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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §14.82.1-14.82.10

The Quadruple Alliance and the Victories of Ismenias

Passage 376 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Athens, Boeotia, Corinth, and Argos form an alliance and successfully detach many cities from the Lacedaemonians. The Boeotian leader Ismenias allies with other regional groups and wins a battle against the Phocians.

§14.82.1τοῦ δʼ ἔτους τούτου διεληλυθότος Ἀθήνησι μὲν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔλαβε Διόφαντος, ἐν Ῥώμῃ δʼ ἀντὶ τῶν ὑπάτων ἓξ χιλίαρχοι τὴν ὑπατικὴν ἀρχὴν διῴκουν, Λεύκιος Οὐαλέριος, Μάρκος Φούριος, Κόιντος Σερουίλιος, Κόιντος Σουλπίκιος.
When this year had elapsed, Diophantus assumed the archonship in Athens, and in Rome, in place of the consuls, six military tribunes administered the consular power, namely Lucius Valerius, Marcus Furius, Quintus Servilius, and Quintus Sulpicius.
τούτων δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν παρειληφότων Βοιωτοὶ καὶ Ἀθηναῖοι, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Κορίνθιοι καὶ Ἀργεῖοι, συμμαχίαν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐποιήσαντο.
When these had taken over the office, the Boeotians and the Athenians, and in addition to them the Corinthians and the Argives, formed an alliance with one another.
§14.82.2μισουμένων γὰρ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ὑπὸ τῶν συμμάχων διὰ τὸ βάρος τῆς ἐπιστασίας, ᾤοντο ῥᾳδίως καταλύσειν αὐτῶν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν, τὰς μεγίστας πόλεις συμφρονούσας ἔχοντες.
For since the Lacedaemonians were hated by their allies because of the weight of their rule, they thought that they would easily overthrow their hegemony, having the greatest cities in agreement with them.
καὶ πρῶτον μὲν συνέδριον κοινὸν ἐν τῇ Κορίνθῳ συστησάμενοι τοὺς βουλευσομένους ἔπεμπον καὶ κοινῶς διῴκουν τὰ κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πρέσβεις εἰς τὰς πόλεις ἀποστέλλοντες πολλοὺς συμμάχους ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων ἀπέστησαν·
And first, having established a common council in Corinth, they sent counselors and jointly managed the affairs of the war; after this, by dispatching ambassadors to the cities, they revolted many allies from the Lacedaemonians.
§14.82.3εὐθὺ γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἥ τε Εὔβοια ἅπασα προσέθετο καὶ Λευκάδιοι, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Ἀκαρνᾶνές τε καὶ Ἀμβρακιῶται καὶ Χαλκιδεῖς οἱ πρὸς τῇ Θρᾴκῃ.
For immediately all of Euboea and the Leucadians joined them, and in addition to them the Acarnanians, the Ambraciots, and the Chalcidians who lived near Thrace.
§14.82.4ἐπεβάλοντο δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ κατοικοῦντας πείθειν ἀποστῆναι Λακεδαιμονίων, οὐδεὶς δʼ αὐτοῖς ὑπήκουσεν· ἡ γὰρ Σπάρτη κατὰ τὰ πλευρὰ κειμένη καθαπερεί τις ἀκρόπολις ἦν καὶ φρουρὰ πάσης Πελοποννήσου.
They also undertook to persuade those dwelling in the Peloponnese to revolt from the Lacedaemonians, but no one listened to them; for Sparta, lying at their side, was, as it were, a certain acropolis and garrison for the whole Peloponnese.
§14.82.5Μηδίου δὲ τοῦ τῆς Λαρίσσης τῆς ἐν Θετταλίᾳ δυναστεύοντος διαπολεμοῦντος πρὸς Λυκόφρονα τὸν Φερῶν τύραννον, καὶ δεομένου πέμψαι βοήθειαν, ἀπέστειλεν αὐτῷ τὸ συνέδριον στρατιώτας δισχιλίους·
Since Medius, the ruler of Larissa in Thessaly, was waging war against Lycophron, the tyrant of Pherae, and requested them to send assistance, the council dispatched to him two thousand soldiers.
§14.82.6ὁ δὲ Μήδιος τῆς συμμαχίας αὐτῷ παραγενομένης Φάρσαλον εἷλεν ὑπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων φρουρουμένην καὶ τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ κατοικοῦντας ἐλαφυροπώλησεν.
Medius, when the allied force arrived, took Pharsalus which was garrisoned by the Lacedaemonians, and sold its inhabitants as booty.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦθʼ οἱ Βοιωτοὶ μετʼ Ἀργείων Ἡράκλειαν τὴν ἐν Τραχῖνι κατελάβοντο, χωρισθέντες ἀπὸ Μηδίου·
After this, the Boeotians, together with the Argives, having parted from Medius, seized Heracleia in Trachis.
καὶ νυκτὸς ἐντὸς τῶν τειχῶν ὑπό τινων εἰσαχθέντες Λακεδαιμονίους μὲν τοὺς καταληφθέντας ἀπέσφαξαν, τοὺς δʼ ἀπὸ Πελοποννήσου τὰ σφῶν ἔχοντας εἴασαν ἀπελθεῖν.
Being led inside the walls by night by certain persons, they slaughtered the Lacedaemonians who were captured, but allowed those from the Peloponnese to depart with their own possessions.
§14.82.7εἰς δὲ τὴν πόλιν τοὺς Τραχινίους φεύγοντας ἐκ τῶν πατρίδων ὑπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων μεταπεμπόμενοι, τούτοις ἔδωκαν τὴν πόλιν οἰκεῖν, οἳ καὶ παλαιότατοι τῆς χώρας ταύτης ἦσαν οἰκήτορες.
And summoning back to the city the Trachinians who had been exiled from their homelands by the Lacedaemonians, they gave them the city to dwell in, for they were the oldest inhabitants of this territory.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦθʼ ὁ τῶν Βοιωτῶν ἀφηγούμενος Ἰσμηνίας τοὺς μὲν Ἀργείους ἐν τῇ πόλει κατέλιπε φυλακῆς ἕνεκα, αὐτὸς δὲ πείσας ἀποστῆναι ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων Αἰνιᾶνας καὶ Ἀθαμᾶνας ἤθροισε παρά τε τούτων καὶ τῶν συμμάχων στρατιώτας· τοὺς πάντας δʼ ἔχων μικρὸν ἀπολείποντας τῶν ἑξακισχιλίων ἐστράτευσεν εἰς Φωκεῖς.
After this, Ismenias, the leader of the Boeotians, left the Argives in the city for the purpose of a garrison, while he himself, having persuaded the Aenianians and Athamanians to revolt from the Lacedaemonians, collected soldiers both from them and from the allies; and having all of them, numbering slightly less than six thousand, he marched against the Phocians.
§14.82.8καταστρατοπεδεύοντος δʼ αὐτοῦ εἰς Νάρυκα τῆς Λοκρίδος, ἐξ ἧς φασι τὸν Αἴαντα γεγενῆσθαι, τὸ πλῆθος τῶν Φωκέων ἀπήντησε μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων, τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἔχοντος Ἀλκισθένους τοῦ Λάκωνος.
While he was encamping at Naryx in Locris, from which they say Ajax was born, the multitude of the Phocians met him in arms, under the command of Alcisthenes the Laconian.
§14.82.9γενομένης δὲ μάχης ἐπὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἰσχυρᾶς ἐκράτησαν οἱ Βοιωτοί, καὶ μέχρι νυκτὸς διώξαντες τοὺς φεύγοντας ἀνεῖλον οὐ πολὺ λείποντας τῶν χιλίων, τῶν δʼ ἰδίων ἀπέβαλον ἐν τῇ μάχῃ περὶ πεντακοσίους.
A battle having taken place which was fierce for a long time, the Boeotians prevailed, and having pursued the fugitives until night, they slew slightly less than a thousand, while of their own they lost about five hundred in the battle.
§14.82.10μετὰ δὲ τὴν παράταξιν ἀμφότεροι μὲν διέλυσαν τὸ στρατόπεδον εἰς τὰς ἰδίας πατρίδας· οἱ δʼ εἰς Κόρινθον τὸ συνέδριον ἀγαγόντες, ἐπεὶ κατὰ νοῦν αὐτοῖς προεχώρει τὰ πράγματα, συνήγαγον ἐξ ἁπασῶν τῶν πόλεων στρατιώτας εἰς Κόρινθον, πεζοὺς μὲν πλείους μυρίων πεντακισχιλίων, ἱππεῖς δὲ περὶ πεντακοσίους.
After the engagement, both sides disbanded their army to their respective homelands; but those who had brought the council to Corinth, since affairs were progressing according to their mind, gathered soldiers from all the cities to Corinth, more than fifteen thousand infantry and about five hundred cavalry.

