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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §15.4.1-15.4.3

The Siege of Salamis and Evagoras' Escape to Egypt

Passage 416 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Following their naval victory, the Persians begin the siege of Salamis, and Tiribazus secures massive war funds from the Persian king. Meanwhile, the defeated Evagoras leaves his son in Cyprus and escapes by night to Egypt to seek active support from the Egyptian king.

§15.4.1οἱ δὲ Πέρσαι τῇ ναυμαχίᾳ νικήσαντες εἰς Κίτιον πόλιν ἀμφοτέρας τὰς δυνάμεις ἤθροισαν.
The Persians, having won the naval battle, assembled both their forces at the city of Citium.
ἐκ ταύτης δʼ ὁρμώμενοι πολιορκίαν συνεστήσαντο πρὸς τῇ Σαλαμῖνι, καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐπόρθουν κατὰ γῆν ἅμα καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν.
Setting out from there, they began a siege against Salamis, and plundered the city by both land and sea at the same time.
§15.4.2καὶ Τιρίβαζος μὲν μετὰ τὴν ναυμαχίαν διαβὰς εἰς Κιλικίαν, κἀκεῖθεν πορευθεὶς πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, τήν τε νίκην ἀπήγγειλε καὶ δισχίλια τάλαντα πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἀπεκόμισεν· Εὐαγόρας δὲ πρὸ μὲν τῆς ναυμαχίας παρὰ θάλατταν πεζῇ συμβαλὼν μέρει τῆς πεζῆς δυνάμεως προετέρησε καὶ πρὸς τὸ μέλλον εὐθαρσὴς καθειστήκει, τῇ δὲ ναυμαχίᾳ πταίσας καὶ συγκλεισθεὶς εἰς πολιορκίαν ἀθύμως εἶχεν.
And Tiribazus, having crossed over to Cilicia after the naval battle and proceeded from there to the King, reported the victory and brought back two thousand talents for the war; but Evagoras, who before the naval battle had engaged with a part of the land force on land near the sea and gained the upper hand, and had been confident in regard to the future, was now discouraged after failing in the naval battle and being shut up in a siege.
§15.4.3ὅμως δὲ κρίνας ἔχεσθαι τοῦ πολέμου, Πνυταγόραν μὲν τὸν υἱὸν ἀπέλιπεν ἡγεμόνα τῶν ὅλων ποιήσας ἐν τῇ Κύπρῳ, αὐτὸς δʼ ἀναλαβὼν δέκα τριήρεις νυκτὸς ἔλαθε τοὺς πολεμίους ἐκπλεύσας ἐκ τῆς Σαλαμῖνος.
Nevertheless, having decided to cling to the war, he left his son Pnytagoras in Cyprus, having made him commander of the whole force, while he himself, taking ten triremes, slipped past the enemy by night and sailed out of Salamis.
κομισθεὶς δʼ εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ συντυχὼν τῷ βασιλεῖ, παρεκάλεσεν αὐτὸν ἐρρωμένως ἀντέχεσθαι τοῦ πολέμου καὶ κοινὸν ἡγεῖσθαι τὸν πρὸς τοὺς Πέρσας πόλεμον.
Having been conveyed to Egypt and met with the King, he urged him to hold on to the war vigorously and to consider the war against the Persians as a common cause.

Notes

  1. §15.4.1ἀμφοτέρας τὰς δυνάμεις — "Both forces" refers to both the land forces (army) and the naval forces (fleet) of the Persian military.
  2. §15.4.3ἔχεσθαι — The middle voice verb ἔχομαι taking the genitive τοῦ πολέμου to mean "to cling to", "to hold fast to", or "to continue" the war.
  3. §15.4.3ἔλαθε τοὺς πολεμίους ἐκπλεύσας — The construction of λανθάνω with a participle (here ἐκπλεύσας) expressing "to do something unnoticed by someone." The accusative τοὺς πολεμίους serves as the direct object of λανθάνω.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §15.4.1-15.4.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:15.4.1-15.4.3

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