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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §14.81.1-14.81.6

Death of Lysander at Haliartus and Fleet Preparations of Conon

Passage 375 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The Boeotian War breaks out, and the Spartan general Lysander falls in the Battle of Haliartus. Meanwhile, Conon meets with Persian King Artaxerxes, secures financial and military support, and chooses Pharnabazus as his co-commander to strengthen the fleet.

§14.81.1τῶν δὲ κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον διῳκημένων, Φωκεῖς πρὸς Βοιωτοὺς ἔκ τινων ἐγκλημάτων εἰς πόλεμον καταστάντες ἔπεισαν τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους συμμαχεῖν κατὰ τῶν Βοιωτῶν.
When the affairs in Asia had been managed in this manner, the Phocians, having entered into war against the Boeotians over certain grievances, persuaded the Lacedaemonians to ally with them against the Boeotians.
καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον αὐτοῖς ἀπέστειλαν Λύσανδρον μετὰ στρατιωτῶν ὀλίγων, ὃς εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν Φωκίδα συνήγαγε δύναμιν· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ Παυσανίας ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐξεπέμφθη μετὰ στρατιωτῶν ἑξακισχιλίων.
And at first they dispatched to them Lysander with a few soldiers, who, having entered Phocis, assembled a force; after this, King Pausanias also was sent out with six thousand soldiers.
§14.81.2Βοιωτοὶ δὲ πείσαντες Ἀθηναίους συνεπιλαβέσθαι τοῦ πολέμου, τότε μὲν καθʼ αὑτοὺς ὥρμησαν, καὶ κατέλαβον Ἁλίαρτον ὑπὸ Λυσάνδρου καὶ Φωκέων πολιορκουμένην.
On their part, the Boeotians, having persuaded the Athenians to take part in the war, set out at that time by themselves, and reached Haliartus which was being besieged by Lysander and the Phocians.
γενομένης δὲ μάχης ὅ τε Λύσανδρος ἔπεσε καὶ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ τῶν συμμάχων πολλοί, τῶν δὲ Βοιωτῶν ἡ μὲν ὅλη φάλαγξ ταχέως ἐπέστρεψεν ἀπὸ τοῦ διωγμοῦ, τῶν δὲ Θηβαίων ὡς διακόσιοι προχειρότερον εἰς τόπους τραχεῖς ἑαυτοὺς δόντες ἀνῃρέθησαν.
A battle having taken place, Lysander fell as well as many of the Lacedaemonians and the allies; and while the main phalanx of the Boeotians quickly returned from the pursuit, about two hundred of the Thebans, having rather rashly thrown themselves into rugged places, were slain.
§14.81.3ὁ μὲν οὖν πόλεμος οὗτος ἐκλήθη Βοιωτικός, Παυσανίας δὲ ὁ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων βασιλεὺς πυθόμενος τὴν ἧτταν ἀνοχὰς ἐποιήσατο πρὸς Βοιωτοὺς καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ἀπήγαγε πρὸς Πελοπόννησον.
Now this war was called the Boeotian War, and Pausanias, the king of the Lacedaemonians, having learned of the defeat, made a truce with the Boeotians and led his force back to the Peloponnese.
§14.81.4Κόνων δʼ ὁ τῶν Περσῶν ναύαρχος ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ στόλου κατέστησεν Ἱερώνυμον καὶ Νικόδημον Ἀθηναίους ὄντας, αὐτὸς δὲ σπεύδων ἐντυχεῖν τῷ βασιλεῖ παρέπλευσεν εἰς Κιλικίαν, κἀκεῖθεν εἰς Θάψακον τῆς Συρίας πορευθεὶς ἀνὰ τὸν Εὐφράτην ποταμὸν ἔπλευσεν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα.
Meanwhile, Conon, the admiral of the Persians, put Hieronymus and Nicodemus, who were Athenians, in charge of the fleet, while he himself, in haste to meet the king, sailed along the coast to Cilicia, and from there, having journeyed to Thapsacus in Syria, sailed up the Euphrates River to Babylon.
§14.81.5ἐκεῖ δʼ ἐντυχὼν τῷ βασιλεῖ καταναυμαχήσειν ἐπηγγείλατο τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους, ἂν αὐτῷ χρήματα καὶ τὴν ἄλλην παρασκευὴν ἑτοιμάσῃ κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ προαίρεσιν.
Having met the king there, he promised that he would defeat the Lacedaemonians in a naval battle, if the king would provide him with funds and other equipment according to his own choosing.
§14.81.6ὁ δʼ Ἀρταξέρξης ἐπαινέσας αὐτὸν καὶ δωρεαῖς μεγάλαις τιμήσας, συνέστησε ταμίαν τὸν χορηγήσοντα χρημάτων πλῆθος ὅσον ἂν προστάττῃ Κόνων, καὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ λαβεῖν εἰς τὸν πόλεμον συνηγησόμενον ὃν ἂν προαιρῆται Περσῶν.
And Artaxerxes, having praised him and honored him with great gifts, appointed a treasurer who should supply as great an amount of money as Conon might order, and gave him the authority to take as his associate in command for the war whomever of the Persians he might choose.
Κόνων μὲν οὖν Φαρνάβαζον ἑλόμενος τὸν σατράπην κατέβαινεν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν, ἅπαντα διῳκηκὼς κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ διάνοιαν.
Conon, therefore, having chosen Pharnabazus the satrap, went down to the sea, having arranged everything according to his own plan.

Notes

  1. §14.81.1τῶν δὲ κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον διῳκημένων — A genitive absolute construction with the passive perfect participle `διῳκημένων`, establishing the temporal or causal background that the events in Asia described in the previous chapter had been concluded.
  2. §14.81.2κατέλαβον — The verb `καταλαμβάνω` is used here in the sense of 'reaching or arriving at a destination that is in a certain state', implying they found Haliartus already under siege. The participle `πολιορκουμένην` functions predicatively to describe this state.
  3. §14.81.5καταναυμαχήσειν — A future infinitive serving as the object of the verb of promising/declaring `ἐπηγγείλατο` in indirect discourse. The subject of the infinitive is omitted because it is coreferential with the main clause's subject (Conon).
  4. §14.81.6ὃν ἂν προαιρῆται Περσῶν — A generalizing relative clause combining the relative pronoun with the particle `ἄν` and the subjunctive `προαιρῆται` ('whomever he might choose'). The genitive `Περσῶν` is partitive, defining the group from which the choice is made.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §14.81.1-14.81.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:14.81.1-14.81.6

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