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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §14.93.1-14.93.5

Capture of Veii and Timasitheus of Lipara

Passage 387 of 723 · Greek

Summary

On the death of Satyrus, king of Bosporus, and the succession of Leucon, the Roman capture of Veii, and the Roman gratitude toward Timasitheus of Lipara, which secured tax exemption for his descendants.

§14.93.1περὶ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον καὶ Σάτυρος ὁ Σπαρτάκου μὲν υἱός, βασιλεὺς δὲ Βοσπόρου, ἐτελεύτησεν, ἄρξας ἔτη τετταράκοντα· τὴν ἡγεμονίαν δὲ διεδέξατο ὁ υἱὸς Λεύκων ἐπʼ ἔτη τετταράκοντα.
About the same time Satyrus, the son of Spartacus and king of Bosporus, died after having ruled for forty years; and his son Leucon succeeded to the leadership for forty years.
§14.93.2κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἰταλίαν Ῥωμαῖοι πολιορκοῦντες ἑνδέκατον ἔτος Βηίους κατέστησαν αὐτοκράτορα μὲν Μάρκον Φούριον, ἵππαρχον δὲ Πόπλιον Κορνήλιον.
In Italy, the Romans, who had been besieging Veii for eleven years, appointed Marcus Furius as dictator and Publius Cornelius as master of the horse.
οὗτοι δὲ ἀναλαβόντες τὰς δυνάμεις Βηίους ἐξεπολιόρκησαν διώρυγα κατασκευάσαντες, καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐξανδραποδισάμενοι τούς τε ἄνδρας καὶ τὴν ἄλλην λείαν ἐλαφυροπώλησαν.
These men, having taken command of the forces, captured Veii by constructing a tunnel, and having enslaved the city, they sold the inhabitants and the rest of the booty.
§14.93.3ὁ μὲν οὖν αὐτοκράτωρ θρίαμβον ἤγαγεν, ὁ δὲ τῶν Ῥωμαίων δῆμος ἐκ τῶν λαφύρων δεκάτην ἐξελόμενος χρυσοῦν κατεσκεύασε κρατῆρα καὶ εἰς Δελφοὺς ἀνέθηκεν.
The dictator, then, celebrated a triumph, and the Roman people, setting aside a tenth of the booty, fashioned a golden bowl and dedicated it at Delphi.
§14.93.4οἱ δὲ κομίζοντες αὐτὸν πρεσβευταὶ λῃσταῖς Λιπαραίοις περιέπεσον, καὶ πάντες αἰχμαλωτισθέντες κατήχθησαν εἰς Λιπάραν.
But the ambassadors who were carrying it fell in with Liparaean pirates, and being all taken captive, they were brought to Lipara.
Τιμασίθεος δʼ ὁ τῶν Λιπαραίων στρατηγὸς γνοὺς τὸ γεγενημένον, τούς τε πρεσβευτὰς ἀνέσωσε καὶ τὸ χρυσίον ἀποδοὺς εἰς Δελφοὺς τοὺς πρέσβεις ἀποκατέστησεν.
However, Timasitheus, the general of the Liparaeans, on learning what had happened, rescued the ambassadors, restored the gold, and sent them on their way to Delphi.
οἱ δὲ τὸν κρατῆρα κομίζοντες, ἀναθέντες αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν τῶν Μασσαλιητῶν θησαυρόν, εἰς Ῥώμην ἀνέστρεψαν.
And those who were carrying the bowl, having dedicated it in the treasury of the Massaliotes, returned to Rome.
§14.93.5διόπερ ὁ δῆμος τῶν Ῥωμαίων πυθόμενος τὴν τοῦ Τιμασιθέου καλοκἀγαθίαν, παραχρῆμα αὐτὸν ἐτίμησε δημόσιον δοὺς κατάλυμα, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἔτεσιν ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα ἑπτὰ τὴν Λιπάραν ἀφελόμενος τῶν Καρχηδονίων τοὺς ἐγγόνους τοῦ Τιμασιθέου τῶν τε εἰσφορῶν ἀτελεῖς ἀφῆκε καὶ ἐλευθέρους ἐποίησεν.
Therefore the Roman people, hearing of the nobility of Timasitheus, immediately honored him by granting him public lodging, and one hundred and thirty-seven years later, when they took Lipara from the Carthaginians, they exempted the descendants of Timasitheus from taxes and made them free.

Notes

  1. 14.93.1ἄρξας — The aorist participle indicates the completion of the action, meaning "after having ruled" and serving to define the entire duration of the reign prior to death.
  2. 14.93.2αὐτοκράτορα — A Greek rendering of the Roman extraordinary office of *dictator*. Similarly, the subsequent *hipparchos* represents the *magister equitum* (Master of the Horse).
  3. 14.93.2διώρυγα — Although the noun usually means "canal" or "trench," here it refers to the underground "tunnel" or "sap" (*cuniculus*) dug by the Romans to infiltrate and capture Veii.
  4. 14.93.5ἔτεσιν ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα ἑπτὰ — Dative of measure of difference expressing "one hundred and thirty-seven years later," functioning as a temporal adverbial modifier to the subsequent participle *aphelomenos*.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §14.93.1-14.93.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:14.93.1-14.93.5

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