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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §14.38.1-14.38.7

Dercylidas in the Troad and the Chersonese Wall

Passage 332 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Following the change of magistrates in Athens and Rome, the Lacedaemonian general Dercylidas subdues the cities of the Troad and fortifies the Chersonese against the Thracians, while Herippidas suppresses civil strife in Heracleia.

§14.38.1τοῦ δʼ ἐνιαυσίου χρόνου διεληλυθότος Ἀθήνησι μὲν τὴν ἀρχὴν Ἀριστοκράτης παρέλαβεν, ἐν Ῥώμῃ δὲ τὴν ὑπατικὴν ἀρχὴν ἓξ χιλίαρχοι διεδέξαντο, Γάιος Σερουίλιος καὶ Λούκιος Οὐεργίνιος, Κόιντος Σουλπίκιος, Αὖλος Μουτίλιος, Μάνιος Σέργιος. §14.38.2τούτων δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν παρειληφότων Λακεδαιμόνιοι πυθόμενοι τὸν Θίβρωνα κακῶς διοικοῦντα τὰ κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον, Δερκυλίδαν στρατηγὸν εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν ἐξέπεμψαν· ὃς παραλαβὼν τὴν δύναμιν ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ τὰς ἐν τῇ Τρῳάδι πόλεις. §14.38.3Ἁμάξιτον μὲν οὖν καὶ Κολώνας καὶ Ἀρίσβαν εἷλεν ἐξ ἐφόδου·
When the year had run its course, Aristocrates entered upon the archonship in Athens, and in Rome six military tribunes succeeded to the consular power: Gaius Servilius, Lucius Verginius, Quintus Sulpicius, Aulus Mutilius, and Manius Sergius.\n When these had taken over their offices, the Lacedaemonians, learning that Thibron was managing the war badly, dispatched Dercylidas as general to Asia; and he, having taken over the force, campaigned against the cities in the Troad.\n Accordingly, he took Hamaxitus, Colonae, and Arisba at the first assault; after this, he took Ilium, Cebrenia, and all the other cities throughout the Troad, capturing some by treachery and mastering others by force.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Ἴλιον καὶ Κεβρηνίαν καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἁπάσας τὰς κατὰ τὴν Τρῳάδα ἃς μὲν δόλῳ παρέλαβεν, ἃς δʼ ἐκ βίας ἐχειρώσατο. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πρὸς Φαρνάβαζον ὀκταμηνιαίους ἀνοχὰς ποιησάμενος, ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ Θρᾷκας τοὺς περὶ Βιθυνίαν τότε κατοικοῦντας· πορθήσας δʼ αὐτῶν τὴν χώραν ἀπήγαγε τὴν δύναμιν εἰς παραχειμασίαν. §14.38.4ἐν Ἡρακλείᾳ δὲ τῇ περὶ Τραχῖνα στάσεως γενομένης, Ἡριππίδαν ἐξέπεμψαν Λακεδαιμόνιοι καταστήσοντα τὰ πράγματα.
After doing this, having made an eight-month truce with Pharnabazus, he campaigned against the Thracians who were then dwelling about Bithynia; and having plundered their country, he led his army away into winter quarters.\n When civil strife arose in Heracleia near Trachis, the Lacedaemonians sent out Herippidas to settle their affairs.
ὃς παραγενόμενος εἰς Ἡράκλειαν συνήγαγεν εἰς ἐκκλησίαν τὰ πλήθη, καὶ περιστήσας αὐτοῖς ὁπλίτας συνέλαβε τοὺς αἰτίους καὶ πάντας ἀνεῖλεν, ὄντας περὶ πεντακοσίους. §14.38.5τῶν δὲ περὶ τὴν Οἴτην κατοικούντων ἀποστάντων ἐπολέμησεν αὐτοῖς, καὶ πολλοῖς περιβαλὼν κακοῖς ἠνάγκασεν ἐκλιπεῖν τὴν χώραν· ὧν οἱ πλεῖστοι μετὰ τῶν τέκνων καὶ γυναικῶν ἔφυγον εἰς Θεσσαλίαν, καὶ μετὰ πέντε ἔτη κατήχθησαν ὑπὸ Βοιωτῶν. §14.38.6τούτων δὲ πραττομένων Θρᾷκες πολλοῖς πλήθεσιν ἐνέβαλον εἰς τὴν Χερρόνησον, καὶ τὴν χώραν πᾶσαν πορθήσαντες τειχήρεις συνεῖχον τὰς ἐν αὐτῇ πόλεις.
On arriving in Heracleia, he gathered the multitude into an assembly, and having surrounded them with hoplites, he arrested the guilty parties and put them all to death, being about five hundred.\n And when the inhabitants around Mount Oita revolted, he made war on them, and having inflicted many disasters upon them, he forced them to leave their territory; most of these fled with their children and wives into Thessaly, and five years later they were restored by the Boeotians.\n While these things were being done, the Thracians invaded the Chersonese in great numbers, and after plundering the entire country, they kept the cities in it shut up within their walls.
οἱ δὲ Χερρονησῖται πιεζόμενοι τῷ πολέμῳ μετεπέμψαντο Δερκυλίδαν τὸν Λακεδαιμόνιον ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίας. §14.38.7οὗτος δὲ διαβὰς μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως τοὺς μὲν Θρᾷκας ἐξήλασεν ἐκ τῆς χώρας, τὴν δὲ Χερρόνησον ἀπὸ θαλάττης ἀρξάμενος μέχρι θαλάττης διετείχισεν.
The inhabitants of the Chersonese, hard pressed by the war, sent for the Lacedaemonian Dercylidas from Asia.\n Having crossed over with his army, he drove the Thracians out of the country, and fortified the Chersonese with a wall extending from sea to sea.
τοῦτο δὲ πράξας τοὺς μὲν Θρᾷκας ἐκώλυσε τῆς εἰς τὸν μετὰ ταῦτα χρόνον καταδρομῆς, αὐτὸς δὲ μεγάλαις δωρεαῖς τιμηθεὶς διεβίβασε τὸ στρατόπεδον εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν.
By doing this, he prevented the Thracians from making raids in the future, and having been honored himself with great gifts, he transported his army back to Asia.

Notes

  1. 14.38.2τὸν Θίβρωνα κακῶς διοικοῦντα — A 'participle in indirect discourse' construction with the accusative acting as the subject, dependent on the verb πυνθάνομαι ('learn, hear'). τὸν Θίβρωνα is the subject accusative and the participle διοικοῦντα acts as the predicate, meaning 'learning that Thibron was managing (the war) badly.'
  2. 14.38.3ἃς μὲν δόλῳ παρέλαβεν, ἃς δʼ ἐκ βίας ἐχειρώσατο — The relative pronoun ἃς is used with μὲν... δέ to function as a distributive demonstrative pronoun ('some..., others...'), dividing the antecedent 'all the other cities in the Troad' (τὰς ἄλλας ἁπάσας τὰς κατὰ τὴν Τρῳάδα) into two categories.
  3. 14.38.4καταστήσοντα τὰ πράγματα — The future active participle καταστήσοντα is used here to express purpose ('in order to settle affairs'), modifying the main verb of sending (ἐξέπεμψαν).

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §14.38.1-14.38.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:14.38.1-14.38.7

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