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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §14.77.1-14.77.6

The Libyan Revolt and Carthage's Deliverance

Passage 371 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The Libyan allies and slaves, upon hearing of the Carthaginian disaster, rise in rebellion and besiege Carthage, but the revolt dissolves due to the Carthaginians' propitiation of Greek goddesses and the rebels' internal division, food scarcity, and bribery.

§14.77.1τῆς γὰρ συμφορᾶς διακηρυχθείσης κατὰ τὴν Λιβύην, οἱ σύμμαχοι καὶ πάλαι μὲν μισοῦντες τὸ βάρος τῆς τῶν Καρχηδονίων ἡγεμονίας, τότε δὲ διὰ τὴν τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἐν Συρακούσαις προδοσίαν πολὺ μᾶλλον ἐξέκαυσαν τὸ κατʼ αὐτῶν μῖσος.
For when the disaster was proclaimed throughout Libya, the allies, who even of old hated the weight of the Carthaginian hegemony, then, because of the betrayal of the soldiers in Syracuse, fanned their hatred against them much more.
§14.77.2διόπερ ἅμα μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς προαχθέντες, ἅμα δὲ καταφρονήσαντες αὐτῶν διὰ τὴν ἀτυχίαν, ἀντείχοντο τῆς ἐλευθερίας.
Therefore, led on at one and the same time by anger and despising them because of their misfortune, they clung to their freedom.
διαπρεσβευσάμενοι δὲ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἤθροισαν δύναμιν, καὶ προελθόντες ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ κατεστρατοπέδευσαν.
Having sent embassies to one another, they assembled a force, and advancing, they encamped in the open country.
§14.77.3ταχὺ δʼ οὐ μόνον ἐλευθέρων, ἀλλὰ καὶ δούλων συντρεχόντων, ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ μυριάδες εἴκοσι συνηθροίσθησαν.
And quickly, as not only free men but also slaves flocked together, in a short time two hundred thousand men were assembled.
καταλαβόμενοι δὲ Τύνητα, πόλιν οὐ μακρὰν τῆς Καρχηδόνος κειμένην, ἐκ ταύτης παρετάττοντο, καὶ πλεονεκτοῦντες ἐν ταῖς μάχαις τειχήρεις τοὺς Φοίνικας συνεῖχον.
Having seized Tunis, a city situated not far from Carthage, they drew up for battle from this place, and being victorious in the battles, they kept the Phoenicians shut up within their walls.
§14.77.4οἱ δὲ Καρχηδόνιοι φανερῶς ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν πολεμούμενοι, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον κατʼ ὀλίγους ξυνιόντες ἐξεταράττοντο καὶ τὸ δαιμόνιον ἱκέτευον λῆξαι τῆς ὀργῆς· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πᾶσαν τὴν πόλιν δεισιδαιμονία κατέσχε καὶ δέος, ἑκάστου τὸν τῆς πόλεως ἀνδραποδισμὸν τῇ διανοίᾳ προλαμβάνοντος.
But the Carthaginians, being manifestly warred against by the gods, at first gathered in small groups and were thrown into great confusion, imploring the deity to cease from his anger; but after this, superstition and fear seized the whole city, as each person anticipated in his mind the enslavement of the city.
διόπερ ἐψηφίσαντο παντὶ τρόπῳ τοὺς ἀσεβηθέντας θεοὺς ἐξιλάσασθαι.
Therefore, they voted to propitiate in every way the gods who had been outraged.
§14.77.5οὐ παρειληφότες δʼ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς οὔτε Κόρην οὔτε Δήμητρα, τούτων ἱερεῖς τοὺς ἐπισημοτάτους τῶν πολιτῶν κατέστησαν, καὶ μετὰ πάσης σεμνότητος τὰς θεὰς ἱδρυσάμενοι τὰς θυσίας τοῖς τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἤθεσιν ἐποίουν, καὶ τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς ὄντων Ἑλλήνων τοὺς χαριεστάτους ἐπιλέξαντες ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν θεῶν θεραπείαν ἔταξαν.
Since they had not previously received either Kore or Demeter among their sacred rites, they appointed the most distinguished of the citizens as priests of these deities, and having established the goddesses with all solemnity, they offered sacrifices according to the customs of the Greeks; they also selected the most refined of the Greeks who were among them and appointed them to the service of the goddesses.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ναῦς τε κατεσκεύαζον καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἐπιμελῶς ἡτοίμαζον.
After this, they both constructed ships and diligently prepared what was necessary for the war.
§14.77.6οἱ δʼ ἀποστάται μιγάδες ὄντες οὔθʼ ἡγεμόνας ἀξιοχρέους εἶχον, τὸ δὲ μέγιστον, αὐτοῖς μὲν διὰ τὸ πλῆθος ἐξέλειπον αἱ τροφαί, τοῖς δὲ Καρχηδονίοις κατὰ θάλατταν ἐκ Σαρδοῦς παρεκομίζοντο, καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐστασίαζον περὶ τῆς ἡγεμονίας, καί τινες αὐτῶν χρήμασιν ὑπὸ Καρχηδονίων διαφθαρέντες ἐγκατέλειπον τὰς κοινὰς ἐλπίδας.
But the rebels, being a mixed crowd, had no leaders of sufficient worth, and, what was most important, while provisions failed them because of their great number, they were brought by sea from Sardinia to the Carthaginians; moreover, they fell into strife among themselves over the leadership, and some of them, corrupted by money by the Carthaginians, abandoned their common hopes.
ὅθεν διά τε τὴν σπάνιν τῆς τροφῆς καί τινων προδοσίαν, οὗτοι μὲν διαλυθέντες εἰς τὰς πατρίδας ἀπήλλαξαν τοῦ μεγίστου φόβου Καρχηδονίους.
Hence, both because of the scarcity of food and the betrayal of some, these dispersed to their respective homelands and delivered the Carthaginians from their greatest fear.
καὶ τὰ μὲν κατὰ Λιβύην ἐν τούτοις ἦν.
Such was the state of affairs in Libya.

Notes

  1. 14.77.1τῶν στρατιωτῶν — The genitive τῶν στρατιωτῶν is used as an objective genitive, referring to the betrayal *of* (abandonment of) the soldiers by Himilco, rather than a subjective genitive indicating a betrayal committed *by* the soldiers.
  2. 14.77.3τειχήρεις τοὺς Φοίνικας συνεῖχον — The adjective τειχήρεις ('walled in' / 'shut up within walls') is used predicatively with the direct object τοὺς Φοίνικας, indicating the state in which the rebels kept the Phoenicians.
  3. 14.77.6τὸ δὲ μέγιστον — An accusative phrase in apposition to the following clause (parenthetical accusative), functioning adverbially to mean 'and what was most important.'

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §14.77.1-14.77.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:14.77.1-14.77.6

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