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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §13.93.1-13.93.5

Dionysius Winning the Soldiers at Gela and His Return

Passage 272 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Sent to Gela, Dionysius wins the support of the soldiers by paying them with wealth confiscated from executed wealthy citizens, earning the praise of the populace. Failing to persuade Dexippus to join his plot, he prepares to return to Syracuse but promises the Geloans he will return soon with more forces.

§13.93.1ἐκ δὲ τῆς Γέλας ἐνεχθέντων γραμμάτων, ὅπως ἀποσταλῶσι στρατιῶται πλείους, ἔλαβεν ὁ Διονύσιος οἰκείαν ἔφοδον τῆς ἰδίας προαιρέσεως.
And when letters were brought from Gela, requesting that more soldiers be sent, Dionysius found a suitable opportunity for his own design.
ἀποσταλεὶς γὰρ μετὰ στρατιωτῶν πεζῶν μὲν δισχιλίων, ἱππέων δὲ τετρακοσίων, ἦλθε συντόμως εἰς τὴν πόλιν τῶν Γελῴων, ἣν τότε παρεφύλαττε Δέξιππος ὁ Λακεδαιμόνιος, κατασταθεὶς ὑπὸ Συρακοσίων.
For having been sent with two thousand infantry and four hundred cavalry, he came quickly to the city of the Geloans, which at that time Dexippus the Lacedaemonian was guarding, having been stationed there by the Syracusans.
§13.93.2ὁ δʼ οὖν Διονύσιος καταλαβὼν τοὺς εὐπορωτάτους στασιάζοντας πρὸς τὸν δῆμον, καὶ κατηγορήσας αὐτῶν ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ κατακρίνας, αὐτοὺς μὲν ἀπέκτεινε, τὰς δʼ οὐσίας αὐτῶν ἐδήμευσεν, ἐκ δὲ τῶν χρημάτων τούτων τοῖς μὲν φρουροῦσι τὴν πόλιν, ὧν ἡγεῖτο Δέξιππος, ἀπέδωκε τοὺς ὀφειλομένους μισθούς· τοῖς δὲ μετʼ αὐτοῦ παραγεγονόσιν ἐκ Συρακουσῶν ἐπηγγείλατο διπλοῦς ποιήσειν τοὺς μισθούς, ὧν ἡ πόλις ἔταξε.
Dionysius, then, finding that the wealthiest citizens were in sedition against the populace, and having accused them in the assembly and condemned them, put them to death and confiscated their properties; and from these funds he paid the arrears of pay to those guarding the city, whom Dexippus commanded; and to those who had come with him from Syracuse he promised to make their pay double what the city had fixed.
§13.93.3διὰ δὲ τούτου τοῦ τρόπου τούς τʼ ἐν Γέλᾳ στρατιώτας καὶ τοὺς μετʼ αὐτοῦ ταῖς εὐνοίαις ἰδίους κατεσκεύασεν.
In this manner he made both the soldiers in Gela and those with him his own by their goodwill.
ἐπῃνεῖτο δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου τῶν Γελῴων ὡς αἴτιος αὐτοῖς γεγενημένος τῆς ἐλευθερίας· τοῖς γὰρ δυνατωτάτοις φθονοῦντες τὴν ἐκείνων ὑπεροχὴν δεσποτείαν αὐτῶν ἀπεκάλουν.
And he was also praised by the populace of the Geloans as having been the author of their freedom; for envying the preeminence of the most powerful citizens, they called their dominance a despotism.
§13.93.4διόπερ ἐξέπεμψαν πρέσβεις τοὺς ἐπαινοῦντας ἐν Συρακούσαις καὶ τὰ ψηφίσματα φέροντας, ἐν οἷς αὐτὸν μεγάλαις δωρεαῖς ἐτίμησαν.
For this reason they dispatched envoys to praise him in Syracuse and to carry decrees in which they honored him with great gifts.
ὁ δὲ Διονύσιος ἐπεβάλετο μὲν τὸν Δέξιππον πείθειν κοινωνῆσαι τῆς ἐπιβολῆς· ἐπεὶ δʼ οὐ συγκατετίθετο, μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων στρατιωτῶν ἕτοιμος ἦν ἀνακάμπτειν εἰς Συρακούσας.
Dionysius, on his part, attempted to persuade Dexippus to share in his undertaking; but when the latter would not agree, he was ready to return to Syracuse with his own soldiers.
§13.93.5οἱ δὲ Γελῷοι πυνθανόμενοι τοὺς Καρχηδονίους μέλλειν μετὰ πάσης τῆς δυνάμεως ἐπὶ πρώτην στρατεύειν τὴν Γέλαν, ἐδέοντο τοῦ Διονυσίου μεῖναι καὶ μὴ περιιδεῖν αὐτοὺς τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς Ἀκραγαντίνοις παθόντας.
And the Geloans, learning that the Carthaginians were about to campaign with all their forces against Gela first, begged Dionysius to remain and not to allow them to suffer the same fate as the Akragantines.
οἷς ἐπαγγειλάμενος ὁ Διονύσιος συντόμως ἥξειν μετὰ πλείονος δυνάμεως, ἐξώρμησεν ἐκ τῆς Γέλας μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων στρατιωτῶν.
Having promised them that he would come quickly with a larger force, Dionysius set out from Gela with his own soldiers.

Notes

  1. §13.93.1τῆς ἰδίας προαιρέσεως — An objective genitive depending on the noun ἔφοδον (approach, means), meaning a favorable opportunity for approaching or achieving his own "design" (the acquisition of the tyranny).
  2. §13.93.2ὧν — An instance of relative attraction (attractio relativi). The relative pronoun, which would logically be the accusative οὕς as the direct object of ἔταξε, has been attracted into the genitive case of its omitted antecedent μισθῶν.
  3. §13.93.3φθονοῦντες τὴν ἐκείνων ὑπεροχὴν — The verb φθονέω (to envy) here takes a dative of the person envied (the omitted τοῖς δυνατωτάτοις) and an accusative of the thing envied (τὴν ἐκείνων ὑπεροχὴν, "their preeminence").
  4. §13.93.5μὴ περιιδεῖν αὐτοὺς τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς Ἀκραγαντίνοις παθόντας — The verb περιφοράω (to overlook, allow) takes an object (αὐτούς) and a supplementary participle in agreement (παθόντας). The phrase τὰ αὐτά (the same things) takes a dative of association or comparison (τοῖς Ἀκραγαντίνοις, "as the Akragantines").

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §13.93.1-13.93.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:13.93.1-13.93.5

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