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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §14.110.1-14.110.5

The King's Peace and Persian Preparations Against Cyprus

Passage 404 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Under the archonship of Theodotus in Athens and military tribunes in Rome, Sparta's Antalcidas negotiates the "King's Peace" with Persia, which the Greeks reluctantly accept. With the Greek conflict resolved, the Persian King prepares for war against Evagoras of Cyprus.

§14.110.1τούτων δὲ πραχθέντων ὁ μὲν ἐνιαύσιος χρόνος παρεληλύθει, παρὰ δὲ τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις ἦρχε Θεόδοτος, ἐν δὲ τῇ Ῥώμῃ τὴν ὑπατικὴν ἀρχὴν εἶχον χιλίαρχοι ἕξ, Κόιντος Καίσων Σουλπίκιος, Αἶνος Καίσων Φάβιος, Κόιντος Σερουίλιος, Πόπλιος Κορνήλιος.
When these things had been done, the year's time had passed, and at Athens Theodotus was archon, and in Rome six military tribunes with consular power held the consular authority: Quintus Caeso Sulpicius, Aenus Caeso Fabius, Quintus Servilius, and Publius Cornelius.
§14.110.2τούτων δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν παρειληφότων Λακεδαιμόνιοι κακοπαθοῦντες τῷ πολέμῳ τῷ τε πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας καὶ τῷ πρὸς τοὺς Πέρσας, Ἀνταλκίδαν τὸν ναύαρχον ἐξαπέστειλαν πρὸς Ἀρταξέρξην ὑπὲρ εἰρήνης.
When these had taken over the office, the Lacedaemonians, suffering from the war both against the Greeks and against the Persians, dispatched their admiral Antalcidas to Artaxerxes to treat for peace.
§14.110.3διαλεχθέντος δʼ αὐτοῦ περὶ ὧν ἦν ἀπεσταλμένος ἐνδεχομένως, ὁ βασιλεὺς ἔφησεν ἐπὶ τοῖσδε ποιήσασθαι τὴν εἰρήνην· τὰς μὲν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν Ἑλληνίδας πόλεις ὑπὸ βασιλέα τετάχθαι, τοὺς δʼ ἄλλους Ἕλληνας ἅπαντας αὐτονόμους εἶναι· τοῖς δὲ ἀπειθοῦσι καὶ μὴ προσδεχομένοις τὰς συνθήκας διὰ τῶν εὐδοκούντων πολεμήσειν.
When he had negotiated skillfully on the matters for which he had been sent, the King declared that he would make peace on the following terms: that the Greek cities in Asia should be subject to the King, and that all the other Greeks should be autonomous; and that upon those who refused to obey and did not accept the treaty, he would make war through those who consented to it.
§14.110.4οἱ μὲν οὖν Λακεδαιμόνιοι τούτοις εὐδοκήσαντες ἡσυχίαν ἦγον, Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ καὶ Θηβαῖοι καί τινες ἕτεροι τῶν Ἑλλήνων βαρέως ἔφερον ἐπὶ τῷ τὰς κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν πόλεις ἐγκαταλελεῖφθαι· καθʼ αὑτοὺς δὲ οὐκ ὄντες ἀξιόμαχοι, κατʼ ἀνάγκην συνεχώρησαν καὶ προσεδέξαντο τὴν εἰρήνην.
Now the Lacedaemonians, being pleased with these terms, remained quiet, but the Athenians, the Thebans, and some of the other Greeks were deeply resentful that the cities in Asia had been abandoned; yet, since they were not strong enough by themselves to fight, they yielded of necessity and accepted the peace.
§14.110.5καὶ ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς διαλυθείσης τῆς πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας διαφορᾶς παρεσκευάζετο τὰς δυνάμεις εἰς τὸν Κυπριακὸν πόλεμον· ὁ γὰρ Εὐαγόρας σχεδὸν ὅλην τὴν Κύπρον ἦν κεκτημένος καὶ δυνάμεις ἁδρὰς συνηθροίκει διὰ τὸ τὸν Ἀρταξέρξην τῷ πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας πολέμῳ διεσπάσθαι.
And the King, now that his dispute with the Greeks was resolved, began preparing his forces for the Cyprian War; for Evagoras had acquired almost the whole of Cyprus and had gathered strong forces because Artaxerxes had been distracted by the war against the Greeks.

Notes

  1. §14.110.1χιλίαρχοι ἕξ — Although Diodorus writes "six military tribunes," only four names are subsequently listed. This is likely due to a lacuna in the manuscript transmission or an oversight by the author.
  2. §14.110.3διὰ τῶν εὐδοκούντων πολεμήσειν — The subject of the future infinitive `πολεμήσειν` is the Persian King, understood from the main clause. The prepositional phrase `διὰ τῶν εὐδοκούντων` means "through those who consent" (i.e., the Greeks who accepted the peace terms), expressing agency or intermediate means.
  3. §14.110.4ἐπὶ τῷ τὰς κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν πόλεις ἐγκαταλελεῖφθαι — The preposition `ἐπί` with the dative articular infinitive `τῷ ... ἐγκαταλελεῖφθαι` (perfect passive) expresses the cause or object of the emotion (`βαρέως ἔφερον`), meaning "at the fact that the cities in Asia had been abandoned." `τὰς κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν πόλεις` is the subject accusative of the infinitive.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §14.110.1-14.110.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:14.110.1-14.110.5

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