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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §13.74.1-13.74.4

Election of the Ten Generals and Alcibiades' Exile

Passage 253 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The Athenian people, suspicious of Alcibiades, elected ten new generals including Conon, and Alcibiades, having surrendered his command, chose self-exile to escape impending lawsuits and retaliation.

§13.74.1ταχὺ δὲ τοῦ πλήθους πιστεύοντος ταῖς διαβολαῖς, ἡ μὲν περὶ Ἀλκιβιάδην ἐθραύετο δόξα διὰ τὸ περὶ τὴν ναυμαχίαν ἐλάττωμα καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν Κύμην ἡμαρτημένα, ὁ δὲ τῶν Ἀθηναίων δῆμος ὑφορώμενος τὴν τἀνδρὸς τόλμαν δέκα στρατηγοὺς εἵλατο, Κόνωνα, Λυσίαν, Διομέδοντα, Περικλέα, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Ἐρασινίδην, Ἀριστοκράτην, Ἀρχέστρατον, Πρωτόμαχον, Θρασύβουλον, Ἀριστογένην· ἐκ δὲ τούτων προκρίνας Κόνωνα ταχέως ἐξέπεμψε παρʼ Ἀλκιβιάδου τὸ ναυτικὸν παραληψόμενον.
Since the multitude quickly believed the slanders, the reputation of Alcibiades was shattered because of the setback in the sea-battle and the errors committed at Cyme, and the Athenian people, suspicious of the man's audacity, chose ten generals: Conon, Lysias, Diomedon, Pericles, and in addition to these, Erasinides, Aristocrates, Archestratus, Protomachus, Thrasybulus, and Aristogenes; and selecting Conon from among these, they quickly sent him to take over the fleet from Alcibiades.
§13.74.2Ἀλκιβιάδης δὲ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐκχωρήσας τῷ Κόνωνι καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις παραδούς, τὴν μὲν εἰς Ἀθήνας ἐπάνοδον ἀπέγνω, μετὰ δὲ τριήρους μιᾶς εἰς Πακτύην τῆς Θρᾴκης ἀπεχώρησε· χωρὶς γὰρ τῆς τοῦ πλήθους ὀργῆς καὶ τὰς ἐπενηνεγμένας αὐτῷ δίκας εὐλαβεῖτο.
And Alcibiades, having relinquished his command to Conon and handed over the forces, gave up his return to Athens, and withdrew with a single trireme to Pactye in Thrace; for besides the anger of the multitude, he was also wary of the lawsuits that had been brought against him.
§13.74.3πολλοὶ γὰρ θεωροῦντες αὐτὸν κακῶς φερόμενον ἐπενηνόχεισαν ἐγκλήματα πολλά· μέγιστον δʼ ἦν τὸ περὶ τῶν ἵππων, τετιμημένον ταλάντων ὀκτώ.
For many, seeing him in a bad plight, had brought many accusations; and the greatest was the one concerning the horses, valued at eight talents.
Διομήδους γάρ τινος τῶν φίλων συμπέμψαντος αὐτῷ τέθριππον εἰς Ὀλυμπίαν, ὁ Ἀλκιβιάδης κατὰ τὴν ἀπογραφὴν τὴν εἰωθυῖαν γίνεσθαι τοὺς ἵππους ἰδίους ἀπεγράψατο, καὶ νικήσας τὸ τέθριππον τήν τʼ ἐκ τῆς νίκης δόξαν αὐτὸς ἀπηνέγκατο καὶ τοὺς ἵππους οὐκ ἀπέδωκε τῷ πιστεύσαντι.
For when Diomedes, one of his friends, had sent a four-horse chariot to Olympia with him, Alcibiades, in the registration that was customary to be made, registered the horses as his own, and having won with the four-horse chariot, he carried off the glory of the victory himself and did not return the horses to the one who had trusted him.
§13.74.4ταῦτα δὴ πάντα διανοούμενος ἐφοβεῖτο, μήποτε καιρὸν λαβόντες Ἀθηναῖοι τιμωρίαν ἐπιθῶσι περὶ πάντων ὧν εἰς αὐτοὺς ἐξήμαρτεν· αὐτὸς οὖν αὑτοῦ κατέγνω φυγήν.
Reflecting indeed on all these things, he was afraid lest the Athenians, finding an opportunity, might inflict punishment on him for all the wrongs he had committed against them; therefore, he himself condemned himself to exile.

Notes

  1. §13.74.1παραληψόμενον — A future active participle used with a verb of motion (ἐξέπεμψε, 'sent') to express purpose, meaning 'in order to take over'.
  2. §13.74.3κακῶς φερόμενον — A supplementary participle serving as the object complement of the verb of perception (θεωροῦντες, 'seeing'). The passive φέρομαι is used here with an intransitive meaning, 'to fare', which combined with κακῶς means 'faring badly' or 'being in a bad plight'.
  3. §13.74.4αὑτοῦ κατέγνω φυγήν — The verb καταγιγνώσκω governs the genitive of the person condemned (αὑτοῦ) and the accusative of the penalty (φυγήν). Using the reflexive pronoun, it dramatically expresses 'he condemned himself to exile', meaning 'he decided on self-exile'.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §13.74.1-13.74.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:13.74.1-13.74.4

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