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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §13.81.1-13.81.5

Syracusan Appeals for Aid and Acragas' Preparations

Passage 260 of 723 · Greek

Summary

As the main Carthaginian force prepares to cross, Syracuse requests alliances across Greece, while the wealthy city of Acragas, realizing it will be the first target, begins moving all its citizens and agricultural wealth inside its walls.

§13.81.1διαβοηθείσης δὲ τῆς Ἀννίβα βοηθείας κατὰ τὴν νῆσον, ἅπαντες προσεδόκων καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις εὐθέως διαβιβασθήσεσθαι.
When the news of Hannibal's relief force spread throughout the island, everyone expected that the army itself would also cross over immediately.
αἱ δὲ πόλεις τὸ μέγεθος τῆς παρασκευῆς ἀκούουσαι, καὶ συλλογιζόμεναι τὸν ἀγῶνα περὶ τῶν ὅλων ἐσόμενον, οὐ μετρίως ἠγωνίων.
The cities, hearing of the magnitude of the preparation and realizing that the struggle would be for their very existence, were in no small anxiety.
§13.81.2οἱ μὲν οὖν Συρακόσιοι πρός τε τοὺς κατʼ Ἰταλίαν Ἕλληνας καὶ πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους περὶ συμμαχίας διεπέμποντο· ἀπέστελλον δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἐν Σικελίᾳ πόλεις τοὺς παρορμήσοντας τὰ πλήθη πρὸς τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς κοινῆς ἐλευθερίας κίνδυνον.
Therefore, the Syracusans sent messengers to the Greeks of Italy and to the Lacedaemonians for an alliance; they also dispatched to the cities in Sicily men who would rouse the multitudes to meet the danger for their common freedom.
§13.81.3Ἀκραγαντῖνοι δέ, ὁμοροῦντες τῇ τῶν Καρχηδονίων ἐπικρατείᾳ, διελάμβανον, ὅπερ ἦν, ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς πρώτους ἥξειν τὸ τοῦ πολέμου βάρος.
But the Acragantines, bordering on the territory of the Carthaginians, judged, as was indeed the case, that the weight of the war would fall upon them first.
ἔδοξεν οὖν αὐτοῖς τόν τε σῖτον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους καρπούς, ἔτι δὲ τὰς κτήσεις ἁπάσας, ἀπὸ τῆς χώρας κατακομίζειν ἐντὸς τῶν τειχῶν.
It seemed best to them, therefore, to bring in the grain and the other crops, and furthermore all their possessions, from the countryside inside the walls.
§13.81.4κατʼ ἐκείνους δὲ τοὺς καιροὺς τήν τε πόλιν καὶ τὴν χώραν τῶν Ἀκραγαντίνων συνέβαινεν εὐδαιμονίας ὑπάρχειν πλήρη· περὶ ἧς οὐκ ἀνάρμοστόν μοι φαίνεται διελθεῖν.
At that time, it happened that both the city and the countryside of the Acragantines were full of prosperity; and to describe this does not seem to me out of place.
καὶ γὰρ ἀμπελῶνες τοῖς μεγέθεσι καὶ τῷ κάλλει διαφέροντες, καὶ τὸ πλεῖστον τῆς χώρας ἐλαίαις κατάφυτον, ἐξ ἧς παμπληθῆ κομιζόμενοι καρπὸν ἐπώλουν εἰς Καρχηδόνα·
For there were vineyards outstanding in size and beauty, and most of the land was planted with olive trees, from which they gathered an abundant crop and sold it to Carthage.
§13.81.5οὔπω γὰρ κατʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς χρόνους τῆς Λιβύης πεφυτευμένης οἱ τὴν Ἀκραγαντίνην νεμόμενοι τὸν ἐκ τῆς Λιβύης ἀντιφορτιζόμενοι πλοῦτον οὐσίας ἀπίστους τοῖς μεγέθεσιν ἐκέκτηντο.
For since Libya was not yet planted at that time, those who cultivated the territory of Acragas, by importing the wealth from Libya in return for their products, possessed estates of incredible magnitude.
πολλὰ δὲ τοῦ πλούτου παρʼ αὐτοῖς διαμένει σημεῖα, περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἀνοίκειόν ἐστι βραχέα διελθεῖν.
Many signs of this wealth remain among them, concerning which it is not out of place to speak briefly.

Notes

  1. §13.81.1καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις — The conjunction καί here functions adverbially to emphasize the noun phrase τὰς δυνάμεις ("also," "even"). It indicates that following Hannibal's arrival with the advance fleet, the main "forces themselves also" were expected to cross over immediately.
  2. §13.81.2τοὺς παρορμήσοντας — A future active participle in the accusative masculine plural, used substantively to express purpose. The antecedent is omitted, meaning "men who would rouse" or "to rouse."
  3. §13.81.4ἐξ ἧς — The antecedent of the relative pronoun ἧς (genitive feminine singular) is not the immediately preceding plural noun ἐλαίαις (olive trees), but the more distant singular noun τῆς χώρας (the land). It refers to gathering abundant crops from the territory as a whole.
  4. §13.81.5ἀντιφορτιζόμενοι — A participle of the middle-voice verb ἀντιφορτίζομαι (to load in return, import or barter). It describes the economic activity of the Acragantines, who exported their rich agricultural products (such as olives) and in return imported vast wealth from Libya.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §13.81.1-13.81.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:13.81.1-13.81.5

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