Notes

  1. §14.82.1ἓξ χιλίαρχοι — Although the text states "six military tribunes," only four names are subsequently listed. This indicates either a lacuna in the manuscript tradition or an inconsistency on the part of Diodorus himself.
  2. §14.82.2τὰς μεγίστας πόλεις συμφρονούσας ἔχοντες — The participle `συμφρονούσας` (being in agreement) acts as a complement to `ἔχοντες` (having), expressing either cause or attendant circumstance: "since they had the greatest cities in agreement with them."
  3. §14.82.4ἐπεβάλοντο — The middle voice of `ἐπιβάλλομαι` followed by the infinitive `πείθειν` functions in the sense of "attempted to persuade" or "undertook to persuade."
  4. §14.82.6χωρισθέντες ἀπὸ Μηδίου — The aorist passive participle `χωρισθέντες` means "having separated from" or "parting from," indicating that the Boeotians and Argives detached themselves from their support of Medius to take independent action.
  5. §14.82.7φεύγοντας ἐκ τῶν πατρίδων ὑπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων — Although the present participle `φεύγοντας` is active in form, it functions semantically as a passive ("having been exiled"), which allows it to take the agent construction with `ὑπό` and the genitive (`ὑπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων`).

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §14.82.1-14.82.10. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:14.82.1-14.82.10

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