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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §15.13.1-15.13.5

Dionysius' Adriatic Expansion and Alliance with Illyrians

Passage 425 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, plans to expand into the Adriatic and plunder Delphi, intervening in Epirus through an alliance with the Illyrians. Meanwhile, he assists the Parians in colonizing Pharos and carries out grand construction projects in Syracuse.

§15.13.1ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις κατὰ τὴν Σικελίαν Διονύσιος ὁ τῶν Συρακοσίων τύραννος ἔγνω κατὰ τὸν Ἀδρίαν πόλεις οἰκίζειν.
While these things were being done, in Sicily Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, decided to found cities along the Adriatic.
τοῦτο δὲ ἔπραττε διανοούμενος τὸν Ἰόνιον καλούμενον πόρον ἰδιοποιεῖσθαι, ἵνα τὸν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἤπειρον πλοῦν ἀσφαλῆ κατασκευάσῃ καὶ πόλεις ἔχῃ ἰδίας εἰς τὸ δύνασθαι ναυσὶ καθορμισθῆναι.
He did this with the intention of making the so-called Ionian passage his own, in order to make the voyage to Epirus safe and to have his own cities in order to be able to anchor with ships.
ἔσπευδε γὰρ ἄφνω μεγάλαις δυνάμεσιν ἐπιπλεῦσαι τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἤπειρον τόποις καὶ συλῆσαι τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖς τέμενος, γέμον πολλῶν χρημάτων.
For he was eager to sail suddenly with large forces against the regions of Epirus and to plunder the sanctuary at Delphi, which was full of much wealth.
§15.13.2διὸ καὶ πρὸς Ἰλλυριοὺς ἐποιήσατο συμμαχίαν διʼ Ἀλκέτου τοῦ Μολοττοῦ, ὃς ἐτύγχανε φυγὰς ὢν καὶ διατρίβων ἐν ταῖς Συρακούσαις.
For this reason, he also made an alliance with the Illyrians through Alcetas the Molossian, who happened to be an exile and was residing in Syracuse.
τῶν δʼ Ἰλλυριῶν ἐχόντων πόλεμον, ἐξαπέστειλεν αὐτοῖς συμμάχους στρατιώτας δισχιλίους καὶ πανοπλίας Ἑλληνικὰς πεντακοσίας.
Since the Illyrians were engaged in war, he dispatched to them two thousand allied soldiers and five hundred Greek suits of armor.
οἱ δʼ Ἰλλυριοὶ τὰς μὲν πανοπλίας ἀνέδωκαν τοῖς ἀρίστοις τῶν στρατιωτῶν, τοὺς δὲ στρατιώτας κατέμιξαν τοῖς ἰδίοις στρατιώταις.
The Illyrians distributed the suits of armor to the best of their soldiers, and mingled the dispatched soldiers with their own.
§15.13.3πολλὴν δὲ δύναμιν ἀθροίσαντες ἐνέβαλον εἰς τὴν Ἤπειρον καὶ κατῆγον τὸν Ἀλκέταν ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν Μολοττῶν βασιλείαν.
Having gathered a large force, they invaded Epirus and restored Alcetas to the kingship of the Molossians.
οὐδενὸς δʼ αὐτοῖς προσέχοντος, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐπόρθησαν τὴν χώραν, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῶν Μολοττῶν ἀντιταττομένων ἐγένετο μάχη καρτερά, καθʼ ἣν νικήσαντες οἱ Ἰλλυριοὶκατέκοψαν τῶν Μολοττῶν πλείους τῶν μυρίων πεντακισχιλίων.
Since no one opposed them, at first they plundered the country, but after this, when the Molossians drew up against them, a fierce battle took place, in which the Illyrians were victorious and cut down more than fifteen thousand of the Molossians.
τοιαύτῃ δὲ συμφορᾷ τῶν Ἠπειρωτῶν περιπεσόντων, Λακεδαιμόνιοι πυθόμενοι τὰ συμβεβηκότα συμμαχίαν ἐξέπεμψαν τοῖς Μολοττοῖς, διʼ ἧς τοῦ πολλοῦ θράσους ἔπαυσαν τοὺς βαρβάρους.
When the Epirotes fell into such a disaster, the Lacedaemonians, hearing of what had happened, sent an alliance to the Molossians, by means of which they put an end to the great audacity of the barbarians.
§15.13.4ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις Πάριοι κατά τινα χρησμὸν ἀποικίαν ἐκπέμψαντες εἰς τὸν Ἀδρίαν ἔκτισαν ἐν αὐτῷ νῆσον τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Φάρον, συμπράξαντος αὐτοῖς Διονυσίου τοῦ τυράννου.
While these things were being done, the Parians, having sent out a colony to the Adriatic in accordance with a certain oracle, founded in it the island called Pharos, with the cooperation of the tyrant Dionysius.
οὗτος γὰρ ἀποικίαν ἀπεσταλκὼς εἰς τὸν Ἀδρίαν οὐ πολλοῖς πρότερον ἔτεσιν ἐκτικὼς ἦν τὴν πόλιν τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Λίσσον.
For he, having sent a colony to the Adriatic not many years before, had founded the city called Lissus.
§15.13.5ἐκ ταύτης οὖν ὁρμώμενος Διονύσιος σχολὴν ἄγων κατεσκεύασε νεώρια διακοσίαις τριήρεσι, καὶ τεῖχος περιέβαλε τῇ πόλει τηλικοῦτο τὸ μέγεθος, ὥστε τῇ πόλει γενέσθαι τὸν περίβολον μέγιστον τῶν Ἑλληνίδων πόλεων.
Setting out from this, therefore, Dionysius, enjoying leisure, constructed dockyards for two hundred triremes, and surrounded the city with a wall of such a size that the circuit of the city became the largest among the Greek cities.
κατεσκεύασε δὲ καὶ γυμνάσια μεγάλα παρὰ τὸν Ἄναπον ποταμόν, θεῶν τε ναοὺς κατεσκεύασε καὶ τἄλλα τὰ συντείνοντα πρὸς αὔξησιν πόλεως καὶ δόξαν.
He also constructed large gymnasia beside the Anapus river, built temples of the gods, and constructed other things that contribute to the growth and glory of the city.

Notes

  1. 15.13.1εἰς τὸ δύνασθαι ναυσὶ καθορμισθῆναι — A purpose expression consisting of the preposition εἰς and the articular infinitive τὸ δύνασθαι. The dative ναυσί with the passive infinitive καθορμισθῆναι ("to be brought to anchor / to harbor") functions as an instrument ("by ships"), meaning "so that they might be able to anchor with their ships."
  2. 15.13.3οὐδενὸς δʼ αὐτοῖς προσέχοντος — A genitive absolute construction. The verb προσέχω (here meaning "to pay attention to" or "to oppose") governs the dative αὐτοῖς (referring to the Illyrians), yielding "since no one paid attention to (or opposed) them."
  3. 15.13.5ἐκ ταύτης οὖν ὁρμώμενος — The demonstrative pronoun ταύτης (feminine singular genitive) grammatically refers to the preceding city name Λίσσος (feminine) or to the "colony" (ἀποικία). However, the major building projects described in this section actually took place in Syracuse (which is feminine plural, Συράκουσαι). The author may have had Syracuse in mind as "the city" (πόλις) or referred to starting from "this enterprise" (colony).

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §15.13.1-15.13.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:15.13.1-15.13.5

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