Humanitext Reader

Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §15.26.1-15.26.4

Athenian Aid to Thebes and Siege of the Cadmea

Passage 438 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The Athenian assembly votes to assist the Thebans and dispatches a large force under the general Demophon. With additional soldiers arriving from other Boeotian cities, a massive allied army is assembled and begins a continuous day-and-night siege of the Cadmea.

§15.26.1ὁ δὲ δῆμος τῶν Ἀθηναίων διακούσας τῶν πρέσβεων ἐψηφίσατο παραχρῆμα δύναμιν ὡς πλείστην ἀποστεῖλαι τὴν ἐλευθερώσουσαν τὰς Θήβας, ἅμα μὲν τῆς εὐεργεσίας ἀποδιδοὺς τὰς χάριτας, ἅμα δὲ βουλόμενος τοὺς Βοιωτοὺς ἐξιδιώσασθαι καὶ συναγωνιστὰς ἰσχυροὺς ἔχειν κατὰ τῆς Λακεδαιμονίων ὑπεροχῆς· τὸ γὰρ ἔθνος τοῦτο καὶ πλήθει τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ ἀνδρείᾳ κατὰ πόλεμον οὐδενὸς τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν ἐδόκει λείπεσθαι.
The Athenian people, having heard the ambassadors through, voted immediately to send as large a force as possible to liberate Thebes, partly returning gratitude for their past benefaction, and partly wishing to win the Boeotians over to their side and to have them as strong allies against the Lacedaemonian supremacy; for this nation seemed to be inferior to none of the Greek peoples both in the number of its men and in courage in war.
§15.26.2τέλος δὲ Δημοφῶν κατασταθεὶς στρατηγός, καὶ παραχρῆμα πεντακισχιλίους ὁπλίτας καὶ πεντακοσίους ἱππεῖς καταλέξας, τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ τὴν δύναμιν ἅμʼ ἡμέρᾳ προήγαγεν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, καὶ δρομαῖος ἠπείγετο, φθάσαι σπεύδων τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους· οὐδὲν δʼ ἧττον ὁ δῆμος παρεσκευάζετο πανδημεὶ στρατεύειν εἰς τὴν Βοιωτίαν, ἐὰν ᾖ χρεία.
Finally, Demophon was appointed general, and having immediately enrolled five thousand hoplites and five hundred cavalry, on the next day at daybreak led the force out of the city, and hastened at a run, striving to anticipate the Lacedaemonians; nonetheless, the people made preparations to march with all their forces into Boeotia, if there should be need.
§15.26.3ὁ δὲ Δημοφῶν συντόμοις ταῖς ὁδοῖς χρησάμενος παραδόξως ἐπεφάνη τοῖς Θηβαίοις.
Demophon, taking short cuts, appeared unexpectedly to the Thebans.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων πόλεων τῶν κατὰ τὴν Βοιωτίαν πολλῶν στρατιωτῶν συνδραμόντων, ταχὺ μεγάλη δύναμις ἠθροίσθη τοῖς Θηβαίοις.
Likewise, as many soldiers from the other cities throughout Boeotia also rushed together, a large force was quickly assembled for the Thebans.
§15.26.4ὁπλῖται μὲν γὰρ συνῆλθον οὐκ ἐλάττους τῶν μυρίων καὶ δισχιλίων, ἱππεῖς δὲ πλείους τῶν δισχιλίων.
For there assembled no fewer than twelve thousand hoplites, and more than two thousand cavalry.
πάντων δὲ προθύμως ἐπὶ τὴν πολιορκίαν ὁρμησάντων διελόμενοι τὰ πλήθη τὰς προσβολὰς ἐκ διαδοχῆς ἐποιοῦντο, προσκαρτεροῦντες τοῖς κινδύνοις συνεχῶς καὶ καθʼ ἡμέραν καὶ νυκτός.
When they had all eagerly set upon the siege, they divided their forces and made assaults in relays, persisting in the face of dangers continuously both by day and by night.

Notes

  1. §15.26.1τὴν ἐλευθερώσουσαν — A future active participle in the feminine accusative singular, modifying the preceding feminine noun δύναμιν ("force"). The future participle is used here to express purpose ("in order to liberate").
  2. §15.26.1τῆς εὐεργεσίας — A genitive of cause or object depending on the phrase ἀποδιδόναι τὰς χάριτας ("to return gratitude"). It refers to the benefit previously received by the Athenians from the Thebans, as mentioned in the preceding section (§15.25.4).
  3. §15.26.2φθάσαι σπεύδων — The verb σπεύδω ("to strive, hasten") followed by the aorist active infinitive φθάσαι ("to anticipate, arrive before"). It expresses the purpose of Demophon's rapid march, meaning "striving to anticipate (arrive before) the Lacedaemonians."
  4. §15.26.4διελόμενοι τὰ πλήθη — A nominative plural masculine aorist middle participle, agreeing with the implied subject of the main verb ἐποιούντο ("they made"). It indicates that the allied forces divided their army into sections to carry out the attacks in relays.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §15.26.1-15.26.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:15.26.1-15.26.4

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.