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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §14.15.1-14.15.4

Dionysius' Conquest of Catana and Naxos

Passage 309 of 723 · Greek

Summary

After failing to capture Herbita, Dionysius seized Catana and Naxos through treachery, enslaving their populations and destroying the cities. Terrified by these events, the Leontinians surrendered their city without a fight and relocated to Syracuse.

§14.15.1ἐκεῖθεν δʼ ἀναζεύξας τὴν τῶν Ἑρβιταίων πόλιν πορθεῖν ἐπεχείρησεν· οὐδὲν δὲ πράσσων πρὸς μὲν τούτους εἰρήνην ἐποιήσατο, τὴν δὲ δύναμιν ἤγαγεν ἐπὶ Κατάνην·
Marching from there, he attempted to plunder the city of the Herbitaeans; but accomplishing nothing, he made peace with them and led his force against Catana.
Ἀρκεσίλαος γὰρ στρατηγὸς ὢν τῶν Καταναίων ἐπηγγέλλετο αὐτῷ προδώσειν τὴν πόλιν.
For Arcesilaus, who was a general of the Catanaians, was promising to betray the city to him.
διόπερ ὑπὸ τούτου περὶ μέσας νύκτας παρεισαχθεὶς κύριος τῆς Κατάνης ἐγένετο.
For this reason, being let in by him about midnight, he became master of Catana.
ἀφελόμενος δὲ τῶν πολιτῶν τὰ ὅπλα, φρουρὰν ἐν αὐτῇ κατέστησεν ἱκανήν.
And having taken away the weapons from the citizens, he established a sufficient garrison in it.
§14.15.2μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Προκλῆς ὁ τῶν Ναξίων ἀφηγούμενος ἐπαγγελιῶν μεγέθει πεισθεὶς παρέδωκε τὴν πατρίδα τῷ Διονυσίῳ·
After this, Procles, the leader of the Naxians, being persuaded by the greatness of the promises, surrendered his native city to Dionysius.
ὃς τὰς δωρεὰς ἀποδοὺς τῷ προδιδόντι καὶ τοὺς συγγενεῖς αὐτῷ χαρισάμενος τὴν πόλιν ἐξηνδραποδίσατο, καὶ τὰς μὲν κτήσεις ἐφῆκε τοῖς στρατιώταις διαρπάσαι, τὰ δὲ τείχη καὶ τὰς οἰκίας κατέσκαψεν.
Dionysius, having paid the rewards to the betrayer and granted him his relatives as a favor, enslaved the city, and allowed the soldiers to plunder the property, while he razed the walls and the houses to the ground.
§14.15.3παραπλησίως δὲ καὶ τοῖς Καταναίοις χρησάμενος ἐλαφυροπώλησε τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους ἐν Συρακούσαις.
And having treated the Catanaians in a similar manner, he sold the captives as booty in Syracuse.
τὴν μὲν οὖν τῶν Ναξίων χώραν Σικελοῖς τοῖς ὁμοροῦσιν ἐδωρήσατο, τοῖς δὲ Καμπανοῖς τὴν πόλιν τῶν Καταναίων οἰκητήριον ἔδωκεν.
Thus he presented the territory of the Naxians to the neighboring Sicels as a gift, and gave the city of the Catanaians to the Campanians as a dwelling place.
§14.15.4μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐπὶ Λεοντίνους στρατεύσας ἁπάσῃ τῇ δυνάμει τὴν πόλιν περιεστρατοπέδευσε, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἔνδον διαπρεσβευσάμενος ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοὺς παραδιδόναι τὴν πόλιν καὶ μετέχειν τῆς ἐν Συρακούσαις πολιτείας.
After this, marching against Leontini with all his force, he encamped around the city, and having sent envoys to those inside, he ordered them to surrender the city and to share in the citizenship in Syracuse.
οἱ δὲ Λεοντῖνοι, βοήθειαν μὲν οὐδεμίαν ἕξειν προσδοκῶντες, τὰς δὲ Ναξίων καὶ Καταναίων συμφορὰς ἀναλογιζόμενοι, κατεπλήττοντο, φοβούμενοι μὴ τοῖς αὐτοῖς περιπέσωσι δυστυχήμασιν.
But the Leontinians, expecting to have no help and reflecting on the misfortunes of the Naxians and the Catanaians, were terrified, fearing lest they should fall into the same misfortunes.
διόπερ εἴξαντες τῷ καιρῷ συνεχώρησαν, καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐκλιπόντες εἰς Συρακούσας μετῴκησαν.
Therefore, yielding to the circumstance, they came to terms, and leaving their city, they migrated to Syracuse.

Notes

  1. 14.15.1ἀφελόμενος δὲ τῶν πολιτῶν τὰ ὅπλα — The verb ἀφαιρέομαι can take both the thing taken (accusative) and the person from whom it is taken (either genitive of separation or accusative). Here, τῶν πολιτῶν is a genitive of separation, and τὰ ὅπλα is the accusative direct object.
  2. 14.15.2ὃς — The relative pronoun at the beginning of the clause functions as a demonstrative pronoun ("And he"), referring to Dionysius, which is a common usage of the relative connection.
  3. 14.15.2καὶ τοὺς συγγενεῖς αὐτῷ χαρισάμενος — The verb χαρίζομαι means "to grant (something) as a favor (to someone)". Here, the relatives (accusative τοὺς συγγενεῖς) are spared and granted to him (dative αὐτῷ, referring to Procles) as a personal favor.
  4. 14.15.4βοήθειαν μὲν οὐδεμίαν ἕξειν προσδοκῶντες — In the infinitive construction led by the participle προσδοκῶντες ("expecting"), the subject of the future infinitive ἕξειν ("to have") is omitted because it is identical to the subject of the governing participle (οἱ δὲ Λεοντῖνοι).
  5. 14.15.4φοβούμενοι μὴ τοῖς αὐτοῖς περιπέσωσι δυστυχήμασιν — The participle of fearing (φοβούμενοι) is followed by a μὴ clause with the subjunctive (μὴ περιπέσωσι), expressing fear that an undesirable event might occur ("fearing lest they should..."). The verb περιπίπτω takes the dative (τοῖς αὐτοῖς δυστυχήμασιν).

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §14.15.1-14.15.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:14.15.1-14.15.4

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