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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §13.89.1-13.89.4

The Flight of the Acragantines and Resettlement in Leontini

Passage 268 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Diodorus describes the tragic scene of the citizens of Acragas abandoning their city to flee to Gela, and their subsequent settlement in Leontini.

§13.89.1τοσούτου δὲ πλήθους ἀνδρῶν γυναικῶν παίδων ἐκλιπόντων τὴν πόλιν ἄφνω πολὺς οἶκτος καὶ δάκρυα κατεῖχε τὰς οἰκίας.
When such a great multitude of men, women, and children was suddenly leaving the city, great lamentation and tears seized the houses.
ἅμα γὰρ ὁ τῶν πολεμίων ἐξέπληττε φόβος, ἅμα δὲ διὰ τὴν σπουδὴν ἠναγκάζοντο καταλιπεῖν εἰς διαρπαγὴν τοῖς βαρβάροις ταῦτʼ ἐφʼ οἷς ἑαυτοὺς ἐμακάριζον· ἀφαιρουμένης γὰρ τῆς τύχης τὴν ἐξουσίαν τῶν οἴκοι καλῶν, ἀγαπητὸν ἡγοῦντο τὰ σώματα γοῦν αὑτῶν διασῶσαι.
For at the same time, the fear of the enemy terrified them, and because of their haste, they were forced to leave behind for the barbarians to plunder those things in which they used to congratulate themselves; for since fortune was stripping away their enjoyment of the fine things at home, they considered it enough if they could at least save their own lives.
§13.89.2οὐ μόνον δὲ τῆς τοιαύτης πόλεως εὐδαιμονίαν παρῆν ὁρᾶν ἀπολειπομένην, ἀλλὰ καὶ σωμάτων πλῆθος.
It was possible to see not only the prosperity of such a city being abandoned, but also a multitude of human beings.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐν ἀρρωστίαις ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκείων περιεωρῶντο, τῆς καθʼ ἑαυτὸν σωτηρίας ἑκάστου φροντίζοντος, οἱ δὲ ταῖς ἡλικίαις ἤδη προβεβηκότες ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ γήρως ἀσθενείας κατελείποντο· πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀλλαγὴν τῆς πατρίδος θανάτου τιμώμενοι τὰς χεῖρας ἑαυτοῖς προσήνεγκαν, ὅπως ταῖς πατρῴαις οἰκίαις ἐναποπνεύσωσιν.
For those who were in sicknesses were neglected by their relatives, since everyone was caring for his own safety, and those already advanced in years were left behind because of the weakness of old age; and many, valuing the change of their homeland at the price of death, laid hands on themselves, so that they might draw their last breath in their ancestral homes.
§13.89.3οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἐξιὸν πλῆθος οἱ στρατιῶται μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων παρέπεμπον εἰς τὴν Γέλαν· ἡ δʼ ὁδὸς καὶ πάντα τὰ πρὸς τὴν Γελῴαν ἀποκεκλιμένα τῆς χώρας μέρη ἔγεμε γυναικῶν καὶ παίδων ἀναμὶξ παρθένοις, αἳ τὴν συνήθη τρυφὴν εἰς ὁδοιπορίαν σύντονον καὶ κακοπάθειαν ὑπεράγουσαν μεταβαλλόμεναι διεκαρτέρουν, τοῦ φόβου τὰς ψυχὰς ἐντείνοντος.
Nevertheless, the soldiers in arms escorted the multitude leaving the city as far as Gela; and the road and all the parts of the territory sloping toward Gela were crowded with women and children mixed with young girls, who, changing their accustomed luxury for a strenuous journey and exceeding hardship, held out, as fear braced their souls.
§13.89.4οὗτοι μὲν οὖν ἀσφαλῶς διασωθέντες εἰς Γέλαν ὕστερον εἰς Λεοντίνους κατῴκησαν, Συρακοσίων αὐτοῖς δόντων τὴν πόλιν ταύτην οἰκητήριον.
These people, then, having safely reached Gela, later settled in Leontini, since the Syracusans gave them this city as a place of habitation.

Notes

  1. §13.89.1τοσούτου δὲ πλήθους ἀνδρῶν γυναικῶν παίδων ἐκλιπόντων — A genitive absolute construction where the participle `ἐκλιπόντων` is in the plural, agreeing in sense (constructio ad sensum) with the plural elements `ἀνδρῶν γυναικῶν παίδων` rather than the grammatically singular collective noun `πλήθους`.
  2. §13.89.1ἀφαιρουμένης γὰρ τῆς τύχης τὴν ἐξουσίαν τῶν οἴκοι καλῶν — A genitive absolute construction. The present middle participle `ἀφαιρουμένης` ('taking away') governs the accusative object `τὴν ἐξουσίαν` ('the power/enjoyment'), which in turn takes `τῶν οἴκοι καλῶν` ('of the fine things at home') as an objective genitive.
  3. §13.89.2τὴν ἀλλαγὴν τῆς πατρίδος θανάτου τιμώμενοι — The middle participle `τιμώμενοι` ('estimating', 'valuing') takes the direct object in the accusative `τὴν ἀλλαγὴν` ('the exchange/leaving') and a genitive of price or value `θανάτου` ('at the cost of death'). It means they preferred death to abandoning their homeland.
  4. §13.89.3ἀναμὶξ παρθένοις — The adverb `ἀναμίξ` ('mixed with') is used prepositionally, governing the dative `παρθένοις`.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §13.89.1-13.89.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:13.89.1-13.89.4

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