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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §15.35.1-15.35.3

Chabrias' Rescue of Survivors and Execution of Manlius

Passage 447 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Chabrias refrained from pursuing the enemy after his victory, prioritizing the rescue of survivors and recovery of the dead out of fear of repeating the tragedy of Arginusae. Meanwhile, the execution of Marcus Manlius in Rome is mentioned.

§15.35.1γενόμενος δʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ προτερήματος, καὶ πάσας τὰς τῶν πολεμίων ναῦς φυγεῖν ἀναγκάσας, ἀπέσχετο παντελῶς τοῦ διωγμοῦ· ἀναμνησθεὶς γὰρ τῆς ἐν Ἀργινούσαις ναυμαχίας, ἐν ᾗ τοὺς νικήσαντας στρατηγοὺς ὁ δῆμος ἀντὶ μεγάλης εὐεργεσίας θανάτῳ περιέβαλεν, αἰτιασάμενος ὅτι τοὺς τετελευτηκότας κατὰ τὴν ναυμαχίαν οὐκ ἔθαψαν, εὐλαβήθη μήποτε τῆς περιστάσεως ὁμοίας γενομένης κινδυνεύσῃ παθεῖν παραπλήσια.
Having gained the advantage and having forced all the enemy's ships to flee, he refrained entirely from pursuit; for remembering the naval battle of Arginusae, in which the assembly, instead of a great service, condemned the victorious generals to death, accusing them of not having buried those who perished in the naval battle, he was cautious lest, if a similar situation arose, he might run the risk of suffering a similar fate.
διόπερ ἀποστὰς τοῦ διώκειν ἀνελέγετο τῶν πολιτῶν τοὺς διανηχομένους, καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἔτι ζῶντας διέσωσε, τοὺς δὲ τετελευτηκότας ἔθαψεν.
For this reason, ceasing from pursuit, he gathered up those of the citizens who were swimming, and saved those who were still alive, while he buried those who had perished.
εἰ δὲ μὴ περὶ ταύτην ἐγένετο τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, ῥᾳδίως ἂν ἅπαντα τὸν τῶν πολεμίων στόλον διέφθειρε.
If he had not been occupied with this care, he would have easily destroyed the entire fleet of the enemy.
§15.35.2κατὰ δὲ τὴν ναυμαχίαν τῶν μὲν Ἀθηναίων διεφθάρησαν τριήρεις ὀκτωκαίδεκα, τῶν δὲ Λακεδαιμονίων διεφθάρησαν μὲν εἴκοσι καὶ τέτταρες, αὔτανδροι δʼ ἐλήφθησαν ὀκτώ.
In the naval battle, eighteen triremes of the Athenians were destroyed, while twenty-four of the Lacedaemonians were destroyed, and eight were captured with their crews.
Χαβρίας μὲν οὖν ἐπιφανῆ ναυμαχίαν νικήσας κατέπλευσε μετὰ πολλῶν λαφύρων εἰς τὸν Πειραιέα, καὶ μεγάλης ἀποδοχῆς ἔτυχε παρὰ τοῖς πολίταις.
So Chabrias, having won a glorious naval battle, sailed into Piraeus with much booty, and met with a great reception from the citizens.
μετὰ γὰρ τὸν Πελοποννησιακὸν πόλεμον Ἀθηναῖοι ταύτην πρώτην ναυμαχίαν ἐνίκησαν· τὴν γὰρ περὶ Κνίδον οὐκ ἰδίᾳ διηγωνίσαντο, τῷ δὲ βασιλικῷ στόλῳ χρησάμενοι προετέρησαν.
For after the Peloponnesian War, this was the first naval battle the Athenians had won; for they had not fought the battle of Cnidus on their own account, but had gained the upper hand by using the royal fleet.
§15.35.3ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ Μάρκος Μάνλιος ἐπιβαλόμενος τυραννίδι καὶ κρατηθεὶς ἀνῃρέθη.
While these things were being done, in Italy, in Rome, Marcus Manlius, having aimed at a tyranny and having been overpowered, was put to death.

Notes

  1. §15.35.1εὐλαβήθη μήποτε ... κινδυνεύσῃ — The verb of fearing εὐλαβέομαι (aorist εὐλαβήθη) introduces a subordinate clause with the subjunctive κινδυνεύσῃ, meaning "feared lest...". The subjunctive is retained after a historical main verb (aorist) instead of the optative, emphasizing the vividness of the apprehension.
  2. §15.35.1εἰ δὲ μὴ ... ἐγένετο ... ἂν ... διέφθειρε — A past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. The protasis uses εἰ with the past indicative (aorist ἐγένετο), and the apodosis uses ἄν with the past indicative (aorist διέφθειρε).
  3. §15.35.2τὴν γὰρ περὶ Κνίδον — A noun phrase where the prepositional phrase περὶ Κνίδον follows the definite article τὴν. From the context (πρώτην ναυμαχίαν in the preceding sentence), the feminine noun ναυμαχίαν is clearly omitted.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §15.35.1-15.35.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:15.35.1-15.35.3

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