, οἰκισθεῖσαν ἔτη διακόσια τεσσαράκοντα· τῶν δʼ αἰχμαλώτων γυναῖκας καὶ παῖδας διαδοὺς εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον παρεφύλαττε, τῶν δʼ ἀνδρῶν τοὺς ἁλόντας εἰς τρισχιλίους ὄντας παρήγαγεν ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον, ἐν ᾧ πρότερον Ἀμίλκας ὁ πάππος αὐτοῦ ὑπὸ Γέλωνος ἀνῃρέθη, καὶ πάντας αἰκισάμενος κατέσφαξεν.
And Hannibal, after plundering the temples and dragging out the suppliants who had fled to them, set them on fire, and razed to the ground the city, which had been inhabited for two hundred and forty years; and of the captives, he distributed the women and children into the camp and kept them under guard, but of the men, those who had been captured, being about three thousand, he led to the place where previously his grandfather Hamilcar had been slain by Gelon, and after torturing them all, he butchered them.
§13.62.5μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα διαλύσας τὸ στρατόπεδον, τοὺς μὲν ἀπὸ Σικελίας συμμάχους ἀπέστειλεν εἰς τὰς πατρίδας, μεθʼ ὧν καὶ Καμπανοὶ συνηκολούθησαν, ἐγκαλοῦντες τοῖς Καρχηδονίοις ὡς αἰτιώτατοι μὲν τῶν εὐημερημάτων γεγενημένοι, οὐκ ἀξίας δὲ χάριτας εἰληφότες τῶν πεπραγμένων·
After this, having disbanded the camp, he sent the allies from Sicily back to their homelands, and along with them the Campanians also followed, complaining against the Carthaginians that, although they had been the chief authors of the successes, they had not received worthy thanks for their deeds.
§13.62.6ὁ δʼ Ἀννίβας εἰς τὰς μακρὰς ναῦς καὶ φορτηγοὺς ἐμβιβάσας τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ τοὺς ἱκανοὺς τοῖς συμμάχοις ἀπολιπὼν στρατιώτας, ἐξέπλευσεν ἐκ τῆς Σικελίας.
And Hannibal, embarking his force on the long ships and merchant vessels, and leaving behind for the allies a sufficient number of soldiers, sailed away from Sicily.
ἐπεὶ δʼ εἰς Καρχηδόνα κατέπλευσε μετὰ πολλῶν λαφύρων, ἀπήντων αὐτῷ πάντες δεξιούμενοι καὶ τιμῶντες ὡς ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ μείζονα πράξαντα τῶν πρότερον στρατηγῶν.
When he put in at Carthage with many spoils, everyone met him, welcoming and honoring him as one who in a short time had accomplished greater deeds than the generals before him.

Notes

  1. 13.62.2τῶν τριήρων ἐπιφαινομένων ἤδη — Genitive absolute construction. It expresses a temporal coincidence and a sense of dramatic urgency: "just as the triremes were already coming into sight," highlighting that the rescue was too late.
  2. 13.62.4οἰκισθεῖσαν ἔτη διακόσια τεσσαράκοντα — A participle modifying the preceding feminine accusative noun τὴν πόλιν (the city). The aorist passive participle οἰκισθεῖσαν, combined with the accusative of duration of time ἔτη διακόσια τεσσαράκοντα (for two hundred and forty years), expresses the idea that the city "had been inhabited/stood for two hundred and forty years since its founding."
  3. 13.62.6ὡς ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ μείζονα πράξαντα — The combination of ὡς with the accusative masculine singular participle πράξαντα. The accusative case functions as if referring to an omitted αὐτόν coreferential with the dative αὐτῷ in the main clause, representing the subjective reason or estimation of the citizens: "on the ground that/as one who had accomplished greater deeds in a short time."

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §13.62.1-13.62.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:13.62.1-13.62.6

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