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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §14.87.1-14.87.5

Rhegian Attack on Messene and Siege of Tauromenium

Passage 381 of 723 · Greek

Summary

In Sicily, the Rhegians, suspicious of Dionysius, settled refugees in Mylae and besieged Messene but were defeated; Dionysius then besieged the Sicels at Tauromenium before targeting Rhegium.

§14.87.1κατὰ δὲ τὴν Σικελίαν Ῥηγῖνοι κατηγοροῦντες Διονυσίου ὅτι Μεσσήνην τειχίζων ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς κατασκευάζεται, πρῶτον μὲν τοὺς ὑπὸ Διονυσίου φυγαδευομένους καὶ τἀναντία πράττοντας ὑπεδέξαντο, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῶν Ναξίων καὶ Καταναίων τοὺς ὑπολειπομένους εἰς Μύλας κατοικίσαντες, δύναμιν παρεσκευάζοντο καὶ στρατηγὸν Ἕλωριν ἐξέπεμψαν πολιορκήσοντα Μεσσήνην.
In Sicily, the Rhegians, accusing Dionysius of preparing an attack against them by fortifying Messene, first received those who had been banished by Dionysius and were acting against him, and after this, having settled the remaining Naxians and Catanaeans in Mylae, they prepared a force and sent out Heloris as general to besiege Messene.
§14.87.2τούτου δὲ τὴν ἐπίθεσιν κατὰ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ποιησαμένου παραβόλως, οἱ κατέχοντες τὴν πόλιν Μεσσήνιοι καὶ Διονυσίου μισθοφόροι συστραφέντες ἀπήντησαν.
When he made a reckless attack against the acropolis, the Messenians who held the city and the mercenaries of Dionysius banded together and met him.
γενομένης δὲ μάχης ἐνίκων οἱ Μεσσήνιοι καὶ πλείους τῶν πεντακοσίων ἀπέκτειναν.
A battle took place, and the Messenians were victorious, killing more than five hundred.
§14.87.3εὐθὺ δʼ ἐπὶ τὰς Μύλας ἐπελθόντες εἷλον τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τοὺς οἰκισθέντας ἐν αὐτῇ Ναξίους ὑποσπόνδους ἀφῆκαν.
Advancing immediately against Mylae, they took the city, and let the Naxians who had been settled in it go under a truce.
οὗτοι μὲν οὖν εἴς τε Σικελοὺς καὶ τὰς ἄλλας τὰς Ἑλληνίδας πόλεις ἀπελθόντες ἄλλοι κατʼ ἄλλους τόπους κατῴκησαν·
These, then, having departed to the Sicels and to the other Greek cities, settled in various places.
§14.87.4ὁ δὲ Διονύσιος, τῶν περὶ τὸν πορθμὸν αὐτῷ τόπων κατεσκευασμένων φιλίων, διενοεῖτο μὲν ἐπὶ Ῥήγιον στρατιὰν ἄγειν, παρηνωχλεῖτο δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν τὸ Ταυρομένιον κατειληφότων Σικελῶν.
And Dionysius, since the places around the strait had been established as friendly to him, intended to lead an army against Rhegium, but was harassed by the Sicels who had occupied Tauromenium.
§14.87.5διόπερ κρίνας συμφέρειν τούτοις ἐπιθέσθαι πρώτοις, ἐξήγαγεν ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ στρατοπεδεύσας ἐκ τοῦ πρὸς τὴν Νάξον μέρους προσεκαρτέρει τῇ πολιορκίᾳ τὸν χειμῶνα, νομίζων τοὺς Σικελοὺς ἐκλείψειν τὸν λόφον διὰ τὸ μὴ πάλαι κατῳκηκέναι.
Therefore, judging it advantageous to attack them first, he led out his force against them, and having encamped on the side facing Naxos, he persisted in the siege through the winter, thinking that the Sicels would abandon the hill because they had not settled there long ago.

Notes

  1. 14.87.1κατασκευάζεται — Inside the indirect discourse ὅτι clause, the present indicative is retained despite the leading past participle (κατηγοροῦντες), emphasizing the ongoing and imminent nature of Dionysius' preparation.
  2. 14.87.1πολιορκήσοντα — Future active participle modifying the noun στρατηγὸν, expressing purpose ('in order to besiege').
  3. 14.87.4τῶν περὶ τὸν πορθμὸν αὐτῷ τόπων κατεσκευασμένων φιλίων — Genitive absolute. The pronoun αὐτῷ functions as a dative of reference ('for him'), and the adjective φιλίων is used predicatively: 'since the places around the strait had been established as friendly to him'.
  4. 14.87.5διὰ τὸ μὴ πάλαι κατῳκηκέναι — Preposition διά with the accusative articular perfect infinitive. The implicit subject of the infinitive is τοὺς Σικελοὺς, the subject of the preceding infinitive clause. The perfect tense indicates a state originating in the past and continuing to the present, negated by μὴ πάλαι ('because they had not settled long ago').

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §14.87.1-14.87.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:14.87.1-14.87.5

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