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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §13.9.1-13.9.6

Occupation of Decelea and Battle at Syracuse Harbor

Passage 188 of 723 · Greek

Summary

After noting the magistrates of Athens and Rome, the text describes the Lacedaemonian occupation of Decelea and a fierce land and sea battle between the Athenians and Syracusans in Sicily.

§13.9.1τοῦ δὲ ἔτους τούτου διελθόντος Κλεόκριτος μὲν ἄρχων Ἀθηναίων ἦν, ἐν Ῥώμῃ δʼ ἀντὶ τῶν ὑπάτων χιλίαρχοι τέτταρες ὑπῆρχον, Αὖλος Σεμπρώνιος καὶ Μάρκος Παπίριος, Κόιντος Φάβιος, Σπόριος Ναύτιος.
When this year had passed, Cleocritus was archon of the Athenians, and in Rome, instead of consuls, there were four military tribunes: Aulus Sempronius, Marcus Papirius, Quintus Fabius, and Spurius Nautius.
§13.9.2ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων Λακεδαιμόνιοι μετὰ τῶν συμμάχων ἐνέβαλον εἰς τὴν Ἀττικήν, Ἄγιδός ἡγουμένου καὶ Ἀλκιβιάδου τοῦ Ἀθηναίου.
Under their term of office, the Lacedaemonians with their allies invaded Attica, under the leadership of Agis and Alcibiades the Athenian.
καταλαβόμενοι δὲ χωρίον ὀχυρὸν Δεκέλειαν φρούριον ἐποίησαν κατὰ τῆς Ἀττικῆς· διὸ καὶ συνέβη τὸν πόλεμον τοῦτον Δεκελεικὸν προσαγορευθῆναι.
Having seized Decelea, a strong place, they made it a fortress against Attica; for which reason also it happened that this war was called the Deceleian War.
Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ περὶ μὲν τὴν Λακωνικὴν τριάκοντα τριήρεις ἀπέστειλαν καὶ Χαρικλέα στρατηγόν, εἰς δὲ τὴν Σικελίαν ἐψηφίσαντο πέμπειν ὀγδοήκοντα μὲν τριήρεις, ὁπλίτας δὲ πεντακισχιλίους.
The Athenians dispatched thirty triremes and Charicles as general around Laconica, and for Sicily they voted to send eighty triremes and five thousand hoplites.
§13.9.3οἱ δὲ Συρακόσιοι κρίναντες ναυμαχεῖν, καὶ πληρώσαντες ὀγδοήκοντα τριήρεις, ἐπέπλεον τοῖς πολεμίοις.
The Syracusans, having decided to fight a sea battle and having manned eighty triremes, sailed against the enemy.
τῶν δὲ Ἀθηναίων ἑξήκοντα ναυσὶν ἀνταναχθέντων, καὶ τῆς ναυμαχίας ἐνεργοῦ γενομένης ἤδη, πάντες οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν φρουρίων Ἀθηναῖοι κατέβησαν ἐπὶ τὴν θάλατταν· οἱ μὲν γὰρ θεάσασθαι τὴν μάχην ἐπεθύμουν, οἱ δʼ, εἴ τι πταίσειαν ἐν τῇ ναυμαχίᾳ, βοηθήσειν τοῖς φεύγουσιν ἤλπιζον.
When the Athenians sailed out to meet them with sixty ships, and the sea battle was already in active progress, all the Athenians from the fortresses went down to the sea; for some desired to watch the battle, and others hoped, if they should suffer any defeat in the sea battle, to succour those who fled.
§13.9.4οἱ δὲ τῶν Συρακοσίων στρατηγοὶ προϊδόμενοι τὸ γινόμενον ἀπεστάλκεισαν τοὺς κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ἐπὶ τὰ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ὀχυρώματα, χρημάτων καὶ ναυτικῶν σκευῶν, ἔτι δὲ τῆς ἄλλης παρασκευῆς ὑπάρχοντα πλήρη· ἃ δὴ καταλαβόντες οἱ Συρακόσιοι παντελῶς ὑπʼ ὀλίγων τηρούμενα κατέσχον καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάττης προσβοηθούντων πολλοὺς ἀπέκτειναν.
But the generals of the Syracusans, having foreseen what was happening, had dispatched those in the city against the fortifications of the Athenians, which were full of money and naval equipment, and also of other stores; which indeed the Syracusans, finding them guarded by absolutely few men, seized, and they killed many of those who came to help from the sea.
§13.9.5κραυγῆς δὲ πολλῆς γενομένης περὶ τὰ φρούρια καὶ τὴν παρεμβολήν, οἱ ναυμαχοῦντες Ἀθηναῖοι καταπλαγέντες ἐτράπησαν καὶ πρὸς τὸ λειπόμενον τῶν φρουρίων ἔφυγον.
When a great cry arose around the fortresses and the camp, the Athenians who were fighting at sea, being struck with terror, turned and fled to the remaining fortress.
τῶν δὲ Συρακοσίων ἀτάκτως διωκόντων οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι πρὸς τὴν γῆν καταφεύγειν οὐ δυνάμενοι διὰ τὸ τοὺς Συρακοσίους δυεῖν φρουρίων κυριεύειν, ἠναγκάσθησαν ἐξ ὑποστροφῆς πάλιν ναυμαχῆσαι.
While the Syracusans were pursuing in disorder, the Athenians, being unable to flee to the land because the Syracusans were masters of two fortresses, were forced to turn about and fight at sea again.
§13.9.6τῶν δὲ Συρακοσίων λελυκότων τὰς τάξεις καὶ κατὰ τὸν διωγμὸν διερριμμένων, ἀθρόαις ταῖς ναυσὶν ἐπιπλεύσαντες ἕνδεκα μὲν κατέδυσαν, τὰς δὲ λοιπὰς ἕως τῆς Νήσου κατεδίωξαν.
Since the Syracusans had broken their ranks and had become scattered during the pursuit, the Athenians, sailing against them with their ships in a body, sank eleven of them, and pursued the rest as far as the Island.
διαλυθείσης δὲ τῆς μάχης ἑκάτεροι τρόπαιον ἔστησαν, οἱ μὲν Ἀθηναῖοι τῆς ναυμαχίας, οἱ δὲ Συρακόσιοι τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κατωρθωμένων.
When the battle was ended, each side set up a trophy, the Athenians for the sea battle, and the Syracusans for their successes on land.

