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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §14.100.1-14.100.5

Dionysius' Attack on Rhegium and Retreat in a Storm

Passage 394 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, launches an attack on Rhegium in southern Italy, but is forced to retreat after suffering severe losses due to the resistance of the Rhegines and a sudden violent storm.

§14.100.1κατὰ δὲ τὴν Σικελίαν ὁ τῶν Συρακοσίων τύραννος Διονύσιος σπεύδων τῇ κατὰ τὴν νῆσον δυναστείᾳ καὶ τοὺς κατʼ Ἰταλίαν Ἕλληνας προσλαβέσθαι, τὴν μὲν ἐπʼ ἐκείνους κοινὴν στρατείαν εἰς ἕτερον καιρὸν ἀνεβάλετο, κρίνας δὲ συμφέρειν ἐπιχειρεῖν πρώτῃ τῇ τῶν Ῥηγίνων πόλει διὰ τὸ προπολεμητήριον αὐτὴν εἶναι τῆς Ἰταλίας, ὥρμησεν ἐκ Συρακουσῶν μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως.
In Sicily, Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, being eager to secure his dominion over the island and to win over the Greeks in Italy, postponed the general expedition against them to another time. However, judging it advantageous to attack first the city of the Rhegines because it was the bulwark of Italy, he set out from Syracuse with his forces.
§14.100.2εἶχε δὲ πεζοὺς μὲν δισμυρίους, ἱππεῖς δὲ χιλίους, ναῦς δʼ ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι.
He had twenty thousand infantry, a thousand cavalry, and a hundred and twenty ships.
περαιώσας δὲ τὴν δύναμιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρους τῆς Λοκρίδος, ἐκεῖθεν διὰ τῆς μεσογείου τὴν πορείαν ἐποιεῖτο, τέμνων καὶ πυρπολῶν τὴν τῶν Ῥηγίνων χώραν· συμπαρέπλευσε δὲ καὶ ὁ στόλος ἐπὶ θάτερα μέρη τῆς θαλάττης, καὶ πάσῃ τῇ δυνάμει περὶ τὸν πορθμὸν κατεστρατοπέδευσεν.
Having ferried his forces over to the borders of Locris, he marched from there through the interior, ravaging and burning the territory of the Rhegines; meanwhile, the fleet also sailed along the other part of the sea, and he encamped with his entire force near the strait.
§14.100.3οἱ δʼ Ἰταλοὶ πυθόμενοι τὴν τοῦ Διονυσίου διάβασιν ἐπὶ τὸ Ῥήγιον, ἀπέστειλαν ἐκ Κρότωνος ναῦς ἑξήκοντα, σπεύδοντες παραδοῦναι τοῖς Ῥηγίνοις.
The Italiotes, learning of Dionysius' crossing to Rhegium, dispatched sixty ships from Croton, hastening to deliver them to the Rhegines.
μετεώρων δὲ πλεουσῶν αὐτῶν ὁ Διονύσιος πεντήκοντα ναῦς ἔχων ἐπέπλευσε, καὶ φυγόντων αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐπέκειτο, καὶ συνδήσας ἀπέσπα τὰς παρορμούσας τῇ γῇ.
While these were sailing on the open sea, Dionysius attacked with fifty ships, and although they fled to the shore, he pressed upon them nonetheless, and binding those anchored near the land, he dragged them away.
§14.100.4κινδυνευουσῶν δὲ τῶν ἑξήκοντα τριήρων ἁλῶναι Ῥηγῖνοι πανδημεὶ παρεβοήθησαν, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς τῷ πλήθει τῶν βελῶν ἀνεῖρξαν τὸν Διονύσιον.
As the sixty triremes were in danger of being captured, the Rhegines came to their aid in full force and kept Dionysius back from the land by a multitude of missiles.
ἐπιγενομένων δὲ πνευμάτων μεγάλων οἱ μὲν Ῥηγῖνοι τὰς ναῦς ἀνείλκυσαν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, Διονύσιος δʼ ἰσχυρῶς χειμασθεὶς ἑπτὰ ναῦς ἀπώλεσε καὶ σὺν αὐταῖς ἄνδρας οὐκ ἐλάττους χιλίων πεντακοσίων.
When a great storm arose, the Rhegines hauled the ships up onto the land, but Dionysius, severely battered by the storm, lost seven ships and with them no fewer than fifteen hundred men.
§14.100.5τούτων δʼ ἅμα ταῖς ναυσὶν ἐκβρασθέντων ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥηγίνην, οἱ Ῥηγῖνοι πολλοὺς τῶν ναυτῶν ἐζώγρησαν.
When these men, along with the ships, were cast up on the territory of Rhegium, the Rhegines took many of the sailors alive.
Διονύσιος δʼ ἐπὶ πεντήρους πλέων, καὶ πολλάκις παρʼ ὀλίγον ἐλθὼν ὑποβρύχιος, μόγις περὶ μέσας νύκτας εἰς τὸν ἐν Μεσσήνῃ λιμένα κατέφυγεν.
Dionysius, sailing on a quinquereme and often coming within a hair's breadth of sinking, managed with difficulty to escape into the harbor of Messene around midnight.
ἤδη δὲ καὶ τῆς χειμερινῆς ὥρας ἐνισταμένης οὗτος μὲν πρὸς Λευκανοὺς συμμαχίαν ποιησάμενος ἀπήγαγε τὰς δυνάμεις εἰς Συρακούσας.
Since the winter season was already setting in, he concluded an alliance with the Lucanians and withdrew his forces to Syracuse.

Notes

  1. 14.100.1σπεύδων τῇ κατὰ τὴν νῆσον δυναστείᾳ καὶ τοὺς κατʼ Ἰταλίαν Ἕλληνας προσλαβέσθαι — The participle `σπεύδων` governs two grammatically different complements in parallel: the dative noun phrase `τῇ κατὰ τὴν νῆσον δυναστείᾳ` (being eager for) and the infinitive clause `τοὺς κατʼ Ἰταλίαν Ἕλληνας προσλαβέσθαι` (to win over).
  2. 14.100.1διὰ τὸ προπολεμητήριον αὐτὴν εἶναι τῆς Ἰταλίας — The preposition `διὰ` (expressing cause) is followed by the articular infinitive clause `τὸ...εἶναι` in the accusative-and-infinitive construction. `αὐτὴν` is the subject accusative of the infinitive, and `προπολεμητήριον` is its predicate accusative.
  3. 14.100.3μετεώρων δὲ πλεουσῶν αὐτῶν — A genitive absolute construction. The pronoun `αὐτῶν` refers to the sixty ships dispatched from Croton. The adjective `μετέωρος` is used in a predicative sense meaning "on the open sea" or "out at sea."
  4. 14.100.5παρʼ ὀλίγον ἐλθὼν ὑποβρύχιος — The idiom `παρʼ ὀλίγον ἐλθεῖν` means "to come within a little of" or "to narrowly escape." Combined with the nominative adjective `ὑποβρύχιος` (underwater, submerged), it means "coming very close to being submerged" or "nearly sinking."

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §14.100.1-14.100.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:14.100.1-14.100.5

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