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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §15.16.1-15.16.3

The Battle of Cronium and Carthaginian Victory

Passage 428 of 723 · Greek

Summary

In response to Dionysius' harsh demands, the Carthaginians requested a truce, during which they reorganized and trained their army under Mago's young son, ultimately defeating Dionysius in a major battle near Cronium.

§15.16.1βαρείας δὲ καὶ ὑπερηφάνου τῆς ἀποκρίσεως δοκούσης ὑπάρχειν, οἱ Καρχηδόνιοι τῇ συνήθει πανουργίᾳ κατεστρατήγησαν τὸν Διονύσιον.
Since the reply seemed to be harsh and arrogant, the Carthaginians outgeneraled Dionysius with their customary cunning.
προσποιηθέντες οὖν εὐδοκεῖσθαι ταῖς ὁμολογίαις, ἔφησαν αὐτοὺς μὲν μὴ ὑπάρχειν κυρίους τῆς τῶν πόλεων παραδόσεως, ἵνα δὲ τοῖς ἄρχουσι διαλεχθῶσι περὶ τούτων, ἠξίωσαν τὸν Διονύσιον ὀλίγας ἡμέρας ἀνοχὰς ποιήσασθαι.
Pretending, therefore, to be satisfied with the terms, they said that they themselves did not have the authority to surrender the cities, and in order to confer about these matters with their rulers, they requested Dionysius to grant a truce for a few days.
§15.16.2συγχωρήσαντος δὲ τοῦ δυνάστου καὶ τῶν ἀνοχῶν γενομένων, ὁ μὲν Διονύσιος περιχαρὴς ἦν, ὡς αὐτίκα μάλα τὴν Σικελίαν πᾶσαν παραληψόμενος, οἱ δὲ Καρχηδόνιοι Μάγωνα μὲν τὸν βασιλέα μεγαλοπρεπῶς ἔθαψαν, ἀντὶ δʼ ἐκείνου στρατηγὸν κατέστησαν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, νέον μὲν παντελῶς ὄντα, φρονήματος δὲ γέμοντα καὶ διάφορον ἀνδρείᾳ.
When the tyrant consented and the truce was made, Dionysius was overjoyed, believing that he would very shortly take over the whole of Sicily, but the Carthaginians buried King Mago magnificently, and in his place they appointed his son as general, who was completely young, but full of spirit and outstanding in courage.
οὗτος δὲ πάντα τὸν τῶν ἀνοχῶν χρόνον διετέλεσε διατάσσων καὶ γυμνάζων τὴν δύναμιν, διὰ δὲ τῆς τῶν ἔργων ἀθλήσεως καὶ τῆς τῶν λόγων παρακλήσεως καὶ γυμνασίας ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις εὐπειθῆ καὶ δυνατὴν ἐποίησε τὴν στρατιάν.
During the whole time of the truce, he continually organized and trained his forces, and through the exercise of tasks, encouraging words, and training in arms, he made his army obedient and strong.
§15.16.3ὡς δʼ ὁ τῆς ὁμολογίας διῆλθε χρόνος, ἀμφότεροι τὰς δυνάμεις ἐκτάξαντες συγκατέβησαν προθύμως ἐπὶ τὴν μάχην.
When the time of the agreement had expired, both sides drew up their forces and eagerly went down to battle.
γενομένης δὲ παρατάξεως ἰσχυρᾶς περὶ τὸ καλούμενον Κρόνιον, τὸ δαιμόνιον ἐναλλὰξ τῇ νίκῃ τὴν ἧτταν τῶν Καρχηδονίων διωρθώσατο· οἱ μὲν γὰρ προνενικηκότες διὰ τὴν προγεγενημένην εὐημερίαν μεγαλαυχοῦντες παραδόξως ἐσφάλησαν, οἱ δὲ διὰ τὴν ἧτταν πεπτωκότες ταῖς ἐλπίσιν, ἀπροσδόκητον καὶ μεγάλην εὐημερίαν ἀπηνέγκαντο.
A fierce pitched battle having taken place near the place called Cronium, the divine power, by a turn of fortune, corrected the defeat of the Carthaginians with a victory; for those who had previously conquered, boasting because of their former success, were unexpectedly defeated, while those who had lost hope because of their defeat achieved an unexpected and great success.

Notes

  1. 15.16.1βαρείας δὲ καὶ ὑπερηφάνου τῆς ἀποκρίσεως δοκούσης ὑπάρχειν — Genitive absolute construction. τῆς ἀποκρίσεως is the subject, δοκούσης is the participle, and ὑπάρχειν acts as the copula (equivalent to εἶναι) with βαρείας καὶ ὑπερηφάνου as its predicate adjectives.
  2. 15.16.2ὡς αὐτίκα μάλα τὴν Σικελίαν πᾶσαν παραληψόμενος — The conjunction ὡς combined with the future participle παραληψόμενος (from λαμβάνω) expresses the subjective expectation or belief of the subject of the main clause, Dionysius.
  3. 15.16.2διετέλεσε διατάσσων καὶ γυμνάζων — The verb διατελέω is used with supplementary participles (here, διατάσσων and γυμνάζων) to express a continuous or uninterrupted action.
  4. 15.16.3τὸ δαιμόνιον ἐναλλὰξ τῇ νίκῃ τὴν ἧτταν τῶν Καρχηδονίων διωρθώσατο — The dative τῇ νίκῃ acts as a dative of means or compensation modifying the verb διωρθώσατο (aorist middle of διορθόω, 'to correct, compensate'), indicating that the previous defeat was offset or redeemed by this victory.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §15.16.1-15.16.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:15.16.1-15.16.3

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