Notes

  1. §13.9.1τοῦ δὲ ἔτους τούτου διελθόντος — A formulaic genitive absolute marking the transition of the archon year (calendar year) in Diodorus' narrative.
  2. §13.9.2κατὰ τῆς Ἀττικῆς — The preposition κατά with the genitive case, expressing hostility or disadvantage ("against/to the detriment of Attica").
  3. §13.9.3εἴ τι πταίσειαν — A conditional clause using the aorist optative πταίσειαν (3rd person plural of πταίω), representing a potential future contingency viewed from the past main verb (ἤλπιζον).
  4. §13.9.4ὑπάρχοντα πλήρη — The participle ὑπάρχοντα and the adjective πλήρη are in the neuter plural accusative, modifying the preceding noun ὀχυρώματα (fortifications). πλήρη governs the preceding genitives (χρημάτων...).
  5. §13.9.5διὰ τὸ τοὺς Συρακοσίους δυεῖν φρουρίων κυριεύειν — A causal phrase consisting of the preposition διά and the articular infinitive τὸ κυριεύειν. The accusative τοὺς Συρακοσίους functions as the subject of the infinitive, and the genitive δυεῖν φρουρίων as its object (governed by κυριεύω).
  6. §13.9.6ἀθρόαις ταῖς ναυσὶν — A dative of manner/means where the adjective ἀθρόος (massed, in a body) is used predicatively, indicating that they made the attack with their ships kept close together.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §13.9.1-13.9.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:13.9.1-13.9.6

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