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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §15.11.1-15.11.2

Rehabilitation of Tiribazus and Punishment of Orontes

Passage 423 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The king questioned the three judges who had acquitted Tiribazus about their reasoning, approved of their judgments, and severely punished Orontes for his false accusation.

§15.11.1ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς καθʼ ἕνα τῶν δικαστῶν προσκαλούμενος ἐπηρώτησε, τίσι δικαίοις προσσχὼν ἕκαστος ἀπέλυσε τὸν κατηγορούμενον.
The king, summoning the judges one by one, asked what grounds of justice each had relied upon to acquit the accused.
ὁ μὲν οὖν πρῶτος ἔφησε, θεωρῶν τὰ μὲν ἐγκλήματα ἀμφισβητούμενα, τὰς δʼ εὐεργεσίας ὁμολογουμένας οὔσας·
The first, then, said that he saw the charges were disputed while the benefactions were acknowledged.
ὁ δὲ δεύτερος ἔφησε, καὶ τιθεμένων ἀληθινῶν τῶν ἐγκλημάτων, ὅμως τὰς εὐεργεσίας μείζους εἶναι τῆς ἁμαρτίας·
The second said that, even if the charges were assumed to be true, nevertheless the benefactions were greater than the offense.
ὁ δὲ τρίτος εἶπεν ὅτι τὰς μὲν εὐεργεσίας οὐ τίθεται πρὸς λόγον διὰ τὸ τὰς περὶ αὐτῶν χάριτας καὶ τιμὰς πολλαπλασίας ἀπειληφέναι παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως τὸν Τιρίβαζον, αὐτῶν δὲ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων κατʼ ἰδίαν θεωρουμένων μὴ φαίνεσθαι τούτοις ἔνοχον εἶναι τὸν κατηγορούμενον.
The third said that he did not take the benefactions into account, because Tiribazus had received from the king gratitude and honors many times greater in return for them; but when the charges themselves were considered on their own, the accused did not appear to be guilty of them.
§15.11.2ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τοὺς μὲν δικαστὰς ἐπῄνεσεν, ὡς δικαίως κεκρικότας, τὸν δὲ Τιρίβαζον ταῖς νομιζομέναις μεγίσταις τιμαῖς ἐκόσμησεν.
The king praised the judges for having judged justly, and decorated Tiribazus with the highest customary honors.
τοῦ δὲ Ὀρόντου καταγνοὺς ὡς ψευδῆ κατηγορίαν πεπλακότος ἔκ τε τῶν φίλων ἐξέκρινε καὶ ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἀτιμίαις περιέβαλεν.
Having condemned Orontes for having fabricated a false accusation, he expelled him from the number of his friends and subjected him to the utmost ignominy.
καὶ τὰ μὲν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν ἐν τούτοις ἦν.
And such was the state of affairs in Asia.

Notes

  1. 15.11.1τίσι δικαίοις — The interrogative adjective τίσι modifies the neuter plural noun δικαίοις ('just grounds' or 'justifications'). It functions as the dative object of προσσχών (the aorist active participle of προσέχω, which, with the ellipsis of τὸν νοῦν or similar words, means 'attending to' or 'relying upon').
  2. 15.11.1οὐ τίθεται πρὸς λόγον — The phrase τίθεσθαι πρὸς λόγον is an idiom meaning 'to take into account' or 'to reckon in.' Accompanied by the negative οὐ, it indicates that the third judge excluded Tiribazus's past benefactions from the calculation or consideration of the verdict.
  3. 15.11.1μὴ φαίνεσθαι τούτοις ἔνοχον εἶναι τὸν κατηγορούμενον — The infinitive φαίνεσθαι depends indirectly on εἶπεν which introduced the preceding ὅτι clause, representing the continuation of the statement in indirect discourse. The adjective ἔνοχον governs the dative τούτοις, meaning 'liable to / guilty of these (charges).'
  4. 15.11.2ὡς ψευδῆ κατηγορίαν πεπλακότος — The combination of the particle ὡς with the participle (πεπλακότος, genitive of the perfect active participle of πλάττω) expresses the subjective reason or the ground of accusation for the action of the genitive object Ὀρόντου, governed by the main verb καταγνούς ('condemning').

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §15.11.1-15.11.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:15.11.1-15.11.2

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