Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §14.85.1-14.85.4

Rebuilding of the Long Walls and Arrest of Conon

Passage 379 of 723 · Greek

Summary

In the year Eubulides was archon in Athens, Conon undertook the reconstruction of the walls and Long Walls of Athens with Persian support, but the Persian general Tiribazus, envious of Conon's success, lured and arrested him in Sardis.

§14.85.1ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ ἐνιαυσιαῖος χρόνος διεληλύθει, Ἀθήνησι μὲν Εὐβουλίδης ἦρξεν, ἐν Ῥώμῃ δὲ τὴν ὑπατικὴν ἀρχὴν διῴκουν χιλίαρχοι ἕξ, Λεύκιος Σέργιος, Αὖλος Ποστούμιος, Πόπλιος Κορνήλιος, Κόιντος Μάνλιος.

When the period of a year had passed, in Athens Eubulides held the office of archon, and in Rome six military tribunes, Lucius Sergius, Aulus Postumius, Publius Cornelius, and Quintus Manlius, administered the consular authority.

§14.85.2περὶ δὲ τούτους τοὺς χρόνους Κόνων τοῦ βασιλικοῦ στόλου τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἔχων, ὀγδοήκοντα τριήρεσι καταπλεύσας εἰς τὸν Πειραιέα τοῖς πολίταις ὑπέσχετο τὸν περίβολον τῆς πόλεως ἀνοικοδομήσειν· τοῦ γὰρ Πειραιέως τὰ τείχη καὶ τὰ μακρὰ σκέλη καθῄρητο κατὰ τὰς Λακεδαιμονίων συνθήκας, ὅτε κατεπονήθησαν ἐν τῷ Πελοποννησιακῷ πολέμῳ.

At about this time Conon, having the command of the royal fleet, sailed down to the Peiraeus with eighty triremes and promised the citizens that he would rebuild the wall of the city; for the walls of the Peiraeus and the Long Walls had been demolished in accordance with the treaty made with the Lacedaemonians when the Athenians were defeated in the Peloponnesian War.

§14.85.3ὁ δʼ οὖν Κόνων μισθωσάμενος πλῆθος τεχνιτῶν, καὶ τὸν ἐκ τῶν πληρωμάτων ὄχλον εἰς ὑπηρεσίαν παραδούς, ταχέως τὸ πλεῖστον μέρος τοῦ τείχους ἀνῳκοδόμησε· καὶ γὰρ Θηβαῖοι πεντακοσίους τεχνίτας καὶ λιθοτόμους ἀπέστειλαν, καί τινες ἄλλαι τῶν πόλεων παρεβοήθησαν.

Conon, then, having hired a multitude of artisans and having assigned the crowd of sailors to the work of assistance, quickly rebuilt the greater part of the wall; for indeed the Thebans sent five hundred artisans and stone-cutters, and certain other of the cities also joined in helping.

§14.85.4Τιρίβαζος δʼ ὁ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν πεζῶν δυνάμεων ἀφηγούμενος ἐφθόνει ταῖς τοῦ Κόνωνος εὐπραξίαις, καὶ πρόφασιν μὲν λαβὼν ὅτι ταῖς βασιλικαῖς δυνάμεσι τὰς πόλεις Ἀθηναίοις κατακτᾶται, προαγαγόμενος δʼ αὐτὸν εἰς Σάρδεις συνέλαβε καὶ δήσας εἰς φυλακὴν κατέθετο.

But Tiribazus, who was in command of the land forces in Asia, envied Conon's successes, and on the one hand taking as a pretext that Conon was acquiring the cities for the Athenians with the royal forces, and on the other hand having lured him to Sardis, he arrested him, and having bound him, put him in prison.

Notes

14.85.1χιλίαρχοι ἕξ — Although the text states "six military tribunes" (χιλίαρχοι ἕξ), only four names are subsequently listed: Lucius Sergius, Aulus Postumius, Publius Cornelius, and Quintus Manlius. This discrepancy is likely due to a lacuna in the manuscript tradition or an oversight by Diodorus himself.
14.85.2κατεπονήθησαν — A third-person plural aorist passive verb whose implied subject is the Athenians, referred to as "the citizens" (τοῖς πολίταις) in the preceding clause, referring to their defeat and surrender at the end of the Peloponnesian War.
14.85.4πρόφασιν μὲν λαβὼν — The particles `μὲν` and `δὲ` (in `προαγαγόμενος δʼ`) contrast Tiribazus's two actions: taking a pretext to accuse Conon on the one hand, and actually luring and arresting him on the other.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §14.85.1-14.85.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:14.85.1-14.85.4

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