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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §15.21.1-15.21.3

Dispatch of Teleutias and His Death against Olynthus

Passage 433 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Eudamidas fights the Olynthians alongside Amyntas but faces disadvantages, leading Sparta to dispatch Teleutias with reinforcement. Although initially successful, Teleutias is killed in a fierce battle, resulting in a heavy defeat for the Spartan forces.

§15.21.1οὗτος δʼ ἐμβαλὼν εἰς τὴν χώραν τῶν Ὀλυνθίων, κοινῇ μετʼ Ἀμύντου διεπολέμει πρὸς Ὀλυνθίους.
He, having invaded the territory of the Olynthians, carried on the war against the Olynthians in common with Amyntas.
εἶθʼ οἱ μὲν Ὀλύνθιοι δύναμιν ἀξιόλογον ἠθροικότες ἐπλεονέκτουν ἐν ταῖς μάχαις, στρατιώτας πλείους ἔχοντες τῶν πολεμίων·
Then, the Olynthians, having gathered a considerable force, had the advantage in the battles, since they had more soldiers than their enemies.
οἱ δὲ Λακεδαιμόνιοι δύναμιν ἀξιόλογον προχειρισάμενοι κατέστησαν στρατηγὸν ἐπʼ αὐτῆς Τελευτίαν.
And the Lacedaemonians, having prepared a considerable force, appointed Teleutias as general over it.
οὗτος δʼ ἦν ἀδελφὸς μὲν Ἀγησιλάου τοῦ βασιλέως, θαυμαζόμενος δʼ ἐπʼ ἀρετῇ παρὰ τοῖς πολίταις.
He was the brother of King Agesilaus, and was admired for his virtue among the citizens.
§15.21.2ἀναζεύξας οὖν μετὰ δυνάμεως ἐκ τῆς Πελοποννήσου καὶ καταντήσας πλησίον τῆς Ὀλυνθίων παρέλαβε τοὺς μετὰ Εὐδαμίδου στρατιώτας.
Setting out, therefore, with his force from the Peloponnese and arriving near the territory of the Olynthians, he took over the soldiers who were with Eudamidas.
γενόμενος δὲ ἀξιόμαχος τὸ μὲν πρῶτον τὴν τῶν Ὀλυνθίων χώραν ἐδῄωσε, καὶ συναγαγὼν πλῆθος λείας ἐμέρισε τοῖς στρατιώταις.
Having become a match for the enemy, at first he ravaged the territory of the Olynthians, and having gathered a large amount of booty, he distributed it to the soldiers.
τῶν δὲ Ὀλυνθίων μετὰ τῶν συμμάχων πανδημεὶ παραταξαμένων συνῆψε μάχην.
But when the Olynthians, together with their allies, drew up their forces in full strength, he joined battle.
καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἰσορρόπου τοῦ κινδύνου γενομένου διεχωρίσθησαν· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα γενομένης μάχης ἰσχυρᾶς, αὐτός τε ὁ Τελευτίας ἔπεσε λαμπρῶς ἀγωνισάμενος, καὶ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἀνῃρέθησαν πλείους τῶν χιλίων καὶ διακοσίων.
And at first, since the danger was evenly balanced, they separated; but after this, a fierce battle having taken place, Teleutias himself fell after fighting gloriously, and of the Lacedaemonians more than twelve hundred were slain.
§15.21.3τηλικαύτης δʼ εὐημερίας γενομένης τοῖς Ὀλυνθίοις, οἱ μὲν Λακεδαιμόνιοι, βουλόμενοι διορθώσασθαι τὸ γεγονὸς ἐλάττωμα, δυνάμεις ἁδροτέρας ἐκπέμπειν παρεσκευάζοντο, οἱ δὲ Ὀλύνθιοι, νομίζοντες μείζοσι δυνάμεσιν ἥξειν τοὺς Σπαρτιάτας καὶ τὸν πόλεμον ἔσεσθαι πολυχρόνιον, σίτου τε παρασκευὰς ἀξιολόγους ἐποιοῦντο καὶ παρὰ τῶν συμμάχων στρατιώτας προσελαμβάνοντο.
Such a great success having come to the Olynthians, the Lacedaemonians, wishing to repair the defeat that had occurred, prepared to send out stronger forces, while the Olynthians, thinking that the Spartans would come with larger forces and that the war would be long-lasting, made substantial preparations of food and took in additional soldiers from their allies.

Notes

  1. §15.21.1στρατιώτας πλείους ἔχοντες τῶν πολεμίων — The present participle ἔχοντες functions causally (adverbial participle of cause), explaining the reason why the Olynthians had the advantage (ἐπλεονέκτουν) in the battles.
  2. §15.21.2γενόμενος δὲ ἀξιόμαχος — The aorist participle γενόμενος agrees with the subject of the main clause (Teleutias) and carries a temporal or conditional nuance ('having become/once he became a match for the enemy').
  3. §15.21.2τῶν δὲ Ὀλυνθίων μετὰ τῶν συμμάχων πανδημεὶ παραταξαμένων — Genitive absolute construction. The aorist participle παραταξαμένων, along with its semantic subject τῶν Ὀλυνθίων, expresses an action prior to or causing the main verb συνῆψε μάχην ('he joined battle').
  4. §15.21.3νομίζοντες μείζοσι δυνάμεσιν ἥξειν τοὺς Σπαρτιάτας — Accusative with infinitive construction governed by the participle νομίζοντες. The future infinitive ἥξειν has τοὺς Σπαρτιάτας as its subject in the accusative ('thinking that the Spartans would come with larger forces').

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §15.21.1-15.21.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:15.21.1-15.21.3